Questions and Answers.pdf

Questions and Answers RFQ No. 12318720Q0201

1. Is there an existing contract in place for these services? Who is the incumbent? Who is your current provider(s) of ASL onsite services? Who is your current VRI provider and what is the rate for service? What are their rates? What are the current ASL onsite interpreting rates for your onsite provider(s)? RGC Access (ASL onsite) and WeInterpret.net (VRI) are the current incumbents. Award information can be found on fpds.gov. Rates are considered proprietary information.

2. Will the Agency reimburse for two interpreters needed for simultaneous Interpreting should there be a request lasting 2 hours or longer where the interpreter is required to interpret without natural breaks (i.e. 3-hour training)? Yes. The user has previously required services during training that necessitated more than one interpreter to provide the services. For events longer than two hours, two interpreters are allowed. While one interpreter is interpreting for the Forest Service employee(s), the other interpreter may have a break.

3. During the COVID-19 Crisis, will the VA allow remote interpreting services as an option to support continuity of operations should your location expect employees to tele-work? Individual requests will specify if services are to be on-site or remote. Requests for on-site services will require interpreter(s) to be onsite.

4. Please provide the health and safety requirements for government contractors operating on government contract site during the coronavirus crisis. For example, are contractors required to provide their own Personal Protective Equipment or will safety equipment be provided by the government or not required for use on site? USDA Forest Service does not anticipate the need for PPE onsite. If the need arises, it will be addressed at that time.

5. Will interpreters be expected to interpret in the field? Yes. Occasionally users are required to attend training/meetings that are off-site.

6. Is this a Blanket Purchase Agreement requiring multiple bids after award? Subject award(s) will be stand-alone contracts.

7. Please provide the historical Level of Effort (LOE) or the anticipated LOE required for ASL services on an annual basis. Please provide the estimated number of hours. Would it be possible to provide Historical Data, if there is any? Will the Government please provide an approximate number of hours of Interpreter Service that will be required during the contract period of performance (Base Period and Option Years)? If this is not a new requirement, will the Government also provide historical data on the number of service hours provided during previous one-year periods of performance? Would it be possible to provide estimated quantity information to correspond with hourly rate for each CLIN, respectively? Will USDA provide more historical data regarding the expected number of hours they will need interpreters for all day, half day and/or ad hoc assignments? Do you know the anticipated hours for this project? How many ASL interpreting hours did you use last year? The approximate annual numbers of hours anticipated during the base year of the contract period is 2,190. Option years cannot be predicted at this time due to differing staff needs each year. ASL interpreting hours used in FY19 were approximately 1,200.

8. What was the average monthly volume of services requested in hours for 2019? Monthly volume in FY19 varied from as little as 22 hours to as many as 378 hours. Monthly amounts are not predictive of future use.

9. What % of the assignments are for section 2.1.7.2 Full-Time Assignments? What are the number of regularly scheduled, all-day on-call assignments (interpreters scheduled 7 or more hours per day on the same days each week)? Can USDA please clarify if daily on-call interpreters will be required? If so, how many interpreters are required to be on-call each day? Assignments for 7 hours or more would most likely be for a training program. Currently, the quantity of training sessions is unknown. In FY19, 70% of assignments were seven (7) hours or more. The Agency does not have a current or anticipated need requiring all-day on-call regularly scheduled events each week.

10. The number of assignments that were 3 hours or less? Given the additional Deaf personnel hired in several Assistant Director (AD) Areas along with additional training and video requirements, data from previous years would not be applicable.

11. What is the average length of an interpreting assignment? Please see answer to Question #10.

12. The number of hours of evening/weekend work? During the Holiday Season, there may be official functions that would occur during the workweek evening hours. These events would be scheduled three (3) or more days in advance as addressed in the PWS and would last approximately three (3) to four (4) hours each. The Agency does not anticipate any official functions occurring on weekends. Interpreters will be requested on an as needed basis. Each request will specify the duration of services needed.

13. The number of short-notice assignments (less than 5 business days’ notice and less than 1 business days’ notice)? The Agency has increased its number of Deaf personnel this past year. Additionally, there are new requirements in training and use of video. Data from previous years would not provide relevant or sufficient information to create a baseline for this solicitation.

14. Will USDA revise the requirements to state that all interpreters must be nationally certified?

Under section 1.1, paragraph 4, the document states, “an interpreter is one who has completed an interpreting training program and/or is certified”. Can you please clarify what this means? Please see 2.2.4. The minimum requirement will be for interpreters to be licensed in the state of New Mexico and subject to the standards and certifications outlined by the state.

15. Will the USDA choose one primary vendor and one alternate vendor to allow each vendor to offer their most competitive rates if selected as primary, and alternate rates if selected as the alternate vendor? This may be a multiple award contract. Fair opportunity will be given to awarded contractors if multiple award is chosen.

16. Can USDA add an additional CLIN to allow separate pricing for these two “short notice” scenarios - < 5 business days’ notice and < 1 business day notice? Please see Section 2.1.9. Under this contract, short notice assignments are those requested with less than three (3) business days’ notice.

17. Can the USDA identify each site’s location and how many locations? Will the interpreters have to travel between the sites in one day? Please see section 1.5. Place of Performance. Occasionally, work may be performed at a different site. Details will be outlined in each individual request.

18. Regarding Section 2.1.8 Short Notice Scheduling, will USDA change their statement to reflect industry standard? The solicitation is as stated.

19. Can USDA clarify if CART/captioning/transcription services will be needed? If each is needed, can USDA add a CLIN for each in the solicitation as each service is very different?

CART/captioning/transcription services will not be needed.

20. Will USDA consider allowing Video Interpreting to replace onsite interpreting who call out sick or until an onsite interpreter can arrive? Requests for onsite services are for meetings, events and training that will require the interpreter(s) be onsite. Each request will specify if the service must be on-site or if services can be provided via VRI.

21. How many employees are deaf/hard of hearing that will require ASL services? Currently, there are seven (7) employees requiring services. However, these numbers may increase or decrease.

22. It is industry standard that ASL interpreters are secured a two (2) hour minimum for on-site interpretation. I do not see this language in the RFQ, would you consider adding it? Will you accept a bid with the standard ASL interpreting two (2) hour minimum per assignment? Will USDA allow for 2-hour minimum billing charges? Yes. Solicitation will be updated to include this information.

23. Do you currently use Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) for ASL? Does Video Relay Interpreting in CLIN 006 mean the telephone service for the DHH or are you seeking ASL Video Remote Interpreting for face to face communications? Yes. We are seeking ASL Video Remote Interpreting (VRI). CLIN 006 will be revised in the solicitation.

24. What percentage of your interpreting assignments are for last minute needs (less than 2 full business days’ notice)? We have not tracked this amount.