HSA RFP 6216 RESOURCE FAMILY APPROVAL EVALUATION SERVICES

Project Description: Introduction/Purpose
The County of Ventura (hereinafter referred to as County) invites your organization to submit a written proposal to provide Resource Family Approval (RFA) Family Evaluation services for individuals and families who are interested in becoming a resource for children in out-of-home care. Proposals shall be due no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 7, 2025 for the furnishings of Family Evaluation services in accordance with the attached Terms and Conditions, Instructions to Offerors which by this reference are made a part hereof.
Offerors shall be skilled and regularly engaged in the general class or type of work called for in the solicitation documents.
One qualified vendor will be selected from this RFP. The County reserves the right to increase the number of contracts awarded under this RFP, at its discretion, based on the capacity demonstrated in proposal submissions.
Background
The mission of the Human Services Agency (HSA) is: Working together in every community to offer support, hope and opportunity for improved well-being.
HSA’s Children & Family Services (CFS) is committed to providing supportive, safe and nurturing environments that are non-judgmental and inclusive in meeting the diverse needs of individuals and families. Through a guiding framework of trauma-informed care, strengths-based practices and collaborative efforts with parents and their support systems, CFS seeks to help families protect their children from harm, safeguard children and youth who have been abused or neglected and ensure that children in out-of-home care achieve permanency and life-long connections.
CFS believes that all children in out-of-home (foster) care should be cared for in a familiar and nurturing environment which provides a sense of belonging and permanent lifelong commitment. An essential way of ensuring this care is by improving the way caregivers (related and non-related) are prepared to parent vulnerable children and youth in a trauma-informed manner.
The RFA program (https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/resource-family-approval-program) is a unified, family-friendly, and child-centered caregiver approval process that:
• Unifies approval standards for all caregivers regardless of the child’s case plan.
• Includes a comprehensive assessment of the caregiver’s ability to meet the complex needs of dependent children and youth.
• Prepares caregivers and their families to better meet the needs of vulnerable children and youth by providing the necessary services, supports and trainings.
• Allows for a seamless transition to permanency.
The RFA Family Evaluation process involves assessing families for out-of-home placement of dependent children and youth, including non-minor dependents. One of the components of the approval process is the completion of a comprehensive Family Evaluation and subsequent assessment report. The Family Evaluation is an assessment that creates a comprehensive picture of the prospective caregiver(s) by exploring their family dynamics and characteristics, including mental, physical, and emotional health. This assessment helps to identify the family’s structure, values, discipline practice, coping strategies, strengths, and motivation to become a resource family. The selected contractor will provide a recommendation in the Family Evaluation assessment report that clearly supports whether a prospective caregiver should be approved or denied as a resource family, and will also provide a summary of any recommended services or additional training that may be needed for the family to best meet the needs of children, youth, or non-minor dependents in out-of-home care.
The RFA program aligns with the values and practices of the Quality Parenting Initiative (found at https://cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/foster-care/quality-parenting-initiative), the model for Safety Organized Practice (found at https://humanservices.ucdavis.edu/toolkits/safety-organized-practice), and the CFS ‘We Believe” Statements (found at https://homeswithheartvc.org/svcf).
Pre-proposal Conference
A NON-Mandatory pre-proposal conference will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday February 25th, 2025, at the Ventura County Purchasing Services office, 800 S. Victoria Ave., Ventura, CA
The purpose of this meeting is to clarify requirements and answer vendor questions. In order to provide comprehensive answers and minimize response time, Offerors are asked to submit questions in writing prior to this conference. Pre-proposal questions should be submitted to the Buyer under the “Messages” tab of the solicitation online at: https://ventura.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=login .
Action Dates
The following is an outline of the anticipated schedule for the proposal review and contract award.
Issue Request for Proposal (RFP) February 19, 2025
Mandatory Pre-Proposal Conference February 25, 2025
Last day for questions February 28, 2025
Proposals Due March 7, 2025
Evaluation-award April 7,2025
Start Work July 1, 2025
The schedule set forth above is subject to change.
Questions Regarding RFP
All questions concerning this Proposal may be directed to Justin Tapia, Principal Buyer, under “Messages” tab of the solicitation online at: https://ventura.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=login .