NCSACW Technical Assistance and Training   4

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has received a request from the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) to seek sources capable of meeting the objectives set forth in the attached work description. The Government is seeking one or more vendors to respond to the need to improve family recovery, safety and stability by advancing practices and collaboration among child welfare and family serving agencies, organizations and courts working with families affected by substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders and child abuse or neglect. ACF and SAMHSA are committed to facilitating healing and recovery and promoting the social and emotional well-being of children who have experienced maltreatment, exposure to violence, and/or trauma. This notice is seeking vendors capable of meeting this programmatic area to provide support in the following functional areas of this requirement including 1) technical assistance, 2) training, 3) resource development, 4) information dissemination, and 5) maintenance and further development of a website.

Background:

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320) provides federal funding to states in support of prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities and also provides grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, for demonstration programs and projects. CAPTA highlights the complexity of the issue of child maltreatment and notes that working on the issue requires a comprehensive approach that includes addressing the impact of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) and mental health issues. To this end, CAPTA provides for the provisions of technical assistance, cross-training opportunities, data collection and related dissemination efforts.

In addition, ACF and SAMHSA provide ongoing programmatic training and technical assistance to a number of jurisdictions on a variety of topics relevant to the intersection of substance misuse and child welfare, including collaborative practice, program sustainability, trauma-informed services, evidence-based and evidence-informed services to children, treatment and recovery support services, and family-centered substance use disorder intervention and treatment practices for children and families. For example, ACF funds the Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) Program authorized by the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. These grants are designed to improve the well-being of children affected by parental substance use disorders.

SAMHSA/ACF are interested in highly experienced organizations able to handle a National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare which will implement a comprehensive program of information dissemination, knowledge application and technical assistance strategies to promote organizational and systems change at the national, state and local levels. The prime target audiences for this Center are Regional, State, and local child welfare and substance abuse agencies, including independent Tribal agencies and organizations. As such the Center:

1) Functions as the locus for the collection, dissemination and practical application, of the best available information on services and strategies for responding to the needs of families who come in contact with the child welfare system as a result of substance abuse;

2) Helps communities identify gaps in services and develop integrated approaches to respond more effectively to families who come in contact with the child welfare system as a result of substance abuse;

3) Convenes coalitions of policy makers, practitioners, researchers, consumers and family members from substance abuse and child welfare to define new directions and strategies; and

4) Provides targeted technical assistance through the use of national and local experts, who assist communities that wish to implement interventions such as problem/risk identification, cross-training strategies, staff co-location, and unique judicial/court strategies (such as family drug courts.)