The Colorado Department of Corrections is soliciting proposals for its Psychiatric Nursing Program, listed in Colorado VSS as RFP-CAAA-2027000032-1 and identified in the RFP document as 20270000032. The State seeks highly qualified staffing agencies or independent contractors to provide dedicated psychiatric nursing services for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric conditions at Denver Women’s Correctional Facility and Centennial Correctional Facility in Cañon City.
Proposal deadline: October 11, 2026 at 2:00 PM. The RFP states that all times are Mountain Standard Time as adjusted for daylight savings. Written inquiries are due September 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM, with State responses scheduled for September 28 at 2:00 PM. The solicitation was issued September 8 and publicly posted September 11, 2026.
Scope: The stated staffing model covers five registered nurses at Denver Women’s Correctional Facility and three registered nurses at Centennial Correctional Facility, including full-time and part-time coverage. Duties include medication administration and compliance monitoring, patient education concerning substance use disorder and co-occurring conditions, individual and group therapeutic activity, multidisciplinary staffings, urine-analysis testing, and coordination with correctional and clinical personnel.
Mandatory qualifications and restrictions: Assigned nursing staff must hold active, unencumbered Colorado registered nurse licenses and satisfy the RFP’s credentialing, inpatient psychiatric nursing, substance use disorder experience, correctional training, defensive-tactics training, security, HIPAA, accessibility, and insurance requirements. The offeror must be registered to do business in Colorado before contract execution. The solicitation also requires evidence of organizational capacity and at least three relevant experiences from the last five years for comparable work, together with key-personnel resumes, licensing and certification information, references, and other required responsibility documentation. Atlas has not verified that Dr. Miltie or QC Healthcare presently satisfies every mandatory vendor qualification.
Required proposal materials: The RFP directs offerors to complete and submit Exhibit A, Statement of Work and Offeror Response; Exhibit B, Required Offeror Information; Exhibit C, W-9; Exhibit D, Price Proposal; Exhibit E, Contract Performance Outside the United States or Colorado; Exhibit F, Non-Conflict of Interest; and Exhibit G, Resume Summary. Contract, insurance, and HIPAA Business Associate materials are also included in the solicitation package.
Submission: Proposals must be submitted through BidNet Direct in the manner required by the solicitation. The RFP states that proposals are not submitted through Colorado VSS and that hard-copy submissions are not accepted. Becky Holtz is the designated single point of contact at doc_contracts@state.co.us; the RFP warns that contacting other State personnel about the solicitation may be grounds for disqualification. Vendors should retrieve the live Colorado VSS and BidNet posting before submission because those systems control official modifications and current attachments.
Funding and pricing: The accessible solicitation does not state a fixed contract ceiling or applicant award cap. Offerors submit hourly pricing through Exhibit D. The Statement of Work says the hourly rate is expected to cover applicable indirect costs and enumerated operating resources, subject to the solicitation’s specific mileage and training provisions. This is a procurement, not a grant, so there is no applicant match or cost-share requirement stated as a funding condition.
Contract period: The RFP describes an anticipated initial term through June 30, 2027, with up to four additional one-year renewal periods. The posted materials contain differing anticipated-start references, so offerors should rely on the final executed contract and any subsequent amendment for the controlling start date.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 88/100. N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. This is a legitimate Colorado correctional-health and behavioral-health procurement with a substantial clinical staffing scope, but it is not a device, telehealth, remote-exam, RPM, or clinical-equipment purchase. The Nonagon N9+ device and platform should not be forced into the response.
Direct-vendor classification: This is a potentially relevant QC Healthcare direct-vendor pathway only if QC Healthcare can truthfully document the mandatory psychiatric-nursing staffing capability, Colorado-licensed personnel, required substance use disorder and inpatient psychiatric experience, insurance, references, organizational capacity, and every other responsibility requirement. Until those facts are verified, Atlas classifies it as direct-vendor candidate requiring qualification review, not an approved bid. No proposal, CRM outreach queue, or submission should be created merely from this publication.