Invitation For Bid (IFB) 25-10747-1 Decoy Recruitment for Tobacco Enforcement

The California Department of Public Health, Office of Youth Tobacco Enforcement, is issuing Invitation for Bid 25-10747 to procure decoy recruitment services for statewide tobacco enforcement operations. The contractor shall recruit and maintain a minimum of 100-350 active decoy volunteers between ages 15-20 years to support approximately 7,000 annual tobacco compliance checks across California in enforcement of the STAKE Act and federal tobacco sales laws. Key deliverables include recruitment activities, community education presentations, development of recruitment materials, maintenance of confidential decoy files, coordination with law enforcement agencies, and provision of stipends and incentive compensation to participating decoys. Qualified bidders must demonstrate three years of experience within the past five years in recruiting and maintaining decoy operatives, contracting and coordinating with government agencies, conducting youth recruitment presentations and outreach, and creating and maintaining confidential files and processing stipends. The contract will be awarded to the lowest responsive responsible bidder based on cost submission. Questions are due January 27, 2026, at 3:00 PM PT, with sealed proposal submissions due February 17, 2026, at 3:00 PM PT; bid opening is scheduled for February 18, 2026, at 10:00 AM PT, and the Notice of Intent to Award is estimated for February 24, 2026, by 5:00 PM PT. The contract term extends from April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2029, with potential amendment provisions for time-only extensions not to exceed 30 percent of the original contract cost.

Small business preferences of five percent are available for California-certified small businesses or those committing to 25-percent subcontractor participation, with additional incentives for Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise participation. No subcontractors are permitted under this agreement, and bidders must submit three sealed copies of their proposals including detailed responses to the Scope of Work, cost worksheets, staff resumes, references, required certifications, and proof of insurance. The total budget allocation for this contract is $2,500,000, with the cost-per-check model estimating approximately 21,000 decoy checks to be performed during the contract period; all submitted rates must be fully burdened and include operating expenses, labor, equipment costs, supplies, overhead, annual inflation costs and rate adjustments, profit margin, taxes, and shipping. All bids exceeding the $2,500,000 maximum budget will be deemed non-responsive and rejected from consideration. A single contract award is anticipated for this deliverables-based agreement, and failure to submit a signed cost worksheet may result in the proposal being deemed non-responsive and ineligible for award.