RFP 2026-XX Thrive by 5 QIS Evaluation Services

Pending board approval on March 16, 2026, The Children’s Trust will release RFP 2026-XX: Thrive by 5 QIS Evaluation for program evaluation and community research services to externally evaluate the impact of the Thrive by 5 early childhood quality improvement system (QIS), which supports more than 360 licensed early child care sites in Miami-Dade County. The Thrive by 5 QIS is one of The Trust’s largest investments and has been recognized nationally as an innovative, multifaceted strategy to improve the quality of early learning for young children since its inception in 2018. It is a well-developed integrated system of supports that tracks data at the child care provider, teacher, and child levels, that has a high readiness for program evaluation and complex data analyses that can tell us more about what combination of components contribute meaningfully to different outcomes. The selected vendor will conduct a comprehensive evaluation that analyzes the impact of Thrive by 5 QIS on the sites, educators, and families within our community.  

Thrive by 5 QIS Tentative Timeline

• Release Date: April 2, 2026  
• Bidder's Conference and Application Training: April 3, 2026
• Pre-Application Deadline: April 23, 2026
• Questions Submission Deadline: April 24, 2026
• Application Due: April 30, 2026 
• Debriefing Period: May 11-12, 2026
• Site Visit/Interview Period: May 14-15, 2026
• Selection Announcement: May 19, 2026
• Appeal Deadline: May 22, 2026
• Programs Committee Meeting: June 2, 2026 
• Board Meeting: June 15, 2026 
• Contract Start: July 1, 2026 (15 months)