Opportunity Overview
The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (SEAA) has issued RFP 68-SEAA0926, ESA+ Scholarship Family Support Services. The procurement seeks a qualifying nonprofit organization to provide direct family support, scholarship education and application assistance for North Carolina families of students with disabilities participating in, or seeking to participate in, the ESA+ Scholarship Program.
Deadline and Procurement Schedule
The controlling RFP sets the proposal deadline at September 30, 2026 by 10:00 a.m. EDT. Written questions are due September 14, 2026 at noon EDT; SEAA plans to post responses on September 23, 2026, with contract award targeted for October 14 and an anticipated effective date of November 1, 2026. Electronic responses only are accepted through the North Carolina electronic Vendor Portal (eVP), and the vendor must be registered in good standing in eVP.
Applicant-Applicable Value
The RFP itself does not state a guaranteed contract ceiling. It requires each vendor to provide a total cost for complete performance. Current G.S. 115C-562.8(d)(1) permits SEAA to use up to $1,000,000 from applicable unexpended Opportunity Scholarship funds to contract with one or more nonprofit corporations for outreach, scholarship education and application assistance. That statutory amount is a program-level maximum authority, not a guaranteed award to any bidder.
Contract Term
The initial term is two years, beginning at final contract execution and ending October 31, 2028. SEAA may exercise two additional two-year renewal options, subject to continued funding, and may also extend the contract for up to 180 days in increments of 90 days or less.
Vendor Eligibility
The contracting party must be a North Carolina nonprofit corporation organized under Chapter 55A and compliant with section 501(c)(3). It must employ sufficient staff, comply with 501(c)(3) lobbying limits, have no State officer or employee on its board, hold at least quarterly board meetings, and maintain confidentiality of parent/student information. The RFP also expects experience with public or private clients of similar size and complexity, qualified staff, strong special-education credentials, statewide expertise serving children with disabilities, significant IDEA knowledge, prior grant-recipient experience with student populations, at least three relevant references with letters, financial stability supported by two years of audited financial statements, and the ability to pass requested background checks.
Scope and Deliverables
The vendor must provide a detailed statewide plan centered on families of students with disabilities. Required work includes free one-on-one assistance by phone, email and online platforms; at least two educational webinars annually; help navigating application and eligibility-documentation processes; education on qualified uses of ESA+ funds; coordination with SEAA and the NC Department of Public Instruction’s Exceptional Children Division; monthly performance reporting; and protection of confidential student and family data. The RFP says approximately 90% of services should focus on direct family support, application assistance and education on use of funds, with the remaining 10% focused on program/state-resource knowledge. The proposal may not center on legal advice or an advocacy approach.
Pricing and Cost Share
This is a procurement, not a grant reimbursement program. The vendor proposes a total cost covering complete performance, including management, supervision, labor, facilities, telecommunications, software, supplies and materials. No bidder match or non-Federal cost-share requirement is stated.
Required Proposal Package
The response must include a cover letter confirming review of the entire RFP and all addenda; title page; table of contents; executive summary; completed and signed execution pages and any required addendum acknowledgments; the technical proposal; Attachment A pricing; Attachment B Instructions to Vendors; Attachment C North Carolina General Terms and Conditions; completed Attachment D Location of Workers Utilized by Vendor; completed and signed Attachment E Certification of Financial Condition plus two years of audited financial statements; completed and signed Attachment F Confidentiality Agreement; and completed Attachment G Vendor Profile. The response should be merged into a single non-password-protected PDF or XLS-compatible submission as directed by the RFP, with a signed redacted copy also supplied when proprietary/confidential information is included.
Questions and Amendments
Procurement contact: Bob Myers, Purchasing and Contract Analyst, rbmyers@northcarolina.edu. Questions must be submitted through the RFP’s designated 68-SEAA0926 Questions process by September 14 at noon EDT. The RFP states that authoritative clarifications and changes will be issued as written eVP addenda. As of Atlas verification on September 12, 2026, the public eVP record remains open and Atlas did not locate a separately posted addendum; vendors should continue checking eVP because the scheduled question-response date is September 23.
Atlas Fit Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 82/100. This is a substantive statewide education and disability-family-support procurement with a clear statutory funding pathway, an extended potential contract term and well-defined service requirements. Fit is constrained by the unusually narrow nonprofit/statutory eligibility profile and the absence of a guaranteed contract value.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. The procurement is for family support, scholarship education and application assistance. It does not procure telehealth, remote physical examination, connected diagnostics or clinical technology, and the RFP prohibits subcontracting for the services. N9+ should not be forced into this opportunity.
Realistic Organization to Evaluate
Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center (ECAC) is a particularly credible organization for eligibility review. NC DPI identifies ECAC as a private nonprofit parent organization and North Carolina’s federally funded Parent Training & Information Center. ECAC provides no-cost parent education and one-on-one assistance across special education and IDEA processes, and its own program materials describe statewide support for families of children with disabilities. That closely tracks the RFP’s required experience profile. Atlas has not certified ECAC’s Chapter 55A corporate status, board-composition requirements, audited financials or bid intent, so final bidder eligibility remains organization-controlled.
Dr. Miltie / QC Healthcare Review
Dr. Miltie/QC Healthcare: No Bid. Available records do not establish the required North Carolina Chapter 55A / 501(c)(3) parent-and-family nonprofit status or the statewide special-education support credentials required by this RFP. The solicitation also states that the vendor must not subcontract the services, eliminating a realistic N9+ subcontract pathway. No applicant outreach is warranted.
Controlling Sources
Official eVP solicitation: North Carolina eVP — 68-SEAA0926.
Official RFP PDF: SEAA RFP 68-SEAA0926.
Funding authority: G.S. 115C-562.8.