EAP Counseling Services
This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation. Proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect tough Federal Acquisition Circular 2022-06. This Request for Proposal (RFP) number 60RRBH22R0007 is issued to request proposals for a Contract or a Delivery Order for EAP Counselor Services. Please see the attached RFP document for the Statement of Work (SOW), Clauses and Provisions, Quotation Submission instructions, and Quotation Evaluation and Award information. This RFP is issued as unrestricted. Overview A. Agency Information The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent federal agency that administers a retirement and survivor benefit program for railroad employees and their families. The RRB was established by the Railroad Retirement Acts of 1937 and 1974. Its benefit program was the forerunner of the more familiar social security system. The Railroad Retirement System is unique in as much as it is the only federally administered benefit program covering a single private industry. The RRB also administers the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act which provides unemployment and sickness benefits to railroad employees. The RRB is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and has approximately 1,025 employees toughout the United States. B. Objective: The RRB is seeking the services of a contractor to provide Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services. The EAP shall provide both on-site, in-person counseling services during select hours at the RRB's Chicago, IL headquarters building, as well as internet/ toll-free counseling services available 24 hours a day/7 days a week. The on-site counseling sessions are expected to be limited to 1 hour sessions for no more than 8 sessions per occurrence. The RRB prefers to have its on-site, in-person counseling services at RRB headquarters consist of one (1) day a week for four hour a days per week for a total of four (4) hours; however, the RRB can be flexible as long as the RRB receives a minimum of four (4) hours and a maximum of four (4) hours of EAP onsite services weekly. The Contractor shall also provide 24/7 EAP services online, telephonic, etc., as well as by face-to-face assistance services, as needed, toughout the United States for the 53 remote offices located domestically (See Attachment A for all locations). The need for faceto-face assistance will be allowed only if the contractor cannot find a local referral in the area(s) needed (See Section III.D.4), or if the urgency is so great that approval is given from either the RRB Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), or the Contracting Officer (CO). See Section III, Statement of work, for further details on the requirements for the EAP services. C. Place of Performance: The on-site EAP Services performed for this contract shall be at the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Headquarters Facility, 844 North Rush St., Chicago, Illinois 60611, during a mutually agreeable schedule during normal working hours between 8:00am Central Time and 4:30pm Central Time, excluding Federal holidays. The EAP Services could be at any of the locations listed in Attachment A, or a mutually agreeable location (if approved by the COR). D. Other information: The Contractor shall provide any materials necessary for the assistance given. This may include, but is not limited to, handouts, booklets, DVD’s, audio tapes, CD’s, etc. The RRB will provide a private room at the RRB's headquarters location and will provide private space if possible at the RRB's remote offices, when needed. Statement of Work A. EAP General Requirements - The Contractor shall establish and manage an Employee Assistance Program within the guidelines established by Federal law (5 USC 7904), regulation (5 CFR 792), www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_01/5cfrv2_01.html. The employee assistance program should help employees and, where feasible, their families with problems that may affect their wellbeing and ability to do their job. The program shall include the ongoing training during the life of the contract of approximately 160 supervisors, managers and leads; provision of guide materials for said supervisors, managers and leads; the ongoing supply of educational materials for all employees; assessment and development of referral sources; counseling; and other assistance to approximately 807 employees located in the RRB's headquarters building in Chicago, Illinois, and their immediate families. The program shall monitor employee progress and reports of program activity as defined in these requirements. In addition, the contractor must provide employee assistance program support as defined in these requirements to approximately 218 agency field employees and their immediate families located across the United States (see Attachment A). B. Contractor Duties and Responsibilities under basic EAP services - The Contractor’s staff shall provide the services listed below to RRB employees or family members referred by RRB. Problems may include, but are not limited to, finance, medical, marital or family distress, mental or emotional illness, job stress, alcoholism, drug abuse/dependency and/or legal matters. The Contractor’s staff shall: 1. Conduct intake interviews, assess problems and make referrals to community treatment sources when necessary. Interview the employee/participant and obtain information necessary to determine the nature and extent of the problem, whether job related or personal. If necessary, the counselor shall also refer the participant for further medical evaluation, diagnostic work-up, and/or such health or psychiatric/psychological treatment as will permit appropriate case management; 2. Follow up referrals to evaluate effect of treatment or counseling on job performance or conduct within 30 days; 3. Assist employees with a wide range of problems which adversely affect the employee’s job performance and/or conduct; 4. Provide a 24 hour/7 day a week “800 number” answering service for emergency or crisis cases for RRB Headquarters and remote offices. Calls should be returned within one hour of initial contact. Provide a 24 hour/7 day a week online mix of EAP services, including, but not limited to, web chat, call back, texting, emailing or any other type of communication. As with the calls, return communication with the RRB employee should occur within one hour of receipt of the initial contact. 5. Maintain and document liaison with treatment and rehabilitation centers including evaluation of facilities. 6. The Contractor’s staff will work with the agency's drug testing program staff. The Contractor will not be involved in the collection of urine samples or the initial reporting of drug test results. However, the Contractor shall# a. Serve as the initial point of contact for employees who ask or are referred for counseling; b. Demonstrate working experience with all applicable laws (E.O. 12564) www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/ executive-order/12564.html , and regulations (42 CFR Part 2) (www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/42cfr2_02.html) . This includes demonstrated working experience with drug treatment and rehabilitation insurance coverage as available to employees tough the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program; c. Document and sign the treatment plan prescribed for all employees referred for treatment, after obtaining the employee's signature on this document; and d. In making referrals, consider the following: i. Nature and severity of the problem; ii. Location of the treatment; iii. Cost of the treatment; iv. Intensity of the treatment environment; v. Availability of inpatient/outpatient care; vi. Other special needs, such as transportation and child care; and vii. The preferences of the employee. 7. The Contractor shall advise RRB managers, supervisors, and union officials as to the proper handling of individual cases with emphasis on ongoing management consultation to assist supervisors with "supportive consultation". The Contractor shall also provide feedback on employee's progress to the referring official in accordance with confidentiality guidelines. 8. The Contractor shall maintain secure confidential files in accordance with Federal regulations in 42 CFR Part 2 along with all applicable privacy/security laws, regulations and system of records. All Contractors’ employees shall adhere to the privacy and security clauses in Section IV and shall maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the RRB's employees and their EAP records at the RRB Headquarters and all Remote Offices. 9. Document case file if an employee drops out of a treatment program. C. Reports - The Contractor shall provide and submit yearly reports to the EAP Administrator for all EAP counselor services, however performed (online, face-to-face, etc.). Such reports shall include the following: 1. Hours worked/provided during the year, at both RRB Headquarters site and emergency critical incident counseling. 2. Number of employees counseled during the year (including new referrals and re-opened cases) with problem areas (such as alcohol, drugs or emotional/other problems) identified; 3. Referral source category (ie: was the RRB employee referred by a supervisor, union, self, or as a result of drug testing); 4. Disposition of cases; 5. Number of employees and/or employee family members that use the EAP services; 6. Other information required by the EAP Administrator (i.e., additional statistical information, information required by OPM or other regulating agencies or Congress); 7. Program evaluation developed by the Contractor,(i.e., activity reports, end of year reports) tough statistical reports plus the opportunity for and inclusion of anonymous evaluation of the service by employees utilizing it; and 8. Log of response time between initial contact by RRB employees and Contractor’s response to the employees, including returning calls and scheduling appointments. D. Staffing Requirements - The Contractor shall staff the position of Employee Assistance Counselor for the RRB for both onsite and on call counselors. 1. EAP Counselor(s) Staff Qualifications and Experience Requirements: i. Have a minimum of a master’s degree in psychology, social work, or other related fields. ii. Be trained in counseling employees in the occupational setting, and in identifying drug/alcohol use/dependency. iii. Have at least 2 years post-masters counseling experience. iv. Have all appropriate professional certifications and licenses to practice (for example, current state licensing, in the state in which counseling services are exercised, to practice social work or psychology; membership in professional organizations such as the Academy of Certified Social Workers). 2. The contractor is responsible for the ongoing, continued training and supervision of the counselor(s). The counselor(s) must be kept abreast of the latest developments in occupational health including, but not limited to, counseling methods, referral institutions and agencies, interview techniques and treatment approaches. Additionally, the contractor is responsible for appraising the counselor's performance, using an established corporate performance appraisal plan. 3. The RRB Headquarters site counselor's office will be located at the RRB's Headquarters, 844 North Rush Street in Chicago, Illinois. Except as approved by the EAP Administrator, the Contractor shall provide on-site counseling services at a mutually agreeable schedule in the RRB EAP facility Monday tough Friday excluding Federal holidays during the regular working hours of the RRB headquarters, for one day, totaling a maximum of 4 hours (at mutually agreeable times) per week (208 hours annually). The RRB may, if needed, request more than 4 hours due to high usage, or other short-term needs. The RRB reserves the right to increase or decrease the amount of hours per week, but will not decrease below a minimum guarantee of 4 hours per week. If the RRB decreases the hours, the RRB will give a minimum of two (2) weeks’ notice to the contractor. If the RRB needs an increase in hours, the contractor shall provide the extra hour(s) as soon as practical, but not to exceed two (2) weeks. The Contractor shall provide on-site counselor services on Wednesdays, unless due to building closure or Federal Holiday. 4. Counseling services shall be provided at the RRB Headquarters site with the exception of those occasions where the Counselor is requested by an employee or family member to meet off site to preserve confidentiality. The Counselor's schedule can be flexible but changes to an existing schedule must be approved in advance by the RRB's EAP Administrator/COR. A schedule will be developed and approved at the post award conference. Approved schedule changes shall not affect the total number of hours to be worked under this contract. During periods of vacation or extended sickness, the RRB Headquarters site counselor shall be replaced by an equally qualified substitute counselor approved in advance by the EAP Administrator. The EAP Administrator has the right to request replacement of a counselor if his/her performance does not meet the contract requirements as evaluated by the EAP Administrator/ COR. 5. The Contractor shall also provide employee assistance services and support to approximately 218 agency field employees located outside the Chicago area in approximately 53 field offices (See Attachment A). Support shall include the referral of field employees seeking counseling services and assistance to affiliated firms in the employee’s local area. These affiliates may be contractor owned or independent counselors. Cost for providing services to agency field employees will be reimbursed by the agency on an “as used” basis. In no event shall this cost exceed 150% of the hourly rate as offered by the contractor in CLIN 0001AB tough CLIN 0005AB for RRB Headquarters Counselor services, unless approved by the EAP Administrator. Please note that this is NOT the Critical Incident Counseling services. 6. Sessions allowed per employee - Each employee shall be allowed a maximum of 8 sessions per issue per calendar year (unless approved by the COR); thereafter the RRB employee(s) shall seek any follow-up assistance services with their own personal medical practitioner. E. Critical Incident Services Critical Incident is defined as a matter so urgent that a counselor need to be dispatched immediately, with no delay. As an option, Critical Incident Counseling Services shall be provided at or near RRB Remote Office locations per this Statement of Work. This is NOT the services requested above in Section III.D.5. The RRB provides no guarantee of use of these services as these services are only to be used if the Contractor's local service (See III.D.5) cannot meet the EAP need, is of an urgent or critical nature, and is confirmed by the RRB COR. Critical Incident Services can be ordered only by the COR or the Contracting Officer (CO). Attachment A provides a list of the Field Office locations. If the RRB has a need for Critical Incident Services, the RRB will issue a delivery order to exercise the option for any such services. A local referral shall always be the primary method of face-to-face counseling for the remote offices, as the RRB feels that Critical Incidents would be a rare occurrence. F. Seminar Services 1. As an option, the Contractor shall provide, upon request, on-site EAP seminars located at the RRB headquarters. Seminar scope and topic(s) will be EAP related and determined by mutual agreement between the Contractor and the RRB. Seminars will have no fixed schedule. The RRB guarantees no minimum amount of these services. 2. Seminar services time is separate from, and shall not count towards the four (4) hour minimum guarantee for RRB Headquarters onsite counselor services time, unless mutually agreed upon by the Contractor and the COR. G. Board Furnished Facilities and Services The Board shall furnish to the Contractor's EAP counselor sufficient office space at 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL – including furniture and telephone service for performance of work required under this contract. The Board shall furnish necessary staff support, training facilities, and distribution services relating to the dissemination of written employee assistance materials and pamphlets developed or employed by the Contractor for performance of the contracted services. H. Quality Assurance Surveillance Program 1. Cost effective and timely provision of employee assistance services is the primary goal of the contract resulting from this solicitation. The quality assurance program defined herein seeks to ensure that the RRB receives the service paid for and specified in the contract. In order to have an effective contract administration program, all Government employees and Contractor staff involved in contract administration must work as a team. Close coordination and active cooperation on a daily basis between the contractor and those representing the Contracting Officer are necessary. This surveillance plan was developed in compliance with RRB’s policy on performance-based acquisition. To satisfy the agency’s quality/accuracy requirements, the RRB will employ the mechanisms listed below. The RRB shall share the surveys with the Contractor to include in its reporting to the RRB. (See section III. C.) 2. Quality Assurance Program Evaluation Mechanisms: The RRB employee surveys in Attachment B shall be used to evaluate the quality of Contractor’s performance of the requirements in the Statement of Work (Section III.) Proposal Submission Instructions Submission of Quotations/Proposals A. The following clause, incorporated by reference, is applied to offeror proposal submission: Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items (NOV 2021) FAR 52.212-1. B. RRB Supplemental Instructions to Offerors 1. General Instructions a. The proposal shall be submitted in two parts – a “business proposal” and a “technical proposal”. Each of the parts shall be separate and complete in itself so that evaluation of one may be conducted independently of, and concurrently with, evaluation of the other. b. Electronic proposals shall be submitted to proposals@rrb.gov by May 25, 2022 at 1:00PM CT. An electronically delivered proposal not received by the time and date specified in this solicitation shall be handled in accordance with FAR 52.212-1(f), “Late submissions, modifications, revisions, and withdrawals of offerors”. c. Any further questions regarding this RFP must be submitted to the RRB by May 13, 2022 at 1:00PM CT to proposals@rrb.gov. 2. Business Proposal a. The Offeror shall submit a signed copy of Standard Form (SF-) 1449 with Blocks 12, 17a. and b., and 30a., b., and c. completed. b. The offeror shall complete Section II – The Price Schedule with prices for all CLINS. c. The offeror shall complete the Contractor's Business information outlined in Section II.B. d. The offeror shall submit an electronic copy of their GSA Contract, if applicable. e. The offeror shall submit an electronic copy of their completed System for Award Management (SAM) registration. f. The offeror shall complete the Offeror Representations and Certifications, FAR 52.212-3, in Section IV above. g. Other information the contractor determines appropriate and relevant to the RRB evaluation team. 3. Technical Proposal Staff Qualifications Offerors shall state their staff's specific numbers of years of experience, demonstrated qualifications, and expertise in performing Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services in all forms of communication, including, but not limited to, telephone, face-to-face, web chat, email, etc. All EAP services submitted shall be clearly explained. Resumes of the individuals that will be providing the requested services shall be submitted. Specific Federal and Civilian years of experience in the above work and relevant certifications and/or degrees per the SOW in Section III shall be clearly presented. Offerors shall provide a description of the level of qualifications for their off-site staff that will provide EAP counseling services based on web-based or telephone requests from RRB employees, supervisors, managers, or union officials. b. Technical Approach, Process and Plan Offerors shall provide a technical description of the work to be performed, required activities, planned materials for the work, and a quality control program for satisfying the RRB’s requirements. Offerors shall submit a detailed description of the services provided. The description should include information concerning the EAP program, on-site services, critical incident response services and EAP seminars. Detailed, clear work steps involved in performing the entire scope of services as described in the Statement of Work, Section III. The detailed narrative shall describe how the solution meets the requirements as set forth in the Statement of Work, Section III. The narrative shall also describe all of the offeror’s EAP services as described in Section III, and priced in Section II. Offerors shall provide information for Headquarters and Remote Office locations, in order to ensure that services can be satisfactorily Document Number: provided in all locations and for all requirements in Sections II and III. Offerors shall identify some of the subcontractors that may be involved (if none, so state), whether pre-existing agreements are in place, their capability and reliability, etc. i. Quality Control Plan Offerors shall submit details to demonstrate they have a Quality Control Plan which will ensure effectiveness, efficiency, soundness, and high quality services necessary to provide the services required by the Statement of Work, Section III. Note that the RRB will monitor the contractors’ employees using the sample questionnaires as listed in Section III.G. ii. Employee Training Plan (Test and Acceptance Plan) Offeror shall submit a test and acceptance plan that will include ensuring the quality and effectiveness of all the EAP services offered. c. Past Performance: Offerors should provide information on previously performed contracts that are similar to this work. 1. The Offeror shall submit, as part of its proposal, information on a minimum of tee (3) previously performed contracts or ongoing contracts performed for Federal, State, or local Government and for commercial firms that are very similar to the requested EAP services. The Offeror shall describe the scale and extent of their EAP Counselor experience to include a description of the solutions and explain how these projects relate to the technical services required in this solicitation in order to demonstrate specific previous experience doing the same type of work. 2. Offerors shall provide the names and addresses for each reference including the names, phone numbers and email addresses of at least one contact individual at each referenced organization. 3. Past Performance Questionnaires (PPQ), Attachment C: PPQ's shall be submitted from a minimum of tee (3) and maximum of five (5) references, directly to the RRB. Questionnaires will be used to collect performance information about the offeror from existing and/or prior clients. The references should submit a completed questionnaire via email to proposals@rrb.govby the due date for proposals. A follow up conference call may be scheduled with the references, post PPQ completion, to discuss in greater detail the services provided by the offeror and the reference's satisfaction with the services. Please Note: The Government will not attempt to ‘track down’ supplied past performance references in cases where inaccurate reference information is provided. Incomplete or inaccurate reference information may lead to a lower evaluation. d. Confidentiality of Employee's EAP Records Specific and detailed descriptions of how the Contractor and Contractor’s employee’s policies, procedures, and practices will maintain the confidentially and privacy of the RRB’s employees and their EAP records at the RRB Headquarters and all Remote Offices. e. Value Added Features The offeror shall provide a detailed description of any organizational assets or resources or project approach characteristics that would be advantageous to the RRB to accomplish its EAP objectives. An example of a value added feature may include, but not be limited to, providing a seminar of a mutually agreed upon topic at the RRB headquarters at no extra cost to the RRB. Evaluation and Award Evaluation and Award A. In compliance with FAR clause 52.212-2, Evaluation of Offers – Commercial Items, the Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforms to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government in terms of both technical and price factors including past performance as outlined below. Best Value Evaluation. Technical evaluation shall be weighted significantly greater than the Price evaluation. Responses will be evaluated according to which firm best can meet the performance requirements of the statement of work as evidenced by their Quality of Staff, Technical Approach, Past performance and value added characteristics, etc. will be included to determine which proposal is the best value to the government. The Offeror understands", "standard procedures will be employed", "well known techniques will be used", and general parapasing of the statement of work (SOW) shall be considered inadequate and/or non-compliant. The technical proposal must provide details concerning what the offeror will do and how it will be done. This includes a full explanation of the techniques, disciplines, and procedures proposed to be followed. Offers received that have these, or similar vague statements above, shall be rated accordingly. B. Price Proposal Evaluation 1. Any offeror not proposing a price in CLINS 0001AA - 0001AD, CLINS 0002AA - 0002AD, CLINS 0003AA - 0003AD, CLINS 0004AA - 0004AD, and CLINS 0005AA - 0005AD along with not being able to perform all the required elements in the SOW, will be considered not responsive to the solicitation and shall not be evaluated. The Government will evaluate the price proposal as the sum of firm fixed price for CLIN 0001-CLIN 0005. The total evaluated price (TEP) will be calculated as follows: CLIN 0001AA*12 + CLIN 0002AA*12 + CLIN 0003AA*12 + CLIN 0004AA*12 + CLIN 0005AA*12 + (Price per hour of on-Site EAP counselor services times the yearly minimum of 208 hours) CLIN 0001AB*416 + CLIN 0002AB*416 + CLIN 0003AB*416 + CLIN 0004AB*416 + CLIN 0005AB*416 + (Price per hour of Field Office Critical Incident services, assuming used five times annually with 1 hour per occurrence) CLIN 0001AC*5 + CLIN 0002AC*5 + CLIN 0003AC*5 + CLIN 0004AC*5 + CLIN 0005AC*5 + Price per hour of on-site seminars at the RRB Headquarters assuming 4 hours annually) CLIN 0001AD*4 + CLIN 0002AD*4 + CLIN 0003AD*4 + CLIN 0004AD*4 + CLIN 0005AD*4 = TEP Note: For evaluation purposes only, the RRB estimates using the optional Critical Incident Services in CLINS 0001AC-0005AC five times annually with 1 hour per occurrence. Also, for evaluation purposes only, the RRB estimates the optional On-site Seminars will be held for a total of four (4) hours per year. D. The Government reserves the right to evaluate offerors and award a contract without discussion. Therefore, the initial offer should contain the offeror’s best terms from both a price and plan/experience/past performance standpoint. E. A written notice of award or acceptance of an offer mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful offeror within the time for acceptance specified in the offer, shall result in a binding contract without further action by either party. Before the offer's specified expiration time, the Government may accept an offer (or part of an offer), whether or not there are negotiations after its receipt, unless a written notice of withdrawal is received before award. C. Technical Proposal Evaluation 1. To be considered responsive, the offeror must comply with the format and content specified in Section V, SUBMISSION OF QUOTATIONS/PROPOSALS (Instructions to Offerors). Offerors whose proposals are deemed deficient in this regard may be permitted, at the RRB’s discretion, to remedy the deficiency by submitting additional clarifying or supplemental information. 2. Responsive proposals shall be evaluated to determine the relative technical merit of each response. Accordingly, the objective of this evaluation is to measure the extent to which proposals meet the requirements as stated in the Statement of Work and the required proposal format and content, Section V, SUBMISSION OF QUOTATIONS/PROPOSALS (Instructions to Offerors). 3. The technical evaluation criteria will serve as the standard against which all technical proposals will be evaluated and will serve to identify the significant discussion items that offerors should address in their proposals. The proposal should assume this as a foundation and only address the requirements of this solicitation without repeating from any earlier proposal submitted for the proposed service. The government will evaluate compliant proposals against the technical non-price factors stated in Section B.6 below and will determine a best value assessment. The following adjectival ratings, defined below, will be used when evaluating each Offerors’ Technical Proposal. Rating Description Excellent The combined impact of the identified strengths far outweighs the combined impact of any identified weaknesses and risks. Good The combined impact of the identified strengths outweighs the combined impact of any identified weaknesses and risks. Satisfactory The combined impact of the identified strengths is approximately equivalent to the combined impact of any identified weaknesses and risks. Marginal The combined impact of the identified weaknesses and risks out weighs the combined impact of the identified strengths. Unsatisfactory The combined impact of the identified weaknesses and risks far outweighs the combined impact of the identified strengths. If a proposal is evaluated as meeting part of one rating description and part of another the RRB will determine which rating is appropriate. For example, if the Offerors’ response comprehensively addresses the requirements and the combined impact of the strengths outweighs (but does not far outweigh) the combined impact of any weaknesses and risks, the RRB will determine whether to assign and Excellent or Good rating. 4. Technical proposals will be first reviewed for content conformance to proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that are very deficient in this area as to not warrant further consideration will be rejected and the offeror will be so notified. 5. The RRB will evaluate proposals against the following technical factors in descending order of importance: a. Quality of Staff The RRB will evaluate the offeror’s proposed staff, including Counselors and seminar providers, for: i. Their qualifications including licensing and certifications, as well as years of work experience and relevant degrees, certifications, etc. and ii. Experience and proficiency of the staff in providing EAP services to Federal Government organizations and employees or similar projects and organizations. Note: Credit will be given to Contractors who have demonstrated experience and competency in providing EAP Services to Federal Government customers. b. Technical Approach The RRB Technical Evaluation team will evaluate the Contractor’s technical approach, process and plans to determine if it provides: i. A comprehensive outline and structure to achieve the RRB’s EAP Program objectives and providing the performance elements and resources outlined in the SOW. ii. Quality Control Plan and Employee training plan (Employee Training Plan = Test and Acceptance Plan) that ensures quality and effectiveness of the counseling services by on-site and off-site counseling staff, as well as staff providing EAP Topic Seminars. iii. RRB will also evaluate the quality, depth, and ease of use of the offeror’s Web-based resources and the quality and depth of its corporate or network partner resources to meet RRB EAP needs for its employees nationwide. b. Past Performance (1) Each Offeror will be evaluated on their performance under existing and prior contracts for similar products or services. Performance information will be used for both responsibility determinations and as an evaluation factor against which Offeror’s relative rankings will be compared to assure best value to the government. The government will focus on information that demonstrates quality of performance relative to the size and complexity of the procurement under consideration. (2) The RRB will obtain information from the contract references provided by the Offeror. The Offeror is advised that the RRB may obtain past performance information from sources other than those identified by the Offeror (e.g. but not limited to the Past Performance Information Retrieval System of PPIRS). If sub-contractor(s) are to be used, the RRB will obtain information from the contract references submitted by the offeror for its sub-contractor(s). (3) Past Performance Questionnaires - The PPQs submitted by the offerors will be evaluated. Points will be awarded based on the PPQ responses regarding: (a) Direct applicability of the referenced experience to the RRB's project scope and requirements (analysis of a similar organization), (b) Customer satisfaction, (c) Quality of service, (d) Reliability and timeliness of performance, (e) Issue/problem resolution, (f) Initiative and adaptability, (g) Business relations/cooperation, and/or (h) Contractor's record for completing services within the project resource plan and budget, thereby avoiding cost overruns. d. Confidentiality (Policies, procedures and practices) The RRB Technical Evaluation team will evaluate the specific and detailed descriptions of how the Contractor and Contractor’s employee’s policies, procedures, and practices will protect the confidentially of the personal information in the EAP program records for RRB’s employees. e. Value Added or project approach characteristics The RRB will evaluate the offeror’s proposed Value-added features of its program for any organizational or project approach characteristics described by the offeror that clearly demonstrate the capability to provide distinct advantages to the RRB in terms ofquality, price, or extra services to best meet RRB employees potential EAP needs. An example of a value added feature may include, but not be limited to, providing a seminar of a mutually agreed upon topic at the RRB headquarters at no extra cost to the RRB.
60RRBH22R0007 Railroad Retirement Board
5/10/22, 5:05 PM