UPDATED_INVESTIGATIONS_REVISED__Q_and_A_7182018_(002).pdf

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) # 12319818R0012

AMENDMENT NUMBER 0001

SECTION SF 30 BLOCK 14 CONTINUATION PAGE

1. Could you provide me with the name of the COR for the contract (current RFP) for SNAP retailer investigators?

ANSWER: The COR will be divulged at the date of the IDIQ Contract award.

2. May a bidder submit a response for purposes of qualifying for the IDIQ without responding to

Task Order 1?

ANSWER: No. The bidder shall provide a response to both the IDIQ Contract and First Task Order. The IDIQ Contract and the First Task Order will be evaluated together and both will be awarded (First the IDIQ and subsequently thereafter the Task Order will be awarded).

3. Does FNS intend to limit the number of vendors it selects for this IDIQ?

ANSWER: Yes, this is a Single Award IDIQ Contract.

4. How many Task Orders does FNS anticipate issuing under this IDIQ?

ANSWER: This is an IDIQ Contract and the minimum amount is the only obligation to the government.

5. The RFP states that FNS is seeking personnel to (1) investigate retailers suspected of committing fraud (2) identify new methods of investigating possibly fraudulent retailers (3) Determine what other stores (in the area) could be committing fraud. Task Order 1 appears to address Item (1). Does FNS anticipate Task Orders to specifically address Items (2) and (3)?

ANSWER: No, items 2 and 3 are to be addressed by the vendors as to how/if they plan on doing them. FNS is seeking personnel to perform all three (3) items.

6. Does FNS envision a single vendor/team performing all Task Orders under the IDIQ?

ANSWER: Yes.

7. Is this a new contract or is there an incumbent contractor preforming these services?

ANSWER: This is a New Contract.

8. Does the Service Contract Act apply to this contract (i.e. SCA wages and benefits)?

ANSWER: No.

9. Will any contractor personnel be required to work at the USDA/FNS site facility?

10. Please provide an estimate of the number and type of background investigations that will be needed for Contractor personnel in the following risk categories: High Risk, Moderate Risk, and Low Risk.

ANSWER: The risk category with access to our stat or investigations would require moderate risk background Investigations.

11. On average, how long do the background investigations of all types take? MBI? NANCIC?

Fingerprint?

ANSWER: Tier 2 Background Investigation is required and the cost will be paid by the government. An average timeline is between two (2) to four (4) weeks.

12. On average, how often are CUI’s required to testify in court hearings?

ANSWER: Historical data demonstrates that it may occur less than 2% of investigations.

13. What percentage of task orders require the CUI to travel overnight?

ANSWER: It depends on where the contractor has staff. However, in year one, staff should be located in the area of the contract; so little if any overnight travel will be required.

14. If directed by the ROD, will the video surveillance equipment used by the CUI be provided by the government or is it to be provided the Contractor?

ANSWER: This will not be a requirement during the 1st year of the contract, however, if/when needed, the video equipment will be Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and it will be provided to the contractor.

15. Will the FNS staff member travel to a close proximity of the site visit location to witness the destruction of the ineligible items within 24 hours or is the CUI required to travel to the FNS liaison?

ANSWER: Donation sites will be determined and items destroyed can be witnessed by the CUI Supervisor. No travel to FNS Liaison is required.

16. How often will FNS require the surrender of trafficking cash? Is travel by the Contractor’s personnel involved in this exchange?

ANSWER: Trafficking cash will be turned in by the Contract Undercover Investigator (CUI) weekly and reconciled with Retailer Operations Division (ROD) monthly. No travel required.

17. Is there any requirement by the Government for where the Contractor’s physical office location is?

ANSWER: The contactor must have staff and the ability to supervise staff in the areas determined by ROD. If the contractor’s office is not within this geographical location, any costs incurred as a result of travel to and from the contractor’s office, mail, communication etc. shall be the responsibility of the contractor.

18. Will the Contractor PM have control over how work is assigned to the CUI personnel or is that the sole discretion of the FNS-ROD POC/PM?

ANSWER: The ability to assign contracting staff is at the discretion of the contractor unless said staff is considered non or under performing at which time ROD reserves the right to request changes.

19. Will Contractor Firm Fixed Price of the Retail Investigation Store Visit be adjusted for Labor, Travel and Other Direct Costs that are required in the status report on the 15th of each month?

ANSWER: No, the firm fixed price of the investigation should be all inclusive.

20. How far in advance will FNS supply the documents containing the pertinent information (store hours when EBT activity may peak, photos, demographics, etc.) prior to the site visit?

ANSWER: At the time the cases are assigned to the contractor.

21. In general, what is the required content of the Investigation Report? Is there a specific format requirement?

ANSWER: The format will be supplied at the time of the award.

22. Will the donation sites selected by the ROD PM be in close proximity to the task order/site visit location or are they pre-established, regional sites that will require travel to access by the CUI?

23. Will FNS require on-site meetings in their offices by Contractor personnel? If so, how often and will the Contractor be reimbursed for travel?

ANSWER: No, ROD/FNS will meet with contract managers at the office of the contractor.

24. Page 35 of the “Final RFP IDIQ” gives volume estimates for each area. If so, please confirm that the total volume estimate for the pilot year is 4,500 RFIs, year two is 6,000 RFIs with 24,000 RFIs estimated for years 3, 4 and 5.

ANSWER: No….the total listed can be in any geographical location but is not cumulative. The number may be 1,000 in one or all areas and increases each year but will not exceed the number listed for each year. Therefore, in the final year, the contractor may have worked in 4 geographical areas but would not exceed 4,000 RFIs.

25. Please verify that completed past performance surveys are to be emailed by the reference contact directly to.

ANSWER: carla.hunter1@fns.usda.gov and Lawrence.william@fns.usda.gov.

26. Please provide the average time current Federal investigators spend per investigation in creating and transmitting the investigation reports as well as handling the purchased items and/or cash, completing donation sheets and reviewing/analyzing pre-store visits?

ANSWER: The Government will not provide this information. The offeror shall show that they have experience conducting investigations. The parameters have been described in the RFI and therefore the contractor should have experience in determining length of investigations.

27. Currently how many investigations on average are recalled?

ANSWER: CMD should not be providing information for gauging their allowable failure rate.

28. Please confirm that the only key personnel required is the Project Manager.

ANSWER: The solicitation/RFP is performance based and it is at the discretion of the vendor to make a determination to add additional key personnel as necessary.

29. How long the FNS is provided training and where will the training be conducted?

ANSWER: TBD when contract is awarded. If the vendor is asking how long will FNS provide training? FNS will provide initial training and will assist and/or provide additional training if needed. As for the location of the training, it will be at the contract’s location of choice upon prior FNS approval.

mailto:carla.hunter1@fns.usda.gov mailto:Lawrence.william@fns.usda.gov

30. Please clarify the required time frames for completing the investigation (5.4.1), completing the investigation report (5.4.2) and submission to FNS’ tracking system (5.4.3).

ANSWER: CMD expects the vendor with past performance to be able to determine the timeline for the investigations.

31. There appears to be contradictory information across the provided RFP documents regarding the anticipated volume of visits. Can you please provide clarity on the anticipated volume of visits for each year under this IDIQ?

ANSWER: See above response to Question 24.

32. Will there be state or regional variables to this project? That is, will the CUIs be expected to perform the site visits differently depending on the state or region of the assignment, or are they expected to be essentially the same regardless of location?

ANSWER: These are not “site visits,” they are investigations. As such, investigators should be experienced enough to adapt to the demographics of the area and investigate the retailer accordingly. The standards set forth by ROD in the RFP for conducting investigations however, remain the same.

33. Will there be different priorities of retailer targets (e.g., low risk, medium risk, and high risk)?

ANSWER: It will be determined at the task order level.

34. In what format, and how often, will the Contractor be provided target facility assignments (e.g., a daily electronic feed via CSV or SFTP, etc.)? We are able to provide virtually any format and frequency, but the requirement could impact pricing.

ANSWER: Assignments will be made as they are received by ROD. Once the contractor receives the assigned task order, the timelines discussed in the RFP will apply.

35. In the Performance Requirements Summary, the investigation results indicate a 40% sanctionable success rate and an 8% trafficking success rate. Is the 8% trafficking success rate mutually exclusive or is it part of the 40% sanctionable success rate?

ANSWER: This would be part of the 40% sanctionable rate.

36. Will there be different procedural requirements for different types of retailers based on their size and scope (e.g., will the procedural requirements for a “Big Box” retailer be any different than those for a small neighborhood retailer)?

ANSWER: Only in an extremely rare occasion will there be a “big box store.” Most RFIs are small to medium retailers and not big box or chain type stores.

37. What is the average anticipated length of time a CUI would spend onsite at each target retailer?

ANSWER: The RFP states time require from case opening to closure. The individual CUI will determine the amount of time they need onsite. However, most passes or investigative encounters in each retailer take less than 10 minutes.

38. Will FNS provide all investigations at the beginning of each task order or throughout the period of performance?

a. If throughout the period of performance, can the contractor assume that FNS will order investigations located in the same local areas at the same time where possible?

RESPONSE: No. The ability to have staff in all areas of the U.S. during the time of the contract following the first year is imperative. FNS/ROD does not control where suspected violators come from and therefore the contractor will be expected to go where the work is.

39. Investigation requirements: will there be flexibility on window to conduct investigation and transmit report if site is particularly remote, e.g. Guam, Frontier Alaska, etc.?

ANSWER: No investigations will be required outside of the contiguous 48 states for the term of this contract.

40. Completion time frames seem contradictory in PWS IDIQ FIRST TASK ORDER document - are investigations to be conducted and submitted within 5 days (5.4.1. task order PWS page 13) or 30 days (PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS); task order pws, pg 14)?

ANSWER: The investigations shall be started within 5 days by CUI and submitted to FNS/ROD within 30 days.

41. Will there be different types of investigations, catered to the reasons the retailer was identified for investigation, or are these one-size-fits-all investigations?

ANSWER: These investigations involve suspected fraud in the SNAP program. Therefore, the investigation may be referred to contractor for suspected trafficking for example or simply because it is felt that ineligible items are being sold. All pertinent information however will be supplied to the contractor at the time of the task order award.

42. Will Travel CLIN include reimbursement for CUI time spent traveling?

ANSWER: No, travel cost should be included in the firm fixed price of the investigation. The only exception will be when the CUI will have to travel for a court hearing and the government will issue a time and material task order for the requirement.

43. Will FNS provide Contractor a POC who is available possibly 24/7 for immediate reporting of emergency and critical events (lost/stolen EBT) as needed?

ANSWER: Yes

44. If an investigation is recalled, will the Contractor be compensated on a pro-rated basis for work already performed?

ANSWER: If the deliverables are not acceptable, then the contractor will not be paid for uncompleted assignments.

45. Will there be a separate CLIN for providing FNS "information, tips, complaints, or any other information received by the contractor regarding a store not currently assigned for investigation must be made known to FNS."?

ANSWER: This is Performance Based and it is at the discretion of the vendor to propose what is adequate and in the best interest of the Government.

46. Will Contractor be required or suggested to have personnel stationed at an FNS work site?

47. May the Contractor utilize laptops in lieu of notepads and tablets?

ANSWER: Yes, providing they meet FNS/ROD expectations and requirements.

48. Is the Project Manager the only defined key personnel for this contract, requiring agency approval?

a. May the contractor propose additional key personnel?

ANSWER: Yes. This is Performance Based and it is at the discretion of the vendor to propose what is adequate and in the best interest of the Government.

49. CONTRACT TASKS AND REQUIREMENTS; 5.1. CLIN 1: Project Management and Reporting; 5.2.

CLIN 2: Defining Investigators and Requirements; 5.3. CLIN 3: Training Requirements; 5.4. CLIN 4: Investigation Requirements; 5.5. CLIN 5.: Technology and Operational Constraints. Section 5 references numerous CLINs; however, the IDIQ CLINS are CLIN 001 (and options): RETAIL INVESTIGATION STORE VISIT (FIRM FIXED PRICE) and CLIN 002 (and option) Travel.

a. Please advise how we should interpret the CLINS referenced in this section?

ANSWER: Please delete all references to CLINS in Section 5.0 through Section 5.5 and Section 6.0

b. Are the CLINS referenced in section 5.0 sub-clins under one or more of the IDIQ CLINS?

ANSWER: Please see above response.

50. Final RFP IDIQ 6222018, pg 5: Labor Categories, and Rates per labor category, to meet the requirements in the IDIQ Contract PWS for time and materials task orders.

a. What CLINs are the labor rates applicable to?

ANSWER: These rates will be utilized for any time and material task orders that may be issued (i.e. court appearances).

Can FNS provide examples of how these rates will be utilized under the IDIQ?

ANSWER: Please see above response.

51. Task order PWS, pg. 7: 5.3. CLIN 3: Training Requirements…Upon initial training provided by FNS.

a. Approximately how long is the training provided by FNS?

ANSWER: See above answered in # 29.

b. Can the training be attended remotely?

ANSWER: Initial/Orientation training has to be face to face; however, there may be subsequent/follow-up training that lends itself to be attended remotely.

52. Offerors shall submit, as part of their proposal, a table of content referencing the page and paragraph numbers that contain their response/methodology/narrative, on an item-by-item basis to all of the requirements and evaluation criteria listed in the following paragraphs and sub-paragraphs.

Question: Is the government asking for an explicit “Compliance Matrix” in addition to a Table of Contents Or just a Table of Contents?

ANSWER: Both.

53. The SMALL BUSINESS UTILIZATION SUBCONTRACTING PLAN referenced in the cover letter on page 1 of the FINAL RFP IDIQ 6222018 is not included in the instructions to offerors.

a. Please confirm the Small Business Utilization Sub-Contracting Plan should be included in the proposal for large businesses?

b. Please advise if the Plan should be included in Volume II – Price Proposal?

c. Please confirm the Plan does not count against any page limitations?

54. Will the government extend the deadline for proposal submissions?

ANSWER: The deadline for receipt of proposals has been revised to July 27, 2018 at 2:00 p.m.

(EDT).

55. The SOW indicates the company must be licensed and available to work nationwide, yet the initial pilot is for a limited regional area, not specified. Conducting business in additional states is not a difficult or lengthy process but it is a hardship for business to get licensed in every state for a proposal. It would be very helpful to allow the company to grow to states as the government requirements indicate they are actually needed in those states. Is the intention of the government that the company must already be licensed in every state upon award or that it must have the ability to immediately be licensed in every state immediately upon award? Would the government considering allowing the awarded company to immediately obtain licensure in other states upon award and as needed to meet actual requirements?

ANSWER: Most national companies that have been researched and have expressed interest in the RFI are licensed throughout the U.S. Prior to a company submitting their proposal, they would need to be sure that they were licensed throughout the 48 states. If the company does business in a specific state; then yes, the company must already be licensed in the specific state(s).

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION (Page 30 of the Solicitation Document is revised to state the following that is highlighted in red):

MINIMUM MANDATORY REQUIREMENT - This is for a national contract. The vendor should be licensed and be available to work in every one of the contiguous 48 states and must DEMONSTRATE the ability to provide contract investigators nationwide. FNS anticipates issuing the first task order to conduct investigations in specific areas of the country and intends to issue additional task orders in the base and/or option years to continue to expand towards nationwide. The area(s) for the initial task order will be determined or made known at the time that the contract is awarded. The VENDOR that is unable to begin work in one or more nationally chosen areas at the time the contract is awarded should not respond to the

RFP.

56. We have several on call investigators who work in many states but not every state. Would the government consider revealing the initial pilot states so that bidding companies don’t need to be licensed unnecessarily in states they might not otherwise work? Or alternatively allowing 90 days to obtain licensure in states that are proposed for work but not actually being used the pilot year?

ANSWER: This RFP is requesting a national contract and it was written this way. But, we would consider, for an otherwise qualified firm, allowing for a 60/90 days period to obtain licensures.

This answer is addressing the individual investigator’s license/permit. Therefore, as long as the company is licensed in the state, FNS would allow a 60/90 days period for the investigators to obtain their individual licenses.

57. When “licensing” is discussed in the SOW, is the government referring to/requiring a private investigator business license or a standard business license of the company?

ANSWER: A company cannot engage in the practice of conducting investigations in most states without a license to do so. As for investigators, that is up to the individual company and their own state regulations. In NY for example, an investigator can work under the company license without a PI license. However, they have to have had a security/watch guard course. In some cases, many will have had police or other investigative experience and will already qualify. Many other states operate in the same manner.

58. Would the government consider a small business set aside for this effort?

ANSWER: Based on market research, the government has determined full and open competition to be the best acquisition strategy.