DROP-IN CENTERS CONCEPT PAPER A. Purpose The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) intends to issue a Request for Proposal ( RFP ) seeking qualified vendors to run up to five day-only Drop-In Centers that provide housing placement services connected to off-site respite beds to single homeless adults living on the streets of New York City. Drop-In Centers are an important part of the City s strategy to achieve the street census reductions outlined in the Mayor s Five Year Plan to End Homelessness. This procurement will enhance the current Drop-In Center model by providing the following: 1) dayonly Drop-In Centers that act as borough-based service hubs focused on housing placement for individuals living on the streets, 2) services exclusively for individuals who are street homeless and who would be living on the streets if not for the Drop-In Center, and 3) access to a network of temporary respite beds through the Drop-In Centers by providing a clean, safe and comfortable place to sleep. These respite beds allow the Drop-In Centers to address an immediate service need, bringing the client indoors and off the street for the night, while they continue to assist the client in housing placement during business hours. A concept paper for the vision of the Respite Bed Program is expected to be released in the same timeframe as this Drop-In Center Concept Paper. It is the expectation of DHS that the Drop-In Center provider will develop a collaborative relationship with the Respite Bed Program vendor to ensure the appropriate use of these respite beds, as determined by DHS. Background: DHS remains committed to developing a continuum of services specifically designed to meet the service needs of the street homeless population, and seeks to administer a continuum of resources and services designed to achieve the ultimate goal of housing placement. Outreach Teams currently provide street outreach and housing placement services to homeless individuals living on the street or in public places, many of whom may have severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) and/or substance abuse disorders. DHS and DOHMH have divided New York City into four catchment areas: (1) Manhattan, (2) Bronx, (3) Brooklyn and Queens and (4) Staten Island. A single primary Outreach contractor in each borough has been designated by DHS and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as the single point of accountability for street homeless clients and outreach services in each catchment area. Outreach Teams are the primary referral source into Safe Havens, Stabilization Beds, and Drop-In Centers and are required to prioritize the use of Safe Havens and Stabilization Beds for the most chronic and vulnerable street homeless clients. Drop-In Centers will be encouraged to develop robust linkages with the borough-based Outreach Teams. These linkages could be achieved through contracts, MOUs or other similar mechanisms. DHS strongly prefers that these robust linkages are demonstrated with a flexible and collaborative approach to the sharing of both knowledge and resources, which may include but not be limited to, a sharing of physical space (specifically, allowing borough based Outreach Teams to access and utilize the on-site housing placement services of a Drop-in Center to
continue the engagement process from the point of engagement on the street through to housing placement), and collaboration through joint case conferences in addressing the diverse service needs of both the chronically homeless and non-chronically homeless. B. Program Information Target Population/Client Profile The target population is single men and women, 18 years or older, who are living on the streets of New York City. The Drop-In Centers will be responsible for providing case management and housing placement services to all of the street homeless individuals in their centers. However, DHS estimates that 25% of the Drop-In Center capacity will be chronically street homeless individuals who are primarily receiving services from Outreach Teams and who are using the Drop-In Centers as an engagement tool. As detailed below, DHS expects that the Drop-In Centers work collaboratively with the Outreach providers, especially as it relates to the chronically street homeless population. Referral Policy The Drop-In Center system will provide services exclusively for individuals who are street homeless and who would be living on the streets if not for the Drop-In Center. In order to ensure that Drop-In Centers are serving this population, clients will be referred by Outreach. Street homeless clients will either be brought to the Drop-In Centers by Outreach Teams or Outreach Teams will provide an attestation that the individual is street homeless. DHS recognizes that Outreach Teams may not know all of the individuals who are street homeless, so the Drop-In Centers will be expected to set up a screening process that allows someone who is living on the streets but who may not be known to Outreach Teams to enter the Drop-In Center. Clients known to be receiving services at a shelter will be referred back to that shelter to ensure continuity. Non-street homeless individuals will be referred to appropriate community based services according to their needs. Services The focus of the day-only drop-in model will be placing street homeless individuals into housing. The Drop-in Center will accomplish this through the provision of concrete services, case management, housing placement, and connecting individuals to more appropriate systems of care. Screening Screening will determine client eligibility for Drop-In Center use, but will also provide a rapid assessment. This assessment will identify client needs and strengths as well as housing options. Clients who are brought to the Drop-In Centers and who are on the case load of Outreach Teams will go through a different intake process that does not create a barrier to their coming indoors. Concrete Services Drop-In Centers will continue to provide concrete services such as showers, meals, and clothing as engagement tools to encourage clients to participate in Case Management and 2
housing planning. Drop-In Centers should also have secure space available to store client belongings, as needed. Case Management All Drop-In Center clients will be assigned to a case manager. The only exception is if an individual is already on an Outreach Team s caseload. Even if an individual is only interested in concrete services like meals or showers, the client will be expected to give a name upon entry, meet with the screening worker, complete an intake form, and be assigned to a case manager. The case manager will be expected to use Motivational Enhancement Therapy, or other evidence based techniques, to develop a housing plan with the client. Drop-In Centers will offer structured activities during the day that will aid in building skills that will lead to a client s success in housing. The groups will be focused on engaging clients into services. They will be catered to specific populations at the Drop-In Center, and the topics may range from adult daily living skills, budgeting and financing, family mediation, and fear of isolation in housing. A key function of the Case Management staff will be to link clients to mental health and substance abuse treatment. Harm reduction models have been found to be effective with the street homeless population and the Drop-In Centers will refer to such treatment options, when appropriate. In order to meet the needs of the clients and to ensure housing placement, Drop-In Centers must also provide, either directly or by referral, mental health, substance abuse, benefits, job training and other necessary services. Housing Placement Drop-in Centers will strive to place clients into permanent housing within six months. The Drop-In Centers will develop housing plans with all clients; work with clients on completing housing applications, including conducting or arranging for all necessary assessments; gather necessary documents; assist clients with interviews and apartment/room visits; and all other activities related to housing. Because benefits are so critical for housing placement, the Drop-In Centers would be expected to have staff who can help secure PA, SSI/SSD, Medicaid, VA and other applicable benefits. Staff should also advocate for clients working to fix sanctioned and suspended cases and accompany clients to benefits appointments when necessary. Drop-In Center staff would conduct or arrange for family mediation, counseling, and travel assistance in cases where reunification with family is possible. Relationships with Other Continuum Service Providers Outreach Each Drop-In Center will have a formal linkage to the Borough s Outreach Team. In addition to being the primary referral source to Drop-In Centers, Outreach Teams will use the locations strategically to offer clients meals and showers as a form of engagement, and to sit with clients to fill out housing and other paperwork, and to conduct psychiatric 3
evaluations. The program space should accommodate outreach staff that may be working with chronically street homeless individuals on-site. Outreach Teams will focus on providing case management and housing placement services to chronic street homeless individuals who are utilizing the Drop-In Centers. However, Outreach Teams and Drop-In Center staff will be expected to communicate frequently about these and all clients. If a client is more responsive to a particular worker, the programs will have flexibility to negotiate who should take the lead on working with the client. Drop-In Centers and Outreach Teams will collaborate towards the goal of placing street homeless individuals into permanent housing. Respite Beds The Department of Homeless Services is in the process of procuring a Respite Bed Program. It is anticipated that a concept paper for this program will be issued in the same timeframe as the Drop-In Center concept paper. The respite beds will provide overnight lodging for individuals using Drop-In Centers, which is the primary referral source into the beds. The Respite Bed Program vendor will be expected to deliver a fixed number of beds to the Drop- In Centers on a nightly basis. The Drop-In Center is responsible for determining which individuals are assigned to respite bed and for filling the capacity allocated to them. DHS expects the nightly occupancy rate of allocated respite beds to be 90% or more, and will treat this as one of the measures of the performance of a Drop-In Center. In order to ensure capacity needs are met, the Drop-In Centers and Respite Bed Vendor must communicate, at minimum, once per day. The majority of clients will travel to the respite beds via public transportation with MetroCards to be provided by the Drop-In Centers. For those clients unable to use public transportation, the Drop-In Centers will contact the Respite Bed Program vendor to arrange for transportation. All clients receiving case management services at a Drop-In Center will have the option of sleeping in a respite bed. Drop-In staff will be expected to work with clients and motivate them to accept placement in a respite bed. Outreach Teams will be expected to identify overnight stabilization bed capacity for chronic street homeless individuals on their caseloads who are using Drop-In Centers. However, if there are no vacancies, the Drop-In Center will be expected to accommodate these clients in a respite bed. The Drop-In Centers will be provided respite beds in the same borough as their program. The RFP will outline the bed capacity that DHS anticipates will be available to the Drop-In Centers in each of the boroughs. The respite beds will provide overnight lodging for individuals using Drop-In Centers, which is the primary referral source into the beds, as stated above. Shelters Drop-In Centers will be working with shelter staff to return clients who present at the Drop-In Center but who have an official shelter, and when placing clients into shelter. For some clients, shelter is an appropriate placement and the Drop-In Centers must assess for whom shelter is the best option. When placing clients in shelters, Drop-In Centers will go through Intake and Vacancy Control (IVC) and, with appropriate release, should share the client s file with the receiving agency. Service Areas and Hours of Operation 4
At this time, DHS will be procuring two Drop-In Centers in Manhattan, one Drop-In Center in Brooklyn, one Drop-In Center in Queens and one Drop-In Center in Staten Island. In addition to the five Drop-In Centers being procured, there will be an existing HUD-funded facility in the Bronx and a DHS-funded facility in Manhattan that will also operate under the new model for a total of seven Drop-In Centers. The Centers will be open during the hours of 7:30am to 8:30pm seven days a week. During Code Blue/Red events, 1 and other emergencies designated by the Department of Homeless Services, facilities will be expected to operate on a 24-hour basis, and encouraged to provide overnight accommodation to clients. Centers should expect to budget for approximately 40 Code Blue overnights. It is estimated that they will need to provide onsite overnight accommodations to roughly 30% of their overall capacity on these nights. C. Anticipated Available Funding DHS estimates that the total amount of City funding available for the initial year of the contract(s) awarded from the above cited RFP will be $7,831,303, pending availability. The City will allocate resources for each Borough Drop-In Centers with some consideration given to the street homeless census reduction Borough is expected to achieve and some consideration given to overall geographic representation. D. Number of Awards/Term on Contracts DHS anticipates that up to five contracts (see above Service Areas ) would be awarded from the above cited RFP. DHS anticipates that the term of the contract awarded would be for five years with a four year renewal option, starting in Fiscal Year 2010. DHS will consider proposals with primary contractors and subcontractors. E. Contractor Performance, Reporting and Evaluation DHS anticipates that the payment structure for the contracts will be a combination of cost reimbursement and performance based outcome payments. The performance based milestone payments would be earned through the placement and retention of Drop-In Center clients in permanent and transitional housing. A greater payment would be awarded for permanent housing placements. In addition, DHS will establish measures which will be the basis for evaluating the Drop-In Centers performance. These measures may include but will not be limited to: 1. Length of stay 2. Number of transitional housing placements 3. Number of permanent placements 4. Respite bed utilization rate 1 Code Red and Blue events are extreme heat and cold weather emergencies called by DHS. During Code Red and Blue events, emergency procedures are in place to provide enhanced outreach, support and safety measures to street homeless individuals. 5
The Drop-In Centers will have to comply with all DHS tracking and reporting requirements. F. Anticipated Procurement Timeline DHS anticipates that an RFP for the program will be issued by late Fall 2008, with a proposal due date shortly thereafter and an award announcement in Spring 2009. G. Proposal Evaluation All proposals accepted under the upcoming Request for Proposal will be evaluated in accordance with the standard evaluation criteria: Demonstrated quantity and quality of successful relevant experience Demonstrated level of organizational capability Quality of program approach H. Community Feedback Process DHS is seeking written feedback from any interested parties regarding the program concept outlined above. As outlined earlier, specific points of interest include (but are not limited to): a. General conceptual feedback on a new Drop-In Center model. b. Proposed partnership with borough-based Outreach Teams. c. Proposed interaction with the Respite Bed Program. d. Facility locations and hours of operation. e. The use of performance based contracting and appropriate indicators. DHS welcomes input from interested parties, but requests that feedback be submitted in written form and limited to no more than two pages in length. All responses should be submitted to Suellen Schulman at sschulma@dhs.nyc.gov by Thursday, November 6, 2008. 6