Adult 40 hour Peer Recovery Supporter Training Coordination for DBH

MISSION & GUIDING PRINCIPLESThe mission of the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) is to provide statewide leadership of a high-quality mental health and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery system that is effective and valued by all Ohioans. DBH strives to be a national leader in implementing a comprehensive, accessible, and quality-focused system of addiction and mental health care and wellness for all Ohio citizens. PURPOSEThe Ohio Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) is seeking proposals from qualified contractors to BACKGROUNDIn Ohio, a Certified Adult Peer Recovery Supporter (CPRS) is an individual, age eighteen or older, with a direct lived experience, who has self-identified as being in recovery from a mental health disorder, substance use disorder, or both. CPRSs are trained and certified in using their lived experience. The DBH 40-hour PRS training is delivered by (2) Adult CPRSs trained by DBH to facilitate the PRS Training. This training meets the state educational requirements for Adult Peer Recovery Supporter certification. CPRSs are required to complete 16 hours of self-paced, online coursework, prior to attending the live 40-hour PRS training.For the purpose of this RFP, “Prospective CPRS” will be used to refer to individuals in the community who are interested in completing the 40-hour Adult Peer Recovery Supporter Training.DBH is seeking one organization to be responsible for the coordination, recruitment, preparation, registration, and customer service for up to 60 total PRS trainings in fiscal year 2026 (January 2026-June 2026). If the contract is extended into fiscal year 2027 (July 2026-June 2027), awardee would be responsible for up to 100 total PRS trainings. This opportunity will provide up to $125,000. Trainings will begin in January 2026. Contract may be extended into Fiscal year 2027 (June 2026-July 2027). This opportunity would provide up to $250,000 if the contract is extended into fiscal year 2027.Awardee will not be responsible for registration for Family or Youth Peer Supporter Trainings. Awardee would be responsible for referring prospective CPRSs who contact awardee regarding Family or Youth Peer Supporter Training to the appropriate organizations offering Family or Youth Peer Supporter Training. The PRS training schedule will be developed by DBH and provided to awardee. Trainings will take place both online and in-person. Trainings will be scheduled in groups of approximately 8-9 trainings per month. Schedule is subject to change.Unless otherwise directed by DBH, online trainings will be available equitably to prospective CPRSs statewide and will not prioritize prospective CPRSs by region, county of residence, or other criteria. PRS training is limited to Ohio residents and individuals employed in the state of Ohio. Unless otherwise directed by DBH, PRS trainings will be filled on a first come, first serve basis as prospective CPRSs complete all registration requirements identified by DBH. DBH reserves the right to identify trainings from the provided schedule to give priority to special populations (e.g., Veterans, survivors of human trafficking, etc.).This opportunity is open only to organizations that demonstrate statewide involvement (not specific to county or Mental Health & Recovery Services Board area) in Peer Services delivery and/or Peer Supporter training registration management. Only organizations with a physical, brick and mortar, location in the State of Ohio, that serves primarily Ohioans, will be considered. SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLESRegistration process and requirements will vary for in-person PRS Trainings and online PRS trainings. Please see outlined below: Deliverables for both online and in-person PRS trainings. Deliverables for online PRS trainings only. Deliverables for in-person PRS trainings only.For both online and in-person PRS trainings awardee will: Assign (2) facilitators to each PRS training from a list of DBH-approved facilitators. Facilitators will be scheduled on a rotating basis. Pay facilitators through direct deposit, within 7 business days of the end date of training. Note: Awardee will not be responsible for the cost of paying facilitators, only for depositing funds provided by DBH into the bank accounts of the facilitators and providing facilitators with necessary tax documentation. Assign replacement facilitator(s) if a facilitator must cancel or miss training. Have designated staff assigned to PRS training recruitment, registration, preparation and customer service. Train alternate staff in registration process to serve as backup if/when designated staff is not available during designated hours. Staff must be available by phone and e-mail Monday-Friday during set business hours to assist prospective CPRSs with training registration, communicate with DBH & training facilitators, and complete the deliverables for this RFP. Business hours will be an 8-hour block of time that is the same daily, between the hours of 8:00 A.M. – 6:30 P.M. Monday-Friday. Awardee will identify and confirm with DBH the designated 8 hours that meet these criteria. Awardee staff are not expected to be available to DBH, training facilitators or prospective CPRSs outside of Monday-Friday business hours or on state holidays. Awardee will identify (1) phone number and (1) e-mail address to be listed publicly, statewide, for prospective CPRSs interested in registration. E-mail should be a separate organizational address designated exclusively to PRS training registration and customer service, that is accessible to multiple staff within the organization (e.g., peersupport@yourorganization.org). E-mail may not be on public e-mail server, such as Yahoo, Gmail, etc. E-mail and phone number will be included on DBH website and public statewide communication regarding PRS training. Reply to all phone and e-mail inquiries and submissions from prospective CPRSs within 2 business days. “Business days” are defined as Monday-Friday, excluding state holidays. Develop plan to market PRS trainings statewide. Submit plan as part of proposal. All materials used in registration, recruitment and communication will be standardized and provided to awardee by DBH. Unless approved by DBH, awardee will not develop or distribute additional training materials or release communication regarding PRS training using alternate language. Awardee will follow provided DBH branding guidelines and utilize DBH-provided communication templates. Maintain webpage dedicated to the deliverables of this RFP, including training registration information, registration form, training calendar, awardee contact information, etc.Collect and review PRS training registration forms, as provided by DBH. Registration should be hosted on awardee’s webpage or collected through other web-based solution (e.g., Microsoft Forms). Awardee may include in awardee’s proposed budget the purchase of a web-based solution or platform to utilize for registration. Registration forms may not be accepted as e-mail attachments. All registration information provided to awardee by prospective CPRSs must be saved and maintained by awardee. Awardee may not share registration forms or use registration information for purposes outside of PRS training registration. By reviewing training registration form question responses, awardee will confirm that prospective CPRS meets the PRS training criteria. Prospective CPRSs attending PRS Training must self-identify as being personally in recovery from a mental health disorder, substance use disorder, or both. Awardee may not add additional registration criteria not approved by DBH, such as time in recovery or references. Awardee will identify prospective CPRSs who do not meet training registration criteria and send e-mail communication to these prospective CPRSs regarding ineligibility. Refer prospective CPRSs who contact awardee regarding Family or Youth Peer Supporter Training to the appropriate organizations offering Family or Youth Peer Supporter Training. Note: Awardee will not be responsible for registration for Family or Youth Peer Supporter Training.Verify completion of 16 hours of online learning prior to awarding spot in training to prospective CPRSs. 16-hour online learning requirements should be included with training information on awardee webpage. The Certified Peer Recovery Supporter Training Learning Plan (eBased Academy) consists of a free series of online modules for which prospective CPRSs receive an Adobe PDF completion certificate. Awardee will be responsible for checking this completion certificate prior to awarding training spot to prospective CPRSs. Learning management system is subject to change. After prospective CPRS has completed all training registration requirements, assign prospective CPRS to PRS Training. Awardee will add prospective CPRSs to selected training by order of completion of eBased Academy coursework and submission of training registration form. Prospective CPRSs must have both registration form and eBased Academy coursework complete prior to being awarded a spot in PRS training. Unless specified by DBH, spots may not be reserved for any reason. Awardee will add prospective CPRSs to PRS Training within 5 business days of receiving all registration materials. All efforts should be made to register prospective CPRSs during their preferred training dates and times. Send PRS Training materials and communication to registered prospective CPRSs by e-mail within 5 business days of completion of all registration requirements. Track PRS Training attendance confirmation. Send training reminder e-mails 1 week prior to the training start date. Develop standard process for PRS training registration deadlines, waitlists, cancellation/no-shows, to be approved by DBH. Collect PRS training data from PRS training registration forms and provide to DBH. Maintain and share with DBH a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of prospective CPRSs and successful PRS Training participants. Awardee may not share training data, including prospective CPRS names, e-mails contact information, or demographic information with outside entities. Any outside requests awardee receives for training data should be directed to DBH. Awardee may not use training data and/or prospective CPRS contact information for purposes outside of the deliverables of the contract. Send to DBH and PRS Training facilitators a completed attendance roster 1 week prior to training start date. Awardee will add to attendance roster the names, e-mail address, phone number, and county of residence of all registered prospective CPRSs, names of facilitators, training dates, hours, and any additional information requested by DBH. Issue completion certificates by e-mail to training participants within 5 business days of the end date of training. Track ADA accommodation requests from participants and communicate requests to DBH within at least 30 days of the start date of training.For online PRS trainings only, awardee will: Register 20 prospective CPRSs per training.Pay for and provide a professional Zoom account on which all online PRS trainings and technology test sessions will be held. This should be a separate Zoom account dedicated exclusively to PRS Training. Cost of Zoom account should be included in total cost of proposal. Zoom account must be able to accommodate up to (7) meetings simultaneously and have no meeting time limit. Zoom account must have the option for DBH PRS Training Facilitators to login to the account directly to start the training meeting, without assistance from awardee. At the start of contract, schedule separate Zoom meeting for each online PRS training, to be shared with prospective CPRSs in registration communication. Share Zoom login information and Zoom meeting link with DBH and assigned facilitators at the time that the training is scheduled. Schedule and facilitate at least (2) 1-hour technology test sessions on Zoom per month (DBH to provide checklist of needed skills). Awardee will facilitate the technology test session without assistance from DBH or PRS Training facilitators (awardee will not facilitate the 40-hour PRS trainings, only the technology test sessions). Technology test session will be an opportunity for registered prospective CPRSs to login and test Zoom features & ensure their personal technology is functioning appropriately prior to training. Email electronic version of manual and Mail paper manuals individually to each registered prospective CPRSs prior to the start date of training. DBH will provide manuals in bulk to awardee. Awardee will not be responsible for printing costs. DBH may consider allowing awardee to collect a non-refundable/non-transferable fee to cover cost of manual postage, if individual is requesting a print copy of training materials. For in-person PRS trainings only, awardee will: Register 26 prospective CPRSs, giving priority to residents of noted counties (if priority counties are requested by the training host). E-mail sign-in sheet containing registered participants to host 1 week prior to training start date.NOTE: For in-person trainings, a local training host, such as the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, is responsible for recruiting prospective CPRSs locally, and for connecting prospective CPRSs with awardee to complete the registration process. The local host will also be responsible for providing the physical training space, printed materials, and training manuals. Awardee will be responsible only for registration and will not be responsible for the securing or managing the training location (the physical space where training will be held). Awardee will not be required to travel to the training location. Awardee budget should not include venue reservation fees, meals, or travel.Additional PRS Training Coordination Guidelines: If awardee has previously hosted DBH PRS Trainings, awardee should carefully review the deliverables of this RFP and be aware of the areas in which this contract will vary from the previous PRS training host role. Awardee may not collaborate or subcontract with outside organizations for any deliverables. Awardee is not expected to market PRS trainings in-person, such as attending conferences/events. Awardee will be responsible only for PRS trainings taking place in the community. Trainings taking place inside the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will remain the sole responsibility of DBH.DBH will be solely responsible for the delivery of the PRS training. Awardee will be responsible only for scheduling and payment of the facilitators. DBH will be solely responsible for the oversight of PRS Training facilitators. Awardee will not be responsible for monitoring/supervising facilitators. Awardee will communicate any training needs/questions/concerns regarding the facilitation of the training to DBH directly. DBH and PRS training facilitators will be solely responsible for addressing any problems/issues that occur during training. Awardee will not be responsible for assisting in prospective CPRS issues that occur during the training. While training is taking place, awardee will be responsible for addressing/troubleshooting technological issues that may occur with the Zoom account on which the training is being delivered. DBH will be solely responsible for PRS training conflict resolution regarding prospective CPRSs, facilitators, or training delivery. Awardee will report any training issues to DBH and will not participate directly in conflict resolution. DBH will be solely responsible for the evaluation and quality assurance of all PRS trainings. Unless approved by DBH, awardee may not ask prospective CPRSs to complete additional evaluation of PRS training or registration process. PRS trainings are private/confidential and are limited to facilitators and registered prospective CPRSs only. Awardee may not join/observe PRS trainings. Unless approved by DBH, awardee may not give presentations and/or recruit for outside opportunities during training or schedule outside organizations/employers to give presentations and/or recruit during trainings. Awardee will not be responsible for assisting prospective CPRSs in the certification application process. The certification application process is the process that prospective CPRSs who have successfully completed PRS training will complete to be formally certified as a CPRS in the state of Ohio. Awardee will refer prospective CPRS needing assistance with certification application process to appropriate technical assistance organizations. Travel is not required. Awardee is only expected to operate from the awardee’s standard place of business. Please do not include travel expenses in your proposed budget.Technology Requirements: Awardee must have strong working knowledge of and be fully proficient in the following programs: Zoom, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader. DBH will not be available to train or assist awardee in the use of the above listed programs. Microsoft Excel proficiency should include but not be limited to gathering and collating data, creating tables, sorting, and filtering data. Awardee must maintain current Microsoft Office programs including Excel, PowerPoint, Word. Awardee should be fully proficient in professional e-mail communication and skills. The technology requirements for awardee include but are not limited to the below. These requirements apply also to awardee staff fulfilling deliverables while working remotely: Awardee’s computer must be compatible with and have no limitations participating in meetings on Microsoft Teams and Zoom. The awardee must have a strong, reliable phone and internet service. Awardee may not use internet service that is known to freeze, buffer, or lose connection. Awardee may not use phone service that is known to lose connection or be difficult to hear. Awardee is expected to conduct and attend virtual meetings related to this contract using only a laptop or desktop computer, with functional microphone, sound and web camera. DBH can accept document submission from awardee and send documents to awardee only by e-mail attachment. DBH is unable to open links to file storage sites, such as Google Drive. Awardee must ensure that e-mail system being used to fulfill deliverables has no limitations on accepting e-mail and attachments from outside senders and will not block/reject these items. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS OF CONTRACTORPriority for this funding opportunity will be given to organizations that demonstrate statewide involvement, not specific to county or Mental Health & Recovery Services Board area, in Peer Services delivery and/or Peer Supporter training hosting. Only organizations with a physical, brick and mortar location in the State of Ohio, that serves primarily Ohioans, will be considered.Contractor shall not be subject to an “unresolved” finding for recovery under Section 9.24 of Ohio Revised Code