The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) works to prevent homelessness before it occurs, addresses street homelessness, and assists New Yorkers in transitioning from shelter and street homelessness to permanent housing. DHS remains committed to developing a continuum of services specifically designed to meet the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness who are on the street and seeks to administer resources and services designed to achieve the goal of housing placement. Our core focus is on bringing people in from the streets and subways, one person at a time, and supporting them to remain off the streets and subways. As noted by United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in its 2004 Report on Strategies for Reducing Homelessness, "Outreach and engagement are the first steps involved in connecting with street homeless people, bringing them off the streets, and linking them with other portions of the service system. Most individuals experiencing chronic homelessness are unlikely to connect with even the best housing programs unless these first contacts are effective". To further the goal of encouraging street homeless people to access services, DHS wishes to obtain the services of licensed nurses to accompany DHS workers, law enforcement officers, other city agency staff, and/or contracted provider’s staff and to assist in the assessment of the health and welfare of individuals encountered who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness with the goal of facilitating the referral of such individuals to appropriate services. The purpose of this RFP is to select a single vendor to coordinate the services of staffing agencies to provide DHS with nurses to work with DHS on a temporary basis.
