All correspondence must be made through the Vendor Portal. Specifications include, but are not limited to: The City of Little Rock (CLR) requests proposals from organizations who are authorized to do business in the State of Arkansas and who are qualified to provide youth positive prevention services. Youth Positive Prevention Programs provide solutions and coping skills that equip youth to handle conflicting situations and improve mental health. The goal of service delivery is to cultivate positive environments to encourage youth to become responsible citizens. i) The vendor shall provide age-appropriate programs and maintain partnership agreements with organizations who provide like services and resources at no cost to the participants (i.e., listed below). (1) Other programs that will be considered must address explicit positive prevention to children aged 13-18. Proposed services may include, but are not limited to: (a) Self-help groups. (i) Individual or group assistance with basic life skills. (ii) Mentoring programs. (b) Academic, tutoring, and educational services, including, but not limited to, services to enable the participant to improve their academic outcomes to graduate on time. (c) Career exposure and exploration. (d) Literacy programs. (e) Individual or group assistance with referrals for any of the following: (i) Mental and physical health assessments. (ii) Counseling services. (iii) Education and vocational programs. (iv) Employment opportunities. (v) Alcohol and drug treatment. (vi) Healthy, wellness, fitness, and nutrition programs and services. (vii) Personal finance and consumer skills programs and services. (viii) Housing Assistance vi) The vendor must engage Little Rock residents 13 to 18 years old with age-appropriate resources and opportunities that specifically address issues that commonly lead to negative decision-making and behavior. The resulting strategy/operations plan must be shared with the Department of Community Programs for continued services as desired. i) The vendor shall use documented evidence-based practices in its positive prevention strategy. ii) The vendor shall provide services at a minimum of fifteen (15) hours weekly. Services should be rendered Monday through Saturday during “after-school” and “out-of-school time" (meaning, whenever students are not in school such as teacher days, holidays, etc.). (1) In addition to approved national holidays, programs will have three (3) additional days to “take off” throughout the contract period at their discretion – with the exception that there are no more than two (2) days back-to-back. Program closure days must be provided in writing at start of contract.
