RFP #: RFP-202410-01

Issue Date: 22 October 2024

Response Deadline: 18 November 2024

Award Type: Firm Fixed Price Subcontract

Expected Award: October 2024

Refer Questions to: InfoJamaica@democracyinternational.com

1. PROJECT BACKGROUND

The USAID/Positive Pathways Activity in Jamaica, funded by USAID and implemented by Democracy International (DI), aims to enhance community and family resilience, thereby reducing youth involvement in crime and violence. The activity leverages a multidimensional approach to youth violence prevention by comprehensively addressing the complex needs of at-risk youth through individualized services geared towards equipping youth participants with the key skills, resources, and support necessary to reduce their risks and vulnerabilities to criminal activities, violence creation, and victimization. Over the course of one-year, Positive Pathways is enrolling over 400 youth in multi-dimensional programming that connects the youth to dynamic and tailored life skill resources, psychosocial services, and economic development resources.

Positive Pathways aims to deploy psychosocial services that integrate a trauma-informed approach while utilizing different therapeutic and behavior change methodologies such as group cognitive behavior therapy, family-based therapy, and substance misuse counselling. Field experience and learnings from other USAID activities indicate that selected youth, based on their own individual experience and presenting risk factors, may require additional deeper and more individualized psychological counselling services – beyond the level of treatment group-based services are able to provide. Positive Pathways recognizes that as result of high exposure to community and familial volatility and violence the target youth participants live with various levels of trauma related to physical, emotional and sexual abuse, grief, parental neglect, displacement, economic instability, and exposure to traumatic events. Findings on the ground indicate that as participants move through distinct stages and phases of programming, the need may arise for additional psychological services to be integrated into a youth’s tailored case management plan. Considering these dynamics, Positive Pathways aims to connect youth to:

• Sessional short-term, one-on-one therapeutic counselling – connecting youth to a suite of one-on-one counselling sessions.

• Rapid response psychological services – connecting youth to urgent psychological intervention to de-escalate and treat emerging psychological concerns, conflicts, and challenges.

2. OBJECTIVES

Democracy International is seeking TWO organizations to deliver counselling and clinical psychological services to youth at risk of violence. The selected subcontractors will each deliver up to 100 one-on-one sessions to youth from St James, Clarendon, St. Catherine, Kingston, and St. Andrew based on presenting and emerging needs. The subcontractor will deploy psychological clinical and counselling methodologies to:

• Help youth to unpack and talk through emotional and psychological trauma.

• Help youth to manage and navigate emerging intense and maladaptive emotions.

• Help youth to develop healthy coping techniques.

• Help youth to identify and build adaptative resilience skills.

• Help youth to develop emotional intelligence and self-control.

• Help youth to self-lead behavior change by building psychological agency and efficacy.

3. REQUIRED SERVICES

To achieve the objectives of the subcontract, each subcontractor will perform the following service over a 4-month period starting in October 2024:

• Up to 100 one-on-one therapy sessions with youth using evidence-based therapeutic strategies.

  • Positive Pathways will refer selected youth for one-on-one sessions. The subcontractors will provide confidential counselling sessions to each youth based on their presenting needs and concerns. For each youth, the selected organizations will do an initial assessment session to determine the number of additional sessions that will be required to address his/her major emotional and/or psychological priorities.

  • In some cases, the subcontractors may be required to offer rapid response counselling sessions to referred youth to deal with urgent and emerging issues that may be related but not limited to recent experiences of violence or trauma. In these instances, the subcontractors will determine if more structured on-going sessions will be required, make that recommendation, and go-on to deliver the additional sessions.

  • Each one-on-one session should last between 45 mins to 1 hour and be conducted in a safe and private environment.

  • Positive Pathways recognizes that delivery of the sessions is also contingent on the attendance of the youth.

4. DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINES

The subcontractor will be expected to deliver up to 100 individual therapy sessions. They will be expected to provide an attendance record for each session that includes the client’s name, time and date of session, client signature, and therapist’s name and signature.

The selected subcontractors will submit both deliverables monthly.

5. PAYMENT TERMS

All payments under this subcontract will be based on the complete and approved submission of each deliverable. Payments will be made within 30 days of submission of an approved deliverable.

6. INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING

Applicants should submit applications to InfoJamaica@democracyinternational.com by by November 18, 2024. Applications should include:

• Budget for up to 100 individual sessions (using Microsoft Excel) - with a clear per unit cost for each session.

• Brief organizational profile outlining past performance delivering counselling and clinical psychological services (no more than one page is required). It is an asset if applicants are also able to share their experience working with youth at risk of violence or specific experience working in relevant parishes.

7. EVALUATION CRITERIA

An award will be based upon best value (a combination of qualifications and rates), with submissions evaluated in accordance with the following criteria:

• Firm Knowledge and Experience

• Qualification and Expertise of Key Staff

-Cost

8. STANDARD CERTIFICATIONS, STANDARD PROVISIONS, AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Applicable Standard Certifications and Provisions: Standard Certifications.docx (See link in document)

Subcontract terms and conditions: Subcontract TEMPLATE.docx (See link in document)