Amendment 03 - Solicitation 72052320R00002 PREVI.pdf

1. Standard Form 33 “SOLICITATION, OFFER AND AWARD”, Block 9, the date for submission of sealed offers is modified as follows:

“Technical Proposals Due Date: March 25, 2020 at 5:00 pm Mexico City Time Cost Proposals Due Date: April 1, 2020 at 12:00 noon Mexico City Time”

2. Cover Letter of RFP included in Amendment No. 2 dated 02/26/2020, delete third sentence of second paragraph related to period of performance of the anticipated award and replace it with the following:

“The Government anticipates an award of a cost plus fixed fee completion type contract for a period of performance of four years.”

3. Section B.3. entitled “ESTIMATED COST, FIXED FEE AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT” is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

“B.3 ESTIMATED COST, FIXED FEE AND OBLIGATED AMOUNT

CLIN ITEM TOTAL ($)

Technical Assistance

Direct Costs* TBD

Indirect Costs TBD

Grants Under Contract (GUC)

3,000,000

Fixed Fee (FF) TBD

Total Estimated Cost Plus Fixed Fee TBD *Direct Costs include: Salaries, including benefits, STTA, Travel, allowances, procurement, equipment, subcontracts, communications and participant training.

(a) The total estimated cost for the performance of the work required hereunder, exclusive of fixed fee, is $[to be inserted by CO at time of award]. The Total Estimated Cost Plus Fixed Fee for the Period is $[to be inserted by CO at time of award].

(b) Within the estimated cost plus fixed fee specified in paragraph (a) above, the amount currently obligated and available for reimbursement of allowable costs incurred by the Contractor for performance hereunder is $[to be inserted by CO at time of award]. The Contractor will not exceed the aforesaid obligated amount unless authorized by the Contracting Officer pursuant to the clause of the contract entitled Limitation of Funds- FAR 52.232-22.

(c) Funds obligated are anticipated to be sufficient through [date to be inserted by CO at time of award].

NOTE: The Contractor will not be paid any sum in excess of the ceiling price. The only person authorized to commit or obligate additional funds is the Contracting Officer. Incurrence of costs in excess of the total amount obligated based on directions received from any individual other than the Contracting Officer and without prior Contracting Officer’s approval, will not be reimbursed to the Contractor.”

4. Section C.4 entitled “KEY OUTCOMES WITH INDICATORS AND TARGETS”:

a) Delete description of Outcome 2 in its entirety and replace it with the following:

“Reduced likelihood of at-risk youth, youth who committed low-level crimes, and youth imprisoned or on probation perpetrating crime and violence.”

b) Delete description of Indicator for Outcome No. 3 and replaced with the following:

“Change in the institutional performance for violence prevention among institutions supported by USAID (GOPI).”

PAGE NO.

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT NO. ORDER NO. AMENDMENT NO.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (CONTINUED)

STANDARD FORM 30 (CONTINUATION)

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

72052320R00002 03

5. Section C.6. entitled “OBJECTIVES”, under Objective No. 2, delete first bullet under Expected Results and replace it with the following:

“Mexican stakeholders replicate evidence-based at-risk youth crime and violence prevention interventions in at least 16 municipalities.”

6. In order to clarify the amount USAID expects offerors/resulting contractor to execute under the Grants under Contracts

Component of this Solicitation, paragraph entitled “Grants under Contracts included under Section C.6 “OBJECTIVES” is deleted in its entirety and is replaced with the following:

“Grants under Contracts

The Offeror must describe a proposed Grants under Contracts component aimed at facilitating locally driven solutions and sustainable results. This component must be utilized to strategically advance the expected results of the Activity and be closely coordinated with other USAID (and other donor) programming that strengthens the capacity of local organizations, such as the Civil Society Strengthening Activity. The Offeror is expected to set aside up to $3 million under the Grants under Contracts Component of this Activity for local or other partners. This may or may not be a portion of the rapid response fund. Consistent with USAID’s New Partnership Initiative (NPI), offerors are strongly encouraged to consider awards to New and Underutilized Partners as part of their Grants under Contract Approach.

Offerors must comply with the definition in 2 CFR 200.92 regarding Subawards proposed under the Sub-Grant Component, as it relates to awards provided by a pass-through entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a Federal award received by the pass-through entity. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of a Federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract. On this regard, USAID expects Offerors to propose subawards that will help the prime contractor to fulfill specific services or technical assistance to achieve the objectives of the contract, rather than to support the contractor’s own operations under the resulting contract.”

7. Section F.2.(2.1) entitled “General Reporting”, is deleted in its entirety and it is replaced with the following:

“The Contractor must submit to USAID Mexico Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) one electronic copy of the below described plans and reports. All reports must be submitted in English and on a case-by-case basis and as requested by the COR, in Spanish. All reports are considered drafts until approved as final by USAID. Draft reports must be submitted in PDF or Microsoft Word (or similar format approved by the COR), with the word “DRAFT” as a watermark or header. Approved reports must be submitted in PDF and printed form. USAID will review and accept all documents produced under this award. COR approval of reports and or requests for modifications will be provided within 15 calendar days. The Contractor will then have 15 calendar days to incorporate the modifications and resubmit the report for COR approval. COR approval of the revised submission will be within 15 calendar days. This applies to the list below as well as any other studies, reports, briefings, or any other document for public distribution (on a case-by-case basis).

The Contractor must comply with schedule for the submission of each report listed below. For the purpose of this section all days to be considered as calendar days. Any changes to the Submission Dates below can be approved, in advance and in writing, by the COR. Unless otherwise specified, the reference to days means “calendar days

In addition to the reports included in this Section, the Contractor is responsible for proposing deliverables, results and plans tied to each Component included in Section C, Statement of Work.

The Contractor will promptly notify the Contracting Officer and COR of any problems, delays, or adverse conditions which materially impair the Contractor's ability to meet the requirements of the contract.

NOTE: Due dates of the following deliverables can be approved by the COR, in advance and in writing.”

PAGE NO.

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT NO. ORDER NO. AMENDMENT NO.

14. DES

STANDARD FORM 30 (CONTINUATION)

CONTINUATION PAGE

8. Section J “LIST OF DOCUMENTS EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS” is modified to add the List of Attachments included in this Amendment No. 3.

9. Section H.17 entitled “ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONNEL COMPENSATION”, delete paragraph (a) in its entirety and replace it with the following:

“H.17 ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONNEL COMPENSATION

(a) Limitations:

(1) Salaries and wages may not exceed the Contractor's established policy and practice, including the Contractor's established pay scale for equivalent classifications of employees, which will be certified to by the Contractor.

(2) In addition, there is a ceiling on the reimbursable base salary or wage paid to personnel under the contract equivalent to the maximum annual salary of the USAID established rate for agencies without a certified SES performance appraisal system (AWCPAS) published at http://www.opm.gov/oca/09tables/html/es.asp , as amended from time to time, unless the Contracting Officer approves a higher amount in accordance with the Agency policy and procedures in ADS 302 "USAID Direct Contracting."

10. Section H.17 entitled “ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONNEL COMPENSATION, delete paragraph (e ) and replace it with the following:

“(e) Consultants Compensation for consultants will be in accordance with the Total Compensation Plan approved as part of the negotiations of this contract. Consultants’ rates that exceed the approved Total Compensation Plan, as well as the USAID SES established rate (AWCPAS) or the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by the Mission Director, will require prior approval of the Contracting Officer or Mission Director. Requests for waiver to this compensation guidance must be fully justified and will require the approval of the Contracting Officer.

11. Section L.8 entitled “INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF TECHNICAL PROPOSAL”, delete paragraph A.”General”, in its entirety and replace it with the following:

“L.8 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

A. General:

Offerors must organize the Technical Proposal to follow the technical evaluation criteria specified in Section M. The page length of the entire Technical Proposal should not exceed 20 pages exclusive of Annexes and other pages not subject to the page limitation, as indicated below.

PAGE NO.

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT NO. ORDER NO. AMENDMENT NO.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (CONTINUED)

STANDARD FORM 30 (CONTINUATION)

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

Therefore, technical proposals must be organized as follows:

I. Executive Summary II. Technical Approach III. Project Personnel and Management Plan III. Annexes (not included in page limit)

A. Draft Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (not to exceed 5 pages). See Section F.2.2.6 for information regarding the content of this plan.

B. Resumes (for key personnel only, not to exceed 3 pages per individual) C. Key Individual Certifications per ADS 206 for all key personnel proposed D. Project Organizational Chart E. Past Performance Information (not to exceed 5 pages) F. Environmental Management Plan G. Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan H. Mobilization Plan”

12. Section L.9. Part 2 (4) (A) “Salaries and Wages”, delete the following paragraph

“All Cooperating Country Nationals (CCNs) and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) salaries must not exceed the USAID Local Compensation Plan (LCP). Approval of the Offeror’s budget does not absolve the Offeror’s duty to request and receive Mission Director’s approval prior to hiring CCN and TCN personnel whose salaries are above the USAID LCP."

And replace it with:

“Approval of the Offeror’s budget does not absolve the Offeror’s duty to request and receive Mission Director’s approval prior to hiring CCN and TCN personnel/consultants whose salaries/consultants’ rates are above the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by the USAID Mission.”

13. Section L.9. Part 2 (4) (A), “Salaries and Wages, delete the following paragraphs:

“All Cooperating Country Nationals (CCNs) and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) salaries must not exceed the USAID Local Compensation Plan (LCP). Approval of the Offeror’s budget does not absolve the Offeror’s duty to request and receive Mission Director’s approval prior to hiring CCN and TCN personnel whose salaries are above the USAID LCP."

Based on the analysis performed by the offeror regarding the professional positions needed for the project, for candidates identified at the proposal stage whose proposed salaries exceed the USAID CST or LCP, the offeror shall include a strong justification for exceeding these two threshold as well as the rationale for proposing an individual whose qualifications are above the positions included in the total compensation plan proposed for this project.”

And replace them with:

“All Cooperating Country Nationals (CCNs) and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) salaries and consultants’ rates must not exceed the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by the USAID Mission. Approval of the Offeror’s budget and approved Total Compensation Plan does not absolve the Offeror’s duty to request and receive Mission Director’s approval prior to hiring CCN and TCN personnel and consultants whose salaries/consultants’ rates are above prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by the USAID Mission."

Based on the analysis performed by the offeror regarding the professional positions needed for the project, for candidates whose proposed salaries or consultants’ rate exceed the USAID CST or the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by the USAID Mission, the offeror shall include a strong justification for exceeding these two threshold as well as the rationale for proposing an individual whose qualifications are above the positions included in the total compensation plan proposed for this project.”

PAGE NO.

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT NO. ORDER NO. AMENDMENT NO.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (CONTINUED)

STANDARD FORM 30 (CONTINUATION)

14. Section L.9. Part 2 (4) (J), “Indirect Costs”, delete paragraph (i) in its entirety and replace it with the following:

“(i) The Offeror and each identified subcontractor/subrecipient must include a complete copy of its most current NICRA or other documentation from its cognizant Government Audit Agency, if any, stating the most recent provisional indirect cost rates. The proposal must also include the name and address of the Government Audit Agency, and the name and telephone number of the auditor.”

15. Attachment No. 1 to Amendment No. 3, containing Questions and Answers received in response to this Solicitation is included as part of this Amendment.

--End of this Amendment No. 3--

PAGE NO.

SOLICITATION/CONTRACT NO. ORDER NO. AMENDMENT NO.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (CONTINUED)

STANDARD FORM 30 (CONTINUATION)

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

Subject: Request for Proposal No. 72052320R00002

Activity Name: Violence Prevention and Reduction Activity

Date of Issuance: February 24, 2020

Questions due: March 9, 2020 at 2:00 pm Mexico City time

Proposal due date & time: March 25, 2020 at 5:00 pm Mexico City time

NAICS Code: 541990 – All other Professional, Scientific and Technical

Services

Amendment No.: 3 – Questions and Answers No. 2

Issuance date of Amendment: March 17, 2020

NO. QUESTION ANSWER

COVER PAGE AND SECTION A

1 Per Section Question 4 of Amendment 2 for this solicitation, dated March 5, 2020, the period of performance for this activity is four years.

However, the cover page of Amendment 1 for this solicitation, released February 24, 2020, states this is a five-year activity. Would USAID please confirm the period of performance for this activity is four years?

USAID/Mexico confirms that the period of performance is four years per Amendment 2 and Section F.9. and L.8.C.1 of the original solicitation and Amendment 1.

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICES/COSTS

2 The summary budget referenced in section B.3 details Direct Costs as a budget line item, which should include “salaries, including benefits, STTA, travel allowances, procurement, equipment, subcontracts, communications and participant training”. The Summary Budget also includes

Technical Assistance as a budget line item which would normally include some items listed under

Direct Costs such as STTA. Can you please confirm what costs should be included in the Technical

Assistance budget line item?

Section B.3. is being modified in Amendment 3 to clarify that the “Technical Assistance” is the title of CLIN 0001 and not a separate budget line item.

3 Section B.9, Payment of Fixed Fee, states that payment of fixed fee will be tied to deliverables and provides an illustrative table of a fee schedule. Can you please confirm if a detailed fee schedule should be submitted with the cost proposal, or if this will be negotiated post-contract award?

Offerors are expected to submit as part of the technical and cost proposals, a detailed fee schedule based on

Deliverables detailed in Section F.2 and any other deliverables each offeror proposed based on their technical approach

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION/SPECS/WORK STATEMENT

4 Section C.2 references criminal activity trends among males ages 15-29 but then in Section C.6 includes the target population of at-risk youth and minor offenders as ages 12-29. Can USAID please confirm that the target age group for at-risk youth under PREVI is 12-29 years?

USAID/Mexico confirms that the target population is 12-29 per Section C.6.

5 In Section C.4, the table of key outcomes with indicators and targets includes “Outcome 2:

Reduced likelihood of at-risk youth, youth who committed low-level crimes, and youth imprisoned or on probation I think perpetrating crime and

USAID/Mexico confirms that the words “I think” were incorrectly included, and that the final wording for

Outcome 2 is “Reduced likelihood of at-risk youth, youth who committed low-level crimes, and youth imprisoned or on probation perpetrating crime and violence.”

Attachment 1 - Amendment No. 3 SOL No. 72052320R00002 violence.” The inclusion of the words “I think” seems to be out of place. Can USAID kindly clarify the final wording of this outcome?

6 Section C.5 states “Offerors must propose a matrix of target municipalities that considers the criteria above, as well as any other factors proposed and elaborated by the Offeror.” Would USAID consider allowing offerors to present this matrix and the corresponding selection criteria and programming approach in an annex or page that does not count against page limitations?

Per Section L.8.A., USAID/Mexico confirms that the 20-page limitation applies to all information related to the

Executive Summary, Technical approach and/or

Management Plan, including tables and graphics. USAID will not consider a matrix to illustrate the municipality selection criteria and programming approach included as an annex and outside of the 20 page limit.

7 In Section C.6, the first expected result under

Objective 2 states "Mexican stakeholders replicate evidence-based at-risk youth crime and violence prevention interventions justice established in at least 16 municipalities." The word "justice" is unclear within this sentence structure. Can USAID kindly clarify the final wording of this expected result? What is USAID’s expectation regarding justice under this expected result?

USAID/Mexico confirms that the first expected results under Objective 2 should read, “Mexican stakeholders replicate evidence-based at-risk youth crime and violence prevention interventions in at least 16 municipalities.”

8 RFP p. 15 Objective 2, Expected Results state

"Mexican stakeholders replicate evidence-based at-risk youth crime and violence prevention interventions justice established in at least 16 municipalities.” The meaning of the phrase “justice established” in this result is unclear. Could USAID please clarify and confirm the wording of this expected result?

See the answer to Question No. 7 above.

9 Section C.6 “Grants Under Contract” states that

“The Offeror must also identify the portion of its budget that will be set aside for Grants under

Contracts to local or other partners, with a minimum amount of 15%. This may or may not be a portion of the rapid response fund.” Given USAID suggested budget range, grants under contract would be between $1.5 million and $3,735,000.

However, Section H.13 states that offerors can execute “up to” $3 million in grants under contract.

Can USAID kindly confirm if the grants under contract ceiling is $3 million?

Section C.6. OBJECTIVES, paragraph entitled “Grants under Contracts”, is being modified in this Amendment No.

3 to clarify that USAID expects the offeror to execute up to

$3 million in grants under contracts.

10 Section C.7 (h) states that the Contractor must

“develop a security plan that ensures institutionalized processes to track the security context in the different municipalities, evaluates the risk to beneficiaries and the Contractor’s staff, and implement steps to mitigate risks.” Can USAID clarify if the offeror is required to mitigate beneficiary risk and if so, who would be considered beneficiaries?

USAID does not expect the winning offeror to be liable -legally or otherwise - for the physical safety of project beneficiaries. However, through analysis and conscientious planning, the project approach should incorporate awareness of and consideration for local security conditions. Activity decisions should reflect this, and where possible, mitigate risk for involved parties including beneficiaries as listed in Section C.6 of the solicitation.

11 Section C.4, Key Outcomes with Indicators and

Targets, on pages 10-12:

a) Outcomes 1 and 2 both list “Recidivism rates for youth beneficiaries in targeted municipalities," as the Outcome Indicator.

USAID/Mexico confirms:

a) “Recidivism rates for youth beneficiaries in targeted municipalities” is an indicator for

Outcomes 1 and 2.

b) Section J is modified to include additional List of

Attachments, as part of Amendment No. 3.

Please confirm that this indicator is for

Outcome 2 only.

b) The Baseline for Select Communities cell for Outcome 3 cites “JPV 2019” as its source. Would USAID share that referenced study?

c) Should offerors use numbers rather than percentages for the Baseline for Select

Communities cell for Outcome 3, as implied by “Number of new or amended public policies as a result of agreements among key local actors?”

c) USAID/Mexico confirms that the results related to the following indicator: “Change in the institutional performance for violence prevention among institutions supported by USAID (GOPI).”

Please see Section C.4 and Section J in

Amendment 3.

12 Regarding Section C.5, Geographic Focus, on page

12, should offerors assume that “USG Strategic

Priorities” is the Country Development Cooperation

Strategy (2014-2018)? Would USAID share its new

Country Development Cooperation Strategy?

Yes, USAID/Mexico’s Country Development Cooperation

Strategy (2014-2018) is one of various documents that outlines USG priorities in Mexico. USAID/Mexico’s

Country Development Cooperation Strategy (2019-2024) is still under review and will be made available publicly once approved.

13 Section C.6, Objective 3, on page 15:

a) The RFP notes that for activities to promote information sharing between municipal and state authorities, “the provision of IT solutions or equipment by the contractor is not envisioned.” Does this preclude technical assistance related to any existing IT tools?

b) May assistance be provided to institutions in addition to those explicitly mentioned:

“local and state-level institutions (i.e., municipal police, civic justice courts, and state attorneys general offices)”? For example, may offerors work with courts other than civic justice courts, particularly given that the latter may not exist in all target municipalities?

c) Objective 3 emphasizes the need to address “serious” cases but includes multiple references to civic justice courts.

In this context, could USAID clarify whether offerors should promote the communication, coordination, and intelligence-sharing to emphasize serious cases, civic justice, or both?

USAID/Mexico confirms:

a) Technical assistance related to any existing IT tools is allowed.

b) The Offeror may propose assistance to institutions in addition to those explicitly mentioned.

c) Objective 3 to “Improve coordination between civic justice courts, municipal law enforcement, and criminal justice operators through shared information and intelligence cooperation” is expected to affect both, the “capacity of the justice system to effectively and efficiently identify, investigate and convict serious cases” and

“streamline the implementation of the civic justice model.”

14 Regarding Section C.7.g, Gender and Social

Inclusion, on page 18, would USAID share the referenced USAID/Mexico Gender and Inclusive

Analysis, completed in October 2019?

While USAID/Mexico’s Gender and Inclusive Analysis was completed in October 2019, the public report is still pending final approvals. Once finalized, USAID/Mexico will release it publicly.

SECTION F – DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

15 Section F.2 (2.1) states that “The Contractor must submit to USAID Mexico Contracting Officer’s

Representative (COR) two hard copies in the language and manner specified below, and one

Requirement to submit hard copies of reports to the COR will not be required. Section F.2.(2.1) is being modified in

Amendment 3 to reflect this change.

electronic copy of the below described plans and reports.” We respectfully request that the requirement to provide two hard copies of every report be removed from the RFP.

16 Section F.7 Key Personnel states that the COP candidate “must have demonstrated at least 12 years of professional experience in working with senior government and the private sector to support a program’s objectives.” However, section L.8, Instructions for the Preparation of the Technical

Proposal, states that the COP candidate “must have demonstrated at least 10 years of professional experience in working with senior government and the private sector to support a program’s objectives.” Please confirm the required years of experience for the COP candidate.

See Amendment 1 of the Solicitation.

SECTION G – CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA

17 Section G.9 (b) states “The costs of bonding personnel responsible for local currency are reimbursable under this contract.” Can USAID please clarify what this means?

The referenced sentence means that the cost associated with personnel handling local currency under the contract, if any, will be considered allowable under the contract.

18 The SF 1034 form in Section G.9 shows two

Contract Line Items but in section B.3 there is only one Contract Line Item Number (CLIN). Can

USAID please clarify this discrepancy?

Contract Line Items shown in Section G.9. are part of the template for AIDAR Clause 752.7003

DOCUMENTATION FOR PAYMENT. (NOV 1998) and are given as a sample.

The resulting contract will have only one “Line Item”, as shown in Section B.3.

SECTION H – SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

19 Section H.13 states that the “Contractor must obtain prior technical concurrence from the COR and CO

Approval for each subgrant.” We respectfully request that this sentence be removed from the RFP, and we request that the approval thresholds for grants be agreed upon between the contractor and

USAID in the approved grants manual, as per section F.2.2.

The ADS 303 has been updated requiring CO approval of all subawards. The intent is for the CO to verify the various lists as stated in the guidance. Any GUC program under a contract must follow the ADS 303 and therefore all approvals require CO review. If a grant manual is approved, then the CO won’t have to approve the actual grant agreement each time, but just the COR concurrence on the purpose and CO approval on the organization.

20 Section H.17 (a) (1) spells out the following limitation: “Salaries and wages may not exceed the

Contractor's established policy and practice, including the Contractor's established pay scale for equivalent classifications of employees, which will be certified to by the Contractor. Nor may any individual salary or wage, without approval of the

Cognizant Contracting Officer, exceed the employee's current salary or wage, or the highest rate of annual salary or wage received during any full year of the immediately preceding three (3) years.” USAID/OAA has separately (outside of this solicitation) instructed all contractors to use the new biodata form posted on USAID’s website, and the requirement to use this new form, which no longer requires asking for and recording a candidate’s salary information, means contractors cannot respect the above clause under H.17 in the solicitation, as respecting this clause would first require contractors to ask for and record a candidates’ salary history. We respectfully request the removal of the bold and underlined part of the clause above, as contractors will not be able to follow this requirement and at the same time follow

USAID’s guidance to use the new biodata form posted on USAID’s website.

In order to comply with the new Contractor Employee

Biographical Data Sheet Policy, reference to requiring offerors/contractors to request candidate’s salary history information will be deleted from Section H.17 in

Amendment 3 of this Solicitation.

21 Section H.17 (e) states “No compensation for consultants will be reimbursed unless their use under the contract has advance written approval of the Cognizant Technical Officer”. We respectfully request that the requirement be modified to require approval from the Contracting Officer’s

Representative only if compensation does not fall within the proposed and approved salary scale and compensation plan.

Section H.17 (e ) is being modified in Amendment No. 3 of this Solicitation.

Compensation of consultants will be considered approved if the proposed daily rate is in accordance with the Total

Compensation Plan approved as a result of the negotiations of the resulting contract.

Compensation of consultants that exceed the USAID

Contractor Salary Threshold, the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by the USAID Mission

Director or the approved Total Compensation Plan of the

Contract, require prior USAID’s Contracting Officer and

Mission Director's approval.

In addition to the requirement for prior approval of consultants’ rates mentioned above, for those consultants not identified by the time of the award, the

COR must provide technical concurrence (not consultant rate approval) prior to assignment of consultants under the resulting contract.

22 Section H.17(a)1 on page 53 of Amendment 1 states, “Nor may any individual salary or wage, without approval of the Cognizant Contracting

Officer, exceed the employee's current salary or

See the answer to Question No. 20 above regarding Section

H.17.(a)1.

wage, or the highest rate of annual salary or wage received during any full year of the immediately preceding three (3) years.” The latest version of the

Contractor Biographical Data Sheet – USAID Form

1420-17, as required in Section L.9(3), does not include salary history as a required element. Could

USAID please confirm that offerors should use market data rather than salary history in determining proposed salaries for this activity and remove all language related to using salary history to establish salaries?

23 Both sections H.8 Key Personnel and M.2

Technical Evaluation Criteria state that the quality of key personnel proposed will be an evaluation factor. Additionally, section L.9 Instructions for the

Preparation of the Cost Proposal, states that EBDs must be included for all key personnel. However, section L.8 Instructions for the Preparation of the

Technical Proposal, states that “The Offeror must not propose individuals to fill these roles; however, the Offeror must certify that the names and CVs of personnel to fill these key roles will be submitted by the Offeror for Contracting Officer approval within five business days of the date of award.” Section

H.8 Key Personnel, (a) Availability of proposed key personnel also requires “a statement signed by all individuals proposed as key personnel, confirming their present intention to serve in the stated position and their present availability to serve for the term of the proposed contract.”

1. Please clarify whether individuals (both the primary and alternate) should be proposed for key personnel positions in proposals.

2. Please confirm whether EBDs and letters of commitment should be submitted for proposed individuals (primary and alternate) with the proposals.

USAID confirms that:

1) The Offeror must include signed Employee

Biographical Data Sheets for the primary candidate of the Key Personnel positions identified by USAID--Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of

Party. The reference in Section L.8.C.2 only pertains to any additional Key Personnel positions proposed by the Offeror, for which the Offeror must not propose individuals when submitting the proposals.

2) The Offeror must submit EBDs and letters of commitment for the primary candidate of the Key

Personnel positions identified by USAID with the proposals: Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of

Party.

24 Please confirm that offerors may submit an organizational chart as Annex to the technical proposal

Per Section L.8.A., USAID/Mexico confirms that the 20-page limitation applies to all information related to the

Executive Summary, Technical approach and/or

Management Plan, including tables and graphics.

The Organizational chart, which is part of the Personnel and

Management Approach, is part of the 20 pages limitation and should not be included as an Annex.

25 Please confirm that offerors may submit the Matrix of Target Municipalities with selection criteria and justification required as an Annex to the technical proposal.

See the answer to Question 6 above.

USAID will not consider a Matrix of Target Municipalities with selection criteria and justification as an Annex and outside of the 20 page limit.

26 Section C.6 Objectives, Grants under Contract states that “the Offeror must also identify the portion of its budget that will be set aside for Grants

See the answer to Question 9 above.

under Contract to local or other partners, with a minimum amount of 15%, and the portion that will be dedicated to a Rapid Response mechanism, with a minimum amount of 10%.” However, section

H.13 states that “Under this contract the Contractor will be able to execute up to $3 million in grants on behalf of USAID.” Please clarify the total dollar amount or percentage portion of the total envisioned funding for Grants under Contract and Rapid

Response, respectively.

SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES

27 Section I.3 Clause 52.225-19 states that “ The

Contractor shall comply with, and shall ensure that its personnel in the designated operational area or supporting the diplomatic or consular mission are familiar with and comply with, all applicable … (4)

Force protection, security, health, or safety orders, directives, and instructions issued by the Chief of

Mission or the Combatant Commander; however, only the Contracting Officer is authorized to modify the terms and conditions of the contract.” Can

USAID confirm if this clause applies to this contract considering the scope of work to be performed and the additional requirements that this clause details for any expatriate staff?

This is standard language in Clause 52.225-19. In the event paragraph (4) of this Clause is enforced during the implementation of the resulting contract, the Contracting

Officer will be responsible for advising the contractor of any implications to the contract, as it relates to cost or other related issues.

SECTION J - ATTACHMENTS

28 Additional Attachments Section J is modified under Amendment 3 of this

Solicitation to add additional Attachments.

SECTION L – INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS

Past Performance

29 Section L.8 (C)(1)(h) references an “illustrative

Work Plan for the intervention.” Would USAID allow offerors to present the work plan in an annex or on pages that do not count against the page limitations?

The illustrative work plan is part of the Technical Approach and counts towards the 20-page limit.

30 Section L.8. Instructions for the Preparation of

Technical Proposal: please confirm that the illustrative work plan required on RFP page 159 may be included as an annex to the technical proposal.

See the answer to Question No. 29 above.

31 Section L.8 (C)(2) requests that a mobilization plan be submitted as an annex. Can USAID please confirm if there is a page limit for this annex and if there is a proposed period (e.g., 90 days) that the mobilization plan should cover?

Per Section L.C.8.2, the Mobilization Plan should be included as part of the annexes and does not count against the overall 20 page limit for the technical proposal. There is no specified period of time for the Mobilization Plan.

32 Section L.8. Instructions for the Preparation of

Technical Proposal: please confirm that the

Mobilization Plan mentioned on page 161 is to be included as Annex F to the technical proposal.

See the answer to Question No. 31 above.

33 Section L.8.A, Instructions for the Preparation of

Technical Proposal, General, on page 158:

a) Please confirm that offerors may submit a cover, cover letter, table of contents, and acronym list for the Technical Proposal that do not count toward the 20-page limit.

b) Would USAID consider extending the page limit for the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (currently limited to 5 pages)?

c) Please confirm that the Mobilization Plan referenced in Section L.8.C.3 on page 161 is an annex in addition to those already listed (A-E).

USAID confirms:

a) Offerors may submit a cover, cover letter, table of contents, and acronym list for the Technical

Proposal that do not count toward the 20-page limit.

b) The Draft Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Plan is not to exceed 5 pages.

c) Per Section L.C.8.2, the Mobilization Plan should be included as part of the annexes and does not count against the overall 20 pages limit for the technical proposal.

34 Section L.8. Instructions for the Preparation of

Technical Proposal: please confirm that the offeror may include a cover letter, table of contents, and acronym list that do not count against the page limit.

See the answer to Question No. 33 above.

35 Section L.8.C.2 on page 160 of Amendment 1 states

“The Offeror must not propose individuals to fill these roles [Key Personnel]; however, the Offeror must certify that the names and CVs of personnel to fill these key roles will be submitted by the Offeror for Contracting Officer approval within five business days of the date of award. The successful contractor must be ready to provide a primary and at least one alternate for each key position.” Section

L.9 Part 2.3 on page 164 of Amendment 1 states, “EBDs must be included for all key personnel.”

Given these two statements, would USAID please clarify if offerors are to include EBDs for proposed

Key Personnel? If so,

a) Would USAID please confirm EBDs are only to be included for primary candidates proposed for Key Personnel positions, not alternate candidates?

b) Would USAID please confirm offerors are to include salaries and associated allowances, if applicable, for primary candidates within the Cost Proposal, and not to include any references to alternate candidates?

c) Would USAID please confirm EBDs are only to be included for Key Personnel positions, and not for all identified staff as required on page 164 of Amendment 1?

d) In addition, Section H.8 on page 49, requires that an offeror include “as part of

USAID confirms that:

The Offeror must include signed Employee Biographical

Data Sheets for the primary candidate of the Key Personnel positions identified by USAID--Chief of Party and Deputy

Chief of Party. The reference in Section L.8.C.2 only pertains to any additional Key Personnel positions proposed by the Offeror.

a) Signed Contractor Employee Biographical Data

Sheets are required only for primary candidates for the two identified Key Personnel positions of

Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party.

b) Offerors are required to include salaries and associated allowances, if applicable, for primary candidates within the Cost Proposal. They are not required to include any references to alternate candidates in the Cost Proposal.

c) EBDs must be submitted for all identified staff at the moment of submission of the cost proposal.

d) The only identified Key Personnel in the solicitation are Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of

Party. As such, the Offeror should include as part of its proposal a statement signed by all individuals proposed as key personnel for Chief of

Party and Deputy Chief of Party only, confirming their present intention to serve in the stated position and their present availability to serve for the term of the proposed contract.

its proposal a statement signed by all individuals proposed as key personnel, confirming their present intention to serve in the stated position and their present availability to serve for the term of the proposed contract.” As we are instructed not to name key personnel in the Technical

Proposal, please clarify.

36 Section L.8(C)(2) states that the offeror “must not propose individuals” to fill key personnel roles.

However, Section L.9, Part 2(3), states that employee biographical data sheets are required for all identified personnel, Section L.9, Part 2(4)(A) states that the contractor must include signed employee biographical data sheets for all key personnel, and Section H.8 requires Offerors to submit signed statements from key personnel on their intention and availability to serve for the term of the contract. Can USAID confirm that offerors should not name key personnel roles, should not provide signed statements of intention to serve in stated position, and that biographical data sheets are not required for either key personnel or non-key personnel?

See the answer to Question No. 32 above.

37 Section L.9, Part 2(3) of the RFP requests the most recently negotiated indirect cost rate agreement

(NICRA) for all proposed subcontractors. However, Section L.9, Part 2 (4)(J)(i) requests this information for “each major subcontractor.” Can

USAID confirm that the contractor must only provide a NICRA for major subcontractors?

USAID confirms that Offerors must provide a NICRA for all identified subcontractors or subrecipients.

38 Section L.9, Part 2(H) states that offerors included in the competitive range will be required to submit a small business subcontracting plan in accordance with FAR Part 19. 4 Can USAID confirm that a small business subcontracting plan is not required to be submitted in the offeror’s original proposal?

USAID confirms that Offerors included in the competitive range will be required to submit a small business subcontracting plan in accordance with FAR Part 19. The small business subcontracting plan is not required to be submitted in the Offeror’s original proposal.

39 Section L.9, Part 2(I) states that offerors must include a plug figure of $3 million for grants under contract. May offerors propose specific grantees and corresponding values for a portion of this $3 million fund?

According to Section L.8.C, the technical approach must include “Any proposed sub-partners, and if applicable, inclusion of New or Underutilized Partners per the New

Partnership Initiative.”

If Offerors identified a sub-partner under the GUC component to implement project activities, Offerors must include not only the corresponding value of this sub-partner but also a detailed cost/budget, the same as Offerors would be required to submit for a major subcontractor.

40 Section L.9 (4)(A) requires offerors to adhere to the

USAID Local Employee Compensation Plan. We respectfully request that this salary restriction be

Reference to offerors adherence to the USAID local

Employee Compensation Plan will be deleted from this paragraph.

removed from the RFP as it appears to be inconsistent with AIDAR 752.7007 Personnel

Compensation, incorporated in the contract under

Section H.14 which stipulates that personnel compensation be in accordance with the contractor’s established policies, procedures, and practices, with reimbursement subject only to the

USAID Contractor Salary Threshold. The salary restriction above may preclude contractors from following their established policies, procedures, and practices, as required by AIDAR 752.700.

To comply with the requirements of AIDAR 752.7007 and

722.170 (setting aside Mission Director/AA approval of an exception under 722.170(b), the contractor must provide adequate information and justification in the cost proposal for USAID to determine the reasonableness and allowability of CCN-TCN compensation.

41 Per Section L.9, the RFP requires offerors to include value added tax (VAT) in the unit costs of projected expenses. We respectfully request clarification on the intention of this pricing methodology as it is inconsistent with how VAT has been priced in cost proposals in the past

The Government of Mexico does not have a system to exonerate international donors like USAID of the VAT costs. Therefore, Offerors must include the VAT in the unit costs of projected expenses.

42 Section L.9, Part 4 – Policies and Procedures states

“Upon request of the Contracting Officer, the

Offeror will submit policies and procedures, especially regarding salary scales, fringe benefits, merit increases, promotions, leave, differentials, travel, procurement and per diem, etc.” However, Section L.9 (4)(A) states “The offeror’s budget note for the annual salary increase must reference the section(s), page and paragraph number(s) of the offeror’s compensation policy underlying the proposed annual salary increase.” Can USAID clarify if the offeror is required to submit our policies and procedures?

Policies and Procedures related to the Offeror’s Total

Compensation Plan for the proposed project must be included as part of the Cost Proposal, especially regarding salary scales, fringe benefits, merit increases, differentials and promotions, if these are part of the Offeror’s Total

Compensation Plan. Policies and Procedures related to other systems are not required to be submitted.

43 Section L.2(d) on page 154 of Amendment 1 states proposals in response to this solicitation will be valid for the number of days specified on the solicitation cover sheet; however, no cover sheet was provided with the solicitation. Section L.6(g) on page 156 requires a validity period of 260 days.

Would USAID please confirm the minimum validity period for the proposal?

As required in Section L.6(b), Offerors are required to state the validity period of its offer in Block 12 of the SF 33

“Solicitation, Offer and Award”, which is included in the

Solicitation.

44 Regarding the font size specifications noted in

Section L.8.B, on page 158, we respectfully request that offerors be permitted to use 10-point font for text boxes, tables, and charts.

Offerors may present text in boxes, tables, and charts in 10-point font.

45 Section L.8.C.(1) on pages 158-159 of Amendment

1 states that the “Offeror must identify the portion of its budget that will be set aside for Grants under

Contracts to local or other partners, with a minimum amount of 15%, and the portion that will be dedicated to a Rapid Response Mechanism, with a minimum amount of 10%. The Grants under

Contracts and Rapid Response do not need to be mutually exclusive.” However, Section L.9.(4)(I) on page 175 states that Offerors must use a plug figure of $3,000,000. Would USAID please confirm that

Refer to answer to Question No. 9 above.

the plug figure of $3,000,000 may be split between the Grants Under Contract and the Rapid Response

Mechanism?

46 In Section L.8, Other Annexes, Annex D -

Environmental Management Plan on page 162, USAID requires that the annex include the

Offeror’s illustrative budget for implementing the environmental compliance activities. Given this annex is currently part of the Technical Proposal, would USAID consider either moving the annex to the Cost Proposal or removing the illustrative budget portion from Annex D, and include that portion within the budget narrative?

Illustrative budgeting for implementing environmental compliance activities should be included in offeror’s cost proposals, if applicable.

Annex D - Environmental Management Plan should still be included as part of the Technical Approach. Any reference to cost related to this Plan must be included in the detail cost proposal.

47 Section L.9(1) on page 163 of Amendment 1 states that the Summary Budget should coincide with the

CLIN budget template specified in Section B.

However, the summary budget in Section B.3 on page 1 includes only CLIN 0001, Technical

Assistance. There are no other mentions of CLINs within the solicitation. Would USAID consider removing all references to a CLIN Budget since there appears to be only one CLIN for this activity?

The Summary Budget should coincide with the CLIN budget template specified in Section B, which includes four major sub-line items: Direct Costs, Indirect Costs, Grants under Contracts and Fixed Fee.

The Detailed Budget should include all traditional line items: Salaries, including benefits, STTA, Travel, allowances, procurement, equipment, subcontracts, communications and participant training, indirect costs, Grants under Contracts, and Fixed Fee.

48 Section L.9.1 on page 171 requires an original signature on the SF-33. Could USAID please confirm the acceptability of an electronic signature for the SF-33?

Electronic signature of SF 33 will be accepted.

SECTION M – EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD

49 Section M.2, Factor 2 requests that offerors “present a clear proposed organization structure” and a

“proposed management structure”. Would USAID consider allowing offerors to present graphics to illustrate these requirements in an annex or on pages that do not count against the page limitations?

Per Section L.8.A., USAID/Mexico confirms that the 20-page limitation applies to all information related to the

Executive Summary, Technical approach and/or

Management Plan, including tables and graphics. USAID will not consider graphics to illustrate the Factor 2 in

Section M.2 (Personnel and Management Approach) included as an Annex and outside of the 20 page limit.

OTHERS

50 Would USAID share the last two annual performance…