The Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions (FAHSC) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a home visiting services provider, with the contract set to begin in late September. The contract is part of FAHSC’s efforts to support the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Programs (MIECHV) Initiative, which was created in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act.
According to the RFP, home visiting services can improve health assessments and care coordination for at-risk communities, ultimately leading to better health outcomes. At-risk communities were determined using the 2020 Florida Needs Assessment. In the assessment, over 62% of respondents said they did not have enough or were not sure if they had enough sufficient providers of early childhood services in their communities. Additionally, the home-visiting services most needed in communities were economic self-sufficiency assistance (nearly 16% of respondents) and mental health treatment (nearly 14% of respondents).
The MIECHV initiative aims to support communities with high rates of infant mortality, premature birth, as well as considering social determinants of health, including poverty, substance abuse, and domestic violence.
“The purpose of the initiative is to deliver coordinated home visiting services to identified high‐risk families, on a voluntary basis, in order to better equip parents and other caregivers with the knowledge, skills, and tools to assist their children in being healthy, safe, and ready to succeed in school,” the RFP said.
Grant funds for home visiting services may extend up to $623,533, according to the RFP. Respondents should be interested in implementing the following types of evidence-based home visiting models: (Nurse‐Family Partnership (NFP), Healthy Families America (HFA) or Parents As Teachers (PAT)).
Organizations must serve a minimum of 25 families, up to a maximum of 125 families. Eligible respondents, which may be non-profit and for-profit organizations operating in Florida, include but are not limited to Healthy Start coalitions, hospitals, rural health networks, and federally-qualified health centers.
Responses to the RFP should detail an organization’s current or previous experience providing services to at-risk communities. Reponses should also describe how an organization will coordinate services with community partners, and how it will acquire and provide data on certain performance measures. These include service community demographics (households served, types of coverage, race, ethnicity) and health indicators (preterm births, depression screening, postpartum, well child visits, intimate partner violence). Responses should also include a budget proposal for funding from Sept. 29, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023.
The submission deadline for proposals is September 13, 2022, submitted electronically to Monya Newmyer, Director of Contracts and Grants Administration at [email protected].
FAHSC intends to announce the award on Sept. 20, 2022, with an anticipated contract start of Sept. 29, 2022.