OMH253031 Project TEACH - New York State's Psychiatry Access Program

Project TEACH-New York State's Psychiatry Access Program
Request for Proposals
Grant Procurements
(On-Line Submission Required)
Statewide Financial System (SFS) Identifier- OMH253031
June 2026
Rev. 06/10/2026

New York State Office of Mental Health
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction and Background ........................................................................................ 1
1.1 Purpose of the Request for Proposal .................................................................... 1
1.2 Target Population/Eligibility Criteria....................................................................... 1
2. Proposal Submissions ................................................................................................... 2
2.1 Designated Contact/Issuing Officer ....................................................................... 2
2.2 Key Events/Timeline .............................................................................................. 2
2.3 Disposition of Proposals ........................................................................................ 2
2.4 Eligible Agencies ................................................................................................... 2
2.5 RFP Questions and Clarifications .......................................................................... 3
2.6 Addenda to Request for Proposals ....................................................................... 3
2.7 Disqualification Factors ......................................................................................... 3
2.8 SFS Prequalification Requirement ........................................................................ 4
2.9 Vendor Registration, Prequalification and Training Resources for Not-for-Profits 4
3. Administrative Information ............................................................................................ 7
3.1 Reserved Rights .................................................................................................... 7
3.2 Debriefing .............................................................................................................. 8
3.3 Protests Related to the Solicitation Process .......................................................... 8
3.4 Term of Contracts .................................................................................................. 8
3.5 Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises .............................................. 8
3.6 Participation Opportunities for New York State Certified Service-Disabled Veteran
Owned Business ................................................................................................. 10
3.7 Equal Opportunity Employment ........................................................................... 11
3.8 Sexual Harassment Prevention Certification ....................................................... 11
3.9 Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace Certification ................................... 12
3.10 Bid Response ...................................................................................................... 12
3.11 Acceptance of Terms and Conditions.................................................................. 12
3.12 Freedom of Information Requirements ................................................................ 12
3.13 NYS and OMH Policies ....................................................................................... 12
4. Evaluation Factors and Awards ................................................................................... 13
4.1 Evaluation Criteria ............................................................................................... 13
4.2 Method for Evaluating Proposals......................................................................... 13
4.3 Process for Awarding Contract ............................................................................ 14
4.4 Award Notification ............................................................................................... 14
5. Scope of Work ............................................................................................................... 14
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 14
5.2 Objectives and Responsibilities ........................................................................... 15
5.3 Operating Funding ............................................................................................... 40
6. Proposal Narrative ........................................................................................................ 40
6.1 Population ........................................................................................................... 40
6.2 Implementation .................................................................................................... 41
6.3 Agency Performance ........................................................................................... 42
6.4 Utilization Review, Reporting, and Quality Improvement .................................... 42
6.5 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Recipient Input ................................................... 43
7. Financial Assessment .................................................................................................. 44
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New York State Office of Mental Health
Project TEACH-New York State's Psychiatry Access Program
RFP#MH253031
Applicant Checklist
Frequent Issues/Questions:
- Please begin working on your application in SFS no later than 5 business days before the
application due date and submit no later than 48 hours before the due date. This will
allow you time to troubleshoot any issues that arise that may prevent you from submitting.
Exceptions will not be considered or made for an applicant who cannot complete their
proposal/application by the due date and time of the RFP.
- All required forms/templates are available in the "Event Comments and Attachments" section
of SFS. Please note that there are restrictions to the type, size and naming conventions of
the files and attachments uploaded in SFS. For more information, please review the SFS
Attachment Guide. Failure to comply with these guidelines may result in attachments not
being viewable to reviewers.
- No workplan is required at this time, if awarded, a workplan will be developed during the
contract development phase.
- The "Bid Amount" box is required to be filled out in SFS. Please enter the total amount of
funding your organization is requesting from NYS OMH in this box.
- New York State reserves 5-10 business days from the receipt of complete Prequalification
Applications to conduct its review. If supplementary information or updates are required,
review times will be longer. Due to the length of time this process could take to complete, it is
advised that nonprofits prequalify as soon as possible. Failure to successfully complete the
prequalification process early enough will prohibit the submission of the application in SFS.
____________________________________________________________________________
Please complete the following checklist prior to submission of your proposal. This checklist
SHOULD NOT be submitted; it is for your use only.
Confirm the following:
Your organization has met the eligibility requirements outlined in Section 2.4 Eligible
Agencies
Your organization is prequalified in SFS. SFS will prevent submission if your organization is a
not-for-profit and not prequalified (see Section 2.8 and 2.9 of the RFP document for more
information on Registration, Prequalification and Training Resources for SFS)
Updates to the RFP can happen at any time, per Section 2.6, check the OMH website for any
updates to the RFP posted by OMH.
Notification of intent to apply was sent to local government unit and proof has been uploaded
in SFS. A list of County Local Mental Hygiene Directors can be found here.
Provider Contact form completed and uploaded in SFS
Sexual Harassment Prevention Certification Completed and uploaded in SFS
Gender Based Violence and the Workplace Certification completed and uploaded in SFS.
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New York State Office of Mental Health
Proposal Template completed and any applicable attachments labeled with question numbers
(For example: question 6.2a calls for a sample assessment tool, the assessment tool should
be labeled as 6.2a and added at the end of the Proposal Template)
Proposal Template and attachments (except budget, see next checkbox) combined into one
PDF and uploaded in SFS under Q1
Budget Template Completed (left in Excel) and uploaded in SFS under Q2
Application submitted in SFS prior to the due date and time listed in Section 2.2 Key
Events/Timeline (OMH strongly advises that applicants do not wait until the last day/last few
hours to complete and submit applications/proposals to Grant RFPs. Exceptions will not be
considered or made for an applicant who cannot complete their proposal/application by the
due date and time of the RFP.)
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New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)
1. Introduction and Background
1.1 Purpose of the Request for Proposal
Untreated mental health conditions among children, youth, and birthing people are
associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and long-term system costs. Often,
primary care and other community health settings are the entry point for initial
presentation of concern, or for starting mental health treatment, though these frontline
clinicians are not trained in assessment and treatment of these conditions. This
procurement is to operate the New York State Psychiatry Access Program, known as
Project TEACH, to provide expert psychiatric training and consultative support to
prescribers and other mental health clinicians who serve as front line support to our
communities for the next 5 years.
Started in 2010, Project TEACH has helped address the demand in mental health care
in the state by providing real-time psychiatric consultation, professional education and
training on evidence-based practices, and provider referral support to frontline staff
across primary care, specialty, and community settings statewide. Project TEACH
educates providers such as obstetricians, family physicians, pediatricians and
psychiatrists to assess and treat mental health conditions within their scope of practice
and has strengthened the capacity of non-mental health clinicians serving children and
adolescents to identify, assess, and treat mental health concerns. In 2018, Project
TEACH added maternal mental health services and further added perinatal services for
all professionals who work with pregnant or postpartum individuals and their families last
year.
Clinicians and providers of all healthcare specialties, especially in rural areas, are facing
workforce challenges, while seeing increased needs in the individuals they serve.
Further, stakeholders have reported that mental health professionals have struggled with
assessment and treatment for complex and/or co-occurring conditions. Feedback
received from the Project TEACH Advisory Councils, other OMH Divisions and
community providers who have used Project TEACH services have demonstrated that
consultation services are a valuable source of support to providers.
This procurement is to operate Project TEACH as described below and in accordance
with the Scope of Work outlined in Section 5. One award in the amount of $5,000,000,
for each of five years (2027-2031) will be allocated contingent upon continued availability
of State appropriations, to continue Project TEACH services.
1.2 Target Population/Eligibility Criteria
Project TEACH assists NYS-licensed prescribers and allied health professionals in
delivering quality mental health care. Allied health professionals are non-prescribing
patient-facing professionals, including but not limited to therapists, psychologists,
counselors, social workers, nurses, community health workers, lactation consultants,
doulas, or case managers/caseworkers/service coordinators. This includes staff at any
family service program such as Department of Social Services/Office of Children and
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New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)
Family Services case workers, Office of the Aging case managers, or similar
professionals.
2. Proposal Submissions
2.1 Designated Contact/Issuing Officer
OMH has assigned an Issuing Officer for this project. The Issuing Officer or a designee
shall be the sole point of contact regarding the RFP from the date of issuance of the
RFP until the issuance of the Notice of Conditional Award. To avoid being deemed non-
responsive, an applicant is restricted from making contact with any other personnel of
OMH regarding the RFP. Certain findings of non-responsibility can result in rejection for
a contract award. The Issuing Officer for this RFP is:
Carol Swiderski
New York State Office of Mental Health
Contracts and Claims
44 Holland Avenue, 7th Floor
Albany, NY 12229
OMHLocalProcurement@omh.ny.gov
2.2 Key Events/Timeline
RFP Release Date 6/16/26
Questions Due 7/2/26
Questions and Answers Posted 7/23/26
Proposals Due by 2:00 PM EST* 8/13/26
Anticipated Award Notification 9/10/26
Anticipated Contract Start Date 1/1/27
*OMH strongly advises that applicants do not wait until the last day/last few hours to
complete and submit applications/proposals to Grant RFPs. Exceptions will not be
considered or made for an applicant who cannot complete their proposal/application by
the due date and time of the RFP. Please note that there are restrictions to the type,
size and naming conventions of the files and attachments uploaded in SFS. For
more information, please review the SFS Attachment Guide here. Failure to
comply with these guidelines may result in attachments not being viewable to
reviewers.
2.3 Disposition of Proposals
All proposals submitted by the due date and time become the property of OMH. Any
proposals not received by the due date and time do not get reviewed and are excluded
from consideration.
2.4 Eligible Agencies
Eligible applicants are public, private, for-profit, and not-for-profit organizations with
501(c) incorporation. The applicant must be a medical group, hospital, human services
agency, academic institution or its affiliate which employs or contracts with NYS-licensed
psychiatrists (evidence required*).
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New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)
*Resumes and/or CVs of faculty and a staffing plan will be required (see section 5.2.A).
Prequalification is required for all not-for-profit organizations seeking grant funding from
New York State. Please see Section 2.8 and Section 2.9 for additional Prequalification
Information.
Please be advised that all questions regarding Eligibility will be responded to through the
official posting of the Questions and Answers. No questions about Eligibility will be
responded to either individually or prior to the posting of the Q&As.
2.5 RFP Questions and Clarifications
All questions or requests for clarification concerning the RFP shall be submitted in
writing to the Issuing Officer by e-mail to OMHLocalProcurement@omh.ny.gov by the
"Questions Due" date indicated in section 2.2 and will be limited to addressing only those
questions submitted by the deadline. No questions can be submitted or will be answered
after this date. No questions will be answered by telephone or in person. Please enter
"Project TEACH" in the subject line of the email.
The questions and official answers will be posted on the OMH website by the date listed
in the timeline section 2.2.
2.6 Addenda to Request for Proposals
In the event that it becomes necessary to revise any part of the RFP during the
application submission period, an addendum will be posted on the OMH website and the
NYS Contract Reporter.
It is the applicant's responsibility to periodically review the OMH Procurement website
and the NYS Contract Reporter to learn of revisions or addendums to this RFP. No other
notification will be given.
2.7 Disqualification Factors
Following the opening of bids, a preliminary review of all proposals will be conducted by
the Issuing Officer or a designee to review each proposal's submission for completeness
and verify that all eligibility criteria have been met. Additionally, during the proposal
evaluation process, evaluators will also be reviewing eligibility criteria and confirming
that they have been met. During the course of either of these review processes,
proposals that do not meet basic participation standards will be disqualified, specifically:
* Proposals from applicants that do not meet the eligibility criteria as outlined in
2.4; or
* Proposals that do not comply with bid submission and/or required format
instructions as specified in 2.9 or
* Proposals from eligible not-for-profit applicants who have not completed Vendor
Prequalification, as described in 2.8, by 2:00 PM EST on the Proposal Due Date
posted in section 2.2.
Protests related to disqualification must filed within fifteen (15) business days after the
notice of disqualification.
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New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)
2.8 SFS Prequalification Requirement
Pursuant to the New York State Division of Budget Bulletin H-1032, dated June 7, 2013,
New York State has instituted key reform initiatives to the grant contract process which
require not-for-profits to be Prequalified in order for proposals to be evaluated and any
resulting contracts executed.
Proposals received from eligible not-for-profit applicants who have not been Prequalified
by the proposal due date of 2:00 PM EST on the Proposal Due Date posted in section
2.2 will not be able to submit their bid response through SFS.
Please do not delay in beginning and completing the prequalification process. The
State reserves five (5) days to review submitted prequalification applications.
Prequalification applications submitted to the State for review less than 5 days
prior to the RFP due date and time may not be considered. Applicants should not
assume their prequalification information will be reviewed if they do not adhere to
this timeframe.
2.9 Vendor Registration, Prequalification and Training Resources for Not-for-Profits
NOTE: All applications must be submitted through the Statewide Financial System
(SFS). No applications will be accepted electronically, US Postal Service, express
mail delivery service or hand delivered.
For any application that does not contain all of the required documentation and/or
"See Attached" responses that were to be uploaded, please be advised that the
application will be reviewed and scored as submitted. For any incomplete
response or missing and/or inappropriately submitted documentation, points will
be deducted. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure, prior to
submission, that the application is appropriate and complete. A workplan is not
required for this RFP.
Each proposal submission through SFS is required to contain:
* Operating Budget (Appendix B)
All applicants must be registered with the New York State Statewide Financial
System (SFS) and all Not-for-Profit agencies must be prequalified prior to
proposal submission.
Not-for-profit organizations must Register as a vendor with the Statewide Financial
System and successfully Prequalify to be considered for an award.
This grant opportunity is being conducted as an SFS bid event. Not-for-profit vendors
that are not prequalified can initiate and complete bid responses. However, not-for-profit
vendors that are not prequalified will NOT be allowed to submit their bid response for
consideration.
Information on Registration and Prequalification are available on the Grants
Management Website. A high-level synopsis is provided below.
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New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)
Registering as an SFS Vendor
To register an organization, send a complete Grants Management Registration Form for
Statewide Financial System (SFS) Vendors and accompanying documentation where
required by email to grantsmanagement@its.ny.gov You will be provided with a
Username and Password allowing you to access SFS.
Note: New York State Grants Management reserves 5-10 business days from the receipt
of complete materials to process a registration request. Due to the length of time this
process could take to complete, it is advised that new registrants send in their
registration form as soon as possible. Failure to register early enough may prevent
potential applicants from being able to complete a grant application on time.
If you have previously registered and do not know your Username, please contact the
SFS Help Desk at (855) 233-8363 or at Helpdesk@sfs.ny.gov. If you do not know your
Password, please click the SFS Vendor Forgot Password link from the main log in page
and follow the prompts.
Prequalifying in SFS
* Log into the SFS Vendor Portal.
* Click on the Grants Management tile.
* Click on the Prequalification Application tile. The Prequalification Welcome Page
is displayed. Review the instructions and basic information provided onscreen.
Note - If either of the above referenced tiles are not viewable, you may be
experiencing a role issue. Contact your organization's Delegated Administrator
and request the Prequalification Processor role.
* Select the "Initiate a Prequalification Application" radio button and click the Next
button to begin the process. Starting with Organization Information, move
through the steps listed on the left side of the screen to upload Required
Documents, provide Contacts and Submit your Prequalification Application.
Note - If the "Initiate a Prequalification Application" radio button is not available,
your organization may have already started a prequalification application and
could even be prequalified. Click on the Version History Link to review your
organization's prequalification status. If you are not currently prequalified, or
your prequalification expires prior to the due date of this RFA, you will need to
choose Collaborate on or Update your application.
* System generated email notifications will be sent to the contact(s) listed in the
Contacts section when the prequalification application is Submitted, Approved, or
returned by the State for more information. If additional information is requested,
be certain to respond timely and resubmit your application accordingly.
Note: New York State reserves 5 business days from the receipt of complete
Prequalification applications to conduct its review. If supplementary information
or updates are required, review times will be longer. Due to the length of time this
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New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH)
process could take to complete, it is advised that nonprofits Prequalify as soon
as possible. Failure to successfully complete the Prequalification process early
enough will prohibit the submission of the application in SFS.
Final Submission Format
Please note that all responses/applications/submissions to this RFP must be submitted
through the Statewide Financial System (SFS). No mailed, delivered or emailed
submissions will be accepted. OMH strongly recommends that applicants plan
accordingly and allow themselves enough time to appropriately complete and submit by
the due date and time of this RFP.
When providing uploads in response to any of the questions posed (other than the
Fiscal/Budget component), please upload only PDF versions of those documents. When
saving these files before uploading, with the exception of an underscore, please do not
use any special characters in the file name, letters only should be used. All attachments
required with the proposal must be combined into the proposal template PDF and clearly
labeled. Uploading documents that are not in PDF form (other than the budget, which
must be uploaded as an excel document) will result in the disqualification of the
application.
Specific questions about SFS should be referred to the SFS Help Desk at
helpdesk@sfs.ny.gov.
On Demand Grantee Training Material
A recorded session with information about the transition to SFS is available for Grantees
on the Grants Management website - https://grantsmanagement.ny.gov/ and in SFS
Coach.
The following training material focused on grants management functionality is currently
available in SFS Coach:
* An SFS Vendor Portal Reference Guide
(https://upk.sfs.ny.gov/UPK/VEN101/FILES/SFS_Vendor_Portal_Access_Refere
nce_Guide.pdf) to help Grantees understand which Grants Management roles
they need in the SFS Vendor Portal based on the work they are currently
involved in.
* A Grantee Handbook
(upk.sfs.ny.gov/UPK/VEN101/FILES/Grantee_User_Manual.pdf), which provides
screenshots and step-by-step guidance on how to complete Grants
Management-related tasks in SFS
* On-demand recorded training videos focused on each aspect of the Grants
Management business process
Agencies can view vendor training material in SFS Coach by selecting SFS
Training for Vendors from the Topic drop-down list.
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