CHICAGO – The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to award more than $6.5 million in grants that will fund up to 25 community-based mental health providers as part of the City’s plan to expand access to high-quality, trauma-informed mental health services in communities of high need. The grants will fund organizations – Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and other community-based organizations – that provide mental health care irrespective of a person's ability to pay, their immigration status or whether they have health insurance.

A virtual bidder’s conference for the RFP, Building a Network of Trauma-Informed Centers of Care (#7569,2), took place on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, and is archived here for viewing (password for access is NzX76mUq) by those who were not able to attend. The RFP closes at noon on September 14, 2020.

The RFP is an extension of the City’s Framework for Mental Health Equity, which was announced last fall by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and includes $9.3 million in new funding for mental healthcare, doubling CDPH’s mental health budget from the previous year.

“For too long there have been significant gaps in mental health care in Chicago, and the impact is felt most acutely by individuals in our Black and Latinx communities, and this needs to change,” said Matt Richards, Deputy Commissioner of Behavioral Health at CDPH. “We’re going to close those gaps through a set of mental health strategies that take a trauma-informed approach to care and focus on equity, directing resources to communities most in need.”

The new investments will expand mental health services throughout the city, building upon a true network of care with a special focus on communities most in need. Chicago has well over 200 publicly funded clinics that provide mental health services to residents in need—from federally qualified health centers to community mental health centers. This investment will bolster the current system with resources that can be used to hire more staff, expand existing services, fund new programs, and promote collaborations that integrate mental healthcare with primary care. The result will be tens of thousands more patients served, better access to care for the underserved, and integrated care for the whole person.

In tandem with these investments in community partners, CDPH continues to invest in its own mental health clinics so that they are well positioned to continue playing a critical role in the broader publicly funded mental health system.

Details about the bidders and the conference can be found here (Solicitation Number: 7569,2).

Questions about this funding opportunity can be submitted through ISupplier. Interested parties can establish an ISupplier profile at the following web address: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dps/isupplier.html  

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