The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) is soliciting bids for in-person and virtual Mental Health Counseling Services from bidders with experience working with first line public safety and/or emergency response personnel. DHSES provides leadership, coordination, and support to prevent, protect against, prepare for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate disasters and other emergencies. DHSES is seeking one qualified bidder to provide mental health counseling services for DHSES staff. Minimum Qualifications The bidder must have a minimum of five (5) years’ experience in their current business structure and registered with the NYS Department of State. All bidders providing services must have a minimum of five (5) years’ experience and background working with public safety and/or emergency response personnel and must be in good standing and licensed with New York State. The bidder must have at least one of the following degrees or certifications: Master Social Worker/ Licensed Master Social Worker/ Licensed Clinical Social Worker Psychotherapy (MSW/ LMSW/ LCSW-R); Mental Health Counselor/ Licensed Mental Health Counselor/ Clinical Mental Health Counselor (MHC/ LMHC/ CMHC); master’s degree (MA); Doctor of Philosophy/ Doctor of Psychology (Ph.D./ Psy.D.); or similar. The clinician should be able to refer to following specialty areas, if needed: Trauma, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming (EMDR), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PET), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Forensic Evaluations, or other. The bidder should complete (or be willing to complete) assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention courses offered through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundations (ICISF). The bidder must remain compliant with HIPAA and other applicable state and federal privacy laws. Scope Of Work (SOW) DHSES is seeking one qualified bidder to provide the initial mental health counseling services for DHSES staff members that may be experiencing a mental health crisis or need professional mental health services. The selected candidate is expected to make initial contact with the employee (virtually or in person) within three (3) hours, then be available for a counseling session as soon as practicable. The clinician will not be expected to provide ongoing therapy sessions to DHSES staff but should be able to help meet their immediate mental health needs, and refer them to other, suitable and culturally competent mental health professionals for longer term care, as necessary. (If the clinician and DHSES employee mutually decide to engage in ongoing counseling sessions beyond the initial consultation, those subsequent sessions will be beyond the scope of this solicitation and any billing arrangements would be made between the clinician and DHSES employee.) The referrals must be in-network with at least the following insurances: Empire and CDPHP. In addition, the bidder is expected to provide technical assistance, training, and/or guidance to DHSES, through its Peer Support Team, on mental health related matters. In this role as Clinical Advisor to the DHSES Mental Peer Support Team, the candidate will be expected to attend scheduled meetings (virtually or in person) to ensure the emerging standards of care in peer support and best practices are followed. As necessary, the selected mental health clinician will participate in critical incident stress debriefing sessions if/when sessions are scheduled after DHSES staff is involved in the response to traumatic or stressful emergency response operations or situations. DHSES anticipates the estimated workload for initial mental health counseling and meetings will be approximately five to ten hours a month. The bidder is expected to be able to provide the virtual services to DHSES staff throughout the State of New York. Technical proposals The technical proposal shall not contain any cost information. The technical proposal should include a description of the bidder’s assessment process and the manner in which the bidder intends to provide their services as described in the scope of work. The technical proposal should include the bidder’s resume/CV. Bidder must provide services that are tailored to the DHSES’ staff needs by implementing key components of evidence-based practices. Clinicians should have expertise in broad areas including but not limited to anxiety, depression, grief and loss, sexual trauma, life transitions, relationships/ family/ couples, LGBTQIA+, substance abuse, veterans’ issues, and/or race, equity, and inclusion. An interview with the clinician (service provider) is anticipated. Cost Proposal The cost proposal shall not contain any technical proposal information. The cost proposal is the bidder’s proposed all-inclusive hourly rate, for the estimated 10 hours per month; travel will be reimbursable separately from the hourly rate. Agency rights DHSES reserves the right to: award one or multiple contracts pursuant to this solicitation, or to cancel this solicitation; seek clarifications and revisions of proposals; amend the scope of work prior to bid opening; waive any requirements that are not material; negotiate with the successful proposer within the scope of work in the best interests of the State; extend the term up to five (5) years; in the event of unsuccessful negotiations with the selected proposers, conduct contract negotiations with the next responsive and responsible proposer; clarify and/or correct arithmetic or apparent errors assuring a full and complete understanding of a vendor’s proposal and/or to determine a vendor’s compliance with the requirements of the solicitation. Submission Best value award will be determined by the highest composite score, 60% Technical and 40% Cost. Each submission must be complete to be deemed responsive. Incomplete submissions may be deemed non-responsive. Each submission must include a technical proposal, a cost proposal, the Clinician’s (service provider) resume, completed Procurement Lobbying forms, Substitute W-9, Consultant Disclosure Form A, Appendix A, and Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace Certification. Pursuant to NYS Finance Law § 139-M, every bid made on or after November 5, 2025 to the State or any public department or agency thereof, where competitive bidding is required by statute, rule or regulation, for work or services performed or to be performed or goods sold or to be sold, shall contain a certification that the Bidder has and has implemented a written policy addressing gender-based violence in the workplace and that such policy has been provided to all of its employees, directors and board members. If the Bidder cannot make the required certification, such Bidder shall so state and shall furnish with the bid a signed statement that sets forth in detail the reasons the Bidder cannot make the certification. After review and consideration of such statement, DHSES may reject the bid or may decide that there are sufficient reasons to accept the bid without such certification. Proof of DHSES’ tax exemption status will be provided to the awardee. If you have any questions, submit your questions by 12:00 (ET), 12/15/2025 to dhses.sm.purchasing@dhses.ny.gov. Answers will be provided by COB 12/22/2025. Bid submissions are due 12:00 (ET), 12/30/2025. 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%