Guaranteed Income for Families - Evaluation Partner

Sacramento County's Department of Child, Family & Adult Services, Child Protective Services (herein referred to as "DCFAS-CPS") is seeking proposals from a qualified, forward-thinking, equity-centered organization/institution (Contractor), to serve as the evaluation partner for an upcoming guaranteed income pilot planned for launch in early 2024. DCFAS-CPS believes that providing guaranteed income to low-income Black and American Indian/Alaska Native families caring for children ages 0-5 in several specific zip codes in Sacramento County will directly impact parent and child well-being and help keep families together and will serve to prevent entry into more formal systems, such as Child Welfare and Probation. DCFAS-CPS is interested in learning more about how direct cash transfers such as guaranteed income impacts the identified population with a particular interest in understanding any potential impacts to reducing the likelihood families will experience contact with the child welfare system. Participation in all research activities will be voluntary for all participants. For the purposes of this RFP, the guaranteed income pilot will be referred to as the Family First Sacramento Guaranteed Income For Families (FFSGIFF) pilot. Up to $300,000 is available for a period beginning upon contract execution through June 30, 2025.

This RFP is intended to support a rigorous process evaluation and evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of the FFSGIFF pilot. The knowledge gained through this evaluation will add to existing evidence of the implementation and effectiveness of Basic Income and related cash programs and policies. Applicants should propose the most rigorous and appropriate research design, considering the practical and financial constraints of the FFSGIFF pilot and incorporating local stakeholder and resident involvement as a focus in the development and conduct of the evaluation. Rigorous designs are those that in part utilize experimental designs (i.e., randomization) or quasi-experimental designs (e.g., designs involving matched comparison groups, designs using propensity-score matching, or instrumental variable methods) to help address potential alternative explanations for the findings. Randomization of participants and control groups may not be feasible and alternative quasi-experimental designs are appropriate and acceptable. Rigorous designs should include data analytic plans that are appropriate for that design, hypotheses, and data collection measures. Data analytic plans should also anticipate and evaluate the effects of threats to the internal and external validity of the specified research design and propose alternative options to be conducted. Applicants are expected to demonstrate how their study would build on current literature and existing research from basic income/guaranteed income pilots across the U.S. Applicants who propose mixed method approaches that include additional qualitative analyses to explore the equity implications of quantitative findings will receive priority in our funding decision. Recognition of diverse knowledge systems and use of culturally centered approaches to information gathering, including employing methods, metrics, and indicators that are seen as appropriate and useful by the residents of the community can be important to strengthening data collection activities.