Clackamas County RFP 2025-92: HEART Family Navigation and Support Services — What to Know Before You Bid

Executive takeaway

Clackamas County has released an RFP for Healing, Engagement, Advocacy, Reciprocity Training (HEART) Family Navigation and Support Services, described as counseling, social services, and case management. Proposals are due April 1, 2026 at 2:00 PM Pacific and must be submitted through the County’s BidLocker portal. If you deliver family navigation, wraparound supports, or case management within a structured service model, this is a near-term capture you can pursue—provided you can meet the County’s instructions and the (likely detailed) scope and proposal content requirements in the full RFP package.

What the buyer is trying to do

The County is soliciting a provider to deliver HEART Family Navigation and Support Services. The description snippet frames this as a mix of counseling, social services, and case management. The full RFP is organized into standard sections—Instructions to Proposers, Scope of Work, Evaluation/Selection, and Proposal Content—suggesting the County expects a structured technical approach and clear evidence of capability and compliance.

Operationally, the County is also managing a formal procurement timeline with deadlines for protesting specifications and submitting clarifying questions, indicating that offerors should read early, identify ambiguities, and use the question period.

What work is implied (bullets)

• Provide family navigation and support services aligned to the HEART model (verify precise definitions and required activities in the Scope of Work section/attachments).
• Deliver service components characterized in the notice as counseling, social services, and case management.
• Prepare a proposal that follows the County’s Instructions to Proposers and Proposal Content requirements.
• Submit the proposal through BidLocker by the stated closing date/time.
• Participate in the County’s procurement process milestones (questions, protests) as needed and allowed by the RFP.

Who should bid / who should pass (bullets)

• Bid if: You have demonstrable experience delivering family navigation, counseling-related supports, social service coordination, and/or case management in a formal program model.
• Bid if: You can respond cleanly to structured RFP requirements (scope, evaluation criteria, proposal content) and meet an electronic submission deadline without last-minute risk.
• Bid if: Your business qualifies for the noted set-aside categories (Small Business, SDVOSB, Minority-owned) and you can support any required documentation (verify requirements in attachments).
• Pass if: You cannot provide core navigation/support services or lack the operational capacity to deliver counseling/social-services/case-management functions as required by the Scope of Work.
• Pass if: You cannot comply with the County’s submission method (BidLocker) or are unable to meet the procurement’s administrative requirements.

Response package checklist

• Completed proposal per Section 5 – Proposal Content (verify exact forms and required narratives in attachments).
• Technical approach and service delivery plan aligned to Section 3 – Scope of Work (verify in attachments).
• Response mapped to Section 4 – Evaluation and Selection Criteria (verify in attachments).
• Signed certifications as required (the RFP references Proposal Certification; verify the exact certification language in attachments).
• Submission confirmation through BidLocker before 2:00 PM Pacific on April 1, 2026.
• Internal compliance check against Section 2 – Instructions to Proposers (page limits, formatting, required exhibits—verify in attachments).

Pricing & strategy notes

The snippet does not include pricing structure, contract type, or rate guidance—so treat pricing as an open variable until you read the full RFP package in OregonBuys.

• Pull the full solicitation from OregonBuys (Document No. S-C01010-00016203) and identify whether pricing is requested as a budget, rate sheet, fixed price by deliverable, or another structure (verify in attachments).
• Use the RFP’s evaluation criteria to infer price sensitivity (e.g., whether price is a weighted factor)—but don’t assume; confirm in Section 4.
• If the RFP expects staffing-based pricing, build a staffing plan that ties clearly to the Scope of Work and avoids “generic” labor assumptions not supported by the requirements.
• Before finalizing pricing, use the clarifying questions deadline to resolve ambiguities that could drive risk (e.g., minimum service levels, reporting, or required availability), if the Scope of Work is unclear.

Subcontracting / teaming ideas

• Team with a partner that strengthens case management capacity if your organization is primarily counseling-focused (or vice versa), as long as roles align to the Scope of Work (verify in attachments).
• Consider a subcontractor that can support service navigation workflows (referrals, resource coordination, follow-up) if the RFP requires formalized processes (verify in attachments).
• If the RFP includes training or model fidelity requirements tied to “HEART,” align with a partner experienced in implementing structured service models (verify in attachments).

Risks & watch-outs

• Portal risk: Submission is through BidLocker; late or incomplete uploads are typically non-curable. Plan for an early upload window.
• RFP access: The County notes documents are available via OregonBuys and may require signing in. Ensure all proposal contributors can access the full package early.
• Timeline discipline: There are explicit deadlines for protesting specifications and submitting clarifying questions. Missing these limits your ability to address unclear scope language.
• Unknown compliance items: The snippet references Instructions, Scope, Evaluation, and Proposal Content. Assume there are mandatory forms and certifications—verify in attachments and build a compliance matrix.
• Set-aside interpretation: The opportunity is tagged Small Business, SDVOSB, Minority-owned. Confirm how the County applies these designations and what proof is required (verify in attachments).

Related opportunities

• RFP 2025-92-HEART Family Navigation and Support Services (BidPulsar listing)

How to act on this

1. Download the full RFP package from OregonBuys (Document No. S-C01010-00016203) and build a one-page compliance matrix tied to Sections 2–5.
2. Draft clarifying questions early and submit by March 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM Pacific if anything in the scope or proposal instructions is ambiguous.
3. Outline your technical approach directly against the Scope of Work, then cross-walk it to the evaluation criteria.
4. Schedule a submission rehearsal in BidLocker and plan to upload at least 24 hours before the deadline.

If you want help turning this RFP into a bid/no-bid decision, a compliance matrix, and a response plan, engage Federal Bid Partners LLC to support capture and proposal execution.