33-RFP-2025-014 Addendum 4 - Questions Answers Digest.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES

Procurement Division

RFP-2025-014: CRC Correctional Staff Mental Health Services (REISSUE)

Issued: July 7, 2025 Closes: August 15, 2025

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ADDENDUM #4

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS DIGEST

August 13, 2025

4:50 PM CST

To all Interested Offerors:

Thank you for your participation in the RFP process for the solicitation listed above. The County appreciates your interest in doing business with us.

Addendum 4 provides interested Offerors a digest of all questions received, and all answers provided, during the Question and Answer Period. Answers may also be viewed in the “Messages” section of the Bonfire Portal in the tab labelled “Public Q&A”:

Please note that all questions are provided “sic erat scriptum” (sic), that is, transcribed exactly as found in the source text, complete with any erroneous or archaic spelling, surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might otherwise be taken as an error of transcription. Questions will be answered as asked. If additional clarifying text is needed, additions are made in [brackets] to indicate they are not the requestor’s original language.

Please reach out to the RFP Administrator with any questions or concerns you may have.

Respectfully, L. Anthony MacLellan, CPPB, NIGP-CPP (he/they) Manager - Contracts Milwaukee County Department of Administrative Services, Procurement Division 633 W. Wisconsin Ave, Suite 901, Room 945 | Milwaukee, WI 53203

(414) 278-4129 | county.milwaukee.gov By achieving racial equity, Milwaukee County is the healthiest county in Wisconsin.

http://county.milwaukee.gov/

Generated on Aug 13, 2025 4:43 PM CDT - Tony MacLellan

Public Q&A

#1 - Clarification on Scope of Mental Health Services for RFP

Vendor, Jul 09, 2025 3:56 PM CDT, Not Public - Pending

Hi, I hope you're doing well. I’m reaching out to clarify whether the County is specifically seeking licensed therapy sessions for this RFP, or if the scope is also open to professionally trained mental health coaches and coaching-based support services.

We want to ensure our response aligns with your expectations, and appreciate any guidance you can provide on this distinction.

Thank you for your time!

Best, Dallan Hansen

Partner Manager

Noble Health

Tony MacLellan, Jul 09, 2025 5:25 PM CDT, Public - In Review

Tony MacLellan, Jul 14, 2025 1:25 PM CDT, Public - Answered

Yes, the availability of licensed clinicians is a minimum qualification that must be met for the Offeror's proposal to be considered responsive. The CRC is open to proposals in which some areas of the Scope (such as stress management workshops and resiliency trainings) are provided by certified mental health coaches or similar. However, the County clarifies that Offerors MUST be able to provide clinical therapy sessions "through appropriately licensed/certified mental health clinicians legally permitted to provide these Services to clients in the state of Wisconsin." Offerors who cannot provide any clinical therapy sessions through licensed clinicians are likely to be considered non-responsive.

#3 - RFP Considerations

Vendor, Jul 12, 2025 8:42 AM CDT, Not Public - Pending

1.I am currently licensed in Illinois. Can I submit a proposal with the intention to obtain Wisconsin licensure immediately upon contract award, with services beginning only after licensure is finalized?

2. Will the County consider proposals from solo practitioners providing a part-time model that includes limited on-site services, telehealth, and scheduled workshops?

3. Is 24/7 crisis response required to be provided directly by the vendor, or may after-hours mental health emergencies be referred to existing County crisis systems or support lines?

4. Does the County have a preference for in-person services versus hybrid (in-person and telehealth)? Is there a minimum number of required in-person hours?

5. Does the County have any data or estimates on the number of correctional staff likely to participate in counseling, group therapy, or wellness programs each month?

6. If awarded as a solo provider, would there be flexibility to increase service hours later—within the limits of a solo practice—if staff utilization increases?

Tony MacLellan, Jul 14, 2025 1:18 PM CDT, Public - In Review

Tony MacLellan, Jul 22, 2025 9:31 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Question 1 -

I am currently licensed in Illinois. Can I submit a proposal with the intention to obtain Wisconsin licensure immediately upon contract award, with services beginning only after licensure is finalized?

Answer 1 -

Yes. If the applying entity or individual is currently licensed in a state other than Wisconsin and is capable of obtaining licensure in Wisconsin, that entity's or individual's proposal will be accepted as responsive regarding licensure. We strongly recommend Offerors in this circumstance explain how they intend to become licensed in Wisconsin and show an understanding of that process to achieve the most points.

Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists must all be licensed to practice in the state of Wisconsin. Information about licensure is available at:

For Professional Counselors, https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/LPC/Default.aspx;

For Social Workers, https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/SocialWorkerLicensedClinical/Default.aspx; and

For Psychologists, https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/RulesStatutes/Psychology.aspx.

Please keep in mind that this licensure is required to provide services. If the Awardee is unable to obtain licensure, the County may rescind its award and/or contract with that individual or entity and engage in contract negotiations with other responsive, high-scoring Offerors who are able to obtain licensure.

Tony MacLellan, Jul 22, 2025 9:40 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Question 2 -

Will the County consider proposals from solo practitioners providing a part-time model that includes limited on-site services, telehealth, and scheduled workshops?

Answer 2 -

Yes, the County will consider proposals from solo practitioners. However, please note that in RFP-2025-007 (the cancelled RFP for these services), Evaluators expressed sincere concerns about the ability of a solo practitioner to fulfill the contract needs and scope of work expectations, especially the requested 24/7, 365 availability. The County recommends that solo practitioners clearly outline how they will provide the requested availability to receive the most points.

Tony MacLellan, Jul 23, 2025 11:03 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Question 3 -

Is 24/7 crisis response required to be provided directly by the vendor, or may after-hours mental health emergencies be referred to existing County crisis systems or support lines?

Answer 3 -

Yes, 24/7/365 crisis response must be provided either directly by the Awardee or through a joint venture or partnership between the Awardee and a third party. This arrangement must not require the County to contract with any entity that did not participate in the RFP process.

Offerors must clearly describe in their proposals how they intend to meet this requirement. While limited after-hours support through existing crisis or support lines may be helpful, it does not meet the specific requirements or goals of this RFP. The intent is to expand support for Correctional staff through trained, experienced clinicians who can respond to emergencies on an on-call basis.

Tony MacLellan, Jul 23, 2025 11:08 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Question 4 -

Does the County have a preference for in-person services versus hybrid (in-person and telehealth)? Is there a minimum number of required in-person hours?

Answer 4 -

The CRC prefers in-person services but is open to hybrid models, especially if they expand access to services for staff. There is no set minimum for required in-person hours. Offerors are encouraged to review Section 4.2.1: Program Background for an overview of current services.

The expectation is that the selected provider will expand upon existing offerings. Proposals that reduce in-person hours or limit service availability are likely to receive lower scores.

Tony MacLellan, Jul 23, 2025 11:12 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Question 5 -

Does the County have any data or estimates on the number of correctional staff likely to participate in counseling, group therapy, or wellness programs each month?

Answer 5 -

The CRC cannot provide specific data on staff participation in the pilot program. However, the goal is to encourage as many staff as possible to use the services. When fully staffed, the CRC has approximately 240 Correctional Officers, 40–50 Supervisory and Command staff, and 80 support staff at the facility.

Tony MacLellan, Jul 23, 2025 11:20 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Question 6 -

If awarded as a solo provider, would there be flexibility to increase service hours later—within the limits of a solo practice—if staff utilization increases?

Answer 6 -

Yes, the CRC is open to increasing service hours over the life of the contract. However, any increase would depend on available funding and approval by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

Solo practitioners are welcome to submit proposals, but must be able to meet all requirements in the Scope of Work. This includes providing comprehensive mental health services such as individual and group sessions, workshops and trainings, mental health education and support programming, and 24/7/365 emergency on-call support.

Solo practitioners should carefully assess whether they can meet these requirements on their own, especially the demand for round-the-clock support, which the CRC expects to be significant.

#2 - Teams meeting

Vendor, Jul 14, 2025 5:02 AM CDT, Not Public - Pending

Hi, do we need to register for the teams meeting on the 17th or we just show up on the link.

Thanks in advance.

Tony MacLellan, Jul 14, 2025 1:18 PM CDT, Public - In Review

Tony MacLellan, Jul 14, 2025 1:21 PM CDT, Public - Answered

Yes, Offerors will need to register to attend the Pre-Proposal Conference. Registration will remain open during the meeting, so Offerors may register on the day of the meeting if they wish.

The link provided (https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/7fb0d64d-a775-46d8-8fbb- 844338495dc9@ab0c01f6-19e5-4e29-9dab-4d03f82b6495) will redirect interested parties to the registration page for the webinar held via Microsoft Teams. Attendance is taken and a list of attendees is published as part of the solicitation record.

#4 - Modernizing with Behavidence

Vendor, Jul 15, 2025 5:00 AM CDT, Not Public - Pending

Behavidence is a HIPAA-compliant digital-phenotyping platform that passively captures behavioural signals from patients’ smartphones and converts them into daily Mental-Health Similarity Scores (depression, anxiety, stress) with > 80 % accuracy. Clinicians gain a continuous, low-burden view of risk and change—ideal for speeding SMI prescreen decisions and prioritising in-person evaluations.

Selected past performance:

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Monitored 500 veterans; scores predicted depressive deterioration with 74 % accuracy, enabling proactive outreach.

Essen HealthCare (NY): Appointment-show rate rose above 90 % after clinicians used Behavidence dashboards between visits.

Discovery Health (ZA): 93–96 % accuracy for mild-to-moderate depression & anxiety, triggering timely tele-mental-health interventions.

I’d welcome a 15-minute call to discuss how Behavidence can modernise your prescreen and evaluation workflow and to walk you through a live demo. Please let me know a convenient time if this interests you.

More information is available at https://www.behavidence.com/.

Thank you for your consideration.

Kind regards, Roy Cohen

Co-Founder & CEO | Behavidence

Tony MacLellan, Jul 22, 2025 9:16 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Thank you for the outreach and for your interest in working with Milwaukee County. Based on the information you provided, it appears that while the service offered is related to the services requested in RFP-2025-014, it would not fulfill the purpose of the RFP. The County recommends interested vendors register as Suppliers in Bonfire and through our Supplier Portal (INFOR) to be notified of future opportunities. Please email Procurement@milwaukeecountywi.gov for more information.

#5 - Question regarding agency license/certification requirement

Vendor, Jul 21, 2025 5:52 PM CDT, Not Public - Pending

We are a California recruiting agency that is interested in submitting a bid for this RFP. Can you please let me know what licenses and/or certifications are needed for out of state entities? Do we need a Milwaukee business license and/or do we need to obtain a Wisconsin Business Entity? Do we need to have a physical office in Milwaukee?

Tony MacLellan, Jul 22, 2025 9:19 AM CDT, Public - In Review

Tony MacLellan, Jul 23, 2025 11:48 AM CDT, Public - Answered

Recruiting firms interested in responding to this RFP should carefully review the Scope of Work to ensure they can provide all required services. The County expects a single Awardee to deliver a full mental health support program, including:

• Individual and group sessions

• Workshops and trainings

• Mental health education and support programming

• 24/7/365 emergency on-call support

The County intends to contract with one provider who can build, manage, and staff the program.

We cannot support or coordinate multiple independent clinicians unless they are part of a single, unified program managed by the Awardee.

Licenses and Certifications

Offerors are strongly encouraged to conduct their own due diligence. The County believes the following licensure requirements apply but cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information. It is the Awardee’s responsibility to understand and comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.

To provide services under this contract, providers must be licensed to practice in Wisconsin:

• Professional Counselors (LPC Licensure Info) https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/LPC/Default.aspx

• Social Workers (Social Worker Licensure Info) https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/Professions/SocialWorkerLicensedClinical/Default.aspx

• Psychologists (Psychologist Licensure Info) https://dsps.wi.gov/Pages/RulesStatutes/Psychology.aspx

Failure to obtain proper licensure may result in the County rescinding the award or terminating the contract. In that case, the County may move forward with another high-scoring, responsive Offeror.

Businesses must also be licensed to operate in Wisconsin. More information is available at:

https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/Businesses/New-Business-home.aspx

Offerors not currently licensed in Wisconsin are strongly encouraged to explain how they plan to become licensed and show they understand the process to achieve the most points.