The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) is seeking interest to operate a Self-Directed Care program for Health and Recovery Plan (HARP) enrollees and HARP-eligible HIV Special Needs Plan (SNP) enrollees. This includes providing both support broker and fiscal intermediary services.

Self-Directed Care is about autonomy and choice. It’s based on the idea that people are experts in their own lives and are in the best position to articulate their needs and determine their own recovery pathways. With Self-Directed Care, people can identify which goods and/or services they need to support their recovery process and have an enhanced personal responsibility in managing the dollars expended for their care. Funds are made available outside of a defined benefit funding stream, giving individuals greater options for spending that can address multiple dimensions of wellness. All purchases are linked to specific recovery goals set by the person with support from a specially trained advisor, or support broker.

OMH is seeking vendors with the capability to:

• Conduct community outreach to recruit HARP members to participate in the SDC Pilot.
• Hire and train Support Brokers to assess participants across multiple life domains to gain understanding of an individual’s whole person health, and to build a foundation from which to address and support specific goals.
• Offer information, education, and skill building to teach participants how to research and identify goods and services that will assist in reaching their recovery goals, create a personal budget for goods and/or services that support stated goals, and broaden access to natural supports.
• Designate a program level approver in the SDC Portal to maintain participant files, including detailed records of Recovery Oriented Action Plans and budgets.
• Designate a Fiscal Intermediary to manage funds within the Global Cash Card (GCC) Portal.
• Implement fiscal controls including tracking budget approvals and caps, documenting the validity of the purchase requests, and tracking categorical spending over time to keep it within the recommended limits.
• Collect and report quantitative and qualitative data.
• Track improvements in health/wellness, housing/environment, education, employment, financial security, and other measures of well-being (social determinants of health, or health-related social needs).
• Track the change over time of participants’ quality of life ratings (involvement in work, access to transportation, participation in community activities, personal relationships, independence, self-esteem).
• Identify purchase domains and categories that demonstrate a significant positive impact.
• Provide self-directed care (support broker and fiscal intermediary services) to a minimum of 100 individuals in the specified geographic area.

Anticipated Outcomes:

• The vendor(s) operate self-directed care services, including support broker and fiscal intermediary services for eligible individuals.
• The vendors will collaborate with OMH in the evaluation of the pilot and in planning for the sustainability of self-directed services in NYS.
• OMH anticipates that individuals who participate in Self-Directed Care will achieve:
• Increased confidence in choosing and budgeting for recovery supporting services
• Increased engagement with behavioral health/health service providers
• Increased satisfaction with traditional and non-traditional outpatient services
• Increased use of traditional and non-traditional outpatient services
• Reduction of inpatient admissions, emergency room use, and use of crisis services
• Improvements in social determinants of health
• Improved Quality of Life
• Improved behavioral health
• Improved physical health
• Increased community tenure and stability
• Increased involvement in education and employment
• Increased social connection and involvement
• Improved indicators of health and behavioral health and wellness

Eligibility Requirements:

• Experience providing self-directed care, including support broker and fiscal intermediary services,
• Experience providing mental health services to HARP enrollees,
• Expertise in the delivery of recovery-oriented services to adults with behavioral health disorders
• An understanding of the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Final Rule
• Offices that are located in a home and community based setting
• Expertise with person-centered planning
• A provider site located in Orange and/or New York County
• An established in-network presence through a contractual relationship with at least one HARP
• Existing enrollment in New York State Medicaid (eMedNY)
• A New York State not-for-profit corporation

How to Respond:

Interested eligible organizations should submit a letter of interest to Carol Swiderski via email at carol.swiderski@omh.ny.gov by Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 4:00 PM. The letter of interest must clearly demonstrate the applicant’s eligibility based on the “Eligibility Requirements” section above.

Funding for this project is contingent on the availability of State funds and the number of eligible applicants that respond to this advertisement. Progress reports are required. Please note this is solely a Solicitation of Interest and does not guarantee an award or contract.

The Office of Mental health reserves the right to withdraw this solicitation and/or issue a competitive procurement for this project if the number of interested and eligible parties exceed that which can be reasonably accommodated by available funds.