DHHS/Administration for Children and Fanilies, Division of Acquisition Management, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W. - 4th Floor West, Washington, DC 20447

R -- EARLY HEAD START RESEARCH AND EVALUATION PROJECT SOL RFP-105-95-1936 DUE 063095 POC Carla Marchinetti, Contract Specialist, (202) 401-5410; Sylvia M. Johnson, Contracting Officer, (202) 401-9358 The Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children Youth and Families requires the services of a contractor to conduct an innovative, cross-site evaluation of the new Early Head Start programs for pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. The Early Head Start program will be funded in September 1995. As recommended by the Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers, this evaluation features (1) continuous program improvement through formative evaluation, (2) a rigorous impact study at approximately 15 selected sites, and (3) local research by site research partners to further the understanding of optimal programs for low-income infants, toddlers and their families. The contractor shall conduct rigorous experimental-design evaluation at approximately 15 sites selected from among FY '95 and FY '96 program grantees. The contractor will be required to coordinate this cross-site evaluation with local research studies. Of particular interest for this cross-site evaluation are methodologies that have the capability to assess the unique features of the Early Head Start programs, including outcomes targeted at children, families, communities and staff; local program variations, including quality; individualized programming for children and families; and community services received by comparison groups. The contractor shall conduct multi-site process and outcome data collection, data entry, and complex multi-site, longitudinal data analyses for the duration of the project. The anticipated period of performance is five (5) years. The contract will be incrementally funded in five (5) phases of 12 months each. All requests must be in writing. Telephone requests will not be honored. The release date of the RFP is on or about May 11, 1995. All responsible sources may submit an offer which will be considered. (0111)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0044 19950424\R-0004.SOL)