Child Care Licensing Inspections

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP QAAA 2026000189) for child care licensing inspection services across six counties: Arapahoe, Clear Creek, El Paso, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Pueblo. The procuring agencies seek qualified vendors to provide licensing recommendations, oversight, and enforcement services for approximately 4,625 licensed child care facilities currently managed by 72 state licensing specialists. The scope of services encompasses pre-licensing technical assistance, original licensing approvals, unannounced annual inspections, complaint investigations, child abuse and neglect follow-up investigations, injury investigations, and quality rating evaluations for family child care homes, child care centers, preschools, school-age programs, neighborhood youth organizations, and children's resident camps. Proposed staff must hold a bachelor's degree in human services, social work, psychology, sociology, early childhood education, or a closely related field from an accredited institution, with a minimum of three years of professional experience in child care licensing, group care of children, or equivalent fields; professional work experience may substitute for educational requirements on a year-for-year basis. All employees must possess valid Colorado driver's licenses and demonstrate the ability to travel extensively in personal vehicles across all weather conditions, with vendors providing mileage reimbursement from employees' home offices and accommodating overnight travel as needed. The contract will be structured as a fixed-price agreement with a detailed payment schedule identifying monthly costs for staff salaries and operational expenses including reasonable overhead and administration. Performance benchmarks include a 95% on-time inspection completion rate, response to all inquiries within 48 business hours, completion of severity one complaints within 48 hours of receipt, and maintenance of caseloads not exceeding approximately 100 facilities per full-time licensing specialist. Evaluation criteria include demonstrated experience and capabilities, completeness and accuracy in addressing stated needs, cost-effectiveness relative to scope of work, vendor responsibility based on financial capacity and personnel resources, and sustainability of proposed specialist rates, with the state scrutinizing artificially low rates that may indicate staff turnover and service degradation. A pre-proposal conference was held on March 25, 2026, at 9:00 AM via Google Meet; written inquiries were due April 3, 2026, at 1:00 PM with responses provided by April 10, 2026; and proposals are due electronically via BidNet Direct on April 17, 2026, at 2:00 PM with public bid opening at 3:00 PM the same day. The anticipated contract start date is July 1, 2026, with an initial term running through June 30, 2027, and potential renewal for up to four additional one-year periods not to exceed five years total, contingent upon appropriated funds and satisfactory performance.

Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) certified through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will receive an additional 3 percent toward their overall final score. Vendors must be registered in the Colorado Office of Relational Enterprises (CORE) and maintain current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) with a valid Unique Entity ID; be registered to do business in Colorado; and submit certificates of insurance including workers' compensation, general liability with minimum limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence, and cyber/network security liability insurance. All contractors and their employees must successfully pass criminal background checks as required by Colorado Revised Statutes 27-90-111 and comply with mandatory reporting requirements for suspected child abuse and neglect. The RFP indicates that CDEC plans to make multiple awards based on responses received and project budget, and vendors may bid on any or all six counties without being required to bid on all counties. Contractors must comply with all applicable federal compliance requirements, including HIPAA Business Associate Agreement obligations for protected health information, Personal Identifying Information certification restricting use for federal immigration enforcement, accessibility standards per Colorado law and WCAG Level AA requirements, and federal contracting provisions including Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements, Clean Air Act compliance for awards exceeding $150,000, and Byrd Anti-Lobbying Amendment certification for awards exceeding $100,000. No specific funding amounts or award values are disclosed in the RFP solicitation materials, with budget determination contingent upon the number and quality of proposals received and the scope of services for each county awarded.