RFP: Operational Effectiveness Evaluation of the Long Beach Early Learning Hub

Issued by: The Mayor’s Fund for Long Beach

Date Issued: May 23, 2025

Bidders Conference: June 9, 2025

• All final questions: June 10, 2025
• All final answers available: June 13, 2025

Proposal Submission Deadline: June 20, 2025

Estimated Contract Value: $40,000 - $50,000

Project Timeline:

• Project Commencement: July 1, 2025
• Project Completion: September 2025

Point of Contact: Karissa Selvester, Executive Director

Submittal Instructions: mayorsfundlb@gmail.com

Subject: “Hub Ops Evaluation RFP – [Company Name]

Introduction

The Mayor’s Fund for Long Beach is a nonprofit organization committed to expanding opportunities for children, youth, and families by working collaboratively with community, civic, and educational partners. Our mission is to support impactful initiatives that promote early childhood education, youth development, family stability, and community engagement.

Operating under the Fiscal Sponsorship of Community Partners, which manages all contracts, insurance, invoicing, and accounting, the Mayor’s Fund is seeking proposals from qualified evaluation firms or independent evaluators (herein referred to as the Firm) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the operations and overall effectiveness of the Long Beach Early Learning Hub (hereafter referred to as “The Hub”).

The ideal Firm will demonstrate a strong track record of translating community-centered insights into actionable, implementable recommendations, and using both qualitative and quantitative methods to assess complex, community-based initiatives, particularly those serving high-risk families.

This evaluation will examine The Hub’s success in improving access to childcare for high-risk families, streamlining administrative processes for providers, and serving as a robust data infrastructure. It will assess how effectively The Hub identifies, engages, and supports families facing challenges such as child welfare involvement, housing instability, or other adverse circumstances. The evaluation should measure The Hub’s impact on reducing barriers, connecting families to supportive services, and enhancing overall family stability - including reductions in financial stress and exposure to risk factors like poverty, unemployment, violence, or child maltreatment.

Additionally, the evaluation will assess the capacity of participating childcare providers to serve these families, identifying where further training, resources, or systems improvements may be required.

The scope includes both formative and summative analysis of The Hub’s systems, outreach, provider supports, referral networks, and technology infrastructure, with a focus on equity and continuous improvement. Beyond outcomes for families, the evaluation should explore The Hub’s operational model, cross-sector partnerships, and potential for future investment to enhance early care access and coordination in Long Beach.

The selected evaluator must be skilled in clearly communicating findings - whether strengths, gaps, or opportunities—in a way that informs strategic direction and advances a more equitable early care and education ecosystem.

All interested parties are encouraged to apply.

Project Background

The Long Beach Early Learning Hub [https://thehublb.org/] is a collaborative, community-based, innovative platform designed to transform and streamline the way families access childcare services in Long Beach. The Hub is dedicated to creating an equitable, coordinated system that increases access to quality childcare and supports for all families—particularly those who have historically faced systemic barriers. The Hub provides centralized, multilingual support, enabling families to search for childcare options, determine eligibility for financial assistance, and complete enrollment processes. It also streamlines provider operations through custom-developed, proprietary technology tools, shared administrative support, and coordinated referrals. The Hub is also designed to serve as a valuable data collection infrastructure for understanding family needs and service utilization patterns. Beyond its functional tools, The Hub serves as a key connector—linking families to wraparound services such as mental health, food access, developmental screenings, and more.

Since its launch in August 2023, the Hub has engaged families through more than 17,000 website visits and nearly 7,000 childcare searches. Over 400 applications have been submitted, resulting in 80+ tuition assistance awards. The Hub has expanded from an initial 10 organizations with 50 sites to over 140 participating child care sites across the community.

Project Objectives

Evaluate Hub Impact on High-Risk Families

• Assess how effectively The Hub identifies, engages, and supports high-risk families, including those at risk of child welfare involvement, homelessness, or other adverse outcomes.
• Examine outreach strategies, the universal application, referral processes, and the types of ancillary supports most associated with successful childcare enrollment and family stabilization.
• Analyze timeliness and success rates of family engagement and enrollment.

Assess Provider Network Capacity and Support

• Evaluate Hub-participating childcare providers’ readiness to serve high-need families, including comparison to non-Hub providers.
• Assess the effectiveness of Hub supports such as administrative tools, training, and resource connections.
• Determine how well providers function as access points to additional services (e.g., mental health, food access, developmental screenings, economic assistance).
• Examine The Hub’s role in reducing administrative burdens and improving provider sustainability and operations.

Analyze System Infrastructure and Cross-Sector Coordination

• Review The Hub’s technology platform, operational model, and role as a coordinated access point for families.
• Evaluate system infrastructure improvements, inter-agency partnerships, and systems change efforts supporting cross-sector integration.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen long-term sustainability, equity, and impact.

Conduct a Summative Evaluation of Effectiveness

• Measure The Hub’s impact on increasing access to childcare, especially for high-risk families, compared to pre-Hub systems.
• Assess the efficiency and user experience of The Hub for both families and childcare providers.
• Evaluate overall outcomes, including family stabilization and reduction of barriers to care.

Assess Data Infrastructure and Evaluation Readiness

• Evaluate The Hub’s capacity as a data infrastructure for cross-sector use.
• Recommend ways to enhance data utility for future evaluations of outcomes such as childcare utilization, child development, family income, parental employment, and child welfare involvement.

Generate Recommendations for Continuous Improvement

• Utilize available data/input, gather additional information, and analyze qualitative user experience data (e.g., interviews, focus groups, journey mapping).
• Identify operational strengths, system weaknesses, and strategic opportunities for investment and scaling.
• Provide actionable recommendations to enhance The Hub’s reach, functionality, and long-term sustainability.

Ensure Equity-Focused Evaluation

• Apply equity-centered methodologies and disaggregate data by race, language, income, child welfare involvement, and other relevant indicators.
• Assess how effectively The Hub serves historically underserved populations and promotes equitable access and outcomes.

Scope of Work:

The selected evaluator will be responsible for the following:

• Conducting qualitative and quantitative data collection, including field research, surveys, journey mapping, interviews, and focus groups with families, childcare providers, and other stakeholders.
• Gathering and analyzing data to assess The Hub’s effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
• Developing a comprehensive final report, a brief policy summary, a visual summary or dashboard of evaluation findings, and a presentation deck for stakeholders.
• Ensure reports include: actionable recommendations, methods for improving data collection and capacity.
• Include operational strengths and weaknesses and outline strategic opportunities for investment to expand the Hub’s reach and long-term sustainability
• Develop a Theory of Change or logic model that connects Hub activities to expected outcomes for families, providers, and systems.
  • Collaborating with The Mayor’s Fund for Long Beach and other key stakeholders throughout the evaluation process.

Proposal Requirements

Qualified applicants are required to submit a proposal that includes:

1. 1. Organizational Profile: Background, qualifications, and experience in conducting similar evaluations.
   2. Evaluation Approach and Methodology: Detailed description of the proposed approach, including data collection methods, analysis techniques, and stakeholder engagement strategies.
   3. Project Timeline: Proposed timeline to complete the evaluation, including key milestones.
   4. Budget: Detailed budget with a breakdown of costs, not exceeding $50,000.
   5. Team Composition: Names, qualifications, and roles of team members assigned to the project.
   6. References: Contact information for three relevant references.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• • Understanding of the project objectives and scope of work.
  • Experience and qualifications of the evaluator or evaluation team.
  • Soundness of the proposed evaluation methodology.
  • Cost-effectiveness of the proposed budget.
  • Capacity to complete the evaluation within the specified timeline.

Insurance Requirements

Firm shall procure and maintain at its own expense for the duration of this Contract the following insurance and bond against claims for injuries to persons or damage to property that may arise from or in connection with the performance of this Contract, its agents, representatives, or employees:

• Commercial general liability insurance (equivalent in scope to ISO form CG 00 01 11 85 or CG 00 01 11 88) in an amount not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence and Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000) general aggregate. Such coverage shall include but not be limited to broad form contractual liability, cross liability, independent contractors liability, and products and completed operations liability.

Community Partners (fob Mayor’s Fund for Long Beach) as well as The City of Long Beach, their Boards and Commissions, officials, employees and agents shall be named as additional insureds; and this insurance shall contain no special limitations on the scope of protection given to Community Partners, the City, their Boards and Commissions, officials, employees and agents.

• Workers’ Compensation insurance as required by the California Labor Code.
• Employer’s liability insurance in an amount not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per claim.
• Professional liability or errors and omissions insurance in an amount not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per claim.
• Commercial automobile liability insurance (equivalent in scope to ISO form CA 00 01 06 92), covering Auto Symbol 1 (Any Auto) in an amount not less than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) combined single limit per accident.
• Blanket Honesty Bond in an amount equal to at least fifty percent (50%) of the total amount to be disbursed to Organization hereunder or Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000), whichever is less, to safeguard the proper handling of funds by employees, agents or representatives of Organization who sign as the maker of checks or drafts or in any manner authorize the disbursement or expenditure of said funds.

Prior to the start of performance or payment of first invoice, Firm shall deliver to the Community Partners (via the Mayor’s Fund) certificates of insurance and required endorsements for approval as to sufficiency and form. The certificate and endorsements for each insurance policy shall contain the original signature of a person authorized by that insurer to bind coverage on its behalf. In addition, Firm shall, within thirty (30) days prior to expiration of the insurance required herein, furnish to Community Partners (via the Mayor’s Fund) certificates of insurance and endorsements evidencing renewal of such insurance. Community Partners (fbo the Mayor’s Fund) reserves the right to require complete certified copies of all policies and Firm shall make available to the Community Partners (via the Mayor’s Fund) or his/her designee during normal business hours all books, records and other information relating to the insurance coverage required herein.

Submission Instructions

Proposals must be submitted electronically to mayorsfundlb@gmail.com; Subject: “Hub Ops Evaluation RFP – [Company Name]

Reservation of Rights

The Mayor’s Fund for Long Beach reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, waive any informalities, and to accept the proposal that is determined to be in the best interest of the organization.

Evaluation Rubric - Evaluation Criteria and Scoring System

Understanding of Project Objectives (20 Points) - Clear demonstration of understanding of project objectives, background, and goals.

Evaluation Approach and Methodology (25 Points) - Comprehensive and appropriate approach for assessing economic impact, including data collection, analysis.

Experience and Qualifications (20 Points) - Proven experience in economic impact evaluations, expertise in socio-economic analysis, and qualifications.

Budget and Cost-Effectiveness (15 Points) - Detailed, realistic budget aligned with project scope and cost-effectiveness within the budget.

Timeline and Feasibility (10 Points) - Clear, feasible timeline that aligns with the project’s start and end dates.

References and Past Performance (10 Points) - Positive references demonstrating success in similar projects and strong past performance.

Scoring Guidelines

• Outstanding (90-100%) - The proposal exceeds expectations in most or all areas of evaluation, demonstrating exceptional understanding, a robust methodology, strong qualifications, and a cost-effective budget.
• Good (75-89%) - The proposal meets expectations in most areas with only minor weaknesses. The approach is solid, qualifications are appropriate, and the budget is reasonable.
• Satisfactory (60-74%) - The proposal meets basic requirements but may lack in certain areas such as methodology detail or cost-effectiveness.
• Unsatisfactory (<60%) - The proposal fails to meet expectations in several areas, such as lacking a clear approach, inadequate qualifications, or an unrealistic budget.

Evaluator Instructions

1. Review each proposal carefully, considering each criterion and the associated maximum points.
2. Provide comments for each criterion explaining the rationale for the assigned score.
3. Ensure all scores are consistent with the scoring guidelines.
4. Total the points for each proposal and rank them based on the final score.
5. Submit the completed evaluation rubric to the RFP review committee for final review and decision-making.