Open now. The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) is accepting proposals for Youth Safe Spaces Program Round 3, MH253033, a youth-driven, non-clinical mental-wellness initiative serving young people ages 12-24.
Funding: One award of $250,000 annually for five years, or up to $1.25 million across the contract term, contingent on continued State appropriations. The supplemental model must build Youth Safe Spaces services onto an existing trusted youth-serving community program.
Deadline: September 17, 2026 at 2:00 PM EST through the New York Statewide Financial System (SFS), using OMH’s exact RFP wording.
Submission-readiness controls: OMH’s applicant checklist says to begin working in SFS no later than five business days before the application due date and advises submitting no later than 48 hours before the due date to leave time for troubleshooting. The recommended September 10 SFS start milestone has passed; applicants should begin immediately and target September 15 at 2:00 PM EST for submission rather than waiting until September 17. OMH states that exceptions will not be considered for applicants who cannot complete submission by the official due date and time.
Prequalification risk: SFS will prevent a nonprofit applicant from submitting if it is not prequalified. OMH notes that New York State reserves 5-10 business days to review complete prequalification applications, and reviews may take longer if supplemental information or updates are required. Applicants that are not already fully prequalified should treat this as an immediate gating issue.
Eligibility: The applicant must be a New York 501(c)(3) nonprofit located and doing business in New York State and successfully prequalified in SFS. The proposed site must be in an eligible Economic Development Region and zip code without an existing OMH Youth Safe Space. OMH gives first priority to Central New York, excluding Ontario County; if no award is made there, eligible Mid-Hudson, Mohawk Valley or Western New York proposals may be considered.
Required submission package: OMH’s checklist requires proof that written notice of intent to apply was sent to the Local Governmental Unit; a completed Provider Contact form; Sexual Harassment Prevention certification; Gender-Based Violence and the Workplace certification; the Proposal Template and any applicable attachments clearly labeled to the relevant question and combined into one PDF; and the Budget Template uploaded separately in Excel. OMH warns that SFS attachment type, size and naming restrictions can prevent reviewers from viewing improperly submitted files.
Latest OMH Q&A clarifications: OMH confirms that the required five years of experience serving underserved youth ages 12-24 may be demonstrated across multiple programs operated by the applicant. A qualified nonprofit may operate the Youth Safe Space in space provided by a community partner such as a library, provided the applicant retains program, staffing, financial-management and reporting responsibility and documents the arrangement with an agreement or MOU. A behavioral-health provider applicant may satisfy the behavioral-health referral requirement through its own internal partnership and referral pathways if the required internal MOU and referral protocol are in place. OMH also confirms that the two required Youth Peer Advocate FTEs are required during program hours.
The selected program must serve at least 250 unduplicated youth per year, operate at least 25 hours across at least four days each week, provide after-school and school-break availability, maintain two Youth Peer Advocate FTEs during program hours, and maintain a 1:10 staff-to-youth ratio. OMH clarifies that the program is a drop-in model: there is no minimum number of visits or minimum contact requirement for an individual youth, and each participant is counted only once toward the annual 250-youth threshold regardless of repeat visits.
Budget and site controls: OMH confirms that the SFS Bid Amount should reflect the full $1.25 million five-year total, not the $250,000 annual amount, and that Year 1 may use a different expense distribution to accommodate allowable start-up costs. Youth-leadership stipends or incentives are allowable under program guidance. A program may operate at an alternate community location when its primary site is unavailable, and a shared facility is permissible if Youth Safe Space areas and operating hours are reserved for the program during operations. OMH also confirms that a library-hosted site should be supported by a written agreement or MOU documenting occupancy and organizational roles.
Allowable cost intelligence: Year-one operating funds may support justified startup costs including basic renovations, training, non-clinical prevention screening tools, a vehicle, computers and tablets, hardware, software, phones/mobile devices, furniture, program supplies, data collection and IT costs, and electronic recordkeeping enhancements. A minimum 2% of the budget must support food resources and a minimum 2% must support transportation for youth participants; indirect/administrative overhead is capped at 15%.
Important submission notice: OMH posted the required Budget Template on August 27, 2026 after it was inadvertently omitted from SFS. Applicants should use the OMH-posted five-year workbook with the proposal.
Atlas Opportunity Score: 95/100. This is a high-value, unusually well-defined youth mental-health implementation opportunity with a five-year operating horizon, flexible community-partner site structures, explicit technology/IT startup allowances, and detailed OMH guidance that materially reduces application ambiguity.
N9+ Direct Vendor Fit: 10/100. The program is deliberately non-clinical and does not fund a telehealth or remote-exam model as its core purpose. Hardware/software can be allowable when necessary to the approved Youth Safe Spaces mission, but Atlas should not represent N9+ as an eligible direct cost without a clearly justified participant-service use and OMH approval.
Next action: The recommended September 10 SFS start milestone has passed; begin the application immediately, complete any remaining eligibility/prequalification checks immediately, assemble the LGU proof and required certifications, combine the narrative package into one PDF, leave the budget in Excel, and target September 15 at 2:00 PM EST for submission so the 48-hour troubleshooting window is preserved.
Official source: New York OMH Youth Safe Spaces Round 3.