In December 2024, the Commission updated its Strategic Plan for 2025-2030, which will guide the Commission’s priorities and investments. The 2025-2030 Strategic Plan is consistent with the focus and intent of the Children and Families Act, building on what has been learned and accomplished locally and providing a framework for the Commission and the community for how Proposition 10 funds will be strategically invested over the next five years. Central to the success of these investments is a strong foundation that adequately prioritizes early childhood systems and services in San Mateo County. As outlined in its 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, First 5 San Mateo County is prioritizing partnerships with entities that are achieving both direct impact and positive systemic change. This approach fosters sustainable improvement within agencies and systems, and allows families beyond the direct service reach to benefit. Many of our investments serve present needs as well as examining and improving the underlying systems. Through this RFP (Early Childhood Mental Health Services), the Commission intends to solicit proposals from qualified agencies and organizations interested in implementing services and strategies that support access to the early childhood mental health service continuum, from preventative social supports for children and families through intensive mental health service delivery. Desired Outcomes Successful proposals in response to this RFP will demonstrate that their proposed activities and approach will help F5SMC to achieve the relevant Desired Outcomes in the strategic plan, specifically: Communities provide a safe and healthy environment for young children.Families feel connected to and supported by their community and able to nurture their children’s health and development.Children have healthy relationships and stable attachments to their primary caregivers.Children have access to and are utilizing appropriate health care services to meet their health and developmental needs.In service of these larger strategic outcomes, F5SMC anticipates that funding this work will positively impact population and participant level indicators such as: The percentage of parents reporting difficulty accessing services for their child’s mental, developmental, and/or behavioral health. The percentage of parents reporting that they are able to access the services their family needs. The percentage of parents reporting confidence in their ability to nurture their children and support their development. The number and/or severity of risk factors reported by parents receiving intensive services, such as inadequate food, inadequate housing, depression, domestic violence, and substance abuse. The percentage of children ages 0-5 reunified with their families within 12 months of entering out-of-home care. The percentage of children ages 0-5 re-entering the child welfare system.Successful proposers will be required to participate in F5SMC Evaluation Activities, including (but not limited to) administering surveys to program participants as directed by F5SMC staff and evaluation consultants. Surveys will include items assessing the indicators listed above, as well as items associated with other indicators specified in our 2025-30 Strategic Plan.Strategies & DomainsThis RFP is intended to promote healthy children and resilient families by funding agencies providing critical support for young children and their caregivers in San Mateo County through early childhood mental health service delivery. We encourage approaches that: 1) weave together cross-sector partnerships, resources, and services, 2) capitalize on the intrinsic strengths of families by engaging them as equal partners in service delivery, 3) and increase culturally responsive practices. Areas of InterestProposals should demonstrate their ability to design and implement specific approaches and services including but not limited to the following areas:Parent-child groups, Parent support groups, Therapeutic/clinical services including Child-Parent Psychotherapy and other dyadic approaches, Sensory regulation/ integration servicesOther servicesProposed strategies must be evidence-based, evidence-informed, or emerging/promising practices. Funding for this Request for Proposals process is not intended to support the following (although these may be funded through other subsequent procurement processes): Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation for childcare or early childcare education providersExplicit care coordination or navigation systems as a sole focus of service delivery (though individual navigation and care coordination support paired with other mental health service offerings is allowable) Target PopulationsF5SMC is prioritizing services and approaches that focus on serving the following target populations:Children from birth through age 5 and their caregivers who may have experienced trauma including but not limited to homelessness/housing insecurity or intimate partner violence,Families/caregivers of children ages 0-5 who may be experiencing mental health challenges, isolation, a lack of informal supports, and/or lack of access to services,Children birth through age 5 and their families that are Medi-Cal eligible, as well as those who do not meet economic self-sufficiency in San Mateo County,Culturally, linguistically, and/or geographically isolated families. Funding Amount and Available TermFirst 5 SMC has allocated a maximum of $2,100,000 over 3 fiscal years (2025-26, 2026-27, 2027-28) to meet the goals and objectives detailed in this RFP. This allocation includes $500,000 in Mental Health Services Act funding as a supplement to F5SMC’s Prop 10 contribution. The suggested maximum amount for each agency to request through this procurement process is $600,000 total or $200,000 per year over the three-year term. We anticipate a highly competitive grants pool so please structure and justify your request accordingly due to limited resources. We encourage requests for lesser amounts when possible.
