The State of Nevada, Division of Child and Family Services is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to provide victim advocacy services with a specialization in victim advocacy with youth who have experienced sexual harassment or sexual abuse. This project will provide youth education in a correctional facility setting, teaching youth about sexual safety. This project will also provide youth and families with services after discharge, including direct services and community referrals.

The goals and objectives of this project would be to:

• Provide education about sexual safety to youth in a correctional setting;
• Provide youth who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual harassment with victim advocacy services;
• Provide youth who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual harassment, and their families, with community-based referrals; and
• Provide DCFS staff with training to increase awareness about the different types of services available to youth and their families.

Scope of work:

• This grant will fund efforts to ensure DCFS’s juvenile correctional facilities adhere to federal law and its national standards regarding the prevention, detection and response to sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
• Under PREA, those agencies and facilities that fall under the law are responsible for keeping incarcerated persons safe from sexual abuse and sexual harassment. All state juvenile facilities under the control of DCFS must comply with this federal law.
• This project will provide tailored youth education, victim advocacy services and community-based referrals which will enhance the agency’s ability to keep youth at Caliente Youth Center, Nevada Youth Training Center and Summit View Youth Center sexually safe.
• The current proposal’s objective seeks to expand the youth education to reduce sexual abuse and sexual harassment by including curriculum that focuses on educating and empowering youth to understand and recognize the hallmarks of healthy relationships, give youth an understanding of how to help prevent victimization and perpetration, and how to safely intervene in cases of potential violence (active bystander intervention). The curriculum should also feature topics on equality, what consent looks like, dating and sexual violence, and technology and human trafficking. The curriculum at all three (3) state facilities. The use of a hybrid approach of in-person and virtual education techniques is permitted. 3.5.
• The current proposal’s objective also seeks to expand the emotional support services available to confined youth, and their families, that would not ordinarily be available within DCFS facilities or after discharge, in alignment with PREA Standard §115.353 (Resident access to outside support services). This project will provide services to support youth through ongoing phone and letter communication. With the youth’s permission, the selected vendor would follow up with the youth’s family to offer parental support, including parenting skills, and group and individual therapy. Ideally, youth would be invited to participate in therapeutic services upon their release from a DCFS facility. The vendor will also work with DCFS staff to provide training to increase awareness about the different types of services available to confined youth and their families. To solve this objective, DCFS seeks to work with a local victim advocacy organization through a contract, to ensure these beneficial services are provided to youth and their families. 
  

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)