Affirmative Immigration Legal Services

The County of San Mateo Office of Community Affairs (OCA) is seeking qualified firms and individuals to enter into a Master Agreement with the County to provide Affirmative Immigration Legal Services, which includes consultations, application preparation, community workshops, and limited-scope services for non-court immigration benefits. In the County, we value every resident, whatever their birthplace, language spoken, or immigration status. The OCA invites all potential proposers to review the three distinct requests for proposals (RFPs) for legal services: Affirmative Immigration Legal Services, Rapid Response Legal Services, and Limited-Scope Removal Defense Legal Services. Interested parties are welcome to submit proposals for one or more of these RFPs.

The County will be the administrator of resulting contracts only; the coordination is expected to be provider-led. All proposers must have an active membership, in good standing, with the State Bar of California and/or must be able to provide verification of such membership.

Background

The County is committed to protecting and enhancing the health, safety, and welfare of the community. Through resources and education, the County seeks to expand access to relief for individuals and families to address immigration law policy change and to support a coordinated legal services ecosystem.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 2026-RFP-00282
• Department: County Executive's Office - Office of Community Affairs
• Department Head: Michael Callagy (County Executive)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-04-03T22:00:00.000Z
• Answers Posted By: 2026-04-10T22:00:18.877Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Program Model and Capacity (33 pts)
• Staffing and Qualifications (28 pts)
• Coordination Plan (22 pts)
• Budget and Cost Effectiveness (17 pts)

Submission Requirements

• Minimum Qualifications
• Has Proposer has been providing affirmative legal services for a minimum of five (5) years, with some portion of this work within the last seven (7) years? (required)
• Proposer must have an active membership, in good standing, with the State Bar of California and/or must be able to provide verification of such membership. (required)
• Does Proposer have bilingual capacity? (required)
• Please confirm your firm is registered with System for Award Management (SAM) (required) —

  SAM.gov

• What is the registered Business Name and Unique Entity ID (UEI) No.? (required) —
  • UEI number can be obtained by registering your business through SAM.GOV
  • Should you be in the process of obtaining your UEI number, please enter the digits ‘123’ temporarily for your response below in order to proceed with proposal. This temporary number should be replaced with the correct registration number for submission of the proposal.
• Procurement Preference for Local Businesses and Local Non-Profits
• Is the Proposer a "Local Business"? —

  As Defined by Chapter 2.89.020 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code, a “Local Business” means any for-profit business which has its principal place of business, or is headquartered, in San Mateo County. If this designation applies to the proposer, a self-attestation form must be completed and provided with this response. 

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload. If this designation is not applicable, please leave blank. 

• Is the Proposer a Non-Profit? (required) —

  A Non-Profit is defined as a tax-exempt public charity organization (within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) that is formed for purposes other than making a profit, is exempt from paying federal income taxes on the income generated for their exempt purposes. 

• Is the Proposer a "Local Non-Profit" —

  As Defined by Chapter 2.89.020 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code, a “Local Non-Profit" means a tax-exempt public charity organization (within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) that is formed for purposes other than making a profit, is exempt from paying federal income taxes on the income generated for their exempt purposes, and has its principal place of business, or is headquartered, in San Mateo County. If this designation applies to the proposer, a self-attestation form must be completed and provided with this response. 

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload. If this designation is not applicable, please leave blank.

• Technical Proposal
• Introduction and Executive Summary (required) —

  Submit a letter of introduction and executive summary of the proposal.  The letter must contain:

  • Name, title and contact information (email, phone, and address) for representative of proposer that is responsible for communication related to this RFP.
  • Name, title, contact information, and signature of person authorized to obligate firm to perform the commitment contained in the proposal.

  Submission of the letter will constitute a representation by proposer that it is willing and able to perform the commitments contained in the proposal and has not violated the terms of this RFP.

• Statement of Minimum Qualifications (required) —

  Describe how the proposer meets the minimum qualifications as set forth in Minimum Qualifications of this RFP.

  Submission of the Minimum Qualifications checklist is not a substitute for providing a detailed written response.

• Project Approach (required) —

  This section should correlate to the Scope of Work. Proposer should give a short summary describing how it will perform the relevant work

• Scope of Work tasks/milestones (required) —

  Describe your proposed approach to tasks/milestones

• Performance Measures (required) —

  Describe a plan for achieving performance measures 

• Firm Qualifications (required) —

  Attach information regarding background and qualifications, including the following:

  • A brief description of the proposer.
  • A description of not more than three (3) projects similar in size and scope conducted by the proposer, including the client, reference and telephone numbers, primary staff members involved, budget, schedule, and project summary.  Descriptions should be limited to one (1) page for each project.
  • Prior experience as part of a collaborative providing immigrant assistance. 
  • A demonstrated track record of providing affirmative immigration relief support to undocumented immigrants 
  • If subcontractors are anticipated, identify them (if known) and provide information on how they will be used.
• Team Qualifications (required) —

  Provide a chart identifying:

  5. 2. • Project team and reporting structure
        • Lead project manager
        • Role each person will play in the project

  Provide a brief description of the experience and qualifications of the project team members, including short resumes if desired.

  Written assurance that the key individuals listed and identified will be performing the work and will not be substituted or reassigned without the County’s prior approval

• References (required) —

  Provide 3 references for each of the following, including the name, address, and telephone number of recent clients (preferably other public agencies):

• Fee Proposal (required) —

  The Fee Proposal should be submitted as a separate PDF file from the Technical Proposals detailed in Required Documents.

  The County reserves the right to accept other than the lowest priced offer and to reject any proposals that are not responsive to this request.

• Innovation Methodology —

  Provide Navigation Team and Shared Intake / Screening System innovations or improvements that you expect to provide (with respect to, for example, efficiency, technology, sustainability) 

• Agreement term (years) (required) —

  Update below if needed.

• Is there an extension to this agreement? (required) —

  Is there an extension to this agreement?

• Extension (required) —

  Modify the extension information below, if needed

• Will there be a Pre-Proposal Meeting and/or a Site Visit? (required)
• Include the information that will be covered in the site visit. (required)
• Require vendors to provide References? (required)
• References (required) —

  How many references are required by the vendor? (Number)

• Use Electronic Line Item Pricing? (required)
• Allow vendors to submit Confidential Information? (required) —

  In rare circumstances where there is an expectation that proposers will need to submit trade secrets or other confidential information in order to respond to an RFP. 

• Sample Agreement (required)

Questions & Answers