Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking responses from the provider community to obtain information about a potential new service in the Eastern Service Area (see Attachment 1) for HHS. Due to a lack of emergency youth shelter care services in the Eastern Service Area, HHS is seeking information about a triage center approach for youth experiencing an HHS removal from their parent/guardian. A triage center is a welcoming center for youth in immediate need of alternate family placement. At a triage center, children are greeted by professionals and provided with a light meal, clothing, and other items as needed. Children are comforted and cared for in a child-friendly environment until a caregiver is secured. A triage center is not an overnight shelter, and an anticipated stay is approximately 12 hours; children cannot remain for longer than 23 hours. A triage center will be staffed with minimally one staff member during agreed upon hours. A triage center can be set up in a multitude of settings (church, hospital, other youth residential setting, etc.), but should be a safe, separate, confidential space away from other operations. A triage center serves youth who have been removed from their caregiver or guardian by HHS due to abuse/neglect and need appropriate placement. It may also serve ongoing state wards who have had a disruption of placement due to allegations of abuse in the home. A triage center is for immediate stabilization of youth following a disruption while a placement is sought and occurs within 24 hours of the disruption. A disruption does not include youth who disrupted over 24 hours ago and continue to be on a placement needs list for several days/weeks or disruption due to youth’s behavior or mental health needs. For those youth, other services (hospitalization, crisis stabilization residential services, QRTP, shelter) would be more appropriate. Youth who may need a higher level of care (denied detention or in-patient hospitalization) are not youth that will be served in a triage center.
