request for proposal: Group Facilitation

 

Please forward the required documents by Feb 20th (midnight) to:

 

Jessica Cattaneo

Director of Community Health Services

Planned Parenthood Toronto 

36B Prince Arthur Avenue

Toronto, Ontario

M5R 1A9

Fax:  (416) 961-2512

Email: [log in to unmask]

 

 

agency and project background

 

Planned Parenthood Toronto (PPT) is a community health centre serving the needs of youth aged 13-29 in Toronto. We provide accessible and inclusive programs and services that promote healthy sexuality and informed decision-making. We offer primary, sexual, and mental health care services as well as programming in the community. Our organization’s vision is for healthy, supportive and equitable communities that promote youth’s autonomy in building their lives.

We are seeking group facilitators to address the current needs of the communities we serve. There has been an identified need for mental health and community support interventions in the following areas:

1.     Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT) Skills
While this was initially developed specifically for people with complex trauma, DBT skills and tools have can additionally be applicable to people who experience anxiety, depression, impulsive behaviour, lasting anger, eating difficulties and other psychosocial challenges. DBT helps people build skills in four major categories: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation.

 

2.     Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD symptoms can affect a person’s daily routine, relationships, communication effectiveness, and work or school life. People living with ADHD may or may not be on medication and may or may not have received an official diagnosis. Some people will be more likely to be misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed due to systemic biases. A support and strategies group that is inclusive of this range of experiences is needed for youth.

3.     Ethical Non-Monogamy
Non-traditional relationship models do not readily come with rule books and cultural scripts. Support spaces are needed to help folx identify and explore their relationship orientations, expectations from themselves and their partners, and build communication skills around boundaries and unanticipated emotions. As such, a ‘self-Awareness and interpersonal communication practices’ group is needed.

4.     Mental Health Waitlist Group

The waitlist for individual psychotherapy at PPT (and in the public sector at large) can often be lengthy. In order to provide service users with more immediate support, a waitlist group is needed. This would be an optional group for youth who have completed an intake and are currently on the waitlist for individual therapy services. This structured group would explore common forms of psychological stress along with tools and skills from a brief solution-focused approach.

scope of project

 

PPT is seeking the services of experienced mental health clinicians and relationship experts who can deliver/facilitate time-limited groups in the following domains:

1. DBT Skills for Youth
2. ADHD Support and Strategies for Youth
3. ENM: Self-Awareness and Interpersonal Communication Practices*
4. MH Waitlist Group

The vendor, or the members of the vendor project team who would be delivering the mental health services, certification and membership in good standing with either the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW), College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO), or College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO).

*Please note that facilitators for the ethically non-monogamy (ENM) group do not need to be mental health clinicians or registered with a regulatory body.

 

The successful Group Facilitator candidate(s) will be expected to perform the following:

• Have prepared/established group curriculum, materials, modules, and evaluation tools
• Establish a recruitment and intake process in collaboration with the PPT Therapist
• Deliver group sessions virtually, beginning in March 2023
• Develop group norms and discuss the necessity of respectful engagement
• Provide clear guidelines for when cross-talk is appropriate and necessary in the group process
• Maintain a safe space for all participants with a plan for some one-on-one support for participants (30-minute check-ins) who have difficulty adhering to group norms or for persons who get triggered/activated during group
• Integrate and implement evaluation and monitoring tools
• Maintain brief notes on group process, service user engagement, challenges, risks or concerns, and issues to be addressed in the following session
• Report disclosures of suicidality and abuse, as appropriate, to the Director of Clinical Health Services
• Build-in debrief and reflection time for co-facilitators
• Offer observation and shadowing opportunities for PPT mental health counsellors, where appropriate

 

Upon completion of one cycle of the semi-structured support group, facilitators will draft a curriculum based on their facilitation experience. The facilitator will:

• Develop facilitation guidelines or curriculum specific to the group topic
• Clearly define the roles of each facilitator where more than one facilitator is required/recommended
• Identify whether the group should be optimally offered as a drop-in/open or closed group
• Develop or refine an intake form specific to the group to assess suitability and access needs
• Develop clear objectives and learning outcomes for each module
• Develop or refine evaluation tools for each session along with pre/post-group measures
• Provide additional resources and references for each module
• Develop a one-page welcome letter for participants that describes the group and outlines expectations for participants as well as the parameters and limits of confidentiality
• Apply a social, cultural and political lens that acknowledges the experiences and realities of racialized youth, 2SLGBTQ+ youth, and youth living with chronic illness/disabilities

 

submission requirements and terms of contract

 

proposal contents

 

Proposals must include the following components, each in appropriate detail:

• An overview of the vendor’s facilitation, clinical and consulting practice along with their experience in similar projects
• Resumés of the person(s) that will work on the project
• An indication of the vendor’s understanding of the project scope and requirements, including how each of the specific requirements will be performed
• A list of workbooks and resources that will be drawn upon for the group curriculum
• A proposed timeline for the group cycle, number of sessions and timeline for producing curricular materials
• A quotation for the completion of the project with hourly rates and including disbursements, applicable taxes, and any other expenses to be charged to PPT.
  Please note: In the event of an unexpected termination of the contract if decided by PPT, no other costs will be billable to PPT other than allowable costs incurred up to the date of the contract termination
• The anticipated level of participation required by Planned Parenthood Toronto staff 

 

RFP Deadline

Please submit proposals to [log in to unmask] by Feb 20th at 11:59 pm.

evaluation

 

Proposals will be evaluated on, but not limited to, the following criteria:

• Experience and qualifications of the vendor relevant to the PPT requirements.
• The quality of the proposal. This includes the level of detail and the quality/thoroughness of recommendations and providing a clear project plan that identifies critical milestones.
• Ability to stay within project budget and meet project completion target date.
• Any features or advantages uniquely proposed by the vendor which Planned Parenthood Toronto has not identified in the project deliverables or description.
• The vendor’s financial proposal (including an itemized breakdown of costs, fee structure, and projected expenses).
• Demonstrated commitment to equity goals and principles, to sexual and reproductive rights, to being youth-positive, 2SLGBTQ positive and sex-positive, sex work positive and to being inclusive of diverse sexual and gender identities

 

invoicing

Planned Parenthood Toronto will work with the vendor to determine a payment schedule acceptable to both parties.

All remittances to the Receiver General as outlined in the Employment Standards Act, the Canadian Revenue Agency, the WSIB and the Ministry of Health will be paid by the contractor, it is expected that any respondents to the RFP will be set up as such.

vendor expense

Any expenses incurred by the vendor in the preparation of the proposal submission are entirely the responsibility of the vendor.

acceptance or rejection of the proposal

Planned Parenthood Toronto reserves the right to reject any or all proposals at its sole discretion for any reason whatsoever. Planned Parenthood Toronto will not be responsible for any liabilities, costs, expenses, loss or damages incurred, sustained or suffered by any vendor by reason of the acceptance or non-acceptance by Planned Parenthood Toronto of any provision or by reason of any delay in the acceptance of a proposal, except as provided in the proposal document.

ownership

All product, content or other materials produced during this contract is and shall remain the property of Planned Parenthood Toronto.

confidentiality

The successful vendor may have access to information confidential to Planned Parenthood Toronto. The vendor agrees that it and its employees who have access to this information will not either during the term of the agreement or at any time thereafter reveal to any third party any of this confidential information or use in any way the information. The obligations of this section survive the expiration or termination of this agreement indefinitely.