Right at Home Targeted Homelessness Prevention Program - Legal Services Provider

The County of San Mateo, through its Human Services Agency (HSA) Center on Homelessness (COH), oversees a coordinated homeless crisis response system designed to help individuals and families who are at risk of homelessness or currently experiencing homelessness move toward stable housing. COH works countywide and collaborates with community-based organizations, public agencies, housing providers, and other stakeholders to strengthen the local homelessness response system.

The County of San Mateo, through its Human Services Agency (HSA) Center on Homelessness (COH), is seeking qualified organizations to implement the Right at Home (RAH) Targeted Homelessness Prevention Program, an innovative national homelessness prevention initiative that will provide flexible financial assistance, housing-focused case management, and housing-related legal services to households at the highest risk of entering homelessness.

The program is anticipated to serve approximately 750 households over a three-year implementation period and will be implemented through a collaborative network of contracted partners.

In addition to delivering services, organizations funded through this RFP will participate in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) led by the Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame to evaluate the impact of the program. This will require actively participating in a national learning collaborative, including trainings, peer learning activities, and other implementation and continuous improvement efforts required by the Right at Home initiative.

To implement the RAH program, the County expects to award contracts for the following roles:

• One (1) Legal Services Provider
• One (1) Network Coordinator / Fiscal Agent (on a separate RFP)

• Two- Four (2- 4 ) Supportive Service Providers (on a separate RFP)

Contracts are expected to begin in January 2027.

San Mateo County has the unique opportunity to help shape the future of homelessness prevention work nationally. The County is one of only ten communities nationwide selected to participate in Right at Home (RAH) , a national initiative designed to test and build evidence for targeted homelessness prevention strategies. Through this initiative, participating communities will design, implement, and rigorously evaluate prevention models that identify households at the highest risk of entering homelessness and rapidly provide the financial assistance and supportive services needed to stabilize their housing.

Over the past decade, San Mateo County has made significant investments in homelessness prevention and housing stability programs. These investments include emergency financial assistance, diversion services, and other interventions designed to help households remain safely housed. While these efforts remain critical components of the County's prevention efforts, there is an opportunity to add to the current prevention system the RAH targeted prevention approach focused specifically on households at the highest risk of entering homelessness.

The Right at Home (RAH) Targeted Homelessness Prevention Program is intended to complement, not replace, existing homelessness prevention resources currently available in San Mateo County. As one of the participating Right at Home communities, San Mateo County plans to launch a local Right at Home (RAH) Targeted Homelessness Prevention Program in January 2027.

The program will align with the Right at Home model, including a “no wrong door” design and a “whatever it takes” approach to stabilizing households at high-risk of homelessness. The RAH model includes flexible financial assistance, supportive services that are offered but not required, data entry into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data system, and participation in the Randomized Control Trial led by the Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO).

Right at Home programs must adhere to the initiative’s Ten Essential Components, i ncluded in Exhibit X , and comply with research, evaluation, data collection, and implementation protocols established by LEO and other Right at Home partners. While Right at Home provides a shared framework for participating communities, each community is responsible for designing a program that reflects local needs, resources, and service systems. As a result, San Mateo County has flexibility to tailor its targeted homelessness prevention program to local conditions and priorities.

While the overall program model and core requirements have been established through a community planning process initiated in January 2026 , some operational details , including eligibility criteria, income limits, the locally adapted risk assessment tool, program workflows, and other implementation policies , are still under development. These elements will be finalized prior to program launch through the development of program written standards and other implementation materials.

San Mateo County expects implementation to be an iterative and collaborative process. Selected partners will play an active role in refining program operations, participating in implementation planning, and helping to finalize the Right at Home framework into an effective local program while maintaining fidelity to the initiative's core requirements. San Mateo County anticipates having access to technical assistance through RAH initiative partners Homebase and LEO.

This RFP is intended to provide sufficient information for proposers to demonstrate their qualifications, organizational capacity, relevant experience, and readiness to successfully implement their assigned role. In addition to technical qualifications, the County will evaluate proposers based on their experience and willingness to collaborate in ongoing implementation, learning, and continuous quality improvement efforts.