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Staff launch community engagement for transitional‑age‑youth RFP and update immigrant/refugee advocacy awards
Summary
Commission staff told the Legislative and External Affairs Advisory Committee that they have started extensive community engagement to inform a new advocacy RFP for transitional‑age youth and provided status updates on immigrant and refugee advocacy procurements.
Commission staff told the Legislative and External Affairs Advisory Committee that they have started extensive community engagement to inform a new advocacy request for proposals (RFP) for transitional‑age youth (TAY) and provided an update on immigrant and refugee advocacy procurements.
Staff said the current TAY advocacy contract is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2026, and the goal is to bring a draft RFP to the full commission for review and approval in October. To inform the procurement, staff announced a listening session on June 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sacramento City College Student Center, an online survey for TAY input, and an additional statewide listening session planned for July on Zoom. Staff described a shift in approach away from event‑driven outreach toward empowerment and organizing so that community members can advocate for themselves.
Lester Rabancho, staff with the commission’s advocacy program, said the commission funds nine advocacy populations and that the TAY contract’s community engagement will shape a new RFP. Assistant Deputy Director Ryan Kopcheck and Deputy Director Kendra Zahler emphasized the need to tailor engagement and noted that best practices differ by population; for youth, staff said engagement often works best without adults present and with protections against tokenism.
On immigrant and refugee advocacy, staff reported a staggered contract schedule: four local organizations’ contracts end June 30 and four local organizations plus a statewide organization complete services on Sept. 30. Staff said they announced intent to award seven local organizations in April and expected those contracts to be signed and executed by the end of the month; a statewide RFP is slated for release in July with awards announced around September (dates are tentative until the RFPs are released).
Staff also explained funding differences for the immigrant and refugee population: the staff reported that this population receives roughly double the annual allocation used for other single populations, a structure that yields both local and statewide awards. Commissioners asked whether emergency funding options exist; staff said expanding funding would require a budget change proposal to the legislature and would take at least a year to implement.
On evaluation, staff and contractors said measuring the impact of advocacy is difficult. Staff noted they rely on a combination of quantitative reporting (monthly, quarterly and annual reports) and qualitative data (stories and testimonies) and are seeking to develop clearer impact measures through the current engagement process. Rabancho and Kopcheck said they plan to require grantees to address Proposition 1 priority populations and to strengthen collaboration among contractors through learning‑collaborative meetings.
Public commenters, including Stacy Hiramoto and Laurel Ben Hamida, asked for more community engagement during procurement design and raised questions about whether changes to advocacy contracts have been informed by stakeholders; staff said listening sessions and contractor collaboration meetings are planned to address those concerns.
No formal procurement awards or budget changes were approved at the meeting; staff outlined timelines, listening sessions and next steps for RFP release, scoring and contract awards.
