yourdailylocal
WARREN, Pa. — Forest Warren Human Services, through a COVID-related state grant administered by the WCDA, released a Request for Proposals for a strategic planning project that will chart the course of human services for the next five years.
The human services strategic planning project will last the remainder of the year. The eight-page RFP outlines the process by which human services consulting agencies may respond with project proposals and project budgets to engage in a comprehensive strategic planning initiative.
Agencies have until 4:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, to provide proposals for consideration regarding the project.
The project is funded via a grant from the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health to prevent and address the effects of COVID-19. One of the major focal points of the grant is addressing mental health concerns that are an outcropping of Covid-related shutdowns, deaths, and isolation. The pandemic has had a terrible emotional effect on human relations and shined a light on mental health concerns in the community.
“The pandemic has had a terrible effect on the mental health of the community,” Adam McNeill, Administrator for Forest Warren Human Services, said in a release. “We’re excited to use this grant to develop a serious strategic planning effort to positively impact the community over the next five years and beyond.”
Proposals will be opened on May 10, and a decision on the successful agency is expected that week. The work of scheduling initial meetings, focus groups, and other first steps will happen in the month of May once a contract is signed for a consultancy to begin work.
“This is a natural next step after the Human Services Summit in 2018,” Commissioner Jeff Eggleston said in the release. “Many of the items included in that project are going to be incorporated into this, and it’ll be great to see the whole process take on a life of its own.”
