Opportunity Overview
The Mississippi Department of Mental Health (DMH), Division of Outreach and Training, is seeking a qualified independent contractor to serve as Project Evaluator for the Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Grant. The current Mississippi procurement record identifies Smart Number 3371-27-R-RFIN-00003 / RFx 3150007040, and the official DMH RFQ is dated September 15, 2026.
Status and Deadline
DMH’s own procurement page and controlling RFQ continue to solicit quotes through September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM CST, while the Mississippi DFA procurement record currently labels RFx 3150007040 as Archived. The authoritative state sources are therefore not aligned on portal status as of September 18, 2026. DMH solicited quotes through the published deadline. That deadline has now passed, so Atlas treats the solicitation as closed to new responses unless DMH formally extends, reopens, or replaces it. Atlas direct-vendor pursuit status: NO BID / CLOSED by Marc Poulshock on September 17, 2026. Dr. Miltie does not have the qualified evaluator/person required by this solicitation, so Atlas will not pursue or submit a response for Dr. Miltie, LLC. Complete quotes are due September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM CST. Quotes may be delivered to MarQuaita Lampkin at Mississippi Department of Mental Health, 239 North Lamar St., Jackson, MS 39201, or submitted by email to marquaita.lampkin@dmh.ms.gov by the deadline.
The RFQ timeline prints a questions deadline of September 17, 2025 even though the RFQ issue date is September 15, 2026. Atlas treats that as an unresolved inconsistency in the official document and does not silently substitute a different year.
Contract Value and Level of Effort
The anticipated level of effort is approximately 1,000 hours, representing approximately 48% level of effort. The maximum total compensation is $65,000, subject to final contract terms, availability of grant funds, and required approvals. The anticipated contract period is October 1, 2026 through September 29, 2027.
Project Scope
The evaluator will develop and maintain the GLS evaluation framework; support logic models, data dictionaries, collection tools, quality-assurance procedures, performance monitoring, and SAMHSA reporting; analyze process and outcome data; evaluate suicide-prevention, screening, referral, training, postvention, and systems-change activities; support subrecipients and partners; prepare reports and dashboards; provide evaluation-related technical assistance; and protect confidential and personally identifiable information.
Evaluator Qualifications
The current RFQ calls for knowledge of program evaluation methods applicable to behavioral health, public health, suicide prevention, or youth-serving systems; quantitative and qualitative research methods; data management, statistical analysis, performance measurement, and longitudinal or repeated-measures analysis; strong communication; and secure handling of sensitive information. Experience evaluating federally funded programs, multi-site or multi-partner initiatives, and meeting SAMHSA reporting requirements is strongly preferred. A minimum master’s degree in a related field is preferred.
The controlling RFQ does not state the previously reported five-year minimum-experience requirement and does not require a fixed number of references.
Quote Submission Requirements
The signed quote on offeror letterhead must include the offeror and primary contact information; pricing and quote-validity terms; a detailed approach and work plan; a resume/CV plus education, technical training, professional qualifications, and relevant experience; a description of behavioral-health, public-health, suicide-prevention, youth-serving-system, or federally funded program evaluation experience with SAMHSA experience specifically identified; examples of relevant past performance and similar evaluation projects and, when available, references; capacity to coordinate with multiple subrecipients and partners, manage data securely, meet reporting deadlines, and provide evaluation-related technical assistance; and disclosure of actual or potential conflicts of interest.
Evaluation Criteria
DMH will score the plan and approach at 25 points, pricing and cost reasonableness at 20 points, past performance and relevant evaluation experience at 20 points, technical training/education/qualifications including behavioral-health/public-health and SAMHSA/federal grant evaluation experience at 25 points, and capacity to meet deliverables, coordinate with partners, protect data, and meet timelines at 10 points.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 90/100. N9+ Fit: 0/100. This is a legitimate direct-contractor pathway, but bid readiness depends on truthful documentary proof of relevant evaluation qualifications and comparable past performance. Atlas located current Marc resume files in WorkDrive during this verification run but did not find separately indexed behavioral-health/public-health/SAMHSA evaluation work-product files. No qualification or past performance will be inferred or fabricated.
Official Sources
Mississippi Department of Mental Health RFQ dated September 15, 2026 and Mississippi DFA procurement record for Smart Number 3371-27-R-RFIN-00003 / RFx 3150007040. The controlling DMH RFQ was retrieved and reviewed directly from the official DMH source; the remaining submission hold is limited to applicant-controlled bid content and evidence, not source-document access.
Atlas verified: September 18, 2026.