One DHS People, Access and Culture · Learning path · I'm shaping a contract, grant, or solicitation
Procurement or contract equity review
You are shaping a contract, grant, or procurement and want equity, accessibility, and language access built into the solicitation, evaluation, terms, and monitoring.
Outcome: By the end, you will have a procurement equity record: who the service reaches, requirements in the solicitation, evaluation criteria, contract reporting and access terms, monitoring by community, and the partners who own the rules.

SITUATIONS THAT MAY FIT THIS PATH
• A request for proposals, grant announcement, or contract renewal
• Evaluation criteria being written
• A contract whose reporting does not show who is served

SIX STEPS TO WORK THROUGH IN ORDER
1. Place the questions in the right stage — Use Ask to work through what belongs in the solicitation, the criteria, the terms, and the monitoring. Procurement rules belong to your contracts office. · Ask a question — program page /ask?path=gp-10
2. Consider community context (If relevant) — If the service reaches particular Minnesota communities, read the relevant briefs for access and trusted partners. · Explore Minnesota Communities — program page /minnesota-communities
3. Choose practical resources — Use the procurement equity aid and the equity review canvas. · Equity in contracts, grants, and procurement — program page /resources/ja-procurement-contract-equity · Operational equity review canvas — program page /resources/ja-operational-equity-canvas
4. Draft your procurement equity record — Complete the record. Leave out vendor-identifying and confidential procurement details. Use the downloaded checklist to write your answers in a tool you normally use. This page does not save them.
5. Review your work — Confirm requirements are in the solicitation, criteria are written, reporting shows who is served with small-group protection, and the contracts office reviewed it.
6. Take it to the right people — Bring the record to your contracts or procurement office and your Equity Director before the solicitation is final. DSD staff can also request a consultation. · Find the right person — program page /support/right-person?matter=procurement_or_contract

WHAT A USEFUL RESULT LOOKS LIKE
Still needs work
• An equity clause added after award
• Preferences that are never scored
• Reporting that cannot show who was served
Ready to use
• Requirements and criteria are in the solicitation
• Reporting is disaggregated with protection
• The contracts office reviewed it before release
Privacy: Do not include confidential procurement details or vendor-identifying information. This page does not save your answers or progress. Notes saved through an earlier version may still be in this browser's site data; this page does not show or delete them.

PROCUREMENT EQUITY RECORD
Privacy: This is a blank published checklist. If you complete a downloaded copy, store and share that file according to DHS requirements. Nothing you write in that file is saved back to this page.
Who the service reaches and who delivers it (required): Communities, languages, disabilities, and places; providers who could deliver but rarely win.
Requirements in the solicitation (required): Accessibility, language access, engagement, and workforce expectations stated as requirements.
Evaluation criteria (required): Written criteria for experience with communities served, accessibility practice, and workforce practice.
Access in the application process itself (required): Plain language, an accessible format, a person to contact, and time to respond.
Contract reporting and monitoring (required): What the contract reports by community with small-group protection, and how access problems get fixed during the term.
Who reviewed this (required): Contracts office, Equity Director, program owner, and community partners.
What you chose not to assume (required): About who can apply and who is served.
Sources and their authority labels (required): Procurement rules and policy sources, labeled.
Review your notes against
• Every follow-up has a named owner
• A next review date is set
• This is connected to your specific work
• Language, disability, and communication access were considered for this work
• You named who was involved and the role they had
• You noted what you chose not to assume
• Every source has an authority label and can be verified

QUESTIONS TO BRING TO ASK
• We are drafting a request for proposals. Where do equity and accessibility requirements belong?
• How do we evaluate proposals for experience with the communities served without excluding smaller providers?
• What reporting should the contract require so we can see who is served?

One DHS People, Access and Culture