What to Specify in the Consultant’s Contract

The contract is a formal agreement between the Head Start program and the mental health consultant that specifies the scope of services, or exactly what services the consultant will provide. The contract should reiterate and further specify the services that the RFP describes once you have identified a contracting agency or an individual consultant.

The scope of services for the mental health consultant could include all the descriptions of required and expected services from the RFP, adjusted depending on the specific responses, deliverables, timelines, cost arrangements, and services that the selected contractor will provide. The contract should also include:

• Description of how the contract work will be coordinated and supervised (e.g., expected frequency of meetings with Head Start staff member who is monitoring the contract; point of contact or liaison with the Head Start program; name and contact information for anyone outside of the Head Start program who is supervising the mental health consultant; and expected level of communication with that individual).
• Description of how the Head Start program will be involved in selecting or hiring the consultant.
• Statement of expectations around consultant turnover, specifically that the contracted agency will attempt to provide continuity of services from the same consultant throughout the contract period (although sometimes turnover is unavoidable).
• Description of how and when to evaluate the consultant’s performance of the contract (see Accountability and Continuous Quality Improvement). Remember that for contracted work, evaluation of performance must be based on what the contract specified.
• Statement that clearly states that the program can modify the type and frequency of services, and a process for making those modifications. This is important to ensure that the program can adjust the consultation services based on emerging program and family needs.
• Reimbursement or billing procedures and amounts.
• Time period for services.
• Other legally required information for contracting, depending on your agency’s requirements.

Contract appendices might include:

• Early childhood MHC service site location — a description of the Head Start centers where the consultant will provide early childhood MHC services, including contact information for each center.
• Services by service site — a description of which services specified in the contract the consultant will provide at each of the centers listed in the service site locations.

Last Updated: August 6, 2025