Request for Proposals: Lifeline Backup Centers

Deadline: Monday, October 19, 2015, 5:00 PM EST

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR LIFELINE BACKUP CENTERS

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION AND AWARD INFORMATION .............................. 2

A. STIPEND AMOUNT .................................................................................................................... 4

B. FUNDING MECHANISM ............................................................................................................ 4

C. ROLES .......................................................................................................................................... 5

II. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION .................................................................................................... 6

III. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION ................................................................. 6

A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE .......................................................... 6

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION .................................................. 6

C. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES .......................................................................................... 7

IV. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION .................................................................................. 7

A. EVALUATION CRITERIA ........................................................................................................... 7

V. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ......................................................................................... 10

A. BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION ........................................................................... 10

A. OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ........................................................................ 10

VI. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS .................................................................................. 10

VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION ......................................................................... 11

A. AWARD NOTICES .................................................................................................................... 11

B. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................. 11

VIII. LINK2HEALTH SOLUTIONS CONTACT ................................................................................ 11

APPENDIX A: WHITE HOUSE LETTERS ..................................................................................... 12

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR LIFELINE BACKUP CENTERS

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION AND AWARD INFORMATION

Through a three-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), funding is being provided to support crisis centers participating in the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (the Lifeline) network to serve as telephonic backup centers to the national network, thereby increasing access to care and enhancing the capacity of the Lifeline to provide a vital service to a significant portion of the population. Additionally, a subset of the back-up network will be selected to respond to letters received by the White House from individuals at risk for suicide (see Appendix A for more details regarding White House Letters).

Since the inception of the Lifeline in January 2005 and the routing of 1-800-SUICDE through the Lifeline starting in March 2007, the Lifeline has experienced exponential growth. In 2014 alone, Lifeline Crisis Centers answered more than 1,357,600 calls a 9.43 percent increase in call volume from the previous year.

The Lifeline answered, on average, 3,719 calls per day in 2014, not including calls from the Spanish Subnetwork and Veterans Crisis Line or chats from Lifeline Crisis Chat, VA Chat, and other programs. Thus, with the demand for telephonic crisis intervention and support steadily increasing, Link2Health (L2HS) Solutions strives to further strengthen the Lifeline national network with a strong web of Backup Centers to support local centers whose respective call volumes exceed their capacities.

The proposed model, based loosely on the Department of Health and Human Services geographic breakdown of the United States into ten public health regions, will include up to ten Lifeline Backup Centers ideally located in each of the ten public health regions that serve as secondary support for local Lifeline Crisis Centers. Each of these centers is expected to receive rollover calls from anywhere in the United States and its territories (i.e., Guam, US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico). Backup Centers will use Lifeline Best Practices for helping callers, including risk assessment and imminent risk protocols as they would for local Lifeline calls, and provide resources local to the caller whenever appropriate.

This additional layer of support further ensures that a greater number of Lifeline callers needs are met quickly and efficiently while decreasing overall wait times for callers who may otherwise wait in queues for long periods of time.

At a minimum the stipends awarded to each of the Lifeline Backup Centers must be used to conduct the following activities:

Answer unanswered Lifeline calls that roll over from local Lifeline Crisis Centers nationally;

Respond to all White House Letters from a designated region of the United States (number and type of outreach attempts contingent upon urgency of letter content) and complete appropriate documentation online (for selected centers only);

Identify one or more staff to serve as liaisons with L2HS to coordinate resources, training, and quality improvement;

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Participate in regularly scheduled quarterly resource, training, and quality improvement conference calls, including review of protocols, discussion of call volume manageability and metrics, frequent callers, and technical issues;

Submit all required reports in a timely manner;

Adhere to call metrics/benchmarks established by the L2HS team, including an average quarterly answer rate of at least 80 percent of calls answered within 120 seconds or less;

Ensure a plan for providing access to resources and emergency intervention for callers outside of centers primary coverage area;

Ensure all call responders successfully complete the Lifeline Simulation Training;

Collect uniform demographic information about callers and report to L2HS;

Silent monitor at least 3 percent of all calls answered each month and all counselors at least quarterly and report back to Link2Health Solutions;

Adapt current phone system technologies to integrate with the Lifelines telephony system (West), including Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) integration, if not already available. This will allow more efficient call routing and reporting for Backup Centers by allowing the Lifeline to route calls to centers who are mostly quickly able to answer them;

NOTE: Since all phone systems are different, it is difficult to determine how easily an individual centers system will integrate. Therefore, before being awarding funding for this grant, a L2HS IT representative will conduct an informational call with potential applicants. Applicants should be prepared to have a staff person knowledgeable about their phone system available for this call prior to the Notice of Award being issued. Preference will be given to applicants whose systems are easily able to incorporate ACD integration.

Minimum required phone system capabilities include:

o Ability to provide ACD integration to obtain, at a minimum, queue depth and estimated wait time via web services. The Lifeline system must be able to query the center to obtain the number of calls in queue and estimated wait times to help determine whether to transfer calls to the center. If the call is in queue beyond a designated wait time, the center must be able to return the call to the Lifeline system to be routed to another center. ACD integration access can be through Web service, VPN, or private line. In addition, integration can be pushed real time or pulled at call attempt, whichever is available in the system;

o If a center does not have an ACD system, Lifeline Backup Centers must have the ability to return a busy signal once the estimated wait time reaches a predetermined length;

o The ability to provide reports that include at a minimum, call detail records, number of calls presented, number of calls answered, number of abandoned calls, speed to answer, wait time in queue, call length (time with caller), phone numbers, time stamp for when calls are placed in queue and time stamp for when calls are answered or caller hung up. Metrics must be provided as raw data to allow Lifeline the ability to compile aggregate reports; ideally this would be provided as regular live data transfer;

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o Provide dedicated access (TDM or SIP) from AT&T for termination of calls to their center;

o Provide Link2Health Solutions with a dedicated termination number to ensure that all rollover calls to Lifeline Backup Centers are easily identified and promptly answered

A. STIPEND AMOUNT Given the historic, steady increase in calls to the Lifeline, the number of calls to Backup Centers is predicted to increase, and L2HS anticipates providing increases in funding each year. The anticipated stipends structure is described below:

Year 1: Up to ten centers will receive $50,000 annually to handle up to 30,000 calls each per year.

Year 2: Up to ten centers will receive $60,000 annually to handle up to 37,000 calls each per year.

Year 3: Up to ten centers will receive $70,000 annually to handle up to 44,000 calls per year.

NOTE: The total call estimates above are based on predicted calls to Backup Centers and projected

annual call increases and can vary for a variety of reasons, including call surges, centers leaving the

network, Backup Center staffing issues, call routing changes, etc. L2HS reserves the right to negotiate

contracts as needed to accommodate these variables. If call volume exceeds the predicted number of

calls in a given year, L2HS will work with centers on a case-by-case to provide compensation.

White House Letters: Up to 5 centers will be contracted to respond to letters to the White House from individuals at risk for suicide. Centers will receive $10 per letter for each letter responded to (Total number of projected White House letters is 3,500 annually or approximately 700 per center).

B. FUNDING MECHANISM The stipend payment(s) will be made directly to the center on a quarterly basis via invoice on a payment schedule as follows (subject to change). Stipends will be issued as long as all required reports have been submitted and the center has met all contract deliverables.

Quarter and Dates Invoice Due Date Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Q1: October 1 December 31 January 15 N/A $15,000 $17,500

Q2: January 1 March 31 April 15 $12,500 $15,000 $17,500

Q3: April 1 June 30 July 15 $12,500 $15,000 $17,500

Q4: July 1 September 30 October 15 $12,500+ $15,000+ $17,500+

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C. ROLES Funding is provided by Link2Health Solutions via SAMHSA with an understanding and acceptance of the following expectations:

Role of the Center:

Comply with the terms of the award and satisfactorily perform activities outlined;

Obtain L2HS approval of proposed approach prior to implementing proposed design and accept L2HS recommended modifications to approach;

Consult with and accept guidance from L2HS staff on performance of activities to achieve goals;

Respond in a timely manner to requests for information from L2HS as needed;

Submit required reports;

Perform regular quality improvement monitoring activities;

Respond to any performance concerns or complaints in a timely manner;

Participate in quarterly conference calls;

Participate in annual contract monitoring review;

Additional responsibilities as requested by L2HS.

Role of Link2Health Solutions Staff in the RFP Process:

Review proposed approach(es) and reviewers ratings of each proposal, and assist in the development of special terms (e.g., modifications and/or revision of proposed approach(es)) when needed in order to ensure that the proposal meets with L2HS performance requirements;

Provide equal guidance and technical assistance to all centers in the application process;

Ensure independent reviewers have access to all materials required to thoroughly evaluate submitted proposals;

Ensure that independent reviewers have no conflict of interest;

Approve data collection plans and institute policies regarding data collection;

Approve quality improvement monitoring plan and institute policies regarding quality improvement;

Generate weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual call volume reports upon request;

Work with each applicant to determine phone system technological capacities before being awarded funding and to implement integration after funding is awarded.

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II. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION Only crisis centers that have been active members of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for at least six months (as of March 2015) are eligible to apply for this supplemental stipend.

In addition to the aforementioned, eligible Lifeline Crisis Centers are those that meet the following the criteria:

Operate 24/7/365;

Have or are able to create a dedicated phone line for Lifeline rollover calls;

Use or can obtain a phone system that enables ACD integration with the Lifeline system;

Currently answers an average of at least 80 percent of calls in 120 seconds or less across all telephone lines and can verify this with call volume reports;

Willing to share all training tools, resources, or models developed in connection with this RFP with the Lifeline and all of its networked crisis centers.

If your crisis center does not meet these minimum requirements, please address the reasons why, as well as any changes you will make in order to meet the minimum requirements if selected. If you are uncertain as to whether your center meets the criteria above, contact Dominic Abordo (dabordo@mhaofnyc.org; (212) 614-6308) for assistance.

III. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION A. ADDRESS TO REQUEST APPLICATION PACKAGE All required application forms and guidelines are included in this RFP. You may download additional copies of the application form from the Lifeline Network Resource Center at http://www.networkresourcecenter.org.

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION The application should be complete and contain all information needed for review. In order for your application to be complete, it must include all of the following sections:

Abstract: Your abstract should summarize your project and should not exceed 250 words. Be sure to include the following information:

Capacity to handle predicted call volume;

Make, model, and software release of your organizations phone system, ACD, and Network Interface Device (if applicable);

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Ability to send real time call status (i.e., callers in queue, wait time, and available counselors) via Web service or VPN to a remote site to use within the routing logic so callers can receive the least wait time and best caller experience.

Project Narrative (Sections A-D may not exceed 8 pages total):

Section A: Progress to Date (30 points)

Section B: Proposed Approach for Implementation (35 points)

Section C: Implementation Plan and Staffing (20 points)

Section D: Performance Assessment and Data (15 points)

For Applicants Who Have Previously Provided This Service for Link2Health Solutions Only (may not exceed one page):

Section E: Past Providers Previous Performance (5 points)

Supporting Documentation

Section F: Budget & Budget Justification, Other Supporting Documentation

More detailed instructions for completing each section of the Project Narrative are provided in Section IV of this document under Evaluation Criteria.

C. SUBMISSION DATES AND TIMES Your application is due by Monday, October 19, 2015 at 5:00 PM EST. Please send completed applications via email to Dominic Abordo at dabordo@mhaofnyc.org. Incomplete applications will be returned and may lead to delays in materials being reviewed. You will be notified by email that your application has been received.

IV. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. EVALUATION CRITERIA Your application will be reviewed and scored against the requirements listed below for developing the Project Narrative (Sections A-E). The capacity to answer a large volume of Lifeline rollover calls is an important consideration. Your center will be expected to answer 80 percent of all rollover calls within 120 seconds on average per quarter. Please note that this percentage and average speed to answer does not include calls that come to your crisis center at the local level.

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Link2Health Solutions will appoint independent reviewers to review and score your application and report back to Link2Health Solutions. Deficiencies in your application may delay or prevent grant awards or lead to special terms and conditions being placed on your award. Sections A-D of your application may not exceed 8 pages. If you currently perform Lifeline Regional/National Backup Center services for Link2Health Solutions or have done so in the past, please also complete Section E of the Project Narrative found below. If you are a new applicant, please skip it. Section E of your application may not exceed one page in length.

Section A: Progress to Date (30 points)

Briefly describe your organization and provide information regarding your current services, including hotline(s) and other crisis contact services, that your agency operates. Describe your agencys current policies/procedures/protocols for ensuring quality service.

Describe how your center meets the following requirements:

o Operates 24/7/365;

o Has or is able to create a dedicated phone line for Lifeline rollover calls;

o Uses or can obtain a phone system that allows ACD integration with the Lifeline:

Describe your agencys current phone system and how you will facilitate integration with the Lifeline system, including the ability to provide ACD integration to obtain, at a minimum, queue depth and estimated wait time via web services. The Lifeline system must be able to query the center to obtain the number of calls in queue and estimated wait times to help determine whether or not to transfer calls to the center. If the call is in queue beyond a designated wait time, the center must be able to return the call to the Lifeline system to be routed to another center. ACD integration access can be through Web service, VPN, or private line. In addition, integration can be pushed real time or pulled at call attempt, whichever is available in the system;

Who on your staff will coordinate this effort?

o Answers an average of at least 80 percent of calls in 120 seconds or less across all telephone lines and can verify this with call volume reports;

o Is willing to share all training tools, resources, or models developed in connection with this RFP with the Lifeline and all of its networked crisis centers;

Section B: Proposed Approach for Lifeline Backup Center Services Implementation (35 points)

Describe how you plan to implement this service, including:

o How do you plan to staff the service, train staff, provide supervision, and ensure quality service provision overall? How will staff be familiar with Lifeline Best Practices for helping callers, including Risk Assessment Standards and Imminent Risk Guidelines? How will you ensure all responders successfully complete the Lifeline Simulation Training?

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o How will you ensure that an average of 80 percent of calls are answered within 120 seconds or less each quarter?

o How will you ensure participation in regularly scheduled quarterly resource, training, and quality improvement conference calls, including review of protocols, discussion of call volume manageability and metrics, frequent callers, and technical issues?

o How will responders provide access to resources and emergency intervention for callers outside of centers primary coverage area?

Up to 5 backup centers will be chosen to respond to letters received by the White House from individuals at risk for suicide. Letters must be responded to within 24-48 hours of receipt and must be closed within 30 days. See Appendix A for more information about White House Letters. Describe your interest and ability to respond to these letters.

Clearly describe all other activities otherwise not described above that will be supported with the stipend funds.

Identify any anticipated risks or challenges associated with your centers proposed activities and describe your centers strategies for addressing these challenges. If there are any identified challenges/risks contained in your proposal, describe them and include a plan for managing these challenges/risks.

Section C: Implementation Plan and Staffing (20 points)

Present your plan for implementing and managing the required activities.

Include a timeline for implementation showing key activities, milestones, and responsible staff. Awardees must be fully staffed and ready to answer rollover calls by January 1, 2016.

Please provide a clear and detailed staffing pattern that will ensure that the Lifeline Backup Center is sufficiently staffed during the required hours. Summarize which center staff persons will manage which activities (including which staff persons will serve as liaisons), including administration, reporting, IT, training, and quality assurance compliance. Be sure to include any back-up staffing plans that may be necessary.

Identify any cash or in-kind contributions that will be made to the project by the applicant.

Section D: Performance Assessment and Data (15 points)

Describe in detail what quality improvement measures your organization uses and will use to maintain high-quality service. All grant recipients will be required to provide ongoing monitoring of calls to ensure quality. At minimum, three (3) percent of all calls must be silently monitored monthly and all counselors given feedback accordingly. Additionally, all call responders must be monitored quarterly by a supervisor or whenever a quality issue is detected or a complaint received.

Describe how you will provide reports that include data for call detail records, number of calls presented, number of calls answered, number of abandoned calls, speed to answer, wait time in queue, call length (time with caller), phone numbers, time stamp for when calls are placed in queue, and time stamp for when calls are answered or caller hung up. Metrics must be provided as raw data

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to allow Lifeline the ability to compile aggregate reports; ideally this would be provided as a regular live data transfer.

Section E: Past Providers Previous Performance (only for previous Lifeline Backup Centers) (5 points)

Briefly describe your organizations history with delivering Lifeline Regional/National Backup Center services. Highlight success stories, statistical information about the population(s) impacted, and efforts made to improve the way(s) in which services are delivered. If you have received feedback about problems with your service, explain what you have done to improve your performance.

V. SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION A. BUDGET AND BUDGET JUSTIFICATION Section F: Budget and Budget Justification

Provide a detailed budget accounting for all the funds associated with this grant. Provide a narrative justification of the items included in your proposed budget as well as a description of existing resources and other support. Please only provide justification for personnel and/or resources that are directly related to the activities funded under this supplement. Identify any cash or in-kind contributions that will be made to the project by the applicant or other partnering organizations.

B. OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION (IF APPLICABLE)

In Section F you may attach additional documentation to support your application. You must include call volume reports from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014 that indicate an average of 80 percent of calls answered with 120 seconds or less per quarter. This additional supporting documentation is not scored, but reviewers may consider it when issuing final overall recommendations.

VI. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS Link2Health Solutions staff will conduct an informational webinar on Monday, October 5, 2015 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST (details will be sent separately via email to the Lifeline network), which will provide an overview of the requirements and expectations associated with this RFP. Participation in this webinar is strongly encouraged, but not required; a recording will be made available on the Lifeline Network Resource Center following the webinar for those unable to attend. For technical assistance in relation to completing this application, please email your questions to Dominic Abordo at dabordo@mhaofnyc.org by Monday, October 12 at 5:00 PM EST. All questions and answers related to this RFP will be compiled and posted on the Lifeline Network Resource Center on Tuesday, October 13, 2015. In fairness to all applicants, no questions will be answered after this time.

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Applications will be reviewed by a panel of two independent reviewers according to the evaluation criteria listed above. Whenever possible, all applications will be reviewed by the same two individuals. When necessary, all applications within ten points of the top score will automatically be reviewed by a third independent reviewer who is an expert in the subject area of this grant. Decisions to fund a grant are based on a) the strengths and weaknesses of the application as identified by the independent reviewers; and b) availability of funds. Reviewers comments are available upon request. Applicants are welcome to submit an appeal only when evidence indicates that Link2Health Solutions has not followed all steps of the protocol outlined above. Process appeals will be accepted for one week after application results have been posted on the Lifeline Network Resource Center. Appeals can be directed to the individual listed in Section VIII: Link2Health Solutions Contact.

VII. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION A. AWARD NOTICES If you are approved for funding, you will receive the Notice of Award (NoA) via email on Friday, November 6, 2015. The NoA is the sole obligating document that allows your center to receive an additional Lifeline stipend for work on this grant project.

B. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS Each center awarded funds will be required to provide data that can be uploaded to Link2Health Solutions system for analysis in a file format as determined by Link2Health Solutions. The reporting must include at a minimum number of calls presented, number of calls answered, number of abandoned calls, speed to answer, wait time in queue, call length (time with caller), phone numbers, time stamp for when calls are placed in queue, and time stamp for when calls are answered or caller hung up . Metrics must be provided as raw data to allow Lifeline the ability to compile aggregate reports. A final report upon completion of the project must be submitted as well.

VIII. LINK2HEALTH SOLUTIONS CONTACT All questions regarding this RFP must be submitted via email to the address listed below by Monday, October 12, 2015 at 5:00 PM EST. Questions and answers will be posted on the Lifeline Network Resource Center on Tuesday, October 13, 2015 for all eligible applicants to review. Dominic Abordo Program Coordinator, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline dabordo@mhaofnyc.org | (212) 614-6308

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Appendix A: White House Letters

Correspondences sent to the White House where the writer mentions suicide, mental health, or substance abuse concerns are forwarded to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for management. SAMHSA sends those that mention suicide or indicate emotional distress to the Lifeline for assistance in assessment of the writers risk. Lifeline then passes these on to the appropriate network crisis center to manage.

The letters received by the Lifeline typically refer to a wide range of issues such as mental health concerns, unemployment, financial stress, or access to benefits. The role of the Lifeline Crisis Center in responding is to provide a response, to offer support, undertake a suicide risk assessment, and offer referrals as needed.

A minimum of two attempts at outreach are required (e.g. letter/email/call) before closing out a case. However, staff should use their clinical judgment to determine if additional outreach is needed. In cases identified by the Lifeline as High Risk, additional attempts to reach the individual are required, preferably by phone. In some cases it may be necessary to send additional emergency intervention such as a wellness check (if available in the area) or a mobile crisis team visit. When an individual writer responds to outreach, center staff must assess for risk of suicide and provide referrals as needed. Once the case is complete, an electronic report must be completed. The target amount of time to complete the report for the Lifeline should be approximately three weeks. Centers can continue to follow up with the writer beyond that time frame if necessary. However, the Lifeline must report back to SAMHSA, who in turn must notify the White House, on the status of each case within 30 days of receiving it.