RFI for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Eliminate the Need for Group Placement Initiative

The Department of Human Services (DHS), on behalf of Allegheny County and through a partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), is interested in partnering with a community-based organization (CBO) to co-lead an initiative called Eliminate the Need for Group Placement (ENGP) that seeks to end the need for group placements for youth involved with the child welfare system by 2030. ENGP is a national initiative, with demonstration sites in Connecticut and Oklahoma, as well as in Allegheny County.

It is critical to develop effective, community-based solutions to end the need for group placements. Public child welfare agencies, like DHS, cannot do this important work alone, and must partner with community stakeholders to ensure that the voices of young people and families with lived experience play a prominent role in development of these solutions.

To support this work in Allegheny County, AECF will provide funding and technical assistance to one local, grassroots CBO to authentically engage youth, family and community stakeholders in partnership with DHS to develop and test solutions to eliminate the need for group placements, especially for youth of color. DHS is using this RFI to learn what CBOs are interested in ENGP and to help inform the selection of the CBO to co-lead the initiative.