RFP_No._283-17-1000_-_Clarifying_Questions-responses.pdf

RFP 283-17-1000 Clarifying Questions and responses to Amendment #3:

1. There have been many clarifications asked about Question 164 (non-technical questions) and Q2

(technical). In the Technical Approach section, please confirm that the second set of a-e items pertains to the scenario. It would be logical for the Technical Approach section a-e to relate to the scenario and the Management Plan section to relate to the overall IDIQ. Responses to questions and revised Section M information conflict as follows: The responses to Q 165 (in first set of responses) and Q 2 (in second set of responses) state that items a-e only apply to the scenario. These questions are incorrect after further reviewing the responses and realizing that the Evaluation Criteria wasn’t revised as stated. Hopefully, the below will make it clear:

• Section M 2st Paragraph & Technical Approach 1st set a thru h (D#1), or thru j (D#2), or thru i (D#3), or thru i (D#4), or thru h (D#5), or thru h (D#6) - SCENARIO

• Section M 1st paragraph, subparagraph a-c & Technical Approach 2nd set a-e – IDIQ

DOMAIN

• Staff loading ONLY needed for scenarios

2. There have been many clarifications asked about the staff loading chart – so in Questions: 80, 83, 95, 141, 144 and 201 it suggests only provide Staff Loading for the scenarios – however Questions 96, 103, and 236 suggest that there is a staff loading chart for the scenario and the overall IDIQ Domain. Is it correct to assume that a staff loading chart is required just for the scenario? And not for the IDIQ? After further consideration, re-reading all the questions - in the Technical proposal the staff loading chart (which includes hours) will be provided for ONLY the scenario under the Management Plan in response to the 2nd paragraph under the criteria. The staff loading chart in the technical proposal is name, position and hours there are NO rates, indirects or dollars associated with the positions. Also in the business proposal you do not need to reflect any hours or percentages for the staff.

3. Where does the staff loading chart go in the Technical Approach or Management Plan? The staff loading chart goes in the Management Plan – in response to the 2nd paragraph under the criteria. Question 9 (technical) says the evaluation criteria for the chart has been revised and moved to the Technical Approach section. This is an error the evaluation criteria was not revised to move the chart.

4. The volume of Management Plan requirements - Please consider reducing the volume of Management Plan requirements. Can the last two plans listed below be eliminated? They were mentioned in the general requirements (pp. 74-XX) and are not included in the Section M criteria. Based on the original RFP and responses to questions, bidders are now required to address Management Plan requirements in four places: 1) Technical Approach, second set of a-e items (15 points); 2) Management Plan section (15 points); 3) A Work Plan (no points, see Q 130, 131, 132) and 4) A Quality Assurance Plan (no points this has points under the Technical Approach 2nd paragraph, see Q 138). The last two items are normally part of the response to an RFTOP. This is a bit confusing question since SAMHSA didn’t consider them all as Management Plan requirements but all 4 are required. #4 is under the Technical Approach #1 so it is a duplicate. #1 is on the IDIQ Domain; #2 is on the IDIQ Domain and the Scenario; #3 is a work plan on the scenario; and #4 is letter c under #1.

5. Are the labor categories in Section B. 4. (p. 5 of RFP) marked with an * required for every domain? For the response to the scenario the offeror needs to focus on those positions in Section M, Criteria 1 under each Domain. However, since the offeror is also reflecting staff for the overall IDIQ Domain in their business proposal they should refer to Section B and DETERMINE which positions they are proposing. Some offerors might not have every position and we realize that concern.

6. Please confirm that the labor category rates should show either unloaded hourly rates or GSA rates, with no step-by-step buildup to loaded rates. Correct. However, in the spreadsheet with the unloaded hourly rates there will also be fringe benefits, overhead and indirect percentages.

7. Conflicting information appears in the responses document. Responses to questions 69 and 71 indicate that labor categories, rates, fringe benefits, overheard, indirects and G&A for each year should be included in the business proposal. However, the responses to questions 201 and 236 state that staff rates, hours, and indirects are required in the business proposal. Please confirm if the hours need to be included in the business proposal and clarify if there is a differentiation between the materials provided at the IDIQ level and the Scenario levels for the business proposal. In the business proposal the HOURS are not needed – sorry for the confusion.

8. It is still unclear whether the business proposal should include hours (as suggested in Attachment 14). If hours are required, please provide guidance as to on what the hours estimates are to be based, and clarify if there is a differentiation between the materials provided at the IDIQ level and the Scenario levels for the business proposal. Hours are not necessary but you need to propose in the business proposal all staff. Offerors can use the Attachment #14 or an excel spreadsheet similar to Attachment #14.

9. There is conflicting information in the responses to bidder questions with regards to what is to be included in the business proposal. Please confirm that offerors are NOT to price the scenarios in the business proposal, and that we only need to include our labor categories, rates, and indirects. Correct – offerors are NOT to price out the scenarios

10. Reference General and Businesses Question #157: What information should a (Key and Other Personnel) Statement of Availability contain? Would it differ in content from a (new hire, sub, and consultant) Letter of Commitment? Correct. Questions: Please advise what information a Statement of Availability should contain. What is the difference between a Statement of Availability and Letter of Commitment? The offerors can prepare a Statement of Availability for their staff that are currently working for them and state that the following staffs are committed to the SAMHSA IDIQ. The Letter of Commitment will be from the NEW HIRES, Consultants and Subcontractors – that they agree to work with PRIME during the period of performance for the

SAMHSA IDIQ.

11. Reference General and Businesses Question #34: Can Prime Contractors and Subcontractors use their own GSA Rates? Yes Reference General and Businesses Question #151: What is the maximum year-to-year salary escalation allowed by SAMHSA? At this time it is 2% Question: If a Prime or Subcontractor's GSA schedule escalation factor for the approved rates is higher than 2% should the approved GSA escalation factor be utilized for the IDIQ rates? The offerors can propose their rates with their escalation factors. As stated in the questions, these rates are used to establish reasonableness. These are ceiling rates and can be used. We remind the offeror that during the RFTOP process which will be competitive you can offer discount rates. Once awarded the rates will then be considered SAMHSA rates.

12. If the GSA schedule being presented by a subcontractor expires prior to the end of the IDIQ period of performance, it is assumed that the years beyond the GSA rate expiration should be calculated using the same escalation factor that is approved in the GSA schedule. Please confirm that this is acceptable. This is acceptable.

13. Reference General and Businesses Question #71: Please confirm that budgets are not required for the scenarios. If so, does this mean we should not complete attachment 14. The offerors will be providing their labor categories, rates, and indirects. Question: Please confirm that labor category rate build up is to be provided only at the Master IDIQ level. Correct there isn’t any budget required for the scenario. In addition, the offeror can use Attachment 14 or a spreadsheet similar to Attachment 14.

14. Reference General and Businesses Question #71: Please confirm that budgets are not required for the scenarios. If so, does this mean we should not complete attachment 14. The offerors will be providing their labor categories, rates, and indirects. Question: Please confirm that Attachment 14 is to be filled out at the scenario level only. There are NO BUDGETS due for the scenario. The information is due for the overall SAMHSA IDIQ.

15. Reference General and Businesses Question #68: Based on the data required in Attachment 14 (Breakdown of Proposed Estimated Cost), it appears the Government expects Offerors to use data from the Domain scenarios in Attachment 1 to populate the table. Is this statement is correct? If this statement is incorrect, please explain how Offerors are supposed to determine the total hours, and costs for direct labor, reproduction, telephone, supplies, subcontracts, consultants, travel, and ODCs? For the scenarios, offerors are preparing a staff loading chart and they are providing information on the staff, however offerors are NOT providing a business proposal on the scenario. Therefore, there are not costs for the above mentioned ODC’s.

Question: This is confusing since subcontractors are typically considered an ODC. Please confirm that subcontractor costs should NOT be included in Attachment 14. The business proposals should have: PRIME – prime narrative, names, positions, rates, fringe benefits, overhead, indirects, consultants, payroll documentation, NICRA, letters of commitment, resumes, subcontractor sanitized information to include names, positions, loaded labor rates and if the prime has any subcontractor that are not submitting a sealed proposal they would include then their names, rates, indirect rates, payroll documentation and NICRA.

SUBCONTRACTORS SEALED PROPOSALS – narrative, names, positions, rates, fringe benefits, overhead, indirects, payroll documentation, and NICRA.

16. Reference General and Businesses Question #68: Based on the data required in Attachment 14 (Breakdown of Proposed Estimated Cost), it appears the Government expects Offerors to use data from the Domain scenarios in Attachment 1 to populate the table. Is this statement is correct? If this statement is incorrect, please explain how Offerors are supposed to determine the total hours, and costs for direct labor, reproduction, telephone, supplies, subcontracts, consultants, travel, and ODCs? For the scenarios, offerors are preparing a staff loading chart and they are providing information on the staff, however offerors are NOT providing a business proposal on the scenario. Therefore, there are not costs for the above mentioned ODC’s.

Question: Please confirm that Scenario "budgets" will only include staff names, Labor Category, Title, estimated hours, unloaded rates and corresponding fringe and indirect rates and no fee.

As mentioned previously, there are NO Scenario budgets but the offerors will submit cost information for the overall SAMHSA IDIQ.

17. Per Questions and Answers to #119 and #120, and as discussed at the Bidders’ Conference, would the Government please consider setting a limit of 3 references (current and/or completed) for the prime and each sub? The limit for the past performance evaluations can be 3 references for the Prime and each Sub.

18. For purposes of citing contracts completed in past three years, can bidders use contracts completed anytime from 2013 to the proposal submission date? Yes

19. Should CPARS evaluations be sent to the SAMHSAContracts@samhsa.hhs.gov mailbox? Should they be submitted by the prime, or should subcontractors submit theirs individually? The subcontractors can send in their CPARS however we need to know the Domain # and the Prime Offeror.

20. Are foldout charts allowable? I am not sure how chart fold out in the electronic system but NO.

mailto:SAMHSAContracts@samhsa.hhs.gov

21. Please confirm that offerors do not have to submit these two documents: a Section 508

Implementation Plan and a 508 Evaluation Product Accessibility Template. This refers to Questions #127, Question #171, and the 3rd bullet on page 83 of 109 (which is in General Requirements and not referenced in Section M). Correct – please respond to the 3 bullets on page 83 of the RFP. Questions #127 and #171 stipluate that it depends on the work under a

RFTOP.

22. Regarding Question #155, should bidders discuss Cultural Competency in the Personnel section or the Technical Approach section? This was mentioned that the offeror can address broadly this is NOT a separate criteria.

23. Please provide clarification regarding whether the details provided in the technical approach will meet the requirement for a work plan and implementation plan. If not, please provide a detailed list of the types of documents SAMHSA is requiring for the work plan and implementation plan as described on pages 74 and 77 of the RFP. The “work plan” referenced on page 74 of the RFP and “implementation plan’ referenced on page 77 of the RFP are the same and both refer to the technical proposal. The full technical approach as outlined in Section M for each Domain will be compliant for the work plan.

24. Given the amount of uncertainty with the IDIQ instructions, we respectfully request SAMHSA to offer a 2 week extension to the proposal due date in order to ensure that offerors have enough time to develop fully compliant proposals. There will not be any extension provided, as mentioned at the pre proposal conference due to the awards being made in February 2017 an extension cannot be provided.

25. Item (4) on page 75 seems to suggest that a version of the Personnel, Management, and Technical Approach and Facilities & Equipment sections should be provided for both the IDIQ and the scenario. Is this correct? Are e.g. commitment letters and resumes for scenario staff to appear twice? Yes this is correct. You are focusing on the scenario and then will address the overall SAMHSA IDIQ. The resumes and letters of commitment should only be sent in once per proposal. Please clarify if we are to provide a complete and separate proposal for the IDIQ (addressing the evaluation factors cited, which do not include corporate capabilities or ask for project descriptions) and a complete and separate proposal for the sample scenario (also addressing the evaluation factors). No – you are only submitting in 1 response that covers both the scenario and overall IDIQ for sections in the Evaluation Criteria.

26. Please confirm that the requirement to submit an IT Plan (page 12 of 116 of the revised RFP) applies only to future RFTOP submissions and not to this IDIQ proposal. (Response 105 to General and Business Questions and Answers Related to RFP NO. 283-17-1000 would lead us to believe it should be included, whereas response 111 indicates it does not apply to this proposal.)

Please clarify. This is not due at this time but will be due for the RFTOPs.

27. We assume that, to reduce redundancy, items a, b, and d of the Management section apply to the IDIQ as a whole, whereas item C of the Management section and the second set of criteria (a-e) under the Technical Approach apply only to the scenario/sample task order. Is that correct? Yes but please see revised Attachment 1 and evaluation criteria.

28. Where can the “SAMHSA-specific performance measures” mentioned in the domain descriptions be found? (Section C, page 31) They can be found throughout the latest SAMHSA budget document. http://www.samhsa.gov/budget. The measures are listed in the “Outputs and Outcomes Tables.”

29. Can you please describe how the evaluation criteria will be applied to the Domain 1 technical approach given that there are three sub studies requested to be written? The technical approach is requesting information regarding the Offeror’s approach to feasibility, pilot and evaluation studies.

30. Are the sites in Domain I, Task 2, grant-funded? They are not SAMHSA-grant funded. Question 101 of the technical questions should be no.

31. Regarding Technical Questions and Responses Question 19, does the 15-page limit for Domain IV, Task 1: Planning and Evaluation refer to the length of the task discussion in the proposal or to the length of the deliverable? The answer to Question 40 of the Technical Questions and Responses says that the parenthetical page limits apply to both the page length of the task discussion in the proposal and the length of the deliverable, while the answer to Question 59 gives contradictory guidance when it indicates that the page limits are for the deliverables.

Please clarify what is meant by the parenthetical page limits in Attachment 1. All page lengths in the yellow highlighted areas refer to length of the deliverable only.

32. Re: Task 2d in Domain V, Response No. 134 of the General and Business Responses states that “for technical and budgetary purposes, please assume the development of three comprehensive resource documents, each to be no more than 10 pages.” However, Response No. 72c in the Technical Responses states that offerors are to develop two comprehensive documents. Please clarify – will the contractor prepare two or three of these documents? Two.

33. The revised RFP, page 76, states there are 3 separate subsections of Personnel: Project Director, Key Personnel, and Other Personnel. However, in the individual domains (e.g., on page 91), there is just one category: Key and Other Personnel. Should Project Director, Key Personnel, and Other Personnel be separate subsections of the Personnel section, or should all proposed Personnel be lumped together under Key and Other Personnel? If so, how should we identify individuals as key? Please follow the evaluation criteria.

34. The revised RFP, page 75, says to “describe the experience and qualifications of personnel who will be assigned for direct work on this program.” On page 76, it says to “discuss the qualifications, experience, and accomplishments” of the Project Director and other Key Personnel. However, the RFP does not appear to request these credentials for Non-Key Personnel. Should we provide qualifications, experience, and accomplishments for all proposed Personnel, or just for Key Personnel? For all proposed personnel listed in Section M.

35. The revised RFP (e.g., on page 91) says to provide “statements of availability from all proposed key personnel.” Should we provide statements of availability for all proposed Personnel, or only for Key Personnel? For all proposed personnel.

36. The answer to Business Proposal Question 97 states: “The personnel and management sections should ensure that they also describe those things related to the scenario/sample task order.”

Should we indicate which responsibilities are for the scenario, and which responsibilities are for the overall IDIQ? Yes. If so, how should we delineate them? This is per the discretion of the Offeror. An example might be to use paragraph headers.

37. The answer to Business Proposal Question 148 states: “The key personnel noted in the evaluation criteria for each domain should be aligned with the scenario response.”

Should we indicate which individuals are being proposed for the scenario, and which individuals are being proposed for the overall IDIQ? Yes. If so, how should we delineate them? This is per the discretion of the Offeror. An example might be to use paragraph headers.

38. The answer to Technical Proposal Question 89 states that “an individual [can] serve in two Key Personnel roles.” If we have personnel proposed for two similar positions (e.g., Senior TA Specialist and Senior Trainer), do we need to write their expertise and relevant experience twice? Yes, but the expertise and experience should be specific for the position.

39. The revised RFP, page 91, states: “In addition to the Other Personnel which could include staff categories which may include but are not limited to Junior Evaluator, Data Entry Specialist, Editor, and Research Assistant.” What does this sentence mean? This sentence should read, “In addition, Other Personnel may include but are not limited to Junior Evaluator, Data Entry Specialist, Editor, and Research Assistant.” These similar words apply to the other Domains.

40. The response to Q134 references three comprehensive resource document to be developed under Domain V Task 2d; however, the revised scenario/sample task order only indicates two resource document. Please clarify whether the requirement is for two or three resource documents. Two

41. The response to Q1 suggests that revisions to Attachment 1 and the evaluation criteria address requirements detailed in the scenarios, but not scored in the evaluation criteria. However, requirements remain in Domain V that are not scored in the evaluation criteria. Please advise how we should handle these criteria. Please ensure that the technical proposal addresses all the items in the evaluation criteria.

42. Please provide clarification regarding whether the details provided in the technical approach will meet the requirement for a work plan and implementation plan. If not, please provide a detailed list of the types of documents SAMHSA is requiring for the work plan and implementation plan as described on pages 74 and 77 of the RFP. The “work plan” referenced on page 74 of the RFP and “implementation plan’ referenced on page 77 of the RFP are the same and both refer to the technical proposal.

43. Is it acceptable to submit resumes at 10 point font given the 2 page restriction? No.

44. The answer to Q68 says the following statement has been removed from the evaluation criteria for the Domain IV - Task 3 subtask: “Approach to the production of live, satellite, and virtual conferences. (2 points)” The revised RFP still includes this statement on p. 104, item 1, for the Domain IV personnel section, where it is allocated 4 points. Can you clarify whether this criterion should be deleted from personnel as well, to match its deletion from the subtask? This criterion should not be deleted from the personnel section of the evaluation criteria. If so, can you provide a reallocation of the points for the personnel section?

45. The answer to Question 62 in the Technical responses says that for Domain II, offerors don’t need to add the key personnel asterisked in Section B4 to those named specifically for Domain

2. Is this also true for the other domains? Do offerors only need to propose the specific key personnel identified within each domain’s instructions in their technical responses? For the scenario/sample task order, please refer to Section M. For the overall domain and business proposal, Offerors will determine which personnel to include from Section B4.

46. In the answers to question 115 of Questions related to Technical related to RFP, SAMHSA notes that the Tasks for Domain II are to be conducted sequentially and references the revised Attachment 1. In the revised attachment, it is estimated that Tasks 2a-c are to take 2 years and Task d is to take 3 years. Please confirm that the total cumulative length of time for all task 2 activities is 3 years (i.e., the length of the longest task). No, the total cumulative length of time for all task 2 activities is 5 years (2 years for Tasks 2a-c + 3 years for Tasks 2d). And can SAMHSA provide the total period of performance for all Domain II tasks? 5.5 years

47. There are multiple responses about the parenthetical page limits referenced in section M and conflicting guidance. Can SAMSHA please confirm that the page references in the technical approach tasks/subtasks are exclusively providing guidance on the length of the deliverable(s) for the tasks/subtasks where the reference appears? Correct. All page lengths in the yellow highlighted areas refer to length of the deliverable only. If there are specific instances where the page reference refers to the length of the proposal response, can SAMHSA identify these? N/A

48. Please note: Section I of the RFP is being updated to include: 52.220-60 Paycheck Transparency

(Executive Order 13673)(OCT 2016); and the following are being updated to NOV 2016 date:

52.219-8; 52.219-9; 52.244-6;

49. NOTE: in communication with NIH and using the eCPS system the OFFERORS SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY LANDSCAPE PAGES in their TECHNICAL PROPOSAL SUBMISSION (TECHNICAL PROPOSAL OR APPENDICES) – THE SYSTEM WILL CHANGE the page to portrait and cut information. Please make sure all pages are portrait.

50. Can SAMHSA confirm if the SEALED_PROPOSAL_COVER_PAGE.docx should be submitted to SAMHSA prior to the electronic submission of technical/business volumes? Or should the Prime complete this document and send to subcontractors who deliver sealed business volumes on CD at SAMHSA? The SEALED PROPOSALS are DUE to SAMHSA by 3pm on 12/2/2016. As explained in Amendment #3 the PRIME should deliver ONE SEALED PROPOSAL PACKAGE PER DOMAIN with all the CD’s (for that DOMAIN) no later than 2pm so that the package can get to DCM by 3pm. If a PRIME decides that they want to send their package to each subcontractor so that they can put their own CDs in that package that is the PRIMEs choice. SAMHSA also doesn’t dictate who delivers the SEALED PROPOSALS to the Wilkins Avenue screening facility.

HOWEVER, if this package is received later than 3pm in the DCM office IT WILL BE LATE and NOT ACCEPTED which will then classify your ENTIRE proposal being LATE. It is the PRIME responsibility to ensure that their COMPLETE PACKAGE (which includes the eCPS and the SEALED PROPOSAL PACKAGES) be submitted timely. If any part is LATE then the ENTIRE PROPOSAL is LATE.