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Madison council approves release of 2026 crisis intervention and prevention RFP with program shifts
Summary
The Madison Common Council unanimously approved a substitute to release the 2026 Crisis Intervention and Prevention Services Request for Proposals, consolidating prior priority areas, emphasizing community-based and lived-experience staffing, and adding youth-specific outcome measures.
The Madison Common Council on Aug. 5 unanimously approved a substitute to release the 2026 Crisis Intervention and Prevention Services Request for Proposals, adopting program and structural changes recommended after community and provider feedback.
The new RFP condenses three prior priority areas into two (crisis intervention support services and prevention services and activities), removes specific case-management language to broaden eligibility for community-based providers, and adds required youth outcome indicators, Community Development Division manager Yolanda Shelton Morris told the council. She said awards from the upcoming process will begin Jan. 1, 2026, and the city plans to release the RFP on Aug. 8.
Why it matters: The RFP funds services intended to prevent crises, stabilize participants and provide alternatives to formal system involvement for youth. Council members who work closely with affected districts said the changes aim to align city funding with community needs and county services and to emphasize local, place-based outreach.
Yolanda Shelton Morris, community resources manager in the Community Development Division, summarized the changes for the council. She said the last RFP ran from 2022 through the current fourth year of the cycle and that the city is now preparing a new four-year cycle beginning Jan. 1, 2026. "The last RFP was done in 2021, for awards made beginning 01/01/2022," Shelton Morris said. She explained the largest shift is removing youth restorative justice language so city-funded work will better wrap around existing Dane County Human Services restorative justice efforts and instead focus on community-based conflict resolution, de-escalation and nonviolent communication skill building.
The substitute also changes program requirements and monitoring. Agencies funded under the RFP will be required to submit quarterly progress reports, demographic reports and an annual report; the city will review outcomes quarterly and provide midyear check-ins. "We are checking in with agencies quarterly, and then also, again, at the end of the year, reviewing that annual report to ensure that they've met their outcomes," Shelton Morris said. The division uses an internal system called Provider Gateway to collect reports and reimbursement requests; there is not a public repository where those quarterly documents can be viewed without staff assistance.
On outcomes for youth-specific work, the RFP requires agencies to track three indicators: a decrease in incidence of violence or conflict involving participating youth (by self-report, law-enforcement or school data), increased community stabilization as reported by youth and families, and improved school attendance, engagement or academic performance. Shelton Morris said applicants are encouraged to propose place-based strategies in locations where youth are at increased risk, for example shopping malls and some parks, and to demonstrate collaboration with local partners such as schools, neighborhood organizations or law enforcement.
Alderman Madison, who led several requests and meetings that informed the RFP, thanked staff and partners and urged other alders to use the RFP to help address district-level youth challenges. "A lot of what I've been able to work on over the last couple of months showed up in this RFP," Madison said, adding that council members should meet with CDD staff and local nonprofits to connect funding opportunities to neighborhood needs.
Council discussion also asked how the city will support agencies that do not meet targets. Shelton Morris described contract managers assigned to each area who work directly with funded agencies, facilitation of cohort meetings for peer learning, on-site monitoring when appropriate and connections to other partners and resources when agencies encounter challenges.
The substitute to release the RFP was moved and seconded and adopted by unanimous voice vote with no objections recorded.
Next steps: The RFP will be published Aug. 8, and funded contracts would begin Jan. 1, 2026 if awards proceed as planned. Staff will continue contract oversight via quarterly reporting, midyear check-ins and annual reviews.
