NSMHA Request for Proposals
Housing and Recovery through Peer Services (HARPS)
Bidders Conference
August 25, 2014 – 11:30 am
Bidders’ Questions and NSMHA Responses
By Phone: Lori Hartelius, Tulalip Tribes; Greg Winter, Opportunity Council; Joseph Nagel; Pioneer HS;
Anji Jorstad, Snohomish County; Mike Watson & Tawna Thomas, LWC & Nancy Cole, Compass Health.
Staff: Margaret Rojas, Greg Long, Tom Yost (by phone) and Barbara Jacobson.
September 27th is the deadline for questions with September 29th as the target to post.
1. If our service model deviates a bit from the document, for example-not having peer advocates
incorporated is that cause for a submission to be rejected? (Greg W)
The use of Peers Counselors to provide housing supports is a core part of the model that the
State wants to demonstrate. Peer Counselors have to be part of the program and this
project; so yes.
2. Is there any possibility of this being split between two agencies? As a tribal entity, we serve all
native but do not know if we have the infrastructure to serve all populations in two counties.
(Lori H)
A bidder can propose to service just one county. There are two components to this program;
one is the housing supports of $1500 per person to get into independent housing; that has
more funding. The Counties will be able to distribute the $1500 funding grants even if the
intensive support team is not in their county. Counties will get a percentage of vouchers
aligned with their percentage of the Region’s populations; and the team will have their own
voucher slots.
The second component is the intensive the housing support team; two peer counselors and a
master level counselor will serve 100 people per year. It is difficult to see how a viable three
person team could be structured to be split between two agencies. NSMHA did not have a
successful experience when three agencies were trying to operate a PACT team.
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3. In the RFP it says an agency receiving the award must be a mental health agency; could that
agency subcontract with a non-mental health agency for some of the support services? (Greg
W)
A Partnership is possible, though the mental health agency would be taking on the
responsibility for the program and must submit the Medicaid encounters. One goal of the
program for DBHR is to demonstrate this is a viable and cost-saving Medicaid modality. The
counselors would have to be licensed or be agency affiliated counselors so they can submit
Medicaid billings.
4. Do I understand that we cannot use housing owned or operated by an agency? (Nancy C)
There is nothing that prevents this; the vouchers don’t support housing that is contingent on
engagement in services, nor is it appropriate for residential treatment facilities and Adult
Family Home type housing.
5. Would a subcontractor have to have some kind of professional license? (Tom Y)
To dispense the vouchers an agency would need to be licensed and bonded to practice in WA
State, have general liability insurance etc. To submit Medicaid encounters the agency must
be licensed as a Behavior Health Agency.
6. For the budget attachment, the total funding is the $190,440 listed in the proposal? (Mike W)
That is correct.
7. Part of responsibly of those providing service is to serve an adjacent county; assuming it is
Skagit County; what is the expectation of the level of service/contact to be provided? (Mike W)
Skagit is not large enough to support the program on its own; so we are adding preference for
proposals that include Skagit. The level of contact depends on each person´s needs as
assessed at time of entry into the program. We want to support the development of housing
in Skagit so that is just a preference and a single county proposal would be considered. It
might be possible for a staff person to work .25 or .5 time in an adjacent county. They would
have to become familiar with the mental health providers, housing resources, and other
services in that county. Significant amounts of coordination and support work might be done
by telephone.
8. Is there a way that we can get an idea of the level of staffing; the funding does not go a long
way when you add travel for an MHP and two other staff. (Mike W)
You could propose what level of staffing or number served you would commit to in each
county. You could check with Bob Hicks or Rebecca Clark in Skagit County as well. You might
want to look at the PORCH programs in eastern WA and Pierce County for their experiences
in terms of level of service.
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9.
Staffing: Would there be some grace period in getting the Peer Counselors certified? (Joe N)
We could do something like that; however, the Peers would need to submit Medicaid
encounters-so the sooner the better. There have been certification trainings so there are
already certified Peers out there.
10. Does the team work with the county housing programs? (Lori H)
Yes, we would like them to work with as many housing agencies and programs as possible.
The intention from the state is to try to draw together all the different people working in
housing to coordinate efforts to help with those that are difficult to place in housing.
11. What is the "short" term of these vouchers? (Lori H)
The short term is up to 3 months of help at $500 a month up to $1500 per individual to
stabilize or find secure housing. Each individual may need more or less in that time period;
the provider would manage that up to the $1500.
12. So there is not a housing voucher - just a voucher to support housing? (Lori H)
Not in the sense of a “section 8” voucher, this is money to pay for down payments, back
ground/credit checks, minor repairs, etc. It is time limited.
13. Are there restrictions on shared housing? (Joe N)
Although - it is not in the contract - an individual has to have their own lease. The housing has
to be permanent and if a roommate holds a lease and leaves and the remaining person
cannot cover the rent the then the housing isn´t really permanent.
14. Does the housing need to individually meet Housing Safety Standards? (Joe N)
The grant does not specify, but it is in everybody’s interest to have people living in decent
affordable housing. Sometimes it becomes an issue but we want to make sure we do not
place people in substandard housing.
You may submit questions through August 27th to deliverables@nsmha.org.
15. This identifies the areas of service as Whatcom and Snohomish County...NOT SKAGIT...is this
correct? (Corky H)
Yes, according to the RFQ wording, an applicant providing the intensive housing support
services would have to serve people in either Whatcom or Snohomish County. Preference is
given to bidders who would also serve people wanting to live in Skagit County, but serving
Skagit County is not a requirement.
The $1,500 short-term vouchers will be available to residents of any county in the North
Sound Region.
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