RFP No. CFF 7779: Children FIRST Initiative

First 5 California is seeking an implementation and administrative partner through RFP No. CFF 7779 to develop and manage the Children, Families, Immigrants, and Refugees: Support & Tools (Children FIRST) Initiative, a three-year, $10,000,000 statewide investment targeting children ages 0-5 in immigrant, refugee, asylum-seeking, and mixed-status families across all 58 California counties. The selected contractor will be responsible for establishing statewide infrastructure and communication systems, developing a centralized hub of resources and services, establishing an immigration guidance team, implementing data tracking and policy reporting systems, and administering approximately $3,000,000 in local grants to community-based organizations. Minimum qualifications require proposers to demonstrate four years of experience administering statewide or large regional initiatives involving vulnerable populations, experience working with immigrant and refugee communities, and experience coordinating subject matter experts while administering grants with monitoring and compliance oversight. Proposals must not exceed $10,000,000 for the three-year contract term and must include detailed budgets aligned with four primary components: statewide infrastructure and communication systems, immigration guidance team operations, data tracking and evaluation, and local grantmaking and funding management. The RFP was released on February 20, 2026, with a proposal submission deadline of 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on March 17, 2026; oral presentations for finalists are scheduled for March 31, 2026, with notice of intent to award on April 1, 2026, and final agreement award on April 9, 2026. Evaluation will occur through a five-stage process including administrative requirements review, cover letter and minimum qualifications assessment, technical proposal scoring (worth up to 400 points), oral presentation for finalists (80 points), and state preference program applications. The anticipated contract start date is early May 2026, contingent upon Department of General Services approval.

Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) participation is mandatory at a minimum of three percent of the total bid value, with potential incentive points of up to five percent added to qualifying proposals that exceed this threshold. Small business preferences and Target Area Contract Preference Act (TACPA) preferences are available but not mandatory. A ten percent withhold will be applied to all payments under the awarded contract and released upon satisfactory contract completion. The award value is set at $10,000,000 for the three-year contract term, with no incumbent vendor or current contractor information provided in the RFP documentation. No existing infrastructure or technology integration requirements were specified in the available materials.