Gateway Center Immigration Legal Services

Description

Multnomah County seeks responses from providers interested in providing the services described below.  The purpose of this Notice of Intent (“NOI”) is to determine whether there are multiple parties interested in providing these services who have the qualifications to do so.  If multiple qualified parties are available the County intends to issue a Request for Proposals to select a provider.BACKGROUNDMultnomah County is the administrative agency for the Gateway Center for Domestic and Sexual Violence Services (“the Gateway Center”). The Gateway Center co-locates a wide variety of agencies together in the same building to ensure ease and comfort for survivors of domestic and sexual violence when accessing services. The array of services at the Gateway Center have been selected to provide survivors with a range of resources that will mitigate or eliminate their abuser’s ability to control them. Abusers use lack of immigration status to maintain control over survivors. This NOI seeks experts in immigration legal services and domestic and sexual violence to support immigrant and refugees who are seeking freedom from violence. Target PopulationThe primary focus of these services is domestic and sexual violence survivors seeking immigration-related legal advice and wrap-around services. Services shall be delivered with culture first/culturally rooted approaches. Legal Services DescriptionContractor shall provide legal representation and/or paralegal services for domestic and sexual violence victims/survivors in cases of immigration relief. Qualified providers will have expertise in immigration relief and the dynamics of power and control that characterize intimate partner violence. The provider will be required to staff the Gateway Center every Wednesday with a licensed attorney to provide consultation and intake services. From the Wednesday intakes, the provider will select approximately 25 cases per year for representation. Services will be provided at:The Gateway Center for Domestic Violence*10305 E Burnside St.Portland, OR 97216*Please note that due to the current COVID 19 pandemic, services are being provided remotely to survivors over the phone. Staff have limited access to the building. A qualified provider will be willing to return to the building at such time as it is deemed safe for the community. FundingThe County has budgeted approximately $60,000 annually for these services. Funding of the work described in this NOI is not guaranteed. Fluctuations in funding year to year should be expected. The County cannot assure that any particular level of work will be assigned and the contract will permit the County to add or remove work as necessary depending on availability of funding.The awarded provider must have the capability to implement services beginning January 1, 2021. The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to provide services for a two (2) year period, ending December 31, 2022.PROGRAM REQUIREMENTSInterested providers must demonstrate how they meet the minimum qualifications listed below in a written submission of three (3) pages or less. Proposal must be uploaded to Question 2.1.1 in Proposal Questions & Evaluation Criteria section. Only answers to the questions will be considered, no introduction, cover letter, or additional materials will be reviewed or considered and would count against the page limit. Please describe your agency’s capacity to provide Immigration Legal Services to survivors at the Gateway Center. In your response, please answer the following four (4) questions in detail .Describe your agency’s experience providing immigration legal services including years in practice, and percentage of focus in this practice area. Agency must ensure that the assigned attorney is Bar Certified and Licensed to practice in the State of Oregon. Describe the types of immigration relief available for survivors of intimate partner violence. What legal analysis is applied to determine which relief is sought? Please provide a fact pattern commensurate with each example described. Please describe 3 challenges faced by attorney’s representing survivors of intimate partner violence and how your firm overcomes those challenges.  Please describe how you will staff the Gateway Center on the required days, and how you will select cases for ongoing representation towards immigration relief. Please provide detail on how many survivors you would hope to achieve legal documentation through your representation. 

Attachments

This project has the following solicitation documents. You will need to visit the agency's original website to download these documents.

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