RFP - Early Childhood Initiatives Portfolio Evaluation Services for the Harris County Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity

Harris County is seeking a comprehensive portfolio evaluation of its Early Childhood Initiatives (ECI) through a Request for Proposal (RFP) for professional evaluation services. The contract, beginning on or about October 1, 2025, will run for one year and is funded through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. The selected vendor will conduct a strategic assessment of the ECI Portfolio, focusing on evaluating the impact of current early childhood programs across five key areas: high-quality affordable child care, supporting early childhood educators, serving vulnerable populations, parent education, and data analysis. The evaluation will be structured in four phases, including analyzing historic needs, program opportunities, impact assessment, and future recommendations. Proposals will be evaluated based on three key criteria: Scope of Service (50%), Organizational Information/Qualifications (30%), and Pricing (20%), with proposals due by September 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. local time. The Project Lead must be a Certified Project Manager with at least ten years of project management experience and capable of creating detailed reports in both English and Spanish.

The procurement includes a strong emphasis on Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) participation, with specific goals and requirements for subcontractor involvement. Harris County requires vendors to make good faith efforts to meet M/WBE participation goals, with acceptable certifications from agencies like the City of Houston, Texas Unified Certification Program, and State of Texas Comptroller. The county has established detailed insurance requirements, including Workers' Compensation, Commercial General Liability, and Professional Liability coverage, with most individual coverage limits set at $1,000,000. While a specific contract value is not explicitly stated, the ECI portfolio has previously allocated between $2.5M to $57.4M across various programs, suggesting a potentially significant contract value. The procurement is open to organizations with expertise in early childhood portfolio evaluation within a government context, with a preference for vendors demonstrating significant local presence and experience in the Harris County early childhood ecosystem. Proposers must provide comprehensive documentation, including a detailed budget, organizational qualifications, and compliance with various county and state regulatory requirements.