Health, Department of

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services

Chapter 3: Application for Funds and Selection of Providers

Effective Date: 09/18/2024 to Current

Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations

Reference Number: 048.0077.3.09182024

Chapter 3

Application for Funds and Selection of Providers

Section 1. Purpose and Applicability.

(a) This Chapter establishes the process and criteria to apply for and receive funding from the Department under the Community Human Services Act, Wyoming Statutes 35-1-611 to -627.

(b) This Chapter applies to all providers seeking Department funding under the Community Human Services Act.

Section 2. Eligibility for Funding.

(a) A provider is eligible to apply to the Department for funding to provide behavioral health services within an identified service area if the provider:

(i) Meets the definition of a behavioral health center under W.S. 35-1-613(a)(xvi); and

(ii) Is certified according to Chapter 2 of these Rules.

Section 3. Request for Application to Provide Services.

(a) The Department shall provide notice that it is seeking applications to provide funded services on the Department's public website. The notice must include:

(i) The eligibility requirements for funding as specified in Section 2 of this Chapter;

(ii) The date applications must be received at the Department;

(iii) Where to submit applications;

(iv) Where to locate a copy of these Rules online;

(v) A list of comprehensive range of services, as determined by the Department;

(vi) The application packet; and

(vii) Scoring criteria.

Section 4. Evaluation and Scoring of Applications.

(a) Eligible providers may apply for funding.

(b) The Department shall give preference to current providers who are in compliance with contract requirements pursuant to W.S. 35-1-620(b)(vi) and shall begin contract negotiations.

(c) If two (2) or more applicants propose to provide the same services in the same service area and each applicant meets the criteria in Section 2 of this Chapter, they may be considered a competing applicant.

(d) If the conditions to grant preference under subsection (b) of this Section are not satisfied, the Department will score the competing applications according to the scoring criteria. When evaluating and scoring an application, the Department may consider information not included in the application but otherwise possessed by the Department.

(i) The Department will begin contract negotiations with the highest scoring applicant.

(ii) If the competing applicants' scoring results in a tie, the Administrator shall review and evaluate the competing applications. The Department will begin contract negotiations with the Administrator's highest scoring applicant.

(e) The Administrator may not award any application that:

(i) Does not meet the criteria according to Section 2 of this Chapter; or

(ii) Proposes to serve only a portion of an existing service area and if funding the application would jeopardize the continued services in the remainder of the service area.

(f) If the Administrator finds an applicant ineligible or does not award an applicant, the Administrator shall document the reasoning and shall notify the provider in writing of the denial.

(g) The Department may solicit additional applications to provide services in the service area. If the Department solicits additional applications, an applicant whose application was previously not awarded may resubmit an application to the Department.

Section 5. Application for Funding that is not Available Statewide or Regionally.

(a) If funding is available for projects or services which cannot be purchased on a statewide basis, the Department shall:

(i) Define the purpose of the funding;

(ii) Develop an application and funding process; and (iii) Notification of available funds must be posted on the Department’s public website. The Department shall include how funding decisions will be made in the application for the funding.