DCYF Adoption and Guardianship Support Services

The Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP24003756) seeking vendors to provide comprehensive Adoption and Guardianship Support Services for children and youth in state care. The procurement aims to secure vendors who can perform a range of legal permanency services, including family kinship and fictive kin searches, navigation to identify potential legal guardianship and adoption resources, recruitment of guardians and adoptive families, permanency preparation and support services, and matching services that include publicizing children in need of permanency. Vendors will be evaluated based on three primary criteria: technical qualifications, cost proposal, and Inclusion, Small Business Enterprise (ISBE) participation rates. The solicitation opens on January 18, 2024, at 11:00 AM EST, with a vendor Q&A period running from January 18 to January 26, 2024, and proposals are due by February 15, 2024, at 2:00 PM EST. The initial contract term will begin in April 2024 for one year, with potential renewal options for up to four additional 12-month periods contingent on vendor performance and funding availability. Successful vendors must demonstrate comprehensive capabilities in permanency services and submit detailed technical and cost proposals through the Ocean State Procures system.

The RFP strongly encourages participation from minority business enterprises (MBEs), women business enterprises (WBEs), and disability business enterprises (DisBEs), with evaluation points specifically allocated based on proposed ISBE utilization rates. Vendors must meet extensive insurance requirements, including $1 million in general liability coverage, workers compensation, $1 million in automobile liability, $2 million in professional liability, $1 million in physical abuse and molestation liability, $5 million in cyber/privacy liability, and $2 million in umbrella/excess liability coverage. While the RFP does not specify an estimated total contract value or list incumbent vendors, it indicates that funding is contingent on the availability of appropriated funds. Vendors must register in the Ocean State Procures system to submit proposals and be considered for award. The state reserves the right to award contracts to multiple vendors and to cancel the solicitation at any time prior to contract award, emphasizing a flexible approach to meeting the complex permanency service needs of children and youth in Rhode Island.