LGBTQIA+ Youth and Young Adult Crisis Line

The New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health (OMH) is announcing a recurring funding opportunity of $1.2 million to expand access to specialized crisis services for LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults through a dedicated crisis line. This funding opportunity will also include a one-time $600,000 investment to support the provision of specialized training to current NYS 988 Crisis Counselors to strengthen the crisis response system for LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults across the state. This initiative advances New York State’s commitment to strengthening youth mental health supports and ensuring that LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults have access to affirming, responsive, and culturally appropriate crisis care. LGBTQIA+ youth experience disproportionately higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, substance use, family rejection, bullying, discrimination, housing instability, and other factors that increase the risk of behavioral health crises. At the same time, many LGBTQIA+ youth report concerns about whether crisis services will understand or affirm their identities, creating barriers to seeking help when it is needed most. Expanding access to specialized crisis counselors with expertise in supporting LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults helps reduce these barriers and strengthens New York State’s behavioral health crisis continuum. The availability of crisis services targeted to high-risk LGBTQIA+ youth has changed over time in response to evolving national program structures and funding decisions. Through this investment, New York State seeks to establish a sustainable model that ensures continuous dedicated access to specialized, affirming crisis support for LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults regardless of future changes to national programs. By partnering with an established provider while requiring a New York State-specific service model, OMH aims to provide continuity of care, strengthen confidence in the availability of LGBTQIA+ affirming and targeted services, and ensure that New York youth and young adults have consistent access to trained empathetic crisis counselors and New York-focused resources whenever they are needed. Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), OMH seeks to identify and contract with an existing qualified organization that currently operates a 24-hour-per-day, 7-day-per-week, 365-day-per-year crisis service for LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults through call, chat, and text that generates a distinct New York State experience by creating routing options for NYS LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults. This approach allows the State to expand access to specialized services while benefiting from established clinical expertise. The selected contractor will connect LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults with specially trained crisis counselors who provide culturally informed and humble crisis intervention, emotional support, safety planning, referrals, and follow-up services across call, chat, and text. Services shall be designed to address the unique experiences and challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults, including, but not limited to, widespread stigma, suicidal ideation, self-harm, family rejection, bullying, identity-related distress, discrimination, social isolation, substance use, and barriers to accessing affirming behavioral health and community-based supports. To ensure the service reflects the needs of New York State, the selected contractor will describe how its existing service will be tailored to New York youth and young adults. This includes implementing New York-focused outreach and awareness activities, providing a dedicated means for New York individuals to access services, utilizing New York-specific referral resources, and collecting and reporting data on New York contacts and outcomes. In addition to operating the specialized crisis service, the selected contractor will develop and deliver training and technical assistance to New York State 988 Crisis Contact Centers to strengthen the capacity of crisis counselors to effectively support LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults as evidenced by data from recipients that validates this goal. This initiative is intended to complement the statewide 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by expanding access to specialized expertise, strengthening coordination across New York’s crisis continuum, and ensuring that all youth and young adults have access to high-quality, affirming crisis care regardless of where they seek help. The full RFP can be found at: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/rfp/ All applicants must be Prequalified by the due date/time of the RFP. All applications/proposals must be submitted through the Statewide Financial System. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: None Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 0.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 0.00% WBE Goal: 0.00% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contracting goals (DBE) DBE Goal: 0.00%