Notice of Funding - Job Matching Software Contract

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Background: 

In 2022, approximately 1.82 million people aged 55+ lived in Maryland, accounting for 30% of the total population. Of these, 986,154 were 65+, making up 16% of residents, a figure consistent with national averages. Projections from the Maryland Department of Planning indicate substantial growth. By 2040, the 55+ population is expected to reach 2.19 million (33% of the state), while those 65+ will climb to 1.44 million (21%). The fastest-growing subgroup is adults 80+, projected to more than double from 228,000 in 2020 to 492,000 in 2040, rising from 4% to 7% of the population. Notably, an American turning 65 today has a nearly 70 percent chance - PDF of needing long-term services such as those provided in assisted living facilities. 

A key challenge preventing Maryland providers from meeting the demand for assisted living for the growing senior population is workforce. Nationwide, the current health care workforce overall is not large enough to meet older patients’ needs. The scarcity of workers specializing in the care of older adults is even more pronounced. It is estimated that by 2030, 3.5 million additional health care professionals and direct-care workers will be needed, putting pressure on the existing pathways to recruitment and licensing of eldercare workers to meet that need. 

Workforce experts and eldercare providers believe that this challenge can be addressed in part by bolstering the already-strong immigrant workforce pipeline into the eldercare sector. Nationwide, immigrants are overrepresented in eldercare roles. For example, one in four long-term care workers are immigrants. Immigrants fill over 30% of nursing home support roles and 27.5% of direct care roles. With immigrants already enthusiastically easing staffing shortages across the eldercare industry, this population is a strategic target for building recruitment pipelines that support immigrant Marylanders to train and work in this sector. 

Contract Scope of Work: 

The Maryland Governor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA) seeks a Contractor to design and build a virtual job matching platform that enables elder-care providers in Maryland to identify, reach, and place immigrants, refugees, recent high school graduates (and potentially other populations) to entry-level jobs and training pathways in the eldercare sector. The goal is not to create a generic job board, but to support specific outreach efforts targeting populations likely to yield quality matches with positions in the elder-care sector in Maryland. 

The job platform must follow a quality-in/quality-out principle: validated job postings from vetted employers on one side, and carefully assessed candidate profiles capturing the full range of skills, barriers, and needs on the other. 

The platform will:

• Help elder-care employers reach a diverse, local talent pool; 

•  Make it easier for immigrant, refugee, and recent high school graduate job seekers to see current elder-care job opportunities and identify qualification gaps (e.g., missing licenses) to understand what steps are needed to qualify; 

•  Connect immigrant, refugee, and recent high school graduate job seekers to potential training programs and financial support for certifications; 

•  Give state agencies better visibility into where people are getting stuck (licensing, training, job search, job quality) and which interventions are working; and 

• Provide a structured, low-tech way to test whether better coordination and transparency can improve elder-care staffing, while recognizing that other barriers (e.g., wages, licensing capacity) may require separate policy solutions. 

Additionally, the platform will allow Maryland partners to: 

•  Increase the number of immigrants, refugees, and recent high school graduates, entering licensed elder-care roles at vetted facilities; 

•  Reduce manual coordination work for caseworkers, resettlement agencies, and state staff;

•  Improve matches between candidates, jobs, and training paths, including clearer on-ramps for those who are not yet licensed; and 

•  Generate evidence on the effectiveness and limits of job-matching tools for vulnerable migrant populations in a constrained labor market. 

The scope of the solicited platform build is an elder-care job matching platform that captures structured, multilingual profiles for target populations, including basic skills, location preferences, work authorization, and licensing/training status. 

Contract Deliverables: 

OIA seeks a Contractor with experience in building technological tools that enable traditionally underserved communities access resources and economic opportunities. Contract deliverables from the Contractor would include: 

1) Construction of a job matching portal including the following capacities: a) Data model and intake; 

b) Job posting and browsing; 

c) Expression of interest and coordination tracking; 

d) Designated portals and role-based permissions; and 

e) Reporting and export, including clean CSV exports for analysis and state reporting. 

2) Provision of comprehensive training on the completed portal for OIA staff and its external employer partners.

3) Creation and handover of a complete pilot framework to OIA and its external employer partners. 

Anticipated Period of Performance: 

Approximately 3 months for the design, build, and configuration of the job matching platform. 

Required Qualifications: 

• Experience designing and implementing measurement, data collection and data service tools that serve refugees, immigrants, or other traditionally underserved communities; and
• Experience building digital tools that provide skills and job matching. 

Required Application Materials: 

Please provide a detailed Statement of Work, including: 

• Overview of qualifications; and Completed line-item contract budget (download template here). 

Total Contract Budget: 

• OIA will pay the Contractor a fixed fee of up to $80,000 for work accepted by OIA as provided for in the Statement of Work. 

Application Submission Instructions: 

Please email the required application materials to [email protected] with the subject line “Job Matching Software Contract”. 

Application Deadline: 

Friday, June 19, 2026 at 11:59pm ET.