Learning Opportunities

In this interactive webinar, the COSSUP Data and Evaluation training and technical assistance provider, Abt Global, will present with COSSUP grantees from Boston, Massachusetts, on getting the most out of your evaluation report. The webinar will equip COSSUP grantees and other practitioners with practical strategies for effectively using evaluation reports to enhance decision making, program improvement, and sustainability. Speakers will cover best practices for planning, structuring, and assessing evaluation reports to maximize their utility.

The webinar will conclude with a structured question-and-answer session with representatives from the Boston Police Department and the University of Massachusetts Lowell about how they work together to develop evaluation reports that benefit the client, the program, and the field.

The Naloxone Vending Machine Learning Community was facilitated by RTI International in 2023 to bring together local communities who had implemented, or were exploring the implementation of, vending machines for naloxone distribution. Through a series of calls, attended by COSSUP grantees and practitioners from the field, experiences were shared on the implementation and management of naloxone vending machines. This webinar will highlight specific programs discussed as part of the collaborative.

Providing constitutionally mandated healthcare within jails, prisons, and other detention facilities is challenging. The quality of care for this medically complex group often relies on the request for proposal (RFP) and contract language between the facility and external provider(s). The quality and accuracy of the RFP are critical to the long-term success of the healthcare program. Creating comprehensive RFPs can increase safety and continuity of care, promote accountability and cost efficiencies, and decrease the impact of incarceration, the risk of potential lawsuits, and recidivism.

Policy Research Associates (PRA) has collaborated with a multidisciplinary team of correctional healthcare experts to develop a practical open-source resource to improve correctional facility healthcare, The Toolkit for Writing an RFP to Contract for Healthcare Services in a Correctional or Detention Institution. The RFP Toolkit is designed to help correctional facilities and local governments create more effective, outcome-focused RFPs for medical, mental health, substance use/medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and disability services. The Toolkit includes a customizable RFP Template and guides users through preparing to draft an RFP, drafting and issuing the RFP, evaluating vendor responses, and negotiating and managing the contract.

Join us for an informative webinar on April 3, 2025, highlighting the importance of quality correctional healthcare, typical contract pitfalls, and how to use the new RFP Toolkit. A Q&A with presenters will follow the presentation.

The webinar will also be recorded and posted to the RFP Toolkit website.