Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Services

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) issued Request for Proposals (RFP) QAAA 2026000215 on May 1, 2026, soliciting qualified organizations to provide Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Services statewide across Colorado through a cost-reimbursement contract beginning October 1, 2026, and extending through September 30, 2027, with renewal options for up to four additional one-year periods not exceeding five years total. The procurement targets family preservation, family reunification, adoption, and post-permanency support services designed to strengthen families and advance child safety, permanency, and well-being through evidence-based programming. Eligible service population areas include Family Support Services, Family Preservation Services, Family Reunification Services, and Adoption/Post-Permanency Support Services, with contractors required to implement evidence-based programs rated as "Well-Supported," "Supported," "Promising," or "Emerging" through approved clearinghouses such as the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare or the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. Key deliverables include comprehensive family assessments, individualized service planning, goal setting using SMART methodology, case management services with specified caseload ratios, and mandatory data entry into the CDEC Salesforce system within ten days of service completion; contractors must also achieve specific performance milestones including contacting referred families within three business days, developing Family Service Plans within fourteen days of assessment, ensuring seventy percent completion of minimum thirteen-session structured programs, conducting monthly internal case reviews, documenting warm handoffs for eighty percent of families requiring specialized services, and achieving baseline-to-final CFSA 2.0 score comparisons for ninety percent of exiting families. The pre-proposal conference is scheduled for May 7, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. via Google Meet, with inquiries due by May 14, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. and answers published by May 21, 2026; proposals must be submitted electronically via BidNet Direct by June 3, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., with public bid opening on June 4, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Qualified applicants must demonstrate organizational capacity through required exhibits including a Statement of Work, budget with detailed justifications, Background Check Attestation confirming fingerprint-based criminal background checks and annual mandated reporter training, letters of support from each county where services will be offered, and budget narratives not exceeding three hundred words, with all staff required to complete background checks prior to employment and maintain compliance with child welfare training standards throughout the contract term.

Eligible applicants include county departments of human or social services, private non-profit organizations holding 501(c)(3) status, and federally recognized tribal nations, with applications accepted as single-agency proposals, multi-agency regional partnerships, or statewide proposals serving at least fifty percent of Colorado counties; no set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises are specified in the procurement documents. Award amounts are distributed across four funding tiers based on organizational capacity and geographic scope: Tier 1 awards of $25,000 to $50,000 target small agencies serving small, less-populated counties; Tier 2 awards of $50,001 to $120,000 target mid-size agencies; Tier 3 awards of $120,001 to $200,000 target large agencies or multi-county operations; and Tier 4 awards up to $250,000 are reserved for statewide impact proposals, with all awards requiring a mandatory thirty percent match commitment from non-federal sources calculated such that the total budget equals the grant award divided by 0.70. Organizations requesting Tier 3 or Tier 4 funding must allocate at least twenty-five percent of total funding to Family Reunification Services and/or Adoption/Post-Permanency Support Services. Contractors must enter all family service data into the state's Salesforce database system, which requires mandatory field completion for household account information, contact records, case details, assessments using the CFSA 2.0 tool, service activities, and goal documentation, with quarterly and annual reporting requirements to the Colorado Department of Human Services on the federal fiscal year calendar. Unallowable costs include facility construction, medical or healthcare services, employee incentives, gift cards, food for meetings, childcare slots, residential treatment programs, and inherently religious activities, though flex funding capped at fifteen percent of the total award is permitted for emergency assistance and essential household items; the maximum budget per contractor is $50,000 with a thirty percent match requirement, and any costs exceeding the granted amount without prior written approval from CDEC will not be reimbursed.