Assets Coming Together for Youth, Center for Community Action on Adolescent Health (ACT CCA)

The Bureau of Child and Adolescent Health seeks permission to issue a five-year contract (1/1/28 – 12/31/32), for an Assets Coming Together for Youth: Center for Community Action on Adolescent Health (ACT CCA) program. The selected contractor will promote a standard of excellence among community-based adolescent sexual health and other adolescent health programs. The ACT CCA will provide training, technical assistance (TA), evaluation and data collection support to 64 youth serving adolescent sexual health and other adolescent health programs, as well as subject matter expertise to the Bureau of Child and Adolescent Health, its programs, and other adolescent-serving providers.

ACT CCA is also responsible for conducting translational research on a variety of adolescent health topics and is a part of on-going data analyzation for the programs that they serve. The ACT CCA will support NYSDOH programs in building comprehensive service systems for adolescents, including access to confidential sexual and reproductive health services and delivery of evidence-based programming to improve adolescent health and well-being with a strong focus on positive youth development.

Funding for this project is contingent on the availability of funding and the number of eligible applicants that respond to the advertisement. Available funding to support this initiative will be limited to the amount(s) appropriated in the enacted State Fiscal Year budgets for this purpose. Please note this is solely a Solicitation of Interest and does not guarantee an award or contract.

** **The Department reserves the right to withdraw this solicitation and/or issue a competitive procurement for this project if the number of interested and eligible parties exceed that which can be reasonably accommodated by available funds.

Minimum Requirements:

Eligible Applicants must:

• Be a not-for-profit academic, research, and/or educational/training organization; teaching hospital/medical center; or public/social policy organization located in New York State;

• Demonstrate a minimum of three (3) years of experience providing training and technical assistance to community-based organizations;

• Demonstrate statewide coverage by providing in-person training and site visits in the Metropolitan New York City area and upstate NYS, as an organization or through subcontractual relationships;

• Have experience publishing research findings and presenting relevant subject matter to a national audience;

• Have experience with and in-depth knowledge of youth development principles and practices; and

• Have experience collaborating with adolescent medical experts to provide professional educational opportunities.

Demonstration of experience, including key research/evaluation accomplishments and dates, must be provided on a separate, single-spaced, one-page PDF that is attached to Attachment 1.

**Description of the services/project: **

The ACT CCA will play a critical role in ensuring New York State Department of Health (Department) Adolescent Sexual Health Programs are provided with the training, technical assistance, and resources needed to implement program strategies and services that achieve intended outcomes.

The ACT CCA will provide the Adolescent Sexual Health Programs training and TA on selecting and implementing the Department and federally-approved evidence-based models across the continuum of comprehensive adolescent sexual health, as well as adapting these models to specific communities, priority populations, and venues, as needed.

The ACT CCA will also ensure that these evidence-based models are implemented with fidelity by designing the evaluation for these programs, providing approved adaptations as necessary, and conducting data collection and analysis.

The ACT CCA will provide training and TA to the AIDS Institute Youth Programs to build their capacity to implement funded prevention interventions or services for their priority populations. Trainings will be made available to other youth-serving programs when and where appropriate.

The ACT CCA will provide professional educational opportunities and resources statewide for healthcare providers who serve adolescents in primary and specialty care settings through community-based training, online educational opportunities and the dissemination of current and emerging health information, clinical tools and other resources.

The ACT CCA will act as a clearinghouse for the most current, research-based best practices in adolescent health, sexual health, youth development, and community building, as well as provide guidance in developing and implementing activities to promote and support positive youth behaviors in communities throughout NYS.

The ACT CCA will stay current with any emerging/changing health issues and help address these issues with New York’s adolescent populations through training and education and working with the Department in facing these challenges.

**Anticipated funding methodology and funding distribution: **

It is anticipated that the annual award amount will be $1,100,000, for a five-year contract total of $5,500,000. The contract will be funded annually, from January 1, 2028, through December 31, 2032.

Response Instructions:

Interested entities are to respond to this Solicitation of Interest by completing and signing Attachment 1 with the requested additional pages and submit to: ACTCCASOI@health.ny.gov.

Freedom of Information Law:

All Applications may be disclosed or used by the Department to the extent permitted by law. The Department may disclose an Application to any person for the purpose of assisting in evaluating the Application or for any other lawful purpose. All Applications will become State agency records, and will be available to the public in accordance with the New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). Any portion of an Application that an Applicant believes constitutes proprietary information entitled to confidential handling, as an exception to the general rule regarding the availability to the public of State agency records under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law, must be clearly and specifically designated in the Application. If the Department agrees with the Applicant’s claim regarding the proprietary nature of any portion of an Application, the designated portion of the Application will be withheld from public disclosure. Blanket assertions of proprietary material will not be accepted, and failure to specifically designate proprietary material may be deemed a waiver of any right to confidential handling of such material.

Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years:

Business entities awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement
contract within the past five years: Cornell University, Contract # C37970GG 01/01/2023 - 12/31/2027

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB)

SDVOB Goal: 0.00%

Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE)

MBE Goal: 15.00%

WBE Goal: 15.00%

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contracting goals (DBE)

DBE Goal: 0.00%