1. The Department of Human Services (DHS or Department), Child Welfare Services (CWS) requires the PROVIDER to provide shelter, assessment, counseling, and support services for a child or youth, 12 to 17 years old, in need of temporary shelter services due to abuse, neglect, harm, or threatened harm. DHS has custody and placement authority for these children and youth and is responsible for referrals for shelter services. The shelter shall be provided in a facility that is licensed as a Child Caring Institution (CCI). 2. The child or youth placed in the shelter may have high-acuity physical, emotional, and behavioral needs, may be challenging to supervise and care for, and have no other placement alternatives. The shelters are not long-term placements, but instead are focused on providing an immediate, safe, and temporary placement option for children. Ideally placements should be no more than 60 days for a child or youth placed in the shelter while other placement options such as a return to a safe home or longer-term placement in a resource family home are assessed by the Child Welfare Services (CWS) caseworker. The duration of stay can differ depending on the specific child, on a case-by-case basis. 3. The children and youths that DHS refers to the PROVIDER may require additional services to address the needs of certain populations, including, but not limited to, undocumented youth and human trafficking victims. This Contract is designed to support the efforts to keep the child or youth in their own community and school, mitigate the trauma of removal, and ensure return home or to an appropriate alternative placement. The PROVIDER shall offer additional appropriate services that may require coordination with community providers that specifically work with the population to meet their needs, including, but not limited to, translation and interpretation services, mental, behavioral, and developmental health services, substance abuse programs, and immigration legal services for youth. The PROVIDER shall also offer services to coordinate family visitations while the child or youth remains in a shelter placement.
