Questions and Responses 08 13 2020.xlsx

XLSX spreadsheet 35 KB Posted Aug 13, 2020

Attached to: Solicitation for CBP Employee Assistance Program, Amendment 1 Federal contract opportunity
Solicitation number: 70B06C20R00000097
Issued by: Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection

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File	Type	Posted
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 (SF1449).pdf	PDF	Aug 17, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 .docx	DOCX document	Aug 13, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 SOO 08 13 2020.docx	DOCX document	Aug 13, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 Questions and Responses 08 13 2020.xlsx	XLSX spreadsheet	Aug 13, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 Price Template 08 13 2020.xls	XLS spreadsheet	Aug 13, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 SOO 1.docx	DOCX document	Aug 13, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097.pdf	PDF	Aug 13, 2020
RFP 70B06C20R00000097 Price Template.xls	XLS spreadsheet	Aug 13, 2020

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Sheet1

	Question #			Question	Response
		Document	Section
	1			Who is CBP’s current EAP provider?	EAP Consultants LLC
	2			What is the annual cost of the current EAP program?	$2,108,223
	3			What is the current program model; please specifically confirm number of EAP sessions available and number of CISM and training hours.	Employees and eligible family members can receive up to 12 sessions per person/per year/per issue.
	4			Are there any areas of improvement with the current program?	Refer to the SOO.
	5			Is CBP satisfied with the current utilization?	Refer to the SOO.
	6			Are the employees located internationally currently covered by the incumbent vendor?	Yes
	7			Please provide further detail on what services should also be offered to the global population?	Refer to SOO
	8			Please also provide employee counts by country for the international population.	Refer to SOO
	9			How many counseling sessions should vendors include for the future model?	X
	10			How many training and CISM hours should we include?	X
	11			Are the onsite counselors currently a part of the existing EAP program? If yes, are they employed by the contractor or by CBP?	Yes. Counselors are employed by the contractor.
	12			The pricing template has fairly large employee count increases for years 2021-2024. What factors are influencing this change in employee count	CBP has a goal to hire more CBP employees.
	13	SOO	General	Please confirm Amendment I issued on 07/30/20 remains a pre-solicitation notice as stated on beta.sam.gov and final RFP will be issued at a later date.	Amendment 1 changed the presoliciation to a soliciation.
	14	SOO	General	To ensure proper pricing and recruiting of professionals qualified to effectively deliver EAP services to CBP employees and their families, will the government please provide their definition of the word “clinician”? Is the assumption that a clinician is a master’s level professional with a current, valid state licensure to independently practice counseling?	Yes, the minimum qualification for a clinician is a master's level professional with a current, valid state licensure.
	15	SOO	General	To help ensure an adequate network exists for all CBP employees and their families, will the government provide a spreadsheet of all locations, to include CONUS and OCONUS?	Refer to SOO
	16	SOO	General	Taking into account CBP’s expected turnaround time for adjudication of background investigations (60-90 days) and approval/issuance of the ATO prior to program start date, what is the proposed transition in timeframe for the CBP EAP days?
Will CBP allow implementation activities to commence prior to full issuance of the ATO?	Two week transition. Yes
	17	SOO	General	Does CBP have a current customized EAP website? Will the current domain and URL be transitioned to the contractor or is the contractor responsible for implementing a new URL for the program?	Yes, CBP has a customized EAP website. The current domain and URL will be transitionined to the contractor.
	18	SOO	General	Outside of Financial and Legal services, are basic worklife services included in the core CBP EAP?
If yes, what worklife services are to be provided in the program?	Yes, Financial and Legal Services will be the core WorkLife Services. Refer to the SOO
	19	SOO	2. Scope	In order to accurately price, will the government provide Worklife utilization for both CONUS and OCONUS populations, broken down by legal, financial, childcare, elder care, and daily issues?
For OCONUS, to include territories, please provide the data by country.	CBP does not have a breakdown of CONUS or OCONUS for Worklife utilization.
	20	SOO	2. Scope	In order to accurately price, will the government provide EAP utilization, by country, for the OCONUS population?	CBP has not provided services to OCONUS, except for telephonic/video counseling. OCONUS locations are listed in the SOO.
	21	SOO	2. Scope Item b.	How many of 18,000 average rate of engagement was related to website usage?	Approximately 3,000
	22	SOO	2. Scope Item g.	This item notes none of the Drug Free Workplace cases in FY 2019 required DOT regulations standards. Will any of the Drug Free Workplace referrals require DOT regulation standards in the CBP EAP?	CBP has some positions covered by DOT regulations but we are unable to predict future FY Drug Free Workplace cases.
	23	SOO	2. Scope

4. Core Objectives: Objective 6

5. Task 2	There are multiple references in Section 2 and other Sections (e.g., Section 4, Objectives 6 and 7) regarding WorkLife services, but later in the document WorkLife services other than Legal and Financial are referred to as Optional Services under Section 5, Task 2. Are we to understand that WorkLife services such as child care,
elder care, education, etc., are all to be considered “optional” services?	Yes. Financial and Legal Services will be the core WorkLife Services.
	24	SOO	3. Applicable Documents / Authorities	In order for offerors to submit a compliant response to SOO requirements for CISD events, will CBP please provide DHS Management Directive 3062 as an attachment to the solicitation?	https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/mgmt/human-resources/mgmt-dir_254-02-employee-assistance-program_rev-00.pdf
	25	SOO	4. Core Objectives, Objective 1 EAP Core Technology Item b.	Is it permissible that some original content on the website will have the contractor’s name in the copyright?	No.
	26	SOO	4. Core Objectives, Objective 1 EAP
Core Technology Item e.	Fitness for Duty (FFD) Evaluations were listed in the draft SOO. We noted it is no longer identified in the SOO. Will the contractor be responsible for FFD evaluations in the CBP EAP?	The contractor will not be responsible for FFD Evaluations.
	27	SOO	4. Core Objectives, Objective 1 EAP Core Technology
Item h.	Can CBP please provide the Workplace Outcomes Suite (WOS) for review as an addendum when the RFP goes out to allow a bidder to verify the data collection and data collected will incorporate into their systems?	Http://www.eapresearch.com/workplace-outcome-suite-overview.html
	28	SOO	4. Core Objectives, Objective 2 Access to Service Item a.2	The RFP indicates: “Provide a Call Center with uninterrupted service availability.” Exhaustive measures to minimize the potential for telephony outages have been engaged by many companies, however 100% uninterrupted service availability is not currently achievable. Single points of failure are eliminated in company systems, however if an AT&T or Verizon has an outage that impacts data centers, there is inevitably a brief outage as lines are switched to back up service providers. Would CBP be willing to re-evaluate this 100%
uninterrupted service availability requirement?	CBP expects uninterrupted service availability to the maximum extent possible.
	29	SOO	4. Core Objectives: Objective 3 Critical Incident Response, item a	This section directs offerors to provide their process for identifying, assigning, and deploying CIR members to critical incidents. Is this in reference to contractor employees only or does the directive include defining the processes for identifying, assigning, and deploying any CBP CI responders such as the CBP Tier Teams?	Contractor is responsible for identifying, assigning, and deploying contractors only for CIR support.
	30	SOO	4. Core Objectives: Objective 3 Critical Incident Response, item b	Item b in this section directs contractors to “provide process for training CI responders”. Is this in reference to contractor employees only or does the directive include training of any CBP CI Responders, to include Peer Support Members (PSM), Chaplains and other TIER team members?	Contractor will train CI responders who are contractors.
	31	SOO	4. Core Objectives: Objective 6
Specialized EAP Training	If WorkLife services are to include only Legal and Financial, is the training referenced in Objective 6 to include only Legal and Financial services training?	No. Refer to objective 6(a)&(b) in the SOO
	32	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 7 Program Management, 2.g.	This section speaks to both Transition In and Transition Out. Will CLINs be added to accommodate the costs for these activities?	Yes
	33	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 7.2 Non- Key Personnel	Please confirm that there is no required current licensure requirement for the Director, Counseling and Clinical Services position.	No licensure requirement.
	34	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 7.2 Non- Key Personnel	Please confirm that there is no requirement for the Director, Training to have a degree discipline or previous experience with training.	No requirement for degree discipline or previous experience
	35	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 7.2 Non- Key Personnel	Please confirm that the Director, Marketing position does not require previous marketing experience.	No requirement for degree discipline or previous experience
	36	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 7.2 Non- Key Personnel	Please confirm that there is no licensure requirement for the Director, Quality Assurance position.	No licensure requirement.
	37	SOO	4. Core Objectives: Objective 8 Data & Reporting	Does the CBP have a preferred format for “editable” reports? Is the objective to pull data from particular fields to generate sub-reports? If we better understood CBP’s objectives, we could provide a more comprehensive response.	Provide raw data with ability to run reports in Microsoft Office Suite.
	38	SOO	4. Core Objectives: Objective 8 Data & Reporting	This section asks for process for determining Return on Investment as well as requires the WOS annual report? Does the CBP require both an ROI report using contractor’s process as well as the WOS report? If yes, is the ROI report expected annually only?	The WOS and ROI are expected annually.
	39	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 8 Data & Reporting	In order for the contractor to provide an accurate level of effort for reporting, can the government please provide an expected breakdown of monthly and annual reports? Examples could be an aggregate agency wide report and additional division or regional breakdown reports.	Refer to SOO
	40	SOO	4. Core Objectives; Objective 8 Data & Reporting, item f	Please confirm the desired Workplace Outcome Suite tool for the CBP EAP program is the WOS-5.	As long as the information is complete and editable, the version does not matter.
	41	SOO	5. Services Optional Service	Under this section it states Optional services, dependent on availability of funds. Does this mean that the government may choose not to incorporate the onsites or worklife into the contract? Why this is important for a bidder to understand is that costs may change in your basic EAP Program dependent on whether or not you have onsites. Please clarify the intent of Section 5.	That is correct. Optional services may or may not be purchased at the Governments discretion.
	42	SOO	5. Services Optional Service, Task 1 Onsite EAP
8.1 Government Furnished Equipment	The SOO states no government equipment will be furnished to the contractor. Should the CBP purchase onsite EAP services, will the government provide office space at the government worksite?

Will the government provide onsite internet and phone connectivity?

If onsite space is provided, will the space contain a floor to ceiling door and locking file cabinet for confidentiality purposes, as well as an appropriate waiting area?	CBP will provide working space onsite for onsite counselors but no equipment and cannot confirm what the space will look like.
	43	SOO	5. Services Optional Service, Task 2 – Work-life Services	Embedded worklife services was listed in the draft SOO. We noted it is no longer listed in the SOO. Is there a requirement (if purchased) for dedicated onsite worklife personnel along with onsite EAP counselors?	No.
	44	SOO	5. Services Optional Service, Task 2	The language “other than dependent care programs and worklife kits” is confusing as it doesn’t appear as though dependent care programs and worklife kits are part of the core services. In response to this requirement, is the offeror expected to assume that the CBP does not want dependent care consultations and worklife kits, but wants the offeror to propose dependent care locators as well as other potential worklife services?	Yes
	45	SOO	5. Services Optional Service, Task 2, item a	Can the government please provide more information regarding the intended scope of the career development services requirement? Will this service be offered to employees only or be extended to family members as well?	Refer to the SOO. These services will be provided to employees only and may include resume writing workshops, etc.
	46	SOO	6.1 Deliverable / Delivery Schedule	Please confirm items 7. and 8. In the table are repeated typos from items 5. and 6.	7 and 8 are repeats of 5 and 6. 7 & 8 are deleted
	47	SOO	7. Special Requirements	Does the wording at the beginning of this section, “Note: The following elements cannot be changed under this section”, only apply to 7.1 and 7.2, or are other requirements in the SOO included in this directive?	No elements in 7 6.7. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS may be changed
	48	SOO	7.2 Access to EAP Counseling Services	Typical access to international affiliates is within five (5) business days of the initial request for service for a routine case. Would CBP be amenable to changing access to EAP counseling services to five (5) business days rather the stated three (3) business days?	Access to international affiliate EAP counseling services is changed from three to five days.
	49	SOO	7.2 Access to EAP Counseling Services	Will the government please provide an expected session model for EAP Counseling?	Employees and eligible family members can receive up to 12 sessions per person/per year/per issue.
	50	SOO	7.2 Access to EAP Counseling Services	If the government does not wish to assign a desired session model for EAP Counseling, will the government consider submission of more than one pricing sheet reflecting session model options? For example, a 6 session, 8 session, or 12 session model, in order to fairly assess all bidder’s proposals?	No, submit a 12 sessions per person/per year/per issue.
	51	SOO	7.2 Access to EAP Counseling	Can the CBP provide expected detail for the EAP Counseling Services Plan?	Plan template will be provided after award.
	52	SOO	8. Government- Furnished Equipment and Information, Item 8.1	The SOO states no government equipment will be furnished to the contractor. Will the government provide office space for onsite counselors to hold sessions and consultations at the government worksite, or is the contractor responsible for leasing office space close by the worksite at an additional pass through cost to the government? Will the government allow use of the onsite internet and phone connections if space is allocated onsite? If onsite space is provided, will the space be away from the main work area and contain a door and locking file cabinet
for confidentiality purposes?	CBP will provide working space onsite for onsite counselors but no equipment will be provided. CBP cannot confirm the space configuration.
	53	SOO	8.2 Government Furnished Information-	Is eligibility assumed or will the government provide the contractor with an eligibility file?
If eligibility is not assumed and a file is provided, can the government provide the frequency with which the contractor will receive an updated file? Eligibility file requirements often cause barriers to accessing services and negative customer service feedback if a client is eligible but updated eligibility information has not been provided by the customer.	Determination will be made after award since not all offerors have the capacity to integrate with our file system. At the least, an eligibility file would be shared before the start of each new contract year.
	54	SOO	9. Quality Assurance Plan (QAP)	Is the contractor allowed to record calls and stored in the secure IT environment for quality assurance purposes?	Offeror should propose its normal protocols that abide by practice laws and regulations.
	55	SOO	12.1 Background Investigation	The SOO states, Contractor employees shall not begin working under this requirement until the entire BI is completed with approval from CBP, Security Programs Division”. In our experience with other government agencies final BI approval, with investigator audits, can take up to 2 years to complete. Does CBP allow for
provisional, or interim status, adjudication?	Yes.
	56	SOO	12.1 Background Investigation	Please clarify the contractor employee population required to complete a background investigation. Based on this section, we assume it is all key personnel and onsite EAP counselors. Is this assumption correct?
If it is not correct, please provide direction regarding what contractor employees are required to complete a BI.	Background investigations are required for contractors who will perform duties onsite (onsite counselors).
	57	SOO	12.1 Background Investigation	Please describe any specific scenarios where a CBP contractor would require access to CBP Information Technology (IT) Systems?	None
	58	SOO	12.1 Background Investigations	We have assumed that the e-QIP process will assign an agency code and the costs will be covered by the agency and not the contractor. Is this assumption correct?	Yes
	59	SOO	12.1 Background Investigations	Please expand on the roles CBP and the contractor have in the background investigation process. Does CBP manage the process in its entirety?
At what point does the contractor manage the process?	CBP will provide instruction for completing the BI prcoess. The contractor completes paperwork and provides fingerprints. CBP manages the rest of the process.
	60	SOO	14.1 CBP Enterprise Architecture Requirements	The hyperlink given in the draft RFP appears to point to an unavailable server. Will the government please provide the DHS Service Oriented Architecture- Technical Framework document, or an updated link?	Applicable docments will be provided upon award.
	61	SOO	14.1 CBP Requirements	Please provide who determines “where possible” in paragraph 3? Is this determined by the contractor or CBP?	CBP determines "where possible"
	62	SOO	14.1 CBP Requirements	Is paragraph 4 specific only to program implementation, or does it govern the life of the contract?
For example, if there is a contactor component failure during the contract with a need to replace the component, does the purchase of the component need to be coordinated through the DHS and CBP formal Technology Insertion (TI) process?	Yes, paragraph 4 is for the life of the contract.
	63	SOO	14.1 CBP Requirements	Do all purchases require a trade study with no less than four alternatives, one of which reflecting the status quo and another reflecting multi-agency collaboration?

If not, can CBP please provide more detail about when this process will be invoked?

In the case of multi-agency collaboration, what other agencies would be involved in such a collaborative trade study?	1) Yes. 2) NA 3) TBD
	64	SOO	14.1 CBP Requirements	Several documents are listed in this section. Can CBP please provide the government link to ensure bidders are reviewing the official requirements?	The information is publically available. CBP will coordinate with the contractor after award, on ATO and IT standards and processes.
	65	SOO	Appendix A Acquisition Clauses, Safeguarding of Sensitive Information, Item e.
Authority to Operate	If a signed SA package is due to the government NLT 30 days prior to go-live of the contract, will the government hold the contractor harmless should the approval of the final SA package and acceptance of the ATO by the government occur after the agreed upon program “go-live” date?	An ATO assessment will be conducted within 180 days of award and a timeline will be negotiated with contractor.
	66	RFP	I.3 Contract Minimum/Maximum	Does the $25M maximum include the 6 month extension?	yes
	67	RFP	III.11 52.212-2 Evaluation; III.15 General Instructions;
III.13 52.216-1 Type of Contract	The title of this solicitation on beta.sam.gov is “Draft Solicitation for CBP Employee Assistance Program”. However, the RFP document included in the solicitation states on page 37 of 58 that the government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation. On page 50 of 58, the RFP states that the government contemplates award of an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract resulting from this solicitation. On page 51 of 58 of the RFP it states proposals are due TBD.

In Amendment I, the RFP states proposals are due August 14, 2020; however, the opportunity remains listed as a pre-solicitation. Is it the government’s intent to award a contract from this draft solicitation?

If so, will the government consider an extension of the due date for responses to allow for receipt and consideration of Q&A responses?	Extending to August 18, 1700
	68	RFP	III.13 52.216-1 Type of Contract	Which parts of the EAP work are FFP and which parts of the work are T&M?	See updated price template
	69	RFP	III.13 52.216-1 Type of Contract	Will certain CLINs be wholly FFP and other CLINs wholly T&M?	See updated price template
	70	RFP	III.13 52.216-1 Type of Contract	Will individual Task Orders/ Delivery Orders consist of only FFP CLINs or T&M CLINs or possibly a combination of the two CLINs together?	Yes, a task order with a combination of FFP and T&M CLINs may be issued.
	71	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The
Preparation of Proposals	Please clarify page limit for the proposal. This section indicates both a fifty (50) page limit and a fifteen (15) page limit.	25 pages.
	72	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals	The General Instructions state: The following items (if the Offeror chooses to include them with its proposal) will not count towards the page limit: Cover Letter, PWS, Key Personnel Resumes table of contents, compliance matrix, acronym list, and table of figures.

Later, under the specifics for the Technical Proposal, a component of the Technical response is the PWS. This section clearly states the Technical Proposal is limited to a maximum of fifty (50) pages.

Does the PWS section of the Technical Proposal count toward the fifty (50) page limit?	The PWS is included in the 25 page count total.
	73	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The
Preparation of Proposals	Would the government consider excluding past performance, subcontracting information, and Quality Assurance Plan from the page limit?
	74	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals, Section 3- Technical
Approach	Item 2. Performance Work Statement asks the offeror to, “describe how your organization will deliver the following using EAP industry-led innovations to meet the requirements described in the SOO.” There is no list of “following” items in which to respond. Can the government please provide clarification?
	75	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals, Section
3- Technical Approach	Item 3. Personnel Resources and Staffing indicates a list of names assigned to the project will be provided as part of the proposal. This seems to be in conflict with the SOO requirement to provide names NLT 15 days post- award. Can the government please clarify?
	76	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals, Section 3- Technical
Approach	Item 9. Performance Work Statement indicates that CBP is especially interested in the offeror’ s ability to accomplish the objectives set forth in Section 4 of the SOO. We assume Section 4 references the Core Objectives (Objective 1-9). Is this assumption accurate?	Yes
	77	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals	In the “General Instructions for the Preparation of Proposals”, it states that there’s no page limitation for the price volume, which of the following statements does this actually mean: That the Volume I - Business Management Information (cannot exceed 50 pages and the Price Proposal (has no page count) or that the Volume I - Business Management Information – Price Proposal, cannot exceed 50 pages in its entirety?	The Price volume has no limit. Volume I is limited to 25 pages.
	78	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals, Section 3- Technical
Approach, Section 6	Section 6 states plans must contain all elements included in the outline. Please confirm if outline referenced is outline per FAR 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan	Yes Outline in accordance with FAR 52.219-9, Small Business Subcontracting Plan
	79	RFP	III.15 General Instructions For The Preparation of Proposals, Section 3- Technical
Approach, Section 6	Section 6 refers to Small Disadvantaged Business Subcontracting Plan and Small Disadvantaged Business participation factor. It also refers to a plan for subcontracting to the various socio-economic business types. Please clarify if there is a separate small business plan requirement for specifically the small disadvantaged business category or if small disadvantaged business as stated in this section refers to all categories of small business (for example, women-owned, HUBZone, veteran-owned) that are to be included in the Small Business
Subcontracting Plan as required by FAR 52.219-9 in Section II.36 on page 24.	There is no requirement for a separate small business subcontracting plan that addresses the subcategories of small business. They are to be included in the Small business Subcontracting Plan.
	80	RFP	Section III.15 General Instructions
for the Preparation of Proposals	The 1st paragraph states proposals shall be submitted both in hard copy and electronic media. The 2nd paragraph only states electronic submission to the Contracting Officer. Please clarify if we should only submit electronic copies by email.	Electronic copy only
	81	RFP	Section III.15 General Instructions for the Preparation of Proposals	The 3rd paragraph lists items that will not count towards the page limit. The PWS is listed. Please confirm that our response to the statement of work will not count towards the overall page limit.	That is correct.
	82	RFP	Section III.15 General Instructions for the Preparation of Proposals	Given anticipated COVID-19 impacts, will proposal submissions be augmented to be electronic only?	Proposal submissions will be electronic only.
	83	RFP	Section III.15 General Instructions for the Preparation of Proposals (Volume I – Business Management
Information Price Proposal)	The 1st paragraph in this section states price proposal shall be submitted in an original and 0 copies. If hard copies are required, please confirm that only one original copy of Volume I is requested.	Proposal submissions will be electronic only.
	84	RFP	III.19 Evaluation Criteria	Please confirm that under “Evaluation Criteria” in RFP III.19, Technical Proposal is Factor 1 and Past Performance is Factor 2 and Price is Factor 3.	That is correct.
	85	RFP	II.24 Security Procedures B.6.	This paragraph indicates that the contractor must replace non-key personnel within 30 days of departure. Can the government please clarify if this is only certain positions of the contract or for all positions?	This applies to all positions mentioned in the SOO.
	86	RFP	II.34 Safeguarding Sensitive Information	Page 17 of 58- Is this included in the narrative twice?
	87	RFP	II.35 Information Technology Security and Privacy Training	Page 35 of 58- Is this included in the narrative twice?
	88	RFP	Section 3 Technical

Approach, Section 6 II.36 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-

Commercial Items	Section 6 on page 55 states Submittal of subcontracting plans shall be concurrent with the submittal of proposals. However, on page 24 in Section II.26, Alternative I of FAR 52.219-9 Small Business Subcontracting Plan is check-marked, which states the apparent low bidder shall submit a subcontracting plan within the time specified by the Contracting Officer. Please clarify if small business plan is to be submitted with the proposal or after award.	The Small Business Subcontracting Plan is to be submitted with the proposal.
	89	RFP	II.39 Safeguarding Sensitive Information	Page 29 of 58- Is this included in the narrative twice?	Yes
	90	RFP	II.40 Information Technology Security and Privacy Training	Page 37 of 58- Is this included in the narrative twice?	Yes
	91	Pricing Template	General	Please confirm if/where transition (in, out) costs for this contract should be included. The pricing template provided did not include specific periods of performance (i.e., transition-in, transition-out).	The pricing template has been updated.
	92	Pricing Template	General	Please confirm the Base Period 2020 is 9-months (i.e., the Year is just in reference to the anticipated beginning of performance, and not the calendar year).
	93	Pricing Template	General	Please confirm the anticipated period of performance. The pricing template provided states the Base Period 2020 with a date of 1/30/2020. Can an anticipated period of performance be shared?
	94	Pricing Template	Fixed Price Base Task EAP	Column B Fixed Price Tab, “Visits”. What is the Intent of this Column?

What data is expected to be populated here?

95	Pricing Template	Summary Tab	Can the government please provide direction regarding what portion of the SOO corresponds to Line 10, “Training Session”?
96	Pricing Template	T&M Labor Tabs	What is the QTY of hours anticipated for T&M Specialized EAP Training, T&M Worklife Services, Financial & Legal Services, Topical Trng, Recs & Jobs, & Critical Incident Response?
97	Pricing Template	All Pricing Tabs	What are the anticipated “Other Direct Cost” (ODC) and Equipment for this contract for all T&M Task Requirements?
98	Pricing Template	Fixed Price Tab	There are two rows on this tab that need to be populated. One is base task EAP and the other is Call Center. Please clarify what is to be priced in each row.

For example, is the base task EAP row intended to be the affiliate counselor counseling costs only and the call center row to be the people working on the contract like the program manager, other management and staff answering the phones plus cost of facilities, etc. Please provide additional direction in order to price appropriately.

	99	Pricing Template	All tabs after the Fixed Price Tab, (except Onsite EAP/13 Locations
Tab)	Each tab appears to require labor and ODCs. These tabs appear to be for critical incident hours, training hours, Worklife services and Legal/Financial services. Generally, these items do not have direct labor but priced as a cost per hour for things like trainings, critical incidents or for WorkLife and Legal/Financial. We generally see pricing based on a per employee per year or per employee per month. Please clarify for us your intent for

pricing these services so that we can price appropriately.

100 Pricing Template Onsite EAP/13 Locations Tab Please confirm that the government would like the onsites priced by labor hour.

Also, for clarification, what would be some examples of ODCs for onsites? Please clarify and provide additional direction in order to price appropriately.

101	RFP Pg. 19	II.34.e	What is the timeline to achieve an ATO e.g. at time of Proposal, Award, tbd days post Award?	An ATO assessment will be conducted within 180 days of award and a timeline will be negotiated with contractor.
102	RFP Pg. 51	III.15	Please confirm 50-page limit vs 15 as indicated in paragraph 3.	25 pages.
103	RFP Pg. 55	Section 3, Sub Section 5	What are the criteria for “an adequate plan” with regards to small and small disadvantaged businesses? How does the government apply Small Business credit to bidders utilizing their EAP Network Providers who are not typically registered with Small Business Administration (typical within the EAP industry)	See FAR 52.219-9 for criteria. The Government will evaluate the Small Business Subcontracting Plan submitted.
104	RFP Pg. 55	Section 3, Sub Section 7	How will the government define the timeline for “full implementation and assumption of full operational responsibility”? Will this be measured as Days from Contract Start, Days from Contract Award, Days from completion of ATO, or other?
105	SOO Pg. 16	Section 14.1	Are contractor EAP systems required to meet CBP and DHS Enterprise Architecture models under section 14 Unique Standards	Yes
106	Amendment 1. Section 1		Can you confirm what is the anticipated award date and start date for the contract? This section notes a delivery date that is not until 6/30/21. The date on the Price Schedule says 1/30/20.	Delivery date is when services are completely delivered.
107	Price schedule		ODC - is there an specific amount we should put here? Or if there is not a set amount can you explain what costs we should include here?	ODCs have been deleted from the solicitation.
108	Amendment 1. General Instructions	Pg 51	1st paragraph says to submit hard copy and electronic copies of proposal. Second paragraph says the format is electronic submission. Please confirm that only electronic submission is required, not hardcopy.	Electronic copy only
109	Amendment 1. General Instructions	Pg 52	2 paragraph says 50 page limit, 3rd paragraph mentions a 15 pg limit, please confirm page limitations.	25 pages.
110	Amendment 1.	pg 53	Under Personnel Resources and Staffing. The only key personnel listed is a Program Manager. It states to include the approximate percentage of time each individual will be available. What is CBPs expectation regarding the percentage of time the Project Manager should be dedicated to CBP?
111	Amendment 1. Past performance	pg 54	For the past performance information, should we include a name, email and phone number for reference in addition to the other contract information requested?
112	Amendment 1. Past performance	pg 54	Also, the paragraph says to include all contracts or subcontracts for the last three years up to a total of three. Please confirm that if we have more than three contracts of similar scope and size performed over the last three years, we only need to include information for three of those in our proposal.
113	Amendment 1. Section 3 Technical Approach	pg 53&55	You have the Performance Work Statement listed as #2 (after Overall Approach) and #9 (after Quality Assurance Plan), please clarify in which order vendors should address the Performance Work Statement.
114	Price schedule		for TM onsite EAP and EM Specialized EAP training tabs - we will provide hourly rates for each of these services, but what quantities (column C) should we used to calculate the base and option year totals since we do not know how many hours will be used?
115	Price schedule		For the Work-Life Services, these are customarily priced at a firm-fixed rate (based on a per employee per month (PEPM) fee) like the base EAP services. Can we provide pricing for legal, financial and other work-life based on a fixed price rather than an hourly labor rate?
116	Price schedule		Summary Tab, Row 16. Can you confirm the calculations for this row are correct, it is
117	SOO		Please confirm that the only worklife services that are to be include in the core services (not optional) is legal and financial?	That is correct
118	SOO		How many EAP counseling session would CBP like included in their EAP? Are they satisfied with the current session model?	Currently, employees and eligible family members can receive up to 12 sessions per year, per issue.
119	Standard Form 1449		1. Does the government require that contractor employees have a favorably adjudicated background investigation (BI) or single scope background investigation (SSBI) at the time of award?
	Section II Contract Clauses;
	II.24 Security Procedures;
	B. Security Background Investigation Requirements;
	Paragraph 4.
	Page 11 of 58

123	Standard Form 1449	2. Are the CBP Form 78-Background Investigation Requirements Determination (BIRD), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Form, a Contractor Employee Initial Background Investigation (BI) Form (CBP Form 77) (Sections A and B), provided by the designated CBP Official?
	Section II Contract Clauses;
	II.24 Security Procedures;
	B. Security Background Investigation Requirements;		All required forms will be provided by CBP.
	Paragraph 5.
	Page 11 of 58

124	Standard Form 1449	3. Will the government provide contact information (Name, Telephone Number, Email address and Fax number) for the designated CBP security official and office?
	Section II Contract Clauses;
	II.24 Security Procedures;
	B. Security Background Investigation Requirements;		Yes, at time of award.
	Paragraph 5.
	Page 11 of 58
125	Standard Form 1449,	4. From the date of contract award, how much time will the government allow for the contractor to compete the Security Authorization Process and the ATO process?
	Section II Contract Clauses;
	II.34 Safeguarding of Sensitive Information (MAR 2015),		An ATO assessment will be conducted within 180 days of award and a timeline will be negotiated with contractor.
	Paragraph (e). Authority to Operate
	Page 28 of 58
126	Statement of Objectives,	5. Will the government provide additional historical information to assist with estimating the contractor workload and ODCs for Critical Incident Response/TIER events and deployments?	ODCs have been deleted from the solicitation and the pricing template has updated estimates for contractor workload.
	2. Scope.
	Utilization Rates	For example, of the 206 Total CIR events for 2019, How many events (#) required 2 or more on-site clinicians? What was the average duration for these events?
	Page 3 of 34
		How many events (#) required three (3) or more on-site clinicians?
		What was the average duration for these events?

How many events required five (5) or more on-site clinicians? What was the average duration for these events?

What is the typical (average) duration of a CIR/TIER deployment?

		In 2019, what percentage of the annual travel CLIN projected for this contract was spent on CIR/TIER deployment?
127	Statement of Objectives,	6. From the date of contract award, How much time will the government allow for Contract Transition In?
	Objective 7. Program Management		The government anticipates a -2 week transition-in period.
	(g) 1. Transition Plan;
	Page 9 of 34
128	Statement of Objectives	7. The Government has indicated a (minimum) of 1 full-time clinician on-site at identified CBP locations. Will the government provide the current number of full time and/or part-time clinicians on-site, by location?	There are currently 3 onsite EAP contracted part-time clinician who work 2 full days per week.
	Section 5 Optional Services, Task 1- Onsite EAP – Additional Services;
	Page 11 of 34
129	Statement of Objectives	8. The Government has indicated a (minimum) of 1 full-time clinician on-site at identified CBP locations. Does the government anticipate a requirement for more than one (1) full time and/or part-time clinician on-site for any of the indicated locations?	No
	Section 5 Optional Services, Task 1- Onsite EAP – Additional Services;
	Page 11 of 34
	Request for Proposal,	9. Can the government provide an estimate of the total numbers of employees and family members supported by each of the identified CPB locations?
	Section 5 Services Optional Services, Task 1- Onsite EAP – Additional Counselors;		CBP has 60,000 employees. Not all employees at all sites access EAP services.
	Page 11 of 34
130	Request for Proposal,	10. Does the government require the Key Personnel, Project Manager to be fully dedicated (e.g. 1.0 FTE, Full-time) to the EAP program?
	Section 4, Objective 1 – EAP Core Technology, Key & Non-Key Personnel		No, as long as the Project Manager is accessible.
	Page 8 of 34
131	Request for Proposal,	11. Does the government require the non-key personnel to be fully dedicated (e.g. 1.0 FTE, Full-time) to this program?
	Section 4, Objective 1 – EAP Core Technology, 2. Non-Key Personnel		No
	Page 8 of 34
132	Request for Proposal,	12. Is there a requirement to have key personnel, or non-key personnel be located at CBP offices? If, yes, which location(s)?
	Section 4, Objective 1 – EAP Core Technology, Key & Non-Key Personnel		No

132	Pricing Template,	13. In the rate category, should the direct labor rate include all burdens (e.g. a fully burdened rate) ?	Yes, fully burdened rates.
	T&M tabs
133	General	14. If advantageous to the government, would the government consider a fully integrated service delivery model inclusive of Crisis Response, Suicide Awareness/Prevention and full service EAP services?	Alternative proposals may be submitted but must use the provided pricing template for each proposal.
134	General	15. Please provide the current DHS CBP EAP contract number.	HSBP1015D00004

135	Concerning clinical cases for 2019 (SOO page 3):	1. Were the 8,028 clinical cases based upon the number of clients/employees seen or based on number of counseling sessions performed?	Sessions
136	Concerning clinical cases for 2019 (SOO page 3):	2. Did the 8,028 include the 50 DFW cases, and 325 management referrals?	Yes
137	Concerning clinical cases for 2019 (SOO page 3):	3. What was the total number of counseling sessions performed for 2019 broken down by face to face, telephonic, and video?	Approximately half for face to face sessions and half telephonic and video.
138	Concerning clinical cases for 2019 (SOO page 3):	4. How many of those cases were seen by on-site counselors?	We do not have data to answer this question.
139	Concerning TIER training and CISD response (SOO Page 3):	1. Will the EAP be responsible for providing the initial TIER training to PSMs and Chaplains? If so, how many per year are required?	Yes, approximately 400 hours
140	Concerning TIER training and CISD response (SOO Page 3):	2. Will the EAP be responsible for supplying the follow-up or advanced TIER team training to PSMs/chaplains?	Yes
141	Concerning TIER training and CISD response (SOO Page 3):	3. Is there a set format or curricula required and will the vendor be made aware of it for consistent training needs?	Yes
142	Other Training (SOO page 7):	1. Other training…how many wellness training sessions were conducted for the enterprise last year in other topics outside CISD, i.e. finance, stress relief, time management, etc?	We do not have data to answer this question.
143	Other Training (SOO page 7):	2. What format were these wellness trainings presented…live on-site, live webcast or webinar? Please breakdown these trainings by presentation method or list desired format and quantity of trainings desired.	We do not have data to answer this question.
144	Other Training (SOO page 7):	3. What is the preferred training method?	Refer to SOO
145	Concerning International EAP (SOO page 2):	1. How is counseling provided to agents/employees overseas?	Telephonic and video
146	Concerning International EAP (SOO page 2):	2. Is telephonic or video counseling acceptable?	Yes
147	Concerning International EAP (SOO page 2):	3. How many clinical cases were handled overseas in the last year?	We do not have data to answer this question.
148	Concerning International EAP (SOO page 2):	4. What format were these cases handled? Face to Face, video, or telephonic?	Telephonic and video
149	Concerning International EAP (SOO page 2):	5. What are the locations where the 1,700 employees are stationed overseas and breakdown on number of employees per location?	Refer to SOO
150	Concerning International EAP (SOO page 2):	6. What is the utilization rate for overseas employees and the breakdown of services?	We do not have data to answer this question.
151	Concerning the on-site EAP Counselors (SOO page 11):	1. Is this a new requirement or existing?	Existing
152	Concerning the on-site EAP Counselors (SOO page 11):	2. Are there currently full-time onsite counselors employed by the incumbent in the locations listed in the SOO? If so, how many and where?	Refer to SOO
153	Concerning the on-site EAP Counselors (SOO page 11):	3. How many clinical cases, CISD’s, and/or training sessions were handled by the onsite-counselors? Can you breakdown the utilization and number of counseling sessions handled?	We do not have data to answer this question.
154	Concerning the on-site EAP Counselors (SOO page 11):	4. What is the average salary for the on-site counselors?	We do not have data to answer this question.
155	Concerning the on-site EAP Counselors (SOO page 11):	5. Alternatively, as a potential cost savings, can we supply affiliate counselors to respond on-site as needed for counseling in lieu of a dedicated full time presence at government facilities? If this is possible, will you define the requirement?	No
156	Concerning the on-site EAP Counselors (SOO page 11):	6. Based upon the locations listed it appears that there may be a need for as many as 25 maximum on-site counselors. What is the number of FTE desired for on-site counselors by CBP? Should we assume 1 FTE per city listed in the SOO?	Yes

http://www.eapresearch.com/workplace-outcome-suite-overview.htmlhttps://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/mgmt/human-resources/mgmt-dir_254-02-employee-assistance-program_rev-00.pdf

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Aug 14, 2020.