New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department: Children’s Trust Fund

The Children’s Trust Fund aims to establish a contract through competitive negotiations for the procurement of innovative projects and programs that address prevent abuse and neglect of children; provide medical, psychological and other appropriate treatment for children who are victims of abuse or neglect; and/or develop community-based programs, projects and/or services aimed at the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect.

The goal of the Children’s Trust Fund is to develop community-based projects and programs that will prevent child abuse from occurring before it happens and will provide services to those who have experienced abuse and neglect by utilizing forward thinking programs with measurable and identifiable outcomes. Objectives are to develop innovative children’s projects and programs that address one or more of the following:

• Category A: Preventing abuse and neglect of children
• Category B: Providing medical, psychological and other appropriate treatment for children who are victims of abuse or neglect
• Category C: Developing community-based services aimed at the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect

Offerors must demonstrate the willingness and ability to provide community-based primary, secondary, and/or tertiary child abuse and neglect prevention programs and services, as described below:

1. Primary Prevention / Promotion: Initiating actions and efforts to prevent child abuse from happening before it occurs. Key aspects are:

• It is offered to all members of a population
• It is offered as a voluntary service
• It attempts to influence societal forces that affect children and parents, caregivers, and all who interact with children
• It contains a component that focuses on education and training
• It seeks to promote positive family functioning rather than just preventing problems
• Examples of services are educational services in schools; prenatal and parenting classes; public service announcements; support services and education for new parents, especially teen parents; and life-skills training for children and young adults

2. Secondary Prevention: Initiating actions and efforts to prevent child abuse when certain “risk” factors or warning signals appear. Key aspects are:

• It is offered to a predefined group of “at risk” individuals
• It is offered as a voluntary service
• It is more problem-focused than Primary Prevention/Promotion
• It contains a component that focuses on education and training
• It seeks to prevent future parenting problems by focusing on identified parents, guardians, or caregivers
• Examples of efforts include support services for teen parents; services for parents of infants with specific problems; services for families with identifiable stress; self-help services and other neighborhood support services; latchkey or child care/after school services; and community organized activities to prevent child abuse or neglect

3. Tertiary Prevention: Taking measures to prevent the recurrence of child abuse or neglect once it has already occurred. Key aspects are:

• It is offered to a predefined group of individuals (families where child maltreatment has occurred)
• It is voluntary and family members indicate a willingness to engage
• Examples include intensive, home based services with trained professionals that are available to families 24 hours per day; peer-to-peer mentoring programs for parents; mental health services for children and families; parent support groups; and visitation coaching

Note: For the Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) “innovation” means the creation, development and implementation of a new process or service with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or competitive advantage. Innovation may apply to programs, processes and services. Further value is given to innovative programs or services that are unique in design or delivery to the State, city or geographic area, as well as services that are not currently available within the targeted service area. Examples of innovation can include, but are not limited to:

1. Advanced teaching methods, and/or views on a subject and forward-looking processes
2. Doing or producing something like nothing experienced or created before such as a forward-thinking program with measurable and identifiable outcomes
3. Examples of specific objectives of innovative programming regarding child abuse and neglect include, but are not limited to:

• Increased awareness of the extent, the causes and possible solutions for all forms of child abuse and neglect
  Development of a broad-based, statewide public education campaign aimed at promoting positive parenting behaviors and community support of parents
• Disseminated academic and clinical research to those in positions to enhance practice and improve policy
• Promising practices, evidence-informed or replicated evidence-based child maltreatment prevention programs across the state. Improved quality of current efforts to detect, treat and prevent child abuse
• Facilitated exchange of best practice standards throughout the state
• Designed and delivered comprehensive training programs to professionals and concerned volunteers engaged in efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect
• Assessment of the prevalence of issues facing families such as maternal depression, substance use disorders, domestic violence and the availability of treatment services for these issues
• Support of efforts in New Mexico to promote and protect the rights of the child

Amount: Budget requests of 25,000-$100,000 per year are anticipated for a term of four years. The procurement will result in multiple awards.

Eligibility: An “Offeror” is defined as any person, corporation, or partnership who chooses to submit a proposal. Offerors must meet the following criteria to be eligible for funding:
No serious audit exceptions with CYFD contracts within the last five years
A record of substantial compliance with contract scope of work and consistent monthly billing and reporting practice

Additionally, Offeror will be required to provide a list of a minimum of three references from similar projects/programs performed for private, state or large local government clients within the last three years.

Link: https://cyfd.org/for-providers/rfp

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