IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:
The Purchasing Office has moved to a new location. The new address is 8600 Staples Mill Road, Henrico VA 23228. The Office is located near the intersection of Staples Mill Road and Parham Road in Henrico County, VA.
Bidders/Offerors who elect to deliver their IFB’s/RFP’s in person or by special courier are encouraged to allow extra time to assure timely receipt of documents. Call (804) 501-5691 for further information.
RFP #15-1040-8CS
September 11, 2015
YOUNG WOMEN’S GROUPS
PROMOTING EMPOWERMENT AND RESILIENCY
THROUGH LEARNING STRENGTHS “PEARLS”
HENRICO COUNTY JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT
VIRGINIA JUVENILE COMMUNITY CRIME CONTROL ACT
14th DISTRICT COURT SERVICE UNIT
COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA
Your firm is invited to submit a proposal to provide a program for young women’s groups promoting empowerment and resiliency through learning strengths “PEARLS” in accordance with the enclosed specifications. The submittal, consisting of the original proposal and five (5) additional copies marked, “Young Women’s Groups “PEARLS", will be received no later than 2:00 p.m., October 23, 2015, by:
IN PERSON OR SPECIAL COURIER U.S. POSTAL SERVICE
County of Henrico County of Henrico
Department of Finance Department of Finance
Purchasing Division OR Purchasing Division
8600 Staples Mill Road - NEW LOCATION P O Box 90775
Henrico, Virginia 23228 Henrico, Virginia 23273-0775
This RFP and any addenda are available on the County of Henrico Purchasing website at http://henrico.us/purchasing/ To download the (IFB or RFP), click the link and save the
document to your hard drive. To receive an email copy of this document, please send a request to:
Time is of the essence and any proposal received after 2:00 p.m., October 23, 2015, whether by mail or otherwise, will be returned unopened. The time of receipt shall be determined by the time clock stamp in the Purchasing Division, Department of Finance. Proposals shall be placed in a sealed, opaque envelope, marked in the lower left-hand corner with the RFP number, title, and date and hour proposals are scheduled to be received. Offerors are responsible for insuring that their proposal is stamped by Purchasing Division personnel by the deadline indicated.
Nothing herein is intended to exclude any responsible firm or in any way restrain or restrict competition. On the contrary, all responsible firms are encouraged to submit proposals. The County of Henrico reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals submitted.
The awarding authority for this contract is the Purchasing Director.
Technical questions concerning this Request for Proposal should be submitted to no later than October 5, 2015.
Very truly yours,
Cecelia H. Stowe, CPPO, C.P.M.
Purchasing Director
804-501-5685
8600 STAPLES MILL ROAD/P O BOX 90775/HENRICO VA 23273-0775
(804) 501-5660 FAX (804) 501-5693
YOUNG WOMEN’S GROUPS
PROMOTING EMPOWERMENT AND RESILIENCY
THROUGH LEARNING STRENGTHS “PEARLS”
HENRICO COUNTY JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISTRICT COURT
VIRGINIA JUVENILE COMMUNITY CRIME CONTROL ACT
14th DISTRICT COURT SERVICE UNIT
COUNTY OF HENRICO, VIRGINIA
I. PURPOSE:
The intent of this Request for Proposal (“RFP”), and resulting annual contract, is to obtain the services of a qualified firm for the purpose of providing gender specific female groups to address the underlying reasons for delinquent and unhealthy behavior in females before Intake or the Court. These groups are for families residing in Henrico County (the “County”) who are served by the Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (“HCJDRDC”) and the 14th District Court Service Unit (“14th CSU”) through a delinquency or child in need of supervision petition. VJCCCA programs and services are funded with state and local appropriations through the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (“VJCCCA”). The provisions of this RFP shall be subject to the appropriations of the necessary funds under VJCCCA. In the event these funds are reduced or terminated, the County shall have the right to terminate or modify the resulting contract immediately. The HCJDRDC, VJCCCA Office and 14th CSU have an on-going goal of providing a range of community-based programs and services for juveniles and their parents and/or legal guardians as submitted in a VJCCCA biannual plan. These groups are part of the VJCCCA plan which is approved by both the Board of Supervisors of the County and the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (“DJJ”). The County intends to award this contract to one (1) firm.
A review of current literature and studies indicates gender specific programming may be helpful in addressing the needs of female delinquent and status youth. The reasons behind why females are involved in delinquent or status related behavior may be attributed to: sexual and physical victimization, unhealthy family dynamics and relationships, an internalization of response to trauma, neglect, abandonment, rejection, and mental health issues. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s report indicates “Adolescent girls in the juvenile justice system differ from boys developmentally in their focus on relationships; their internalized responses to trauma in the form of depression, self-mutilation, and substance abuse; and their externalized responses to trauma in the form of aggression.”1
1 Francine T. Sherman, “Pathways to Juvenile Detention Reform, Detention Reform and Girls, Challenges and Solutions,” 2005, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland.
Cooney, Small and O’Connor indicate female delinquency is more likely to be preceded by troubled family and school relationships, sexual and physical abuse, and these females are more likely to be intimately associated with males involved in criminal behavior.2 Kerig and Schindler write “Delinquent girls have more adversity in their family relationships that includes neglect, abandonment, hostility, conflict and rejection and these factors are differentially predictive of girls’ delinquency and aggression.”3
A review of best practices/evidence based principles for this population references a comprehensive approach to address the specific needs of juvenile female offenders. A wide-ranging review of available data by Kerig and Schindler indicates girls are generally low risk but high need and “utilization of an assessment instrument that is calibrated to measure the specific needs of delinquent girls may be warranted.”4 An OJJDP article indicates important considerations in programming and policy should include addressing the youth’s physical maltreatment, response to mental health problems, lack of family supervision and monitoring, school involvement, and utilization of interdisciplinary models that place behaviors in social, psychological and biological context.5 Sherman indicates programming for female delinquents should be gender-responsive and strength based and not deficit driven.6 In addition, it is indicated programs should be in a safe environment that fosters open communication, provides opportunities for the females to develop trust and healthy relationships, includes education about women’s health and development resiliency and protective factors, stimulates critical thinking and moral reasoning and incorporates cultural responsivity and trauma-responsive practices.7
2 Siobhan Cooney, Stephen Small and Cailin O’Connor, “Girls in the Juvenile Justice System: Toward Effective Gender-Responsive Programming, What Works, Wisconsin – Research to Practice Series”, Issue #7, January 2008.
3 Patricia K. Kerig and Sheryl R. Schindler, “Engendering the Evidence Base: A Critical Review of the Conceptual and Empirical Foundations of Gender-Responsive Interventions for Girls’ Delinquency”, Dept. Of Psychology, University of Utah, August 2013.
4 Kerig and Schindler, 248.
5 Margaret A. Zahn, Robert Agnew, Diana Fishbein, Shari Miller, Donna-Marie Winn, Gayle Dakoff, Candace Kruttschnitt, Peggy Giordano, Denise C. Gottfredson, Allison A. Payne, Barry C. Feld, and Meda Chesney-Lind, “The Girls Study Group – Causes and Correlates of Girls Delinquency”, April 2010.
6 Sherman, 16, 20.
7 Kerig and Schindler, 245.
The program’s goal is to educate referred females on alternatives to risky behavior that resulted in delinquent or Child In Need Of Supervision (CHINSup) petitions being filed. The program is a specially designed resource and will be identified as the Promoting Empowerment and Resiliency through Learning Strengths or “PEARLS” program. PEARLS will consist of ten (10) weekly meetings of two (2) hour sessions for the referred females with four (4) separate concurrent sessions for the parent/guardian. The targeted population served will be females 14 through 17 years of age and their parents/legal guardians. It is understood 13 year old females may also be referred to the program if the referring source indicates the youth’s maturity level is higher than chronological age. Cognitive behavioral strategies will be utilized to address the risk factors of females referred to the program who also have weak protective factors. Youth served shall be primarily low/moderate risk females amenable to the group process without mental health concerns that would impede their ability to actively engage in group dynamics and intervention.
The targeted population include females charged with Child In Need of Supervision (CHINSup), Assault, substance use related offenses, and Disorderly Conduct. In addition, the program is targeted to females with a VJCCCA eligible offense who exhibit inappropriate sexual behavior or risky behavior that the judiciary or CSU staff indicate could benefit from the program. If referred from the CSU, the CSU Risk Assessment will reflect these juveniles have low/moderate risk factors with low/moderate protective factors. All youth served under this contract shall meet the criteria for VJCCCA services and amenable to services within the community.
II. BACKGROUND
The County does not have a current contract for similar services but based on available data, it is anticipated 100 females and their families will be served under this contract annually.
III. SCOPE OF SERVICES
The Successful Offeror shall provide all labor, materials, equipment, supervision, and counseling services to provide the following:
A. SPECIFIC PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:
1. The Successful Offeror shall provide to each referred female and her parents/legal guardians a total of ten 2 – hour weekly sessions (youth) and four 2 - hour weekly sessions (parent/guardian) specifically addressing areas identified below. One of the youth sessions is to be devoted to a 2 - hour group community service project that incorporates the program’s learning strategies in the project. The females targeted will primarily range in age from 14 through 17 with an understanding 13 year old youth may be referred if the referring source indicates the youth’s maturity level is higher than chronological age. The females and their custodial parents will be referred by the 14th CSU (diversion and probation) and/or ordered by the Henrico Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court (“HCJDRDC”) to attend these groups. When feasible, groups shall run concurrently in both the eastern and western sections of the County with locations approved in advance by the VJCCCA Coordinator. An evidence based curriculum is to be utilized emphasizing cognitive behavioral strategies and strength based programming. The program shall encompass current research and best practices as evidenced above and all proposals shall specify how this is incorporated in their curriculum.
2. Services shall include, but shall not be limited to:
a. Preparing a curriculum/learning strategy/plan(s) for each of the meetings of an assigned PEARLS session as identified below. All curricula material utilized in each group are to be attached to the RFP response. A maximum of ten (10) groups will be run per fiscal year unless prior approval is secured in advance by the VJCCCA Coordinator. Group assignment and curriculum material are to be age appropriate and gender specific.
b. Providing gender specific group services to referred females who range in age from 14 through 17 years of age, will be before the Court or Intake on a petition alleging a Delinquent Offense or Child in Need of Supervision, and meet VJCCCA program criteria. Females to be served under this RFP may be described as:
· Having delinquency records characterized by brevity; generally Disorderly Conduct, CHINSup, Assault, or substance abuse related offenses;
· Exhibiting behaviors that are due to poor decision making, anger control or conflict resolution skills;
· Exhibiting inappropriate sexual behavior or risky behavior that the judiciary or CSU staff feel could benefit from the program;
· The CSU completed Youth Assessment Strength Inventory (YASI) assessment reflects low/moderate risk to reoffend with low/moderate protective factors;
· Considered posing minimal/moderate threat to public safety;
· Considered amenable to treatment within the community and without mental health concerns that would impede ability to actively engage in group dynamics and intervention.
NOTE: Juveniles charged or with a history of felonious assaults, violent felonies or females with psychosis shall not be served unless permission is first secured by the VJCCCA Coordinator or juveniles are Court ordered into the program.
c. Presenting age appropriate information on identified topic areas as follows:
· Basic etiquette;
· Appearance and overall health and hygiene;
· Dressing/speaking appropriately, negative attitudes/demeanor/image being projected;
· Life skills (table manners, financial responsibility, employment, dress);
· Promiscuous behavior;
· Placing self in risky situations or displaying risky behavior;
· Age appropriate/developmental behavior;
· Cultural/ethnicity responsivity;
· The value of self-worth/respecting self;
· Importance not only of emotional health but physical health;
· Defining healthy relationships/impediments to same;
· Impact/importance of mother/daughter relationships;
· An awareness to and reaction to trauma, grief, loss/therapeutic intervention;
· Gender relevant topics;
· Attachments to unhealthy interpersonal relationships;
· Support system dynamics – positive or negative;
· Impact of substance abuse, eating disorders, etc. on decision making and subsequent negative impact on self;
· Dangerous use of social media/implications;
· History of negative role models/expose in group to positive male and female role models. Utilization of guest speakers (i.e. Judge, attorney, police officer).
d. Services are to include the following components:
· Providing two facilitators for 10 weekly 2 - hour sessions for the female participants;
· Providing two facilitators for each of the 4 weekly 2 - hour sessions with the parent/guardian;
· Providing in-sight staff (2) supervision of 2 - hours of related community service work for 1 of the 10 youth sessions;
· An on-site graduation session for graduates and their parents and invited family members during the 10th session;