RFP 26-10016 California Tobacco Prevention Clearinghouse

The California Department of Public Health/California Tobacco Prevention Program is soliciting one qualified public or private nonprofit agency to operate and maintain a statewide tobacco prevention educational materials clearinghouse under RFP 26-10016, with proposals due July 23, 2026 by 3:00 PM Pacific Time and a mandatory non-binding letter of intent due July 8, 2026 by 3:00 PM Pacific Time.

Eligible bidders must be public or private nonprofit agencies with at least three consecutive years of relevant experience within the past five years, including development and distribution of linguistically and culturally tailored educational materials, provision of technical assistance and training in materials development, management of print production and fulfillment services, and delivery of at least 200 instances of technical assistance annually and 12 to 25 trainings per year. Bidding preferences are available for small businesses, disabled veteran business enterprises, nonprofit veteran service agencies, and target area contract preference participation. Proposers must certify compliance with conflict of interest, Darfur Contracting Act, Iran Contracting Act, and non-acceptance of tobacco industry funding requirements.

The scope encompasses developing and preparing multilingual prevention materials aligned with the Tobacco Education Research Oversight Committee (TEROC) 2025-2026 Master Plan; providing technical assistance in resource creation and adaptation; managing materials distribution and fulfillment services to local and state tobacco prevention entities; establishing a public health pipeline internship program; maintaining an educational materials catalog; fulfilling approximately 6,000 quit kits annually and 50,000–60,000 Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act materials annually; developing 8–10 new educational materials annually with consumer testing; and conducting evaluation activities. The contractor must serve diverse populations including American Indian tribes, African American/Black, Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino, LGBTQ+, rural, and low-income communities.

The total available funding is $4.312883 million over a 33-month contract term from October 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029, with recommended annual allocations of $1.3927 million for fiscal year 2026/2027 (9 months), $1.460066 million for fiscal year 2027/2028, and $1.460067 million for fiscal year 2028/2029. Funding sources are Proposition 56 (California Healthcare, Research & Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016) and/or Proposition 99 (California Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988), appropriated as Local Assistance. Indirect costs must not exceed 15 percent of total direct expenses or 25 percent of total personnel. The contract includes an option to extend for one additional year subject to satisfactory performance and funding availability. The anticipated notice of intent to award is August 18, 2026, with final announcement by August 28, 2026.

Required staffing includes a 75–100% full-time equivalent Project Director/Coordinator and a 5% full-time equivalent Evaluator meeting specific evaluation credentials. The contractor must maintain active participation in OTIS (contract management system) and Partners (web-based communication platform) and maintain commercial general liability insurance with minimum limits of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million annual aggregate. All subcontracts exceeding $5,000 require prior written CDPH approval. All educational materials and intellectual property produced are assigned to CDPH.