Applications are due by August 16, 2023
Multnomah County, Ore. (July 17, 2023) — Portland has had a persistent lack of sobering capacity and safe places for people experiencing acute intoxication to stabilize. Multnomah County’s Behavioral Health Division has partnered with the City of Portland to lead an initiative called BHECN (Behavioral Health Emergency Coordinating Network). BHECN intends to expand the behavioral health crisis system through adding new services that focus on people with substance use needs and complement existing behavioral health services.
Multnomah County has launched the next phase of building an effective network, with the release of an RFPQ designed to engage partners committed to joining a pool of vendors who can help expand, improve, or develop new services, including:
- Crisis and Stabilization: Urgent walk-in, triage, brief intervention, observation, stabilization, subacute, withdrawal management
- Residential Treatment and Outpatient Treatment: Mental health, substance use disorder (SUD), and co-occurring
- Sobering
- Peer Recovery Support Services
- Shelter/Transitional Housing
“There is a crisis on our streets, and addressing it is a top priority for Multnomah County and for me,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “This process moves us towards a more complete network, one that helps stabilize those in crisis, provides treatment and support services, and a path to housing. I’m committed to the partnership and collaboration the development of this continuum will take – and confident this next step advances our shared commitment across many systems and jurisdictions.”
This RFPQ will qualify partners for seven years of procurement authority to add, expand and improve the services essential to a functional crisis system. The network generated by the procurement will be active for 7 years, but plans, funding and capital projects will happen much quicker than that. Contracting work could begin as soon as this fall once the qualified pool of providers is established, depending on the response to the solicitation. This approach allows the County and its partners to not only take immediate action, but make continuous system improvement throughout the next seven years.
While the RFPQ itself will not lead directly to contracts for every qualified organization, it is a required step on the way to achieving those contracts. These services will be designed in partnership with the County, City of Portland, other funding partners, vendors and the BHECN Executive Committee to improve pathways into care and create a strategic plan that will not only impact behavioral health crisis response, but the entire behavioral health system.
“With the launch of the RFPQ, Multnomah County and its partners are embarking on an opportunity to change behavioral health crisis services and improve access and meaningful, life-changing results for residents across the region,” said Julie Dodge, former interim director of Behavioral Health and now consultant to the County.
Funding for the contracts made possible through this RFPQ will be determined as services are added. So far, the County has committed $2 million annually to support BHECN services. All funding for BHECN over the next seven years will flow through this Procurement Authority and will be ongoing. Our first funding opportunity includes but is not limited to the $2 million approved by the County. In addition, the City of Portland has $1.8 million set aside to support BHECN services and will be committing ongoing funds as well. Other funders might include Health Share of Oregon, CareOregon, and State, Federal, and other local sources, and we are committed to working closely with these and other funders on developing sustainable, ongoing funding sources.
"This is life saving work," said Mayor Ted Wheeler. "As cities across the State of Oregon continue to suffer from a dire lack of mental and behavioral health resources, the City of Portland and Multnomah County are working together to bring immediate stabilization resources online to serve Portlanders experiencing intoxication, reactions to substance use, and/or behavioral health issues. These resources are desperately needed in our community and I am grateful to prospective service providers who are willing to step up to help care for Portlanders in crisis."
Click here to apply for the RFPQ on the Multnomah Marketplace (MMP). To register, vendors will need to be able to provide their business name, address, contact information, tax identification information, and identify the types of services offered. If a vendor is already registered, we recommend you review your information to make sure it’s still current. Be sure to do this at least 2 weeks before submitting a proposal to ensure we have the correct information.
BHECN RFPQ Timeline
- June 30 Release BHECN RFPQ
- July 18 Pre-proposal conference
- July 20 Pre-proposal conference
- Aug 16 Applications due
- Sept 15 Qualified supplier list issued