Regional Services RFP General Program Questions

General Program Questions

Kinship care has been shown to decrease the need for out of home placement for children. Are kinship caregiver families who are providing care to children who are not in the custody of the State of Indiana and who are not adopted, eligible to receive any services under this RFP?

For what services might a family with an “indicated” abuse or neglect, or a family with substantiated abuse or neglect but assessed as “low-risk” qualify? (It appears no services are available)

The Community Partners for Child Safety (CPCS) secondary prevention service is available statewide. This service is for any family that is not a DCS case. If a case is substantiated by DCS, it must be served by DCS . If DCS does not substantiate a case, but indicates that a family could benefit from services DCS may refer a family to CPSCS. Participation in CPCS is voluntary.

Can a non-standardized service be proposed for funding under this RFP as in the past (e.g. in-school prevention/education programs)?

No. We anticipate that these services are family support services that are now seen as prevention. If the local DCS and Regional Services Council wishes to fund these Community Partners with these funds can, family support funds,  can be transferred into CPCS contracts.

How do we know what services individual counties are interested in buying?

Assume they are interested in all services.

I’m developing a Children’s Advocacy Center for Region 15’s RSC.  It’s expected to open January 2009.  Would it be eligible for any of the funding?

Funding in this RFP follows the Service Standards. If the Advocacy Center wants to apply for one of the services under one of the Service Standards it can. If you are asking if there is funding for the administration of a Child Advocacy Center, not in this RFP.

In the RFP it states that every agency must carry as much insurance coverage as the state.  What are those insurance amounts?

Indiana Code IC 9-25-4-5 defines “Minimum Amounts”…$25,00 for bodily injury to or the death of one individual, $50,000 for bodily injury to or the death of two or more individuals in any one accident,

$10,000 for damage to or the destruction of property in one accident.

Is there any flexibility in modifying the outcome expectations as some of the outcomes listed are ones over which providers have no control?

The provider is welcome to write specific outcomes for their particular service and track information to include in the evaluation.

The Chins description focuses upon group service with a corresponding rate. What is the rate and service standard for individual service?

Sorry, but we have no idea what you are asking.

Will there be a Respite section in this grant?

If the question is whether there is a Service Standard for Respite Care, there is not. There are a some Services that have as a service component Respite Care.

If we decline to bid on this contract, does this mean we lose future business with completing evaluations for Dearborn County and does the decline have to be put in writing? 

No

At the Bidder’s conference, it was stated that IV-B could pay for a portion of a group-oriented service that was not fully covered by Medicaid; it was our understanding that State child welfare dollars could not be used to supplement Medicaid reimbursements. What is correct?

This was stated; it is incorrect. Medicaid payment must be accepted as full payment.

Will home based parenting education be available on this RFP?

There are several Home Based Family Centered service standards. You should look at these standards and the target population to see if your program could be written under these standards.

Under the pages titled “Federal Disallowed Expenses,” stipends paid to employees are listed as unallowable. Is training costs to earn a specialized certification, as in Indiana Adolescent Sex Offender certification, an allowable expense? If you would please define “stipend” with an example or two, it might be clearer. For instance, can an agency pay for the tuition costs of an employee with Federal grant monies?

It is not considered a stipend if the tuition costs of an employee are not given directly to the employee.  If the money is given to the agency where the certification is being sought, then it is allowable.

When referring to the number of days to respond to clients, file reports, etc., does this refer to business days or calendar days?  Do holidays count in these numbers?

Business days only. Holidays do not count.

Face to face supervision requirements:  Does this mean one-on-one supervision only, or does group supervision count in meeting this requirement?

One on one meets the requirement.

Are there any set limitations on the number of staff a supervisor may supervise?

The State has not established a maximum for these standards.

It has been our experience that referrals often require corrections and resubmission to our agency to meet the standards and requirements for billing. Once the accurate referral is received, it is our assumption that the date on the corrected, accurate referral is the date to be used for purposes of the outcome measures. Is this correct?

The first date is what should be used for the outcome  measures.

Currently we provide home-based and parenting education programs in three counties through MOU’s. These programs are designed to be county-need specific and although similar, are not the same as IV-B. Are there any limitations or restrictions to these MOU’s?

The MOU's are a separate process than this RFP. Their limitations /restrictions are different from this RFP.

We have a residential drug/alcohol treatment facility for women and children (the majority of whom are CHINs).  Our services are delivered in Allen County (Region 4).  However, we have client families from other regions--most notably region 1 (Lake) and region 3 (St Joseph).  So, the question is do we classify our program by the region in which the services are delivered (4) or do we identify the regions in which client families originate (1 and 3)? 

Where the families originate.