Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) Services

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Bureau of Grants and Purchasing issued Request for Proposal 19-2164 to procure comprehensive Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) Services statewide, with proposals due by July 3, 2019. This procurement seeks a single contractor to operate and maintain an integrated adoption exchange system including a statewide electronic website and tracking system for children in state care with adoption as the permanency goal, a toll-free telephone line, recruitment services through quarterly periodicals and community activities, training and information sharing for adoption professionals and families, pre-adoptive family support services, and Adoption Navigator services to assist families throughout the adoption process. Key deliverables include child-family matching services, videotaping of children for recruitment purposes, quarterly newsletters, Michigan Heart Gallery coordination, youth advisory board facilitation, Family Match Support Services, and registry maintenance of approved adoptive families. Required qualifications for bidders include five years' experience identifying adoptive homes and facilitating placements, five years' experience with MARE operations, licensure as a licensed child placing agency in good standing with MDHHS, five years' web development and photo listing management experience, three years' experience creating promotional videos for recruitment, and three years' working with state and national adoption exchanges. Mandatory technical specifications include compliance with Michigan Enterprise IT Policies, ADA WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliance, NIST 800.53 MOD and HIPAA compliance, AES 256-bit encryption, multi-factor authentication, and either FedRAMP certification for cloud-based solutions or SOC 2 Type 2 certification for on-premise hosting. Proposals must achieve a minimum score of 80 points to be considered for award, with evaluation criteria addressing website design standards, system integration requirements, staffing credentials, and service delivery structure.

The contract period runs from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2022, with potential renewal at MDHHS discretion for up to five additional one-year periods, and the maximum award is $4,200,000 ($1,400,000 annually, with $1,395,000 in base service unit rates and $5,000 annually for specific assistance costs). No incumbent contractor is identified in the solicitation, and no specific set-aside designations or restrictions on bidder types are documented in the available materials. Bidders must submit completed proposals electronically through the SIGMA Vendor Self Service (VSS) website by the deadline specified on that system, and contractors must maintain comprehensive insurance coverage including $1,000,000 minimum Commercial General Liability and Automobile Liability coverage with the State of Michigan named as additional insured. Contractors must conduct ICHAT and Central Registry background checks for all staff working with clients or accessing client information and comply with all state physical and IT security policies including data confidentiality requirements for personally identifiable information and protected health information. The pricing matrix requires contractors to propose unit rates across five service categories and certify that pricing was developed independently, while MDHHS reserves the right to conduct site visits, oral presentations, interviews, reference checks, and background checks as part of the evaluation process.