State Licensed and Nationally Accredited Secure Care and Heightened Supervision Facility (HSF) Beds for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Unaccompanied Alien Children Bureau (UACB)

This posting serves as a pre-solicitation notice issued in accordance with RFO FAR 5.101, Presolicitation Notice, under the Department of Health and Human Services' class deviation implementing the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), and also provides industry the opportunity to review and submit feedback on the attached Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) prior to issuance of the final solicitation.

Background and Summary of Services

ORR requires contractor-operated Secure Care and HSF residential placements for Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) ages 13–17 who meet the respective placement criteria for each level of care. UAC are referred to ORR after apprehension by the Department of Homeland Security, and ORR places each child in the least restrictive setting appropriate to their individual needs, considering factors such as danger to self or others, flight risk, and criminal history.

HSF placements serve UAC who require increased supervision but not full secure-facility confinement — typically children who have been disruptive in shelter settings, show behavioral patterns requiring closer oversight, or have a non-violent criminal or delinquent history. Secure Care placements serve UAC who pose a danger to themselves or others, or who have been charged with or convicted of a criminal offense.

The Contractor shall operate state-licensed, nationally accredited (or accreditation-pending) Secure Care and HSF programs within the contiguous United States, providing humane, secure residential care and comprehensive, trauma-informed services — including healthcare, behavioral and mental health services, education, case management, counseling, recreation, nutrition, transportation, religious access, acculturation services, discharge planning, and support for transfer or safe release — in compliance with 45 CFR Part 410 and applicable federal, state, and local requirements. The Contractor shall provide qualified, cleared, and trained multilingual staff capable of managing complex behaviors and delivering culturally appropriate care, and shall support timely transitions to less restrictive settings or safe release to ORR-vetted sponsors.

Scope and Capacity

The requirement includes capacity for up to:

• 150 Secure Care beds; and
• 100 HSF beds.

The Contractor shall provide the Secure Care and HSF bed increments specified at award and shall have the initial awarded increments available for UAC placement no later than 120 calendar days after award. The minimum initial capacity is 30 Secure Care beds and 30 HSF beds. The Contractor shall maintain the operational flexibility, facility capacity, and appropriately cleared staffing necessary to increase or decrease bed increments as directed by the Contracting Officer in accordance with the Performance Work Statement (PWS).

Programs shall operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and shall be capable of accepting new admissions within 48 hours of referral by ORR.

Industry Feedback

All interested parties are invited to review the attached Draft RFP and submit written comments, questions, or recommendations using Attachment 6, Q&A Template, to the POCs listed in this posting no later than October 16, 2026 at 12:00PM ET.

Note: This is a Draft RFP posted for industry review and comment purposes only. No proposals are being solicited or accepted at this time. Submission of comments or questions in response to this notice does not obligate the Government in any way and does not guarantee that any resulting feedback will be incorporated into the final solicitation. The final solicitation, when issued, is anticipated to be posted in October 2026.

List of Attachments

• Attachment 1 - Standard Form (SF) 1449 - To be provided at RFP Issuance
• Attachment 2 - Performance Work Statement (PWS)
• Attachment 3 - Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Attachment 4 - Recent and Relevant Past Performance Narrative Template
• Attachment 5 - Pricing Worksheet - To be provided at RFP Issuance
• Attachment 6 - Q&A Template
• Attachment 7 - Prime/Subcontractor/Partner/Affiliate Responsibility Crosswalk
• Attachment 8 - State and Local Authorization/Licensure Self-Attestation