What to Include in an RFP for Mental Health Consultants

If you are seeking an agency or individual to provide contracted early childhood MHC services, you will need to develop and circulate a request for proposals. The RFP, like the job description, should be very clear about the type of consultation you are seeking (e.g., required activities and approach) as well as the basic qualifications and skills you require. The starting point for a good RFP is an accurate job description. It should include:

• Contact information for the Head Start program or agency, including an individual to contact with questions about the RFP (or process for submitting questions).
• Background description of your Head Start program and its approach to mental health services and support for children and families. You will want to include information that can help potential applicants understand your program’s model and approach to working with children and families.
• Scope of services — the duties and tasks to perform, as specified in the job description.
• Expected deliverables — a detailed list of the required products that the MHC is expected to complete, including completed screenings and assessments, documentation of MHC activities or time spent, and any other written reports or documentation that are expected.
• Expected time schedule — when the consultant will provide services, including frequency and duration of various activities. Your job description should specify these activities and should include:
  • Proportion of consultant time spent on various activities
  • Frequency of various key activities such as visits and consultations
  • Time spent or number of visits to classes per month or other time interval
  • Specified numbers of meetings with staff or trainings provided, etc.
• Description of qualifications — description of the applicant’s knowledge, experience, and training to meet desired qualifications and services (include required and preferred qualifications from the job description).
• Cost of services or reimbursement — you may want to include the amount you are willing to pay for services and a range of possible or maximum fees or ask the applicant to present a bid or an estimate for what they believe it will cost to provide the desired services.
• Description of requested response. What do you want the applicant to include or describe in their response to the RFP? What is most important to your program? Areas that you might want to ask for in the written response include:
  • Approach to requested services — a description of how the applicant would provide the requested services, including relevant similar work and the applicant’s approach to children’s mental health and to implementing effective MHC in a Head Start program.
  • Approach to working with families and staff from different backgrounds.
  • A description of how the contracted agency will ensure continuity of service from the same individual or consultant. Turnover within the mental health field is often quite high, and given the importance of relationships to the consultation process, it is important to look for evidence that a contracted agency or individual will be able to provide ongoing services to your program for at least a year, preferably longer.
  • References for similar work.
  • Cost estimates.
  • How the consultant will receive clinical supervision especially if the consultant is not currently licensed.
• Criteria for evaluating responses to the RFP. You will need to include a description of how you will evaluate and score the applicants’ response to the RFP. You may want to assign a certain number of points to those elements of the response that are described above or come up with a weighted system that reflects what is particularly important to your program. Aspects of consultation that you might consider evaluating and scoring include:
  • Ability to partner and build relationships with staff and families.
  • Understanding of the program’s vision and approach to mental health services.
  • Experience doing program- and child-level consultation.
  • Experience working with young children in child care or early education settings.

Depending on your program’s specific needs, you may want to weigh different criteria more or less heavily. Make sure to include a deadline with a specific date and time for submitting proposals and an estimated time when applicants should expect a response.

Last Updated: August 6, 2025