Response_Questions.pdf

1. The NAICS Code listed is 541611, Administrative Management and General Consulting Services with a size standard of $7.0M. However, much of the work involved in performing this requirement is design of data collection systems, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, and evaluation, which are heavily involved with computer related services and are very labor intensive, which companies in this size standard are unlikely to have available without extensive subcontracting (web programmers, survey specialists, senior evaluators, statisticians). Will CDC consider changing this requirement to NAICS Code 541519, Computer Related Services, with a size standard of $25.0M to increase the level of competent competition?

- After review of the entire requirement we chose an appropriate NAICS Code, 541661, Administrative Management and General Consulting Services with a size standard of $7.0M and it will not be changed.

2. Can you please advise as to whether there is an incumbent contractor for this requirement? If so, could you please provide the contractor name and the contract number that was awarded?

-There is no incumbent

3. Thank you for informing us of the posting. I noticed that the level of effort is currently listed as “TBD.” Is the CDC planning to announce the LOE in an amendment? When will this announcement be made?

-It will be filled at award with the amount of cost by the winning contractor. It does not reflect the LOE.

4. Is the conflict of interest statement included in the business or technical proposal?

The conflict of interest statement will be submitted as a part of the business proposal.

5. Do the applications that grantees submit include any specific requirements for measurement and evaluation?

-No

6. What is the length of time that a CBO typically receives funding via this mechanism?

-This is a Contract, not a Grant. The base period will be funded at time of award.

The option years will be funded if they are exercised each year.

7. Can you confirm that the evaluator will:

a. Analyze existing aggregated data.

-Yes based on the requirements in the statement of work

b. Collect, organize and analyze existing data (not aggregated yet).

- Yes based on the requirements in the statement of work

c. Collect, organize and analyze new data.

-Yes based on the requirements in the statement of work

8. The solicitation for this evaluation is well articulated and seems to reference an existing plan. We would anticipate that the successful bidder would have access to that document, but would the CDC consider making this information available before July 16th?

9. Are there currently contractors at CDC that are associated with the program? If yes, are they eligible for this solicitation?

Please review Sections H.9 Organizational Conflicts of Interest and L.12 – Organizational Conflicts of Interest

10. Our GSA schedule under which we typically submit proposals to DHHS agencies includes direct labor, fringe benefits and indirect costs. May we use these hourly rates as the basis for our cost proposal?

-Yes

11. Section L.10 (b) - Is it acceptable to use Arial 10 point font in figures and tables?

-Yes

12. Section L.12 - Please provide a listing of Capacity Building Assistant contractors currently servicing the CDC CBA Program to allow bidders to determine if a COI exists.

-For list of capacity building assistance providers funded by CDC’s Capacity Building Branch, see http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/funding/PS09-906/awards.htm

13. Section B - Contract lines items are repeated. Please explain the difference, if any.

Each Line Item represents a base year and an option year to be priced separately.

14. Section C and Section F.2. Section F.2 requires the Component 1 evaluation plan and evaluation design (1 electronic copy) 30 days. This appears to be overly aggressive considering the amount of material to review during Task 1 and Task 2. Will the Government provide the Task 1 materials for review by the bidders as part of the proposal process?

- No

15. Section L.11 - This section states, "The offeror should include the last five (5) contracts completed during the past three years and all contracts currently in process for both the offeror and all proposed major subcontractors." Is it correct to assume that this refers to relevant contracts and not every contract the offeror and its subcontractors are currently performing?

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/funding/PS09-906/awards.htm�

-Section (b) of L.11 states: Offerors shall submit the past performance information which are considered relevant in demonstrating ability to perform the proposed effort. All past performance information submitted shall be relevant.

16. Are any data (e.g., pilot data) currently available that could be part of the evaluation during the base year?

-No

17. Completing the web-based / telephone surveys are totally voluntary. Will the CBB inform their CBA consumers about the evaluation, or will the contractor be charged with this notification? -CDC will inform their CBA consumers about the evaluation. Will OMB approval be necessary for survey instruments and data collection?- Yes. Which survey forms, if any, have already been approved by OMB (e.g., PIF) and what are their approval dates?-OMB and IRB exemption has been received for all survey tools listed in Component 1. OMB approval has not been applied for or received for any tools listed in Component 2.

18. Page 7, Subtask 2.01, the CDC PO will provide a draft evaluation design--will bidders have access to this when preparing their proposal (e.g., to provide suggestions on how to improve it)?

-No

19. Section C Task 4 - Are Customer Satisfaction, Training Surveys and PIFs already developed? If so, can bidders have access to them to inform proposal design and preparation (e.g., include suggestions to add/modify questions relevant to address evaluation questions)?

The surveys are developed but offerors will not have access to the surveys at this time. The successful contractor will work with the Project Officer for any modifications.

20. Task 5 (pg. 8) states that about 8,600 PIFs and Consumer Satisfaction Surveys will be completed and CDC will send contractor electronic summaries of about 5,000.

Remaining 3,600 will be sent to contractors for data entry/analyses. Will the 5,000 have been validated and verified and undergone data cleaning (missing data, out-of-range data) before being sent to the contractor?

-No

21. In addition to CBA participants attending (about 68 per the RFP), about how many CBB staff and other stakeholders will attend the CBA Provider Satisfaction Meeting (as part of the annual grantee meeting in Atlanta)?

-20 CBB staff

22. After reviewing the Solicitation No. 2010-N-215 CDC Evaluation Proposal, I have a couple of questions to ask you. I understanding that a Table of Contents is required, but what are the official topics that we need input into the Table of Contents for the Technical Proposal? Also, what other Appendices are required besides resumes of key personnel?

The contractor determines what topics are included in the Table of Contents based on the information submitted in the proposal. The contractor determines what other Appendices to include in the proposal.

23. In component 1 in Options 2 and 3 (pg 15) it is stated:

For OPTION2: “Tasks and activities will include planning and data collection through facilitated discussions, web-based surveys…”.

For OPTION 3: “Tasks and activities will include planning and conducting focus groups, web-based surveys…” However, there’s also a “NOTE: The tasks listed under Option 1 are the same for Options 2 and 3”.

Please clarify this discrepancy.

-Please see the updated SOW listing the tasks under each Option Year

24. In C.I. Background and Need statement, page 5, it states that CBA services serve CBOs, health departments, and community planning groups nationwide. How many CBA customers are there currently?

-This is a new requirement and there is not an exact CBA customer number.

25. Do data collection instruments/administration need to be in any specific language other than English? If so, what language(s)? Who would be responsible for translations?

-No, English only

26. Are any of the requested web-based surveys already programmed? -Yes If so, will the contractor be required to use the existing survey applications? If so, what programming language is required (e.g., Java)? –No What database application is used (e.g., MS Sequel Server)? Are there other computing environment requirements?

- As per the statement of work, the contractor will conduct telephone interviews using the surveys. The CDC Project Officer will provide to the contractor the web-based survey data in a format compatible with SPSS and ATLAS.ti software. The contractor will not implement web-based surveys for Component 1 tasks.

27. Are web-based surveys hosted on CDC web servers? -Yes If the contractor is to implement the web-based surveys, what are the programming language and database requirements, if any? Will C&A processes be required to be completed by the contractor?

- As per the statement of work, the contractor will conduct telephone interviews using the surveys. The CDC Project Officer will provide to the contractor the web-based survey data in a format compatible with SPSS and ATLAS.ti software. The contractor will not implement web-based surveys for Component 1 tasks.

28. Will CDC provide free access to the indicated publication sources, or will the contractor bill these costs as an Other Direct Cost for databases access for literature searches and articles retrieval?

- CDC will not provide free access to indicated publication sources. It is the Contractor’s decision how to account for and bill for these costs.

29. Are CATI applications already programmed/implemented for conducting telephone interviews? -No If so, please provide programming language/database requirements for the contractor to maintain/revise questions for these applications. Will any existing implemented CATI applications be provided to the contractor, or does the contractor need to program/implement these? If so, are there specific programming/database requirements to comply with CDC IT standards.

-CDC is not currently using CATI applications to the contractor. It will be the contractor’s decision for using CATI applications.

30. For the PIFs, does a data entry program already exist? Are there variable names already associated with each entry variable? If so, are data entry specifications available for the contractor to review? And, what are the programming language/database requirements?

-No

31. For the post-training Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaire, do data entry programs and specifications already exist? -No Are there variable names already associated with each entry variable? -No If so, are data entry specifications available for the contractor to review, and what language/database requirements exist? Where will the data entry program be hosted?

-The data entry program will be developed and hosted by the contractor.

32. For Subtask 5.01, are telephone reminders part of the 3500 telephone interviews to be conducted? The telephone reminders may be part of the 3500 telephone interviews to be conducted. The telephone reminders can be counted as one of the maximum of 8 calls per training customer. The telephone reminder can be used to remind nonresponders to complete the web-based survey; to schedule an interview; or to conduct the interview. If not, how many telephone call reminders are estimated for the contractor to conduct? One telephone reminder per nonresponder (training participant) is estimated for the contractor to conduct. Are the interviews OMB exempt or has OMB approval already been obtained for the interviews? As per the statement of work, the contractor will conduct telephone interviews to nonresponders using the telephone version of follow-up training satisfaction survey which has received OMB exemption.

33. For Subtask 7.02, will CDC acquire/purchase copies of cited articles resulting from the literature searches, or will the contractor bill these costs as an Other Direct Cost for copies? CDC will not acquire/purchase copies of the cited articles. The contractor will have to determine how to bill for these costs. How many copies of cited publications will be delivered to the CDC? As per the deliverable schedule in Section F, the contractor will provide to CDC a final report summarizing the findings of the literature review including citations and one copy of the articles (1 electronic copy).

34. Will the contractor bill as an ODC-Travel Cost incurred costs for travel, per diem and local expenses for Advisory Group meeting members? Will Advisory Group members receive and honorarium for participating? If so, for how many days? Is there a maximum honorarium that can be paid? If so, what amount? Will the contractor be responsible for locating and billing as an ODC, Advisory Group meeting hotel rooms (e.g., plenary room, breakout rooms) and meeting associated equipment (e.g., A/V equipment, Internet connections) for these meetings?

- The contractor will be responsible for logistics for a 1-day meeting including (e.g., fees, travel and lodging for Advisory Group members, agenda development, space, and audio/visual equipment, note taking, and provision of a facilitator, letters of invitation, attendee lists, etc.) which will be included in the business proposal. See section L. The contractor will be responsible for determining fees for advisory group members for a 1-day meeting.

35. Do Advisory Group meetings require announcement in the Federal Register and conformity to Federal Advisory Committee regulations?

-This will be determined based on the topic being discussed.

36. Subtask 11.01, what are the programming language and database requirements to field the impact and outcome web-based surveys, in order to comply with CDC IT standards/requirements? Where will these surveys be hosted—CDC web server or contractor web-server? Will a C&A process be required for each survey?

-Given that the outcome and impact data collection tools will be developed in the base year of the contract, the format of the tools has not been determined. Data collected should be in a format compatible with SPSS and ATLAS.ti software.

37. About how many impact and outcome surveys are to be conducted/completed? Given that the outcome and impact design will be developed in the base year of the contract, CDC estimates 500 data collection tools completed for the outcome and 250 data collection tools completed for the impact component. Can survey incentives be provided to responders to increase response rates? No

38. Task 4.00 indicates 500 hard copies of completed PIFs after a TA event. Is there only one TA event per year? If multiple TA events per year, how many TA events on average per year, and are there 500 hard copies of PIFs for each event?

- Approximately 500 customers will receive TA services each year, so CDC estimates that there will be 500 hard copies of completed PIFs per year for Task 4.00.

39. Task 5.00 indicated approximately 8,600 PIFs at the training event. Is there only one training event per year? If multiple training events per year, home many training events on average per year, and are there 8,600 PIFs for each event? What is the follow-up process for current training events? Are surveys sent out to participants after the event, or distributed at the conclusion of the event? What have been responses rates in the past?

- There are approximately 430 training events per year. Each training event has approximately 20 participants. As per the statement of work, CDC estimates that there will be 8,600 hard copies of completed PIFs per year for Task 5.00. The post-training consumer satisfaction questionnaires will be administered at the end of the training. CDC’s CBA Request Information System (CRIS) application will email the web-based, follow-up training satisfaction survey to training consumers, approximately 90 days after each training event and send 2 email reminders to nonresponders. Web-based, follow-up training satisfaction surveys have not been sent in the past.

40. Will the contractor be conducting one or more sessions at the annual grantee meeting between CDC & CBA's?

- As per the statement of work, the contractor will conduct facilitated discussions at the annual grantee meeting between CDC & CBA providers during Base year and Option year 2.

41. Will the contractor staff be onsite at the CDC? If not, will connectivity be provided to the

- No, the contractor will communicate with CDC through telephone, email, web, and mail, except for in-person meetings specified in the statement of work.

42. Can the CDC provide an estimate for the amount of ODC's for each year?

-This will be based on the contractor’s business proposal

43. Is this a follow-on to current work or new work? If follow-on, who is the current contractor?

-No

44. Under C.4. Technical Requirements (pg6) it says: “The contractor shall work independently and not as an agent of the Government to furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities to perform the required tasks, EXCEPT for equipment to complete the following tasks for the Base Year and each Option Year. Please explain what this EXCEPTION is about, as it is unclear. Please provide a Government Furnished Equipment requirement list to complete the requested tasks.

-There is no Government Furnished Equipment. Please refer to the amended statement of work

45. Can you confirm that the numbers of estimated PIF forms and post-training consumer satisfaction questionnaires listed in the Training Consumer Satisfaction tasks are the TOTAL yearly numbers expected across all training events, and not for each training event?

a. If the numbers are for each training event, then how many training events do you anticipate per year? Based on this estimation, what is the approximate total annual number of the forms and questionnaires (across all training events)?

-The numbers of estimated PIF forms and post-training consumer satisfaction questionnaires listed in the Training Consumer Satisfaction tasks are the TOTAL yearly numbers expected across all training events. There are approximately 430 training events per year. Each training event has approximately 20 participants.

As per the statement of work, CDC estimates that there will be 8,600 hard copies of completed PIFs and post-training consumer satisfaction questionnaires total per year across all training events.

46. Page 55, Section L.5 Business Proposal Instructions states, “Cost and Price are not data required” but then the Instructions go on (c) to reference, “…a business proposal supported by detailed cost data and consistent with Section B.” We are assuming that everything after the first statement is to be followed. Please clarify required cost and pricing information and format.

Certified Cost and Pricing data is not required however the contractor shall provide a detailed breakdown of proposed cost information so we can make a determination about the reasobabness of the proposal.

47. On pages 2-3 there are two cost categories: unit price and extended price. Please clarify the use of each for this requirement.

Section B of the Solicitation has been revised.

48. Please clarify the cohort(s) and kinds and numbers of grantees and others who will be served by CBA providers during each year of the contract period.

-Approximately 500 customers will receive TA services each year. Approximately 8,600 customers receive training each year. CBA customers include community-based organizations, health departments, and community stakeholders.

49. Are incentives to be provided to the organizations/individuals that are not funded directly by CDC to participate in the evaluation?

50. Will CDC be able to provide the contractors with licenses for SPSS program upgrades for statisticians, or will we need to budget for those ourselves?

51. For Tasks 4 and 5 – Consumer Satisfaction Surveys for TA requested via CRIS and

Training Consumer Satisfaction: Are the Participant Information Forms (PIF) and various follow-up TA satisfaction surveys instruments that already have been developed by CDC or will these be developed by the contractor?

-Yes, the Participant Information Forms (PIF) and various follow-up TA satisfaction surveys instruments that already have been developed by CDC.

52. For Task 5 – Will there be approximately 8,600 completed PIFs each year, or for each training event? If the latter, how many training events per year?

- There are approximately 430 training events per year. Each training event has approximately 20 participants. As per the statement of work, CDC estimates that there will be 8,600 hard copies of completed PIFs per year.

53. On p. 6 of the RFP, regarding Task 1.00 Orientation to the Project – Will the Contractor be provided access to CBA grantee evaluation reports?

-No

54. On p. 8 of the RFP, it states (under Subtask 4.02): “The plan may include using information about specific CBA requests from CRIS . . .” Will the Contractor be required to develop case studies in connection with this sub-task?

-No

55. On p. 9 of the RFP, regarding Task 6.00 CBA Provider Satisfaction Meeting (Component

1) - Does the Government want this gathering to be conducted as a focus group? No, as a facilitated discussion. If so, will this task be subject to IRB approval and will the Contractor be required to obtain said approval? This task has received OMB and IRB exemption.

56. On p. 13-14 of the RFP, regarding Task 3.00 CDC Project Officer Focus Groups

(Component 1) - Will this task be subject to IRB approval? If so, will the Contractor be required to obtain said approval?

-No, this task has received OMB and IRB exemption.

57. On p. 18 of the RFP, regarding V. Other Recurring Requirements (3) Quality Control and Database Management – Will the Government expect to have Web-based access to the databases?

58. On p. 8 of the RFP, regarding Task 5.00 (Component 1) – Is the number of completed

Participant Information Forms (8600) and Post-Training Consumer Satisfaction Questionnaires (8600) prescriptive or is this a general estimate?

-It is a general estimate based on CBA services provided over the last 4 years.

59. Does the offeror need to address the option years in the technical response? -Yes If yes, does this require a task-by-task response for each of the option years?-Yes

60. Are current CDC capacity building or technical assistance providers prohibited from being a part of a bid for this solicitation?

- Please review Sections H.9 Organizational Conflicts of Interest and L.12 – Organizational Conflicts of Interest

61. Does a budget narrative need to be provided, in addition to an itemized budget? If yes, is there a format for the narrative?

-A narrative is not required but please indicate any assumptions made developing the cost proposal.

62. What is the anticipated number of interviews that should be budgeted for the qualitative customer satisfaction survey?

-As per the statement of work, the contractor shall conduct approximately 350 telephone interviews using the follow-up TA satisfaction survey. The contractor shall conduct approximately 3,500 telephone interviews using the follow-up training satisfaction survey. There are no qualitative customer satisfaction surveys.

63. For the past performance information, the RFP seems to state that all current contracts should be included in addition to 5 contracts completed in the past 3 years. Is this correct? For example, should we include information on all contracts we are currently completing, including contracts in unrelated content areas that may be smaller and less complex than the SOW in the RFP?

-Section (b) of L.11 states: Offerors shall submit the past performance information which are considered relevant in demonstrating ability to perform the proposed effort. All past performance information submitted shall be relevant.

64. For the past performance information, what is meant by place of performance? -The place where the contract performance occurred. If the contract includes multiple sites, should we list all of them? Yes

65. What is meant by the "the number of type of personnel assigned" for the past performance section? Is this asking for the number of staff at different levels who are currently working on or have worked on the project?

-Yes to determine relevancy of past performance information.