RFI No. 26-001 Compensation and Restitution System Modernization

The California Victims Compensation Board is issuing RFI No. 26-001 to solicit innovative input from qualified vendors on modernization solutions for its Compensation and Restitution System (CaRes), with responses due September 24, 2026. This is an information-gathering exercise, not a competitive solicitation; no contract will result directly from the RFI.

CaRes is a workflow-based claims processing system that captures victim compensation applications, determines eligibility, processes bills, and distributes payments to claimants and providers. The system currently serves approximately 300 CalVCB users and external users in county Joint Power and Criminal Restitution Compact offices. Key modernization drivers include lack of system agility for updates, absence of adjustments and appeals workflow modules, no communications engine, insufficient attribute auditing, manual separation of duties management, and limited report customization. The modernized solution must support the complete claims lifecycle, including eligibility determination, bill processing, payment distribution, document management, external agency coordination, and an expedited emergency award process for dire circumstances.

Respondents may propose Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS), Modified-Off-The-Shelf (MOTS), integrated product sets, configurable COTS, or custom solutions. RFI responses are limited to 10 pages single-spaced in 12-point font with one-inch margins and must address company background, proposed solution description, integration capabilities, implementation approach with timelines and past-five-year examples, technical support, security compliance, and costing models. Vendors must demonstrate experience implementing solutions with other government agencies and address scalability, data validation and migration, system upgrade processes, and compliance with California Department of Technology policies, the Statewide Information Management Manual, FISMA, and NIST Special Publications including NIST SP 800-53A Revision 5.

Questions are due September 2, 2026, with responses released by September 9. CalVCB may invite selected respondents to demonstrate solutions in October 2026. All submitted documents become property of the State of California and are subject to the California Public Records Act and FOIA. Responses must be submitted electronically to ITAcquisitions@victims.ca.gov. Vendors should provide estimated costing models and budgetary ranges for planning purposes only; cost estimates are non-binding. Any future solicitation is anticipated on the California State Contract Register (CaleProcure).