The King County Department of Community and Human Services’ (DCHS) Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD) is pleased to release this Request for Application (RFA) for the 2022-2023 Expanded Behavioral Health Services in Rural King County.
Up to $1,300,000 of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are available to expand access and utilization of behavioral health services in rural unincorporated areas of King County.
UPDATE 5/4/2022: DUE DATE EXTENDED UNTIL MAY 12, 2022, AT 2:30 P.M. PACIFIC TIME.
Original due date: May 3, 2022, by 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time. View the full RFA: https://kingcounty.zoomgrants.com/gprop.asp?donorid=2209&limited=3987. Submit your application via email at DCHSContracts@kingcounty.gov.
This RFA responds to community-identified needs for increased culturally and linguistically relevant services and enhanced programming for youth. Additionally, this RFA responds to a need for increased system and service coordination within rural and unincorporated areas. This RFA also seeks to identify a local convener(s) to bring community stakeholders together for planning purposes.
Objective / Scope of Work
Applicants may choose one or more of the following areas to apply for:
- Promote Connections and Inclusion
- Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Wellness Programming
- Youth Programming
- Build Partnerships and Foster Collaboration-Rural King County Behavioral Health Collaborative
- Community Service Area-Specific Behavioral Health Collaborative Lead
Funding
Up to $1,300,000 is available through ARPA funding to support the work described in this RFA. The program period is anticipated to be July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2023. The ability to expend the awarded amount beyond 2023 is subject to approval by King County Council and is not guaranteed.
DCHS seeks to distribute funding as follows:
- Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Wellness Programming: Up to three (3) awards of $100,000 each.
- Youth Programming: Up to four (4) awards of $100,000 each.
- CSA-specific Behavioral Collaborative Lead: One (1) $100,000 award per CSA, up to a total of six (6) awards.
Community engagement process
In anticipation of the availability of ARPA funding to support King County’s rural behavioral health needs, DCHS/BHRD conducted a community engagement process that included: a rural-focused survey of community needs that received over 700 responses, listening sessions with both providers and community stakeholders (including representatives from culturally and linguistically diverse communities), a literature review of national best and/or promising practices, and service utilization data of publicly funded behavioral health services.
This RFA intends to fund projects that address the following community-expressed needs:
- Provide behavioral health and substance use services locally so that community members do not have to travel to urban areas to seek care.
- Tailor community-driven outreach and engagement activities to the unique needs of rural residents.
- Increase access to telehealth services as they are key to receiving behavioral health and/or substance use service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Increase access to adequate internet service and hardware (for example: cellphones, laptops, and/or tablets) so rural residents can engage in telehealth services.
- Create and increase community-identified, pro-connection, anti-isolation programs intended to build connections in culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
- Expand and establish new youth programing and innovative approaches to reaching and serving youth.
- Strengthen collaboration between behavioral health, social services, and other formal and informal systems of care.
Rural populations face significant health disparities compared to their urban counterparts. People living in rural areas are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than those living in urban areas. Risk factors contributing to these health disparities include social isolation, stigma, lower socioeconomic status, higher rates of health risk behaviors, limited access to healthcare services, and limited job opportunities. Rural adults also have higher rates of alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and methamphetamine use. Prescription drugs misuse and heroin use has also grown in towns of all sizes across the country.
Many pre-existing behavioral health conditions have been exacerbated due to COVID-19 including depression, anxiety, anger, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and substance use disorder. Rural residents report various mental health symptoms and experiences, including increased feelings of boredom, loneliness, and depression; increased worry and stress; and increased suicidal ideation. Rural areas are also historically challenged by access to health-related programming for a variety of reasons – including availability of services, transportation, cost, and stigma. Additionally, rural residents are more likely to be older and to have a health condition including cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructions pulmonary disease, diabetes, and obesity, that worsens the effects of COVID-19. Given the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the already existing co-morbidities in rural communities, this funding is crucial to addressing community identified needs and bridging the gaps that exist in access behavioral health services in rural and unincorporated areas of King County.
Eligibility
Organizations eligible for funding include rural organizations, community-based organizations (CBOs), healthcare, behavioral health and social service providers, and community coalitions that are for profit or not-for-profit organizations, Indian tribal government and Indian tribal organizations, schools, and public agencies that are embedded in, or serving communities specifically located one of the six eligible Community Service Areas (CSAs) in rural King County.
Eligible CSAs include:
- Bear Creek/Sammamish,
- Snoqualmie Valley/Northeast King County,
- Four Creeks/Tiger Mountain,
- Greater Maple Valley/Cedar River,
- Southeast King County, and
- Vashon/Maury Islands
Adjoining cities and towns are also eligible but must serve the rural areas within their neighboring CSA. These include Skykomish, Duvall, Carnation, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Covington, Maple Valley, Black Diamond, and Enumclaw.
Additional eligibility qualifications include:
Demonstrated history of partnering with other organizations in providing services and community supports to underserved groups.
- Demonstrated commitment to Equity and Social Justice and working with communities most impacted by behavioral health, and/or institutional and systematic racism.
- Demonstrated ability to provide culturally responsive and trauma-informed supports to individuals who identify as low income, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color LGBTQ+, disabled, or hold identities from other marginalized groups.
- Experience with private or public, local, state, or federal funding sources and reporting requirements.
Timeline
| RFA Release | March 15, 2022 |
| Pre-Applications Conference A virtual information session to discuss questions related to this RFA. | May 13, 2022, 2:00 p.m. |
| Final day to submit questions via email | April 20, 2022 |
| Applications due | May 12, 2022 by 2:30 p.m. |
| Responses reviewed | May 13, 2022 through May 30, 2022 |
| Notification of selected and non-selected Applicant(s) | June, 2022 |
| Anticipated program/contract start date | July, 2022 |
Questions
Please submit questions in writing to DCHSContracts@kingcounty.gov on or before April 20, 2022.
Submit an application
View the full RFA at: https://kingcounty.zoomgrants.com/gprop.asp?donorid=2209&limited=3987
Submit your application via email at DCHSContracts@kingcounty.gov no later than 2:30 pm on May 12, 2022.
Pre-applications conference:
RFA orientation conference is scheduled for May 13, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.
Join by Zoom:
https://kingcounty.zoom.us/j/86405541504
Passcode: 815242
Join by phone:
253-215-8782
Passcode: 815242
Post updated on 5/4/2022
