Project Information

Bid Title

Rural Mother-Infant Welcome Home Initiative Support Services

Issuing Agency

State Government of Tennessee

Location

Tennessee

Published Date

Jun 15, 2026

Closing Date

Jul 1, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Ref. #

RFI 34320-21126

Original Source

Join to Access Full Details

Bid Inquiries

Join to Access Full Details

Bid Documents

Join to Access Full Details

Project Description

Document ID & Hyperlink:	RFI 34320-21126
Event Start - Response Due:	06/15/2026 07/01/2026
Event Name:	Rural Mother-Infant Welcome Home Initiative Support Services
Last Updated:

Attachment Preview

STATE OF TENNESSEE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FOR

RURAL MOTHER-INFANT WELCOME HOME INITIATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES

RFI # 34320-21126

June 15, 2025

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

The State of Tennessee, Department of Health issues this Request for Information (“RFI”) for the purpose of Rural Mother-Infant Welcome Home Initiative Support Services We appreciate your input and participation in this process.

2. BACKGROUND:

The Tennessee Department of Health (“TDH”), through the Community Health Access and Navigation in Tennessee (“CHANT”) Program, supports pregnant and postpartum women, infants, children, and families by connecting eligible participants to care coordination, health education, resource navigation, referrals, and other supportive services. CHANT Care Coordinators work with families to identify needs, provide education, and support access to services and resources that promote healthy pregnancies, safe infant care practices, and positive family outcomes.

As part of Tennessee’s Rural Health Transformation efforts, TDH is exploring a Mother-Infant Welcome Home initiative designed to strengthen maternal and infant health outcomes in rural communities. The initiative is intended to improve access to education, supplies, community supports, and trusted local resources for pregnant and postpartum women and their families.

TDH is seeking market information from organizations that may have the availability, experience, and capacity to support community-based Mother-Infant Welcome Home events, baby shower events, or similar family engagement activities in designated rural counties. Potential services may include event planning and logistics, participant outreach and engagement, coordination with TDH, CHANT staff, county health departments, and local partners, distribution of TDH-approved mother-infant registry or support items, delivery or coordination of approved maternal and infant health education, inventory tracking, documentation, reporting, and related implementation support.

The Department has not finalized the scope of any future solicitation. Information received through this RFI may be used to refine the project approach, assess marketplace capacity, identify rural implementation considerations, understand cost drivers, determine whether organizations can provide all or selected components of the potential service model, and inform a future procurement or funding strategy.

3. COMMUNICATIONS:

3.1. Please submit your response to this RFI to:

Simeon Ayton

Central Procurement Office

Tennessee Tower, 3rd Floor

312 Rosa L. Parks Ave., Nashville, TN 37243

615-532-0110

Simeon.Ayton@tn.gov

1.1 Please feel free to contact the Central Procurement Office with any questions regarding this RFI. The main point of contact will be:

Simeon Ayton

Central Procurement Office

Tennessee Tower, 3rd Floor

312 Rosa L. Parks Ave., Nashville, TN 37243

615-532-0110

Simeon.Ayton@tn.gov

3.2. Please reference RFI # 34320-21126 with all communications to this RFI.

4. RFI SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

	EVENT	TIME (Central Time Zone)	DATE (all dates are State business days)
1.	RFI Issued		June 15, 2026
1.	RFI Response Deadline	2:00 PM	July 1, 2026

5. GENERAL INFORMATION:

5.1. Please note that responding to this RFI is not a prerequisite for responding to any future solicitations related to this project and a response to this RFI will not create any contract rights. Responses to this RFI will become property of the State.

5.2. The information gathered during this RFI is part of an ongoing procurement. In order to prevent an unfair advantage among potential respondents, the RFI responses will not be available until after the completion of evaluation of any responses, proposals, or bids resulting from a Request for Qualifications, Request for Proposals, Invitation to Bid or other procurement method. In the event that the state chooses not to go further in the procurement process and responses are never evaluated, the responses to the procurement including the responses to the RFI, will be considered confidential by the State. 

5.3. The State will not pay for any costs associated with responding to this RFI.

6. INFORMATIONAL FORMS:

The State is requesting the following information from all interested parties. Please fill out the following forms:

RFI #: 34320-21126 TECHNICAL INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. RESPONDENT LEGAL ENTITY NAME:

1. RESPONDENT CONTACT PERSON: Name, Title:       Address:       Phone Number:       Email:

1. Organization Overview and Relevant Experience Provide a brief description of your organization, including your mission, service areas, primary populations served, and experience supporting maternal health, infant health, family engagement, rural health, public health, community outreach, event coordination, or similar services.

1. Experience Serving Rural Communities Describe your organization’s experience working in rural communities, including any experience serving pregnant women, postpartum women, infants, fathers, caregivers, or families with barriers related to transportation, childcare, health literacy, language access, poverty, social isolation, or limited access to health care and community resources.

1. Availability and Geographic Reach Identify the Tennessee counties or regions where your organization currently operates or could reasonably provide services. Describe how quickly your organization could begin implementation after contract execution and whether your organization could support services in multiple rural counties at the same time.

1. Potential Service Model Describe the service model your organization would recommend for supporting Mother-Infant Welcome Home events, baby shower events, or similar community-based family engagement activities in rural counties. Include whether your organization could provide all services directly, use subcontractors or local partners, or support only selected components of the project.

1. Event Planning and Logistics Describe your approach to planning and conducting community-based events for pregnant and postpartum women and their families. Include your approach to venue selection, scheduling, staffing, registration, setup, accessibility, transportation considerations, security, supplies, cleanup, and coordination with local partners.

1. Participant Outreach and Engagement Describe how your organization would identify, invite, remind, and encourage attendance among eligible participants referred by or connected through TDH, CHANT, county health departments, or other approved sources. Include strategies for reaching families who may be difficult to contact or reluctant to participate.

1. Family-Centered and Culturally Responsive Approach Describe how your organization would create a welcoming, respectful, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive environment for families. Include any experience adapting services for rural communities, families with low health literacy, non-English-speaking participants, fathers, grandparents, caregivers, or families with disabilities.

1. Maternal and Infant Health Education Support Describe your organization’s experience delivering or supporting health education related to pregnancy, postpartum health, infant care, safe sleep, breastfeeding or infant feeding, maternal mental health, substance use awareness, injury prevention, home safety, or connection to community resources. Specify whether education would be delivered by your staff, TDH/CHANT staff, local partners, or a combination.

1. Coordination with TDH, CHANT, County Health Departments, and Local Partners Describe how your organization would coordinate with TDH, CHANT Care Coordinators, county health departments, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, and other local partners before, during, and after events.

1. Registry Item Procurement, Storage, and Distribution Describe your organization’s ability to procure, receive, store, transport, track, and distribute TDH-approved mother-infant registry items or similar support items. Include any experience managing inventory, documenting item distribution, preventing loss or duplication, and ensuring items are distributed only to approved participants.

1. Safety and Quality Controls for Distributed Items Describe your organization’s process for ensuring that all distributed items are new, appropriate, safe, and consistent with TDH-approved specifications. Include how your organization would handle damaged, recalled, substituted, unavailable, or returned items

1. Data Collection, Documentation, and Reporting Describe your organization’s ability to collect and report basic project information, such as event dates and locations, participant attendance, referrals or resource connections, items distributed, educational topics covered, partner participation, participant feedback, and other performance measures. Identify any data systems or tools your organization currently uses.

1. Privacy and Confidentiality Describe your organization’s experience protecting confidential participant information. Include any policies, staff training, system controls, or procedures used to protect personally identifiable information, protected health information, referral information, attendance records, or other sensitive project information.

1. Staffing and Qualifications Describe the staffing model your organization would use for this type of project. Include potential roles, qualifications, supervision, training, background checks, use of volunteers, and the ability to provide staff coverage in rural counties.

1. Implementation Timeline and Readiness Describe a realistic implementation timeline for launching services after contract execution. Include major start-up activities, such as hiring or assigning staff, partner outreach, event planning, procurement of items, development of materials, training, and scheduling the first event.

1. Risks, Barriers, and Mitigation Strategies Identify the most significant risks or barriers to successful implementation in rural counties and describe how your organization would address them. Examples may include transportation, weather, staffing shortages, participant attendance, local partner capacity, supply chain delays, language access, or data collection challenges.

1. Performance Measures and Outcomes Recommend performance measures TDH should consider for this project. Include any suggested measures related to attendance, participant satisfaction, resource referrals, education completion, item distribution, follow-up, partner engagement, rural reach, or maternal and infant health outcomes.

1. Scalability and Sustainability Describe whether your organization could scale this model across additional rural counties or sustain services over multiple years. Include any recommendations for phased rollout, regional implementation, pilot testing, or long-term sustainability.

1. Additional Recommendations Provide any additional recommendations, concerns, alternative approaches, or market information TDH should consider when developing a future solicitation or project model.

COST INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. Budget or Cost Structure Describe the budget or cost structure your organization typically uses for similar publicly funded, grant-funded, or contracted services. Include whether costs are generally structured by event, participant, county, reimbursement of actual costs, milestone, monthly amount, or another method.

1. Estimated Cost Range and Assumptions Provide an estimated cost range for planning and conducting one Mother-Infant Welcome Home event or similar rural family engagement event. Include key assumptions such as event size, number of participants, staffing, travel, supplies, registry items, and rural location.

1. Major Cost Drivers and Budget Categories Identify the primary factors that may increase or decrease costs and the budget categories TDH should consider, such as personnel, travel, event costs, participant outreach, registry items, storage, distribution, educational materials, subcontractors, technology, reporting, administrative costs, or indirect costs.

1. Payment or Reimbursement Considerations Describe any payment or reimbursement structure that would support successful implementation, including whether advance funding, monthly reimbursement, milestone payments, per-event reimbursement, per-participant reimbursement, or separate reimbursement for approved supplies would be needed.

1. Rural Health Transformation Funding Considerations Identify any cost, documentation, reporting, allowable-use, sustainability, or implementation considerations TDH should account for if this initiative is funded through Rural Health Transformation funds.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. Please provide any additional recommendations, concerns, alternative approaches, implementation considerations, Rural Health Transformation funding considerations, or market information that TDH should consider when developing a future solicitation, competitive grant, contract, funding opportunity, or other procurement method for this initiative.

Commodity Codes

• NAICS 541611Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services

* Disclaimer: Government BidHub provides information on bids, RFPs (Requests for Proposals), and RFQs (Requests for Qualifications) solely for convenience and informational purposes. This site is not an official public notice board. For official details, responses, or inquiries, please contact the relevant government agency directly.