Media Planning Strategy and Awareness Campaign for the Division of Behavioral Health
Purpose
The Department of Social Services, Division of Behavioral Health (DBH) is seeking a qualified vendor to develop a five-year strategic plan to support an all-encompassing statewide campaign of publicly funded behavioral health services. The plan shall support the de-stigmatization of behavioral health disorders, provide education and awareness to available resources and supports including 211 as a general information resource option, 1-800-920-4343 for behavioral health resource information and 988 as the behavioral health crisis line effective July of 2022; incorporate messaging with current awareness campaigns supported by the DBH including the support of social marketing efforts to maximize and support public engagement; and support publicly funded behavioral health providers with activities to promote localized efforts, building upon the statewide campaign.
Scope of Work
The South Dakota Department of Social Services’ (DSS) mission is to strengthen and support individuals and families by promoting cost effective and comprehensive services in connection with our partners that foster independent and healthy families. Within DSS, the Division of Behavioral Health (DBH) contracts with community mental health centers (CMHC) across the state to provide quality mental health treatment services to both adults and youth identified with mental health issues, with priority given to adults with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and children with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED). Services provided include screenings and assessments, specialized outpatient services, individual therapy, group therapy, and crisis intervention.
The DBH also contracts with substance use disorder prevention and treatment providers across the state. Community prevention coalitions focus on community, youth, and young adults to promote healthy lifestyles. In addition, three Prevention Resource Centers provide technical assistance and training to promote wellness within their regions. Substance use disorder treatment providers utilize a full continuum of treatment services for youth and adults with identified substance use issues, with priority given to pregnant women (including pregnant women who inject drugs), persons who inject drugs, women with dependent children, and adolescents with a substance use disorder. Services include screenings and assessments, early intervention, detoxification, outpatient, and residential treatment services.
In 2020 a needs assessment and gap analysis was conducted for DBH. A key finding and recommendation of the final report was to continue public education campaigns that target stigma related to behavioral health conditions and suicide prevention. Previously, the DBH has supported several targeted behavioral health campaigns; BeTheOne (youth suicide prevention); AvoidOpioid; 605 Strong (disaster behavioral health supports); and onmeth.com as the meth prevention message. Although these campaigns are successful in themselves, the DBH is looking for assistance to raise awareness around general behavioral health services and supports in addition to the targeted awareness campaigns.
Effective July 2022, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will be transitioning from 1-800-273-8255 to the three digit number, 988. The DBH is the lead state agency in supporting this transition, as well as working with other state agencies to support the Governor’s efforts to reduce deaths by suicide in South Dakota. Currently the Helpline Center answers the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for callers in South Dakota. It is anticipated the Helpline Center will continue to answer the line as it transitions to 988. In addition, the DSS contracts with the Helpline Center to support 211 service statewide providing social service resource information to callers. With 988 being implemented, the DBH will raise awareness around 988 within South Dakota as well as provide clarification as to the role of 211.
As a result of the above-described services and activities, the DBH is seeking a qualified vendor to develop a five year strategic plan to support an all-encompassing statewide campaign of publicly funded behavioral health services. The goal is to destigmatize behavioral health disorders, support education and awareness to prevent individuals from engaging in unhealthy behaviors, support making it ok to reach out for help, and to ensure individuals know where to go when seeking behavioral health services and supports.
The plan shall promote education and awareness around resources and supports available including, 211 as a general information resource option, 1-800-920-4343 for behavioral health resource information and 988 as the behavioral health crisis line effective July 2022.
The plan shall incorporate messaging with current awareness campaigns supported by the DBH, provide guidance and support on social media marketing efforts to maximize and support public engagement; and take into consideration key dates such as Mental Health Awareness Month and National Prevention Week in May, National Suicide Prevention Month and National Recovery Month in September, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in April and October, Mental Illness Awareness Week in October, and International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day in November.
The plan shall also include options to support publicly funded behavioral health providers with activities to promote awareness through localized educational campaigns, social media marketing and other strategies as identified by the provider.
Lastly, the DBH is interested in monitoring the impact of the effort to de-stigmatize behavioral health disorders by identifying key performance indicators and developing a survey mechanism to measure pre-campaign, during the campaign, and post-campaign.
In total, the DBH has approximately $2,000,000 to support this project and approximately $250,000 to support ongoing costs. Although this is the anticipated budget, the DBH remains flexible on proposals to ensure the intent of the RFP is carried out effectively and can be supported and built off of in future years.
The qualified offeror will be responsible for the following:
Developing a comprehensive five-year education/awareness strategic plan in collaboration with the DBH including the following:
- Identify and recommend media goals, including social media strategies.
- Identify key target audiences.
- Assist the DBH with establishing benchmarks.
- Identify key performance indicators (KPI) to measure media performance and effectiveness.
- Recommend social media marketing tactics across various media platforms.
- Provide ongoing support to monitor progress toward achieving identified strategic objectives and goals.
Developing an educational campaign for publicly funded behavioral health services including the following:
Campaign must support or incorporate the following ongoing awareness campaigns:
BeTheOne (suicide prevention)
AvoidOpioid (Opioid awareness and prevention)
605 Strong (Disaster Behavioral Health Supports)
Onmeth.com (meth prevention
Provide support and recommendations for content marketing:
Recommend relevant content topics▪
Recommend best practices
Create a content calendar that aligns with the five-year media strategy.
- Assist the DBH with establishing campaign specific benchmarks.
- Identify key performance indicators (KPI) to measure media performance and effectiveness.
- Propose additional strategies to increase awareness of publicly funded behavioral health services.
- Recommend new opportunities as appropriate, such as platforms, tools, trends, etc.
- Submit monthly and annual reports summarizing media performance and effectiveness of the campaign, and on-going social marketing efforts based on identified KPI and benchmarks.
Be in regular contact with the DBH, including attending periodic status calls and, at minimum, monthly strategy meetings, and monthly status reports.
Complete final report at the end of the project to include the following:
- Executive Summary
- Summary of the effectiveness of the campaign.
- Summary of media strategic plan progress made, including goals met and not met.
Letter of Intent
All interested offerors are requested to submit a non-binding Letter of Intent to respond to this RFP. While preferred, a Letter of Intent is not mandatory to submit a proposal.
The letter of intent must be received by email in the Department of Social Services by no later than January 4, 2022 by 5 PM CDT and must be addressed to Dawson.Lewis@state.sd.us. Place the following, exactly as written, in the subject line of your email: RFP 2455 Letter of Intent. Be sure to reference the RFP number in any attached letter or document.
Closing Date
PROPOSALS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN MARCH 14, 2022 BY 5 PM CDT
Contact
Dawson Lewis
