Differential Response

The County of San Mateo Human Services Agency (“HSA” or “County”) is seeking qualified providers to deliver Differential Response (DR) services in support of the County’s Children and Family Services (CFS) branch. DR is a family-centered, early-intervention approach designed to strengthen protective factors, engage families collaboratively, and prevent the need for deeper child welfare involvement. Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), HSA aims to ensure timely, equitable, and high-quality access to DR services across San Mateo County.

Providers are expected to:

• Implement evidence-based prevention services with fidelity to recognized models, such as Motivational Interviewing and trauma-informed practices.

• Collaborate with County departments and community partners for seamless service delivery.

• Track outcomes, report data accurately, and participate in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) processes.

• Ensure services are accessible, culturally responsive, and family-centered, including linguistic support and flexible scheduling.

The resulting contracts are intended to:

• Maximize service coverage and access across the County.

• Ensure high-quality, consistent delivery of Differential Response services.

• Encourage innovative, family-centered approaches that reduce child welfare re-referrals.

• Support County compliance with federal and state requirements, including FFPSA Title IV-E.

Interested providers may submit a proposal for one or more regions. The County may award one or more agreements to ensure adequate regional coverage of services. For example, the County may award separate agreements by region or may award a single agreement to one provider covering both regions, at the County’s discretion. The anticipated term of any resulting agreement(s) is five (5) years, tentatively beginning July 1, 2026.

Proposers seeking consideration for both regions must submit a separate, complete, and stand-alone response for each region. Each regional response must independently meet all RFP requirements. Materials may not be cross-referenced between regional submissions.

Differential Response (DR) is a child welfare approach that matches the level of agency response to a family’s assessed needs and risk. The goal is to strengthen families, prevent maltreatment, and reduce re-referrals to child welfare services. Families assessed as low to moderate risk may receive voluntary support services, while high-risk cases receive traditional child welfare investigations (not within the scope of this RFP).