Transition Age Youth Advocacy Grant

The Transition Age Youth Advocacy Grant aims to empower young individuals aged 16-25, particularly those with serious mental health challenges, to advocate for their needs within California's behavioral health system. By fostering leadership and engagement, this initiative seeks to involve these youth in meaningful advocacy efforts that address issues like homelessness and involvement in justice systems. The goal is to create a supportive environment that reflects their realities and promotes their agency.

I. Introduction
The Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (Commission) was established by the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) to promote transformational change in California's public behavioral health system.' The BHSA is a landmark law designed to improve behavioral health services for California's most vulnerable populations by notably incorporating the voices of people with lived experience through robust community planning and engagement processes. The BHSA recognizes transition age youth (TAY), defined in the California Code of Regulations, title 9, section 3200.280,as ages sixteen (16) to twenty-five (25), as a key population whose voices must be heard to ensure that services and supports accurately reflect their needs and ultimately improve outcomes. In alignment with these values, the Commission supports community-driven efforts that reach and elevate these voices at both the local and state levels, increasing participation so that the behavioral health system truly reflects the realities and needs of the populations it serves.
This Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks a contractor to lead an advocacy initiative that builds the leadership, systems knowledge, and advocacy capacity of TAY, with a focus on those from BHSA priority populations. These include TAY with a serious mental illness (SMI), serious emotional disturbance (SED), substance use disorder (SUD), or co-occurring conditions who are also experiencing or at risk of:
chronic homelessness; involvement in the criminal or juvenile justice system;reentry from incarceration or youth correctional facilities;placement in or transition from the child welfare system;conservatorship; orinstitutionalization?
This RFP is designed to empower TAY to advocate for themselves and their peers while creating a safe, supportive environment that fosters connection, belonging, purpose, and a ase of agency through shared experience and peer leadership.

1. PURPOSE

The Commission is releasing this RFP to award a contract to one (1) organization to develop and facilitate a program that builds the leadership, advocacy, training and education, and outreach and engagement capacity of TAY populations. The contractor will support and empower TAY, especially those from BHSA priority populations, to lead advocacy efforts and engage meaningfully with behavioral health systems and decision-makers.
Proposers must demonstrate that they have the personnel and organizational capacity to effectively carry out a contract of this scope and magnitude, including meeting minimum requirements and demonstrating experience working with TAY from BHSA priority populations.