8.31.26 OECHVSRFP.pdf

Request for Proposals (RFP) For Connecticut Home Visiting System RFP Name: OEC-26-HVS

Issued by:

Office of Early Childhood

August 2026

The Request for Proposal is available in electronic format on the State Contracting Portal by filtering by Organization for the “Early Childhood, Office of” (https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/BidBoard) or from OEC’s Official Contact:

Name: Kaitlyn Czap E-mail: OEC.HVS.RFP@ct.gov Address: Office of Early Childhood

450 Columbus Boulevard Hartford, CT 06103

The RFP is also available on OEC’s website at: https://www.ctoec.org/rfps/.

Applicants may register for the optional pre-bid conference by clicking this link.

RESPONSES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN

Monday, October 19, 2026 5:00pm EST

The Office of Early Childhood (OEC) is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

OEC reserves the right to reject any and all submissions or cancel this procurement at any time if deemed in the best interests of the State of Connecticut (State).

STATE OF CONNECTICUT PROCUREMENT NOTICE

mailto:OEC.HVS.RFP@ct.gov https://www.ctoec.org/rfps/ https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CI169GykTheAjk3jFfYhtg#/registration

Dear Colleagues and Partners in This Work:

Thank you for your interest in the Office of Early Childhood’s (OEC) Home Visiting System. OEC is committed to home visiting as a proven strategy for promoting healthy birth outcomes, supporting early childhood development, strengthening positive parenting practices, and preventing child maltreatment. OEC is excited to share this Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking partners with demonstrated experience delivering evidence-based home visiting services and achieving measurable outcomes for children and families.

OEC is committed to working closely with our home visiting providers to implement services that are responsive to community needs, effectively engage priority populations, and participate as a program within a coordinated statewide home visiting system designed to improve maternal and child health, promote school readiness, and reduce disparities in outcomes for Connecticut’s families.

Vision for Home Visiting:

Building upon our unified Birth-to-Five system with home visiting programs serving as one of the earliest opportunities to engage families in building strong foundations for their children, our vision is that families are identified and engaged in home visiting services during the prenatal and/or early postnatal period. Using model curricula and evidence-based screening tools, home visitors support understanding of child development, identify developmental or family needs as early as possible, and connect families to appropriate evaluations, early intervention services, and other community-based supports.

Laying out a Plan to Achieve our Vision:

OEC is committed to collaborating with families and the provider community – informed by families, communities and providers. Starting in the summer of 2025, OEC collaborated with state and national experts to assess home visiting in Connecticut by soliciting feedback from Home Visiting focus groups in all regions, studying the MIECHV needs assessment, and analyzing current home visiting data across our State.

In response to these findings and to better align services with identified needs and barriers, OEC seeks partners to identify and engage families in home visiting services during the prenatal and early perinatal period with children up to one (1) year of age. Through a centralized intake and referral system, families will have equitable, timely, and coordinated access to home visiting programs that best meet their needs. These services will ensure that families are provided with the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to raise healthy children in a safe and nurturing environment.

Other Guidance OEC will be hosting a pre-bid conference on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 to review the enclosed RFP and receive questions from prospective respondents. While this conference is not mandatory, we highly encourage your attendance. Please register for the conference here. Thank you for your interest and for your service to Connecticut’s children and families.

Sincerely

Elena Trueworthy, Commissioner https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CI169GykTheAjk3jFfYhtg#/registration

Table of Contents A. Introduction B. Instructions

II. Purpose of RFP and Scope of Services

A. Office of Early Childhood Overview

B. Proposal Overview

C. Vision for Success

D. Scope Of Service Description

E. Contract Management/Data Reporting

F. Performance Measures

G. Evaluation of Proposals

III. Required Proposal Submission Outline

A. Cover Sheet

B. Table of Contents

C. Executive Summary

D. Main Proposal Submission Questions and Prompts

E. Proposal Attachments

F. Declaration of Confidential Information

G. Conflict of Interest – Disclosure Statement

H. Statement of Assurances

IV. Mandatory Provisions

A. POS Standard Contracts, Parts I AND II

B. Assurances

C. Terms and Conditions

D. Rights Reserved to the State

E. Statutory and Regulatory Compliance

Attachments

Attachment A: Acronyms/Definitions

Attachment B: Statement of Assurances Template

Attachment C: Attestation of Centralized Intake Participation

Attachment D: Proposal Checklist

Attachment E: Home Visitor Salary Guidelines

Attachment F: Home Visiting Regions Map

I. General Information

A. INTRODUCTION

1. RFP Name and Number. Connecticut Home Visiting System

(CTHVS): OEC-26-HVS

2. RFP Summary.

The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) is seeking proposals from private and public organizations to implement home visiting programs that prioritize prenatal and infant enrollment using an OEC-approved evidence-based home visiting model: Healthy Families America; Nurse Family Partnership;

and/or Parents as Teachers. Through the Connecticut Home Visiting System, OEC aims to promote healthy births, enhance child development and positive parenting practices, and prevent child maltreatment.

3. RFP Purpose.

OEC is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify and fund qualified organizations to provide evidence-based home visiting services that improve maternal, infant, and early childhood outcomes for families across Connecticut. OEC seeks to strengthen Connecticut's home visiting system by increasing access to services for prenatal caregivers and families with children ages 0-5, with a priority on enrolling families during pregnancy or within 12 months of birth.

Home visiting is a proven strategy for promoting healthy birth outcomes, supporting early childhood development, strengthening positive parenting practices, and preventing child maltreatment. Despite these demonstrated benefits, many Connecticut families that would benefit from home visiting remain unserved due to system level barriers including limited public awareness of available programs, confusion created by complex eligibility criteria and differences across programs and models, challenges engaging prenatal families, and concerns related to stigma about interactions with state systems.

Through this RFP, OEC seeks partners with demonstrated experience delivering evidence-based home visiting services and achieving measurable outcomes for children and families. Selected providers will implement services that are responsive to community needs, effectively engage priority populations (as defined in the Home Visiting Policy and Procedure Manual), participate within a/the coordinated statewide home visiting system, are designed to improve maternal and child health, promote school readiness, and strive to reduce disparities in outcomes for Connecticut families.

4. Commodity Codes. The services that OEC wishes to procure through this RFP are as follows:

• 93140000 https://www.ctoec.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HVS-Policy-Procedure-Manaul_7.1.26.pdf

B. INSTRUCTIONS

1. Official Contact. OEC has designated the individual below as the Official

Contact for this RFP. The Official Contact is the only authorized contact for this procurement and handles all communications related to the RFP on behalf of OEC. Applicants, prospective applicants, and other interested parties are advised that any communication with any other OEC employee(s) (including appointed officials or personnel under contract to OEC) about this RFP is strictly prohibited. Applicants or prospective applicants who violate this instruction risk disqualification from consideration.

Names: Kaitlyn Czap Address: Office of Early Childhood 450 Columbus Boulevard Hartford, CT 06103 E-Mail: OEC.HVS.RFP@ct.gov

Please ensure that e-mail screening software (if used) recognizes and accepts e-mails from the Official Contact.

2. Registering with State Contracting Portal. Applicants must be registered with the State of CT contracting portal at https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/Registration . Applicants shall submit the following information to this portal (on their supplier profile), which will be verified by the OEC Contact.

• Secretary of State recognition – Click on appropriate response

• Non-profit status, if applicable

• Notification to Bidders, Parts I-V

• Campaign Contribution Certification (OPM Ethics Form 1):

https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/Fin-PSA/Forms/Ethics-Forms

3. RFP Information. The RFP, amendments to the RFP, and other information associated with this procurement are available in electronic format from the Official Contact or from the Internet at the following locations:

• Agency’s RFP Web Page: https://www.ctoec.org/rfps/

• State Contracting Portal (go to CTsource Bid Board, filter by “Early Childhood, Office of”):

https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/BidBoard

It is strongly recommended that any applicant or prospective applicant interested in this procurement check both locations regularly for any solicitation changes. Interested applicants may receive additional e-mails from CTSource announcing addendums that are also posted on the portal. This service is provided as a courtesy to monitor activities associated with State procurements, https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/Registration https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/Registration https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/Fin-PSA/Forms/Ethics-Forms https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/Fin-PSA/Forms/Ethics-Forms https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ctoec.org%2Frfps%2Fsfccn-rfp%2F&data=04%7C01%7CAnh.Ton%40ct.gov%7Cab7cd72aa7e74cf26c9a08d95c45c23e%7C118b7cfaa3dd48b9b02631ff69bb738b%7C0%7C0%7C637642276948922189%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=E%2Bb8Hh3lbZA16c9GbI1Ys8vs3BJIwl%2ByVAuIK9bmEB0%3D&reserved=0 including this RFP.

4. Procurement Schedule. See table below. Dates after the due date for proposals (“Proposals Due”) are non-binding target dates and are only estimated dates that are subject to change (*). OEC may amend the schedule as needed. Any change to dates listed below, excluding non-binding dates, will be made by means of an amendment to this RFP and will be posted on the State Contracting Portal and OEC’s RFP Web Page.

Procurement Schedule Table

RFP Released: Monday, August 31, 2026 Optional Pre-Bid Conference: Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 10:00 AM Optional Letter of Intent Due: Friday, September 18, 2026, 5:00 PM Q&A Period: August 24, 2026 – September 18, 2026

Questions received by each Friday of the Q & A period will receive responses the following Tuesday.

OEC will collect and respond to questions on the following schedule:

Deadlines for Questions Responses by Friday, September 4, 2026 Tuesday, September 8, 2026 Friday, September 11, 2026 Tuesday, September 15, 2026 Friday, September 18, 2026 Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Proposals Due: Monday, October 19, 2026, 5:00PM ET

(*) Proposer Selection: January 1, 2027

(*) Start of Contract: July 1, 2027

5. Contract Awards. The awarding of any contract pursuant to this RFP is dependent upon the availability of funding to OEC. OEC anticipates the following:

Total Funding Available

Up to $119,675,825.00 over five years (approximately $23,935,165/year) is available through this RFP with a minimum of $3 million/per year allocated to each of the six (6) regions (Attachment F).

Number of Contracts Multiple awards, at least one (1) per region

Note: applicants may apply individually or as part of a joint application with other organization(s) in which there is one lead applicant/agency and one or more subcontractor. Only one application is required for organizations applying jointly. If one organization is applying to serve multiple regions, an application is required for each region.

Contract Term

7/1/2027 – 6/30/2032

Funding Source

State appropriated funds and Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) federal funds.

6. Eligibility.

All RFP applicants must be legally registered with CT’s Secretary of State or exempt from such registration per State of CT legislation (and must provide proof of exemption from registration). Applicants claiming nonprofit status must provide proof of nonprofit status, such as a copy of their Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determination letter. Having a history of contracting with OEC to deliver home visiting services is not a requirement to apply to this RFP.

7. Minimum Qualifications of Applicants. To qualify for a contract award, an applicant must complete the following minimum requirements:

• Select an OEC-approved evidence-based home visiting model:

Healthy Families America, Nurse Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers.

• Provide, at a minimum, managerial and administrative staff (at the time of award) to ensure immediate program infrastructure and operational readiness within a reasonable timeframe to meet all OEC operational, data, technology, evaluation, and reporting requirements as defined in the Scope of Service Description (Section II.D).

• Be in sound fiscal health, as determined by a recent organizational budget. The applicant’s most recent statement of financial activities (profit and loss statement) and documentation of clean opinions in audited financial statements for the last three (3) years (for newer organizations, those years that are available) must be made available.

• Adhere to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

• Be registered with System of Award Management (SAM) by the time of contract execution.

• Adhere to Part II of State of Connecticut's standard contract for health and human services.

8. Letter of Intent. A Letter of Intent (LOI) is not required but encouraged when applying to this RFP. The LOI is non-binding and does not obligate the sender to submit a proposal. The LOI must be submitted to the Official Contact by e-mail by the deadline established in the Procurement Schedule. The LOI must clearly identify the sender, including name, postal address, telephone number, and e-mail address. It is the sender’s https://sam.gov/SAM/ https://portal.ct.gov/opm/fin-pos/standards/pos-standard-contract-part-ii responsibility to confirm OEC’s receipt of the LOI.

9. Inquiry Procedures. All questions regarding this RFP or OEC’s procurement process must be directed, in writing, to the Official Contact (Part I Section B.1) before the deadline specified in the Procurement Schedule. The early submission of questions is encouraged. Questions will not be accepted or answered verbally – neither in person nor over the telephone. All questions received before the deadline(s) will be answered.

However, OEC will not answer questions when the source is unknown (e.g., nuisance or anonymous questions). Questions deemed unrelated to the RFP, or the procurement process will not be answered. At its discretion, OEC may or may not respond to questions received after the deadline. OEC may combine similar questions and give only one answer.

If any answer to any question constitutes a material change to the RFP, the question and answer will be placed at the beginning of the amendment and noted as such.

The agency will release the answers to questions on the date(s) established in the Procurement Schedule. OEC will publish all question and answer documents and, if applicable, amendments to this RFP on the State Contracting Portal and on OEC’s RFP Web Page. At its discretion, OEC may distribute any amendments to this RFP to prospective applicants who submitted a Letter of Intent or attended the RFP Conference. Question and answer documents will be posted according to the schedule in Part, I Section B.4.

10. RFP Bidder’s Conference. The virtual RFP Bidder’s Conference will be held on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET.

Attendance at the conference is optional but highly encouraged. OEC will publish all conference materials on its website after the conference.

11. Proposal Due Date and Time. The Official Contact is the only authorized recipient of proposals submitted in response to this RFP.

Proposals and all supporting documentation must be received by the Official Contact on or before the due date and time: Monday, October

19, 2026, 5:00PM ET.

Be aware that delays may occur when emailing submissions with large attachments. Please plan accordingly. If the proposal and/or any required supporting documentation are received after the due date and time, the proposal will be ineligible for review. OEC will send an official letter alerting late applicants of ineligibility.

An acceptable submission must include the following:

• One (1) conforming electronic copy of the original file and any supporting documentation as outlined in the checklist. The file must be complete, properly formatted and outlined, and ready for evaluation by the Screening Committee.

The electronic copy of the proposal must be emailed to the Official Contact for this procurement. The subject line of the email must read:

OEC-26-HVS. The main body should be submitted as a PDF, while the completed budget template should be submitted as a spreadsheet.

Required forms and appendices may be scanned and submitted as PDFs at the end of the main proposal document.

Please consolidate the main proposal body and required attachments into a single PDF file or as few files as possible. Please be sure that each file submitted with your proposal is appropriately titled with your organization name and an indication of the content. For example, if you are submitting the main body and attachments as one file, an appropriate file title would be “ORGNAME_FullProposal.” If you are submitting the budget, an appropriate file title would be “ORGNAME_Budget.”

Please ensure the entire email submission is less than 25MB as this reflects OEC server’s limitations. Applicants should work to ensure there are no additional IT limitations from the applicant side. It is the sender’s responsibility to confirm OEC’s receipt of the full application.

II. Purpose of RFP and Scope of Services

A. OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD OVERVIEW

Established in 2013, OEC is the state agency charged with fostering cross-system integration, coordination, and collaboration at the state and local levels to enhance the early learning and development, health and wellbeing of young children, families, and communities. OEC brings together leadership, expertise, and a wide range of early childhood and family support services formerly housed at five different state agencies. OEC aims to build an integrated early childhood system that includes high-quality services for family support and home visiting services, early intervention services, early care and education programming, and regulation.

OEC provides funding standards, regulations, quality improvement supports, technical assistance, and oversight to ensure that early childhood programs for young children:

• Are safe, healthy, and nurturing;

• Effectively support children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development;

• Are accessible to all children, particularly those facing barriers, risks, or challenges to their healthy development and success;

• Provide equitable access for all.

OEC’s vision is: All young children in Connecticut are safe, healthy, learning, and thriving. Each child is surrounded by a strong network of nurturing adults who deeply value the importance of the first years of a child’s life and have the skills, knowledge, support, and passion to meet the unique needs of every child.

The CT Home Visiting System’s vision is that families are identified and engaged in home visiting services during the prenatal and/or early postnatal period with children by 12 months of age. These services ensure families are provided with the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge of positive parenting practices necessary to raise healthy children in a safe and nurturing environment.

Through model curriculum and evidence-based screening tools, home visitors are able to support a family’s knowledge of childhood development and identify any developmental concerns to provide referrals for evaluations and early intervention supports and connect families to community resources. The Connecticut Home Visiting System offers:

Support for children’s development. Home visitors provide information and activities to support babies, infants, and children to grow, learn, and thrive.

Connections to helpful resources. Home visitors work with families to navigate resources that meet their needs, such as transportation, prenatal and postpartum support, child care, and other services. Families are also offered opportunities to meet with other caregivers.

Encouragement for caregivers’ goals. Home visitors support families’ goals – whether that includes school, work, stability, or gaining confidence as a caregiver.

For more information, visit OEC’s website.

B. PROPOSAL OVERVIEW:

OEC is seeking proposals from public, private, and non-profit organizations to implement home visiting programs that prioritize prenatal and infant enrollment using an OEC-approved evidence-based home visiting model:

Healthy Families America, Nurse Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers.

OEC seeks proposals from qualified organizations with the demonstrated capacity to implement high-quality home visiting services that are responsive to the strengths, needs, and priorities of the families and communities they serve.

Qualified applicants should demonstrate experience serving pregnant individuals, infants, and families with young children; the ability to recruit, https://www.ctoec.org/ train, supervise, and retain a skilled home visiting workforce; and established partnerships with health care providers, birthing hospitals, early childhood programs, behavioral health providers, community-based organizations, and other family-serving systems. Applicants should also have experience in strong home visiting service delivery that meets the needs of the families and communities served, as well as processes for incorporating family voice in service design and program governance. Applicants should have experience utilizing data systems to monitor performance, ensure data quality, and support continuous quality improvement efforts to best improve outcomes for children and families. Organizations should demonstrate sound fiscal management practices, a history of successfully managing state funding, and the ability to meet contractual requirements, including timely reporting and participation in statewide evaluation and quality assurance activities.

Preference may be given to applicants who demonstrate the ability to effectively engage priority populations, address disparities in maternal and child health outcomes, provide linguistically and culturally responsive services, and implement family-centered practices.

Background & Problem Statement OEC supports the CT Home Visiting System to deliver targeted support to prenatal and postnatal caregivers and young children. The CT Home Visiting System emphasizes child development and positive parenting practices by working with families to reduce preterm birth and low birthweight, increase postpartum care, encourage well child visits, improve maternal depression screening and referrals, early detection and referrals for developmental delays, improve school readiness, and reduce child maltreatment.

Research indicates that systemic inequities and social determinants of health negatively affect birth outcomes. In Connecticut, 4% of mothers initiated prenatal care in the third trimester or had no prenatal care in 20241. In 2025, the National Home Visiting Resource Center estimated that 167,300 Connecticut families would benefit from home visiting, but only 4,069 families received services2. Starting in the summer of 2025, OEC collaborated with state and national experts to assess home visiting in Connecticut by soliciting feedback through interviews and focus groups with current home visiting agencies across all regions, consulting the 2020 MIECHV Needs Assessment, and analyzing current home visiting data3. Findings reveal the following:

1. Prenatal and post-natal populations are high priority, but they are often difficult to reach.

2. Confusion about home visiting programs and eligibility is common among

1 Vital Statistics Registration Reports 2 National Home Visiting Resource Center: Connecticut Profile (2025).

3 Summary of provider focus groups and interviews (Fall 2025).

https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Health-Information-Systems--Reporting/Hisrhome/Vital-Statistics-Registration-Reports?language=en_US#RR https://nhvrc.org/state_profile/connecticut-2025/ https://padlet.com/oec7/9-24-provider-meeting-focus-group-materials-35tzvf431k6wdbdo/wish/e9YpQN1vlpoEaxjM families and those making referrals.

3. Parents value home visiting for supporting their child’s development and learning.

4. Parents express concerns about the stigma associated with home visiting and are often hesitant to collaborate with state agencies.

In response to these findings, and to better align services with identified needs and barriers, OEC seeks partners to deliver evidence-based home visiting services, prioritizing prenatal enrollment or enrollment within 12 months of birth. OEC seeks providers with demonstrated success in achieving the following objectives:

1. Promoting healthy birth outcomes.

2. Enhancing child development.

3. Strengthening positive parenting practices.

4. Preventing child maltreatment.

5. Expanding services to reach a broader range of families.

C. VISION FOR SUCCESS

The Connecticut Home Visiting System aims to identify and engage families in home visiting services during the prenatal and early postnatal period. Families are eligible to enroll from the prenatal period until the child reaches 12 months of age. Families who enroll by the child's first birthday may continue to receive home visiting services beyond 12 months of age, in accordance with program requirements and eligibility.

OEC is developing a centralized intake and referral system to allow families equitable, timely, and coordinated access to the home visiting program that best meets their needs. The centralized intake system will provide a designated single point of entry for families and providers to complete an initial intake and receive a coordinated referral based on factors such as family preferences, eligibility, geographic location, language and program capacity. By establishing a standardized intake, referral, and follow-up processes across the Home Visiting system, OEC seeks to reduce barriers, enrollment duplication, and the burden on families and providers to navigate multiple programs independently, all while preserving family choice. This system will provide continuous support throughout the referral progress and follow a referral from start to finish to ensure families are fully connected with and enrolled in a local program. In addition to improving the family experience, centralized intake and referral will generate actionable data to identify service gaps, monitor demand and capacity, and track referral and enrollment outcomes.

Home Visiting services ensure that families are provided with the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to raise healthy children in a safe and nurturing environment. Using model curricula and evidence-based screening tools, home visitors support families’ understanding of child development, identify developmental or family needs as early as possible, and connect families to appropriate evaluations, early intervention services, and other community-based supports.

Five main strategic priorities will inform OEC’s support and oversight of the CT Home Visiting System:

1. Expand the home visiting system through design of a new centralized intake and referral system, coordinating marketing and outreach resources to reduce stigma and publicize home visiting, and establishment of greater links to early childhood programming in Connecticut.

2. Meet family needs by identifying ways for non-enrolled families to be involved through groups and other less formal supports, allowing agencies to offer innovative service delivery practices, and building more intentional continuous quality improvement support.

3. Increase home visitor retention through increased compensation and investment in training to support program innovations.

4. Elevate families and agencies in policymaking by incorporating families in service design and governance, such as the Home Visiting Consortium.

5. Assess and communicate the impact of home visiting through regular review of performance data and strength-based Active Contract Management (ACM).

D. SCOPE OF SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Home Visiting Partners will work to:

1. Improve maternal and infant health outcomes by ensuring pregnant and postpartum individuals receive timely, effective, and holistic support through evidence-based home visiting.

2. Strengthen early childhood development and positive parenting practices by using developmental screening tools and evidence-based supports to build skills, confidence, and healthy parent/child relationships.

3. Reduce the incidence of child maltreatment by engaging caregivers during the prenatal and perinatal periods, equipping them with resources, knowledge, and support to foster safe, stable, nurturing home environments.

OEC is interested in applicants to this RFP who can:

Hire and Train Staff

1. Attract highly qualified staff to conduct home visits by offering competitive salaries in line with OEC-recommended guidelines.

2. Train staff to implement home visiting by using comprehensive onboarding practices that meet OEC and model guidelines and requirements. This includes training in screening tools, including but not limited to, ASQ®, ASQ-SE®, Parent Child Interaction, Depression, Intimate Partner Violence, and the Sparkler mobile application.

3. Retain staff by providing quality supervision, support, and ongoing professional development opportunities.

Recruit Eligible Families

4. Recruit families considered OEC priority populations: prenatal mothers and families with children up to 12 months of age.

5. Refer families to the CT Home Visiting System through the centralized intake and referral process that is anticipated to begin on July 1, 2027 by adapting internal workflows, operational practices, and communication processes necessary to ensure compliance with all upcoming requirements.

6. Engage in continuous recruitment and outreach for the CT Home Visiting System.

Enroll & Engage Eligible Families

7. Enroll families as efficiently as possible by limiting the time between referral and enrollment.

8. Meet regularly with families on schedules determined by the evidence-based model and family needs.

9. Implement a strength-based approach, grounded in trust and respect, to engage families through techniques such as, but not limited to, Motivational Interviewing, Protective Factors, Brazelton Touchpoints Training, and Community Partnerships.

10. Provide parent and family groups for both enrolled and non-enrolled families who would benefit from the interaction but do not need more formal services.

11. Collaborate with other community partners (both home visiting and non-home visiting) to maximize resources and coordinate referrals for families.

12. Develop a process to maintain knowledge of current community supports and partnerships including participation in Local Governance Partner Community Tables in communities where available. More information on LGPs can be found HERE.

Program Expectations

13. Comply with the OEC Home Visiting Policy and Procedure Manual which addresses, among other topics: joint home visits, regular reflective supervision, home visit frequency, caseload requirements, screenings/assessments with appropriate referrals, professional development, and data collection and entry.

14. Develop a process to regularly offer the Sparkler mobile application to all enrolled families.

15. Engage in Active Contract Management and annual contract evaluations as outlined in the OEC Home Visiting Policy and Procedure Manual.

16. Monitor services and implement process and quality improvement as needed to ensure comprehensive high-quality services and outcomes for children and https://www.ctoec.org/early-start-ct-local-governance-partners/ families.

17. Develop a process for the timely collection and entry of data into the Early Childhood Information System (ECIS) in accordance with OEC Home Visiting Policy and Procedure Manual.

18. Maintain model fidelity requirements.

E. Contract Management/Data Reporting

As part of the State’s commitment to becoming more outcome-oriented, OEC seeks to actively collaborate with contractors to enhance contract management, improve results, and adjust service delivery and policy by continuously improving processes to best serve families and children in Connecticut.

OEC will work with the awarded applicants to set expectations for what contract management will look like. At a minimum, the contractors will:

1. Provide written quarterly reports in a format approved by OEC on program status including aggregated client family data and programmatic data as requested by OEC.

2. Provide OEC with home visiting performance indicators as required in ECIS and as described in the Home Visiting Policy and Procedure manual, and as part of federal data reporting requirements through the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program.

3. Provide OEC with quarterly fiscal reports, in a format approved by OEC, on fiscal expenditures and basic services.

4. Be required to participate in Active Contract Management meetings on a schedule determined by OEC.

5. Be required to participate in Regional Active Contract Management meetings on a schedule determined by OEC.

6. Be required to participate in regular Contract Evaluations on a schedule determined by OEC.

F. Performance Measures

Performance measures will be analyzed regularly during the lifetime of the contract awarded through this RFP. Successful candidates will be responsible for reporting quarterly data which may include the performance metrics indicated below.

The table below highlights the desired outcomes and performance metrics that OEC will examine during the contract period. The tables below do not represent an exhaustive list; rather, these metrics are indicators of how OEC will approach evaluating outcomes. OEC looks forward to working with awarded Contractors to collaboratively refine and define additional important performance metrics.

Performance Measures

Desired Outcomes Metrics Potential Data Source

1. Strengthen early childhood development and positive parenting practices by using developmental screening tools and evidence-based supports to build skills, confidence, and healthy parent/child relationships.

1. Number of ASQ and ASQ-SE screenings and referrals completed;

2. Number of parent-child interaction assessments completed;

3. Completed OEC trainings (require d and recommended) f or Home Visiting Providers.

Sparkler

ECIS

2. Reduce the incidence of child maltreatment by engaging caregivers during the prenatal and perinatal periods, equipping them with resources, knowledge, and support to foster safe, stable, nurturing home environments.

1. Number of prenatal and perinatal enrollm ents;

2. Completed number of home visits, both virtual and in-person;

3. Number of caseloads at full capacity based on home visitor FTEs;

4. Number of families receiving lower intensity services through group

ECIS

offerings.

To ensure the Connecticut Home Visiting System advances its performance outcomes and delivers high-quality services to families, OEC conducts contractor evaluations on a schedule determined by OEC. These evaluations assess contractor performance across multiple areas, including, but not limited to, the following:

Measure Brief Definition Benchmark Measures

Performance indicators outlined by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) as follows:

• Depression screening

• Well-child visits

• Postpartum care

• Tobacco cessation referrals

• Safe sleep

• Parent-child interaction

• Early language and literacy activities

• Developmental screening

• Behavioral concerns

• Intimate partner violence screening

• Intimate partner violence referrals

Visit Frequency Percent of expected home visits completed by each home visitor

Home Visitor Staffing

Percent of home visitors on staff compared to expectations

Salaries

Whether all home visitors have salaries at or above minimum guidelines

Corrective Action Plan

Whether a Corrective Action Plan was put into place

Model Fidelity Compliance with model fidelity or on track to comply

ACM Meetings Participation in Monthly ACMs and Regional ACMs

Reports Submitted on Time

On-time submission of all reports

Compliance with State & Federal Rules

Compliance with all state and federal rules

Sparkler Enrollment Percent of children served in home visiting who are enrolled in the Sparkler App

Caseload

Home visitor capacity based on expected capacity

G. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

1. Evaluation Process. OEC intends to conduct a comprehensive, fair, and impartial evaluation of proposals received in response to this RFP. When evaluating proposals, negotiating with successful applicants, and awarding contracts, OEC will conform with its written procedures for POS and PSA procurements (pursuant to C.G.S. § 4-217) and the State’s Code of Ethics (pursuant to C.G.S. §§ 1-84 and 1-85). Final funding allocation decisions will be determined during contract negotiation.

2. Evaluation Committee. OEC will designate an Evaluation Committee to evaluate proposals submitted in response to this RFP. The Evaluation Committee will be composed of OEC staff or other designees deemed appropriate. The contents of all submitted proposals, including any confidential information, will be shared with the Evaluation Committee.

Only proposals found to be responsive (that is, complying with all instructions and requirements described therein) will be reviewed, rated, and scored. Proposals that fail to comply with all instructions may be rejected after review by the Evaluation Committee Chairs. The Evaluation Committee shall evaluate all proposals that meet the Minimum Submission Requirements by score and then rank and make recommendations for awards. Attempts by any applicant (or representative of any applicant) to contact or influence any member of the Evaluation Committee may result in disqualification of the applicant.

3. Minimum Submission Requirements. To be eligible for evaluation, proposals must (1) meet the Proposal Format requirements; (2) follow the required Proposal Outline; and (3) be complete. Proposals that fail to follow instructions or satisfy these minimum submission requirements may be disqualified upon review by the Evaluation Committee Chairs.

OEC will reject any proposal that deviates significantly from the requirements of this RFP.

4. Evaluation Criteria and Weights. Proposals meeting the Minimum

Submission Requirements will be evaluated according to the established criteria. These criteria are the objective standards the Evaluation Committee will be used to evaluate the proposals' technical merits.

Only the criteria listed below will be used to evaluate proposals. The weights are disclosed below.

Evaluation Criterion Title

What Would a Top Score Look Like?

Organizational strengths, structure, staffing. (18%)

• The ideal candidate will be an eligible organization with demonstrated experience successfully managing state grants, serving families and providing home visits, a strong organizational infrastructure with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and effective strategies for recruiting, training, supporting, and retaining a skilled workforce that can address community needs. The ideal candidate will provide robust supervision (including reflective supervision), effective oversight of subcontractors (if applicable), ensure adequate administrative support, and implement outreach efforts aligned with the CT Home Visiting System to promote high-quality, family-centered services.

Delivery; recruitment, target/key populations, referrals. (42%)

• The ideal candidate will select a model approved by OEC and demonstrate the ability to implement a high-quality, evidence-based home visiting program that is compliant with model requirements, responsive to identified community needs, and capable of effectively recruiting for the CT Home Visiting System, engaging, and retaining eligible families. The ideal candidate will have strong community partnerships evidenced by outreach to both enrolled and non-enrolled families, sufficient staffing and supervisory capacity, strategies to maintain caseloads and service continuity, family voice, timely enrollment, strength-based family-centered service delivery.

Key outcomes, reporting and Continuous Quality Improvement. (17%)

• The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to data‑informed practice, continuous quality improvement, and meaningful family engagement by ensuring effective staff onboarding and training, adherence to required screenings and assessments, and timely, accurate data collection. They will apply continuous quality improvement methods, including SMART goals, integrate family voice into program planning to improve services, and leverage technology—such as the Sparkler mobile application—to strengthen service quality and improve outcomes for families. If applying with subcontractors, the ideal candidate will also demonstrate effective oversight of programming, outcomes, and financial responsibility to ensure high‑quality, accountable service delivery across all partners.

Budget/budget narrative & Staffing Plan. (13%)

• The ideal candidate will submit a complete, well-justified five (5)-year budget that remains within funding limits and demonstrates responsible stewardship of resources. The proposed budget should reflect the efficient use of funds by maintaining an appropriate balance between home visitor and supervisory staffing, ensuring sufficient capacity to provide high-quality oversight while maximizing direct services to families. The budget should adhere to staff compensation requirements as noted in Attachment E, support staffing levels that meet community needs, maximize the number of families served, minimize nonessential administrative costs, and comply with all administrative cost limitations.

*Note: All awarded contractors will be required to utilize CORE-CT online system as the fiscal reporting tool.

Financial Profile. (10%)

• The ideal candidate demonstrates strong fiscal health as determined through clean opinions in the last three (3) years of audited financial statements (for newer organizations, the number of years available); a recent organizational budget; and the respondent’s most recent statement of financial activities (profit and loss statement).

Responsibly and proactively manages its financial systems, with clearly defined internal controls.

Has prior experience managing complex financial reporting requirements.

Uses Generally Accepted Accounting Principles with financial systems.

Note: As part of its evaluation of Organizational Structure and Staffing, the Evaluation Committee will consider the proposer’s demonstrated commitment to affirmative action, as required by the Regulations of CT State Agencies § 46A-68j-30(10).

5. Proposer Selection. Upon completing its evaluation of proposals, the Evaluation Committee will submit the rankings of all proposals to the OEC Commissioner. The final selection is at the discretion of the OEC Commissioner. The proposers selected will be notified and awarded an opportunity to negotiate a contract with OEC. Such negotiations may, but will not automatically, result in a contract. Pursuant to Governor M. Jodi Rell’s Executive Order No. 3, any resulting contract will be posted on the State Contracting Portal. All unsuccessful proposers will be notified by e-mail, at OEC’s discretion, about the outcome of the evaluation and proposer selection process. OEC reserves the right to decline to award contracts if the OEC Commissioner considers there are not qualified, suitable respondents.

6. Debriefing. Within ten (10) calendar days of receiving notification from OEC, unsuccessful proposers may reach out to the Official Contact and request information about the evaluation and proposer selection process.

The e-mail sent date or the postmark date on the notification envelope will be considered “day one” of the ten (10) calendar days. If unsuccessful proposers still have questions after receiving this information, they may contact the Official Contact and request a meeting with OEC to discuss the evaluation process and their proposal. If held, the debriefing meeting will not include any comparisons of unsuccessful proposals with other proposals. OEC will schedule and hold the debriefing meeting within 15 business days of the request. OEC will not change, alter, or modify the outcome of the evaluation or selection process as a result of any debriefing meeting.

7. Appeal Process. Pursuant to General Statutes § 4e-36 (a), any bidder or proposer on a state contract may contest the solicitation or award of a contract to a subcommittee of the State Contracting Standards Board.

Such contest shall be submitted, in writing, no later than 14 days after such bidder or proposer knew or should have known of the facts giving rise to such contest and shall be limited to the procedural elements of the solicitation or award process, or claims of an unauthorized or unwarranted, noncompetitive selection process.

8. Contract Execution. Any contract developed and executed as a result of this RFP is subject to OEC’s contracting procedures, which may include approval by the Office of the Attorney General. Fully executed and approved contracts will be posted on State Contracting Portal.

III. Required Proposal Submission Outline A. Cover Sheet B. Table of Contents C. Executive Summary

D. Main Proposal Submission Questions and Prompts E. Proposal Attachments (clearly referenced in summary and main proposal where applicable) F. Declaration of Confidential Information G. Conflict of Interest – Disclosure Statement H. Statement of Assurance I. Attestation of Central Intake Participation

A. Cover Sheet

The applicant must include a Cover Sheet capturing the following information:

• RFP Name or Number

• Legal Name

• Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)

• Street Address

• Town/City/State/Zip

• Contact Person

• Title

• Phone Number

• E-Mail Address

• Authorized Official Title

• Signature

Legal Name is defined as the name of private provider organization, non-profit organization, CT State agency, or municipality submitting the proposal. Contact Person is defined as the individual who can provide additional information about the proposal or who has immediate responsibility for the proposal. Authorized Official is defined as the individual empowered to submit a binding offer on behalf of the applicant to provide services in accordance with the terms and provisions described in this RFP and any amendments or attachments hereto.

B. Table of Contents

Applicants must include a Table of Contents that lists each section and subsection with page numbers that follow the organizational outline and sequence for this proposal.

C. Executive Summary

The page limit for this section is one (1) page briefly describing how the applicant meets the eligibility criteria outlined in the Proposal Overview and why the applicant should be selected to perform the activities highlighted in the scope of services.

D. Main Proposal Submission Questions and Prompts

***Please note the maximum total page length for the main proposal submission is 30 pages. Attachments are not included in the page count. Ensure that the proposal is formatted to fit 8 ½ x 11 (letter-sized) paper, is in 12-point, Time New Roman font, has one (1)-inch margins, and has 1 ½ line spacing.

Please describe in detail how the applicant will provide the work described in Section II.D. Scope of Service Description. Provide a clear and concise narrative which addresses the following:

Organizational Strengths, Structure, Staffing (18%). Describe the applicant’s organizational capacity to provide work described in section II. D Scope of Service Description. Specifically, address the following:

1. Provide a brief overview of the history of your organization and prior experience engaging families in their homes within your community/communities. (2 points)

2. Attach an organizational chart that demonstrates clearly defined roles, responsibilities and administrative support for the program and any subcontractors. (1 point)

3. Detail a staffing plan that includes the following (5 points):

a. Process for hiring program staff in a timely manner;

b. Number of skilled home visitors and supervisors, by

FTE, reflective of community needs (*Note: OEC will only fund FTE positions that are .25, .5, .75 or 1.0);

c. Required qualifications for staff serving families;

d. Clear designation between lead applicants and HV service subcontractor(s) including detail on how you would collaborate regularly communicate with subcontractor(s) to ensure overall program success, if applicable.

4. Describe clear, intentional strategies utilized to retain program staff. Please include direct service staff retention rates for the previous two (2) years.