Responses_to_Questions_67839.pdf

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS RECEIVED IN RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL NUMBER

75D30118P67839

Question 1

Page 2 Section B

Should travel be included in the FFP budget, or will it be a separate amount funded as T&M?

Response to Question 1

Create a Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) for travel. Travel shall be in accordance with the Federal

Travel Regulations. Travel will be reimbursed for cost only.

Question 2

Page 4 Background and Need

Who conducted the 2013 needs assessment referenced in the Background and Need?

Response to Question 2

CDC personnel working in the ME/CFS program conducted the needs assessment referenced.

Question 3

Page 5 Project objectives, scope of work

The RFQ states demonstrated experience in at least 45 states and also mentions engaging workforce at multiple levels. What is the total sample size CDC expects to be included in the project? Should there be representatives from each of the 4 levels (e.g., local, district, state and national) within each state?

Response to Question 3

CDC is seeking to establish a surveillance system that will be representative of the nation. The offeror should justify the sample size and level of representation on the basis of achieving the goals of the surveillance.

Question 4

Page 5 Project objectives, scope of work

Does CDC want the project to focus solely on school nurses given that some schools do not have a school nurse onsite?

Response to Question 4

School nurses as the most efficient option for surveillance. However, other options may be proposed.

Question 5

Page 6 Task 3

Task 3. For budgeting purposes, how many trainings should the contractor assume will take place with the nurse workforce data champions?

Response to Question 5

The offeror should determine the number of training needed to achieve the goals of the project and include justification in the proposal.

Question 6

Page 6 Task 4

Task 4. Would CDC prefer an open source data platform or a customized, proprietary data platform developed by the contracting team?

Response to Question 6

The data platform selected by the offeror should be fit for purpose and justified in the proposal. It could be open source or customized.

Question 7

Page 6 Task 5

Task 5. For budgeting purposes, how many demonstration jurisdictions should be included in the budget? The SOW states “one or more” but given the FFP nature of the work, additional costing guidance is requested.

Response to Question 7

The offeror should propose the number of demonstration projects that they feel would be needed to establish the system they propose.

Question 8

What is the FIPS 199 security categorization level for this system?

Response to Question 8

It depends on what data the surveillance will collect, integrity and availability of the data surveillance.

Please use NIST SP 800-60 Vol 2 Rev 1 as the reference.

Question 9

Will the contractor be required to submit a Privacy Impact Assessment?

Response to Question 9

If the contractor host or develop the surveillance system for CDC, the Privacy Impact Assessment for

SA&A process is required.

Question 10

Will the contractor be expected to participate in a Security Assessment & Authorization (SA&A) effort? If so, what is the expected level of involvement from the contractor? Are there any ongoing

SA&A activities that should be included in the proposed budget?

Response to Question 10

Yes. The contractor will need to provide information regarding the system to be built/hosted, response the questions our IT Security Office requested and remediate vulnerability found from the vulnerability scan. Please use NIST SP 800-53 Rev 4/5 as the reference

Question 11

Please identify the incumbent contractor for this work and the contract number.

Response to Question 11

This is a new contract.

Question 12

Please clarify the resume requirement. Under the Instructions for Staffing Plan, item B says

“resumes for proposed Key Personnel (limited to two (2) pages per resume) “. Under the Instructions for Experience of Personnel, Item A says “Curriculum Vitae for staff and/or personnel which documents relevant training, qualifications, and experience.” Does the government want both Resumes and Curriculum Vitae?

Response to Question 12

If offeror can provide sufficient information to clearly reflect experience, qualification and training of key personnel guiding the project in resume, that will suffice.

Question 13

How will the past performance be evaluated?

Response to Question 13

On page 50 under Evaluation Criteria, the solicitation states “Past performance will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis”.

Question 14

Will the government consider the past performance of any subcontractors as part of the evaluation?

Response to Question 14

Offeror will need to justify the role of any subcontractors and provide evidence that they can be relied upon to provide required services.

Question 15

Page 6, Technical Requirements, Task 5 – Have data sharing agreements already been developed or will that be the responsibility of the contractor?

a. Is data expected to be collected from the full jurisdiction or a sample size?

Response to Question 15

Data sharing agreements will need to be developed by contractor, CDC and jurisdictions. Extent of data collection proposed should be determined by offeror.

Question 16

Page 6, Technical Requirements, Task 6 – Will a previous needs assessment be made available to the contractor, or will one be required for this SOW?

Response to Question 16

Needs assessment is part of work under Task 6.

Question 17

Page 6, Technical Requirements, Task 7 – Based on the statement “The Offeror shall provide education to nurses about chronic illness conditions including ME/CFS and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)”, will any other illnesses need to be considered in this SOW?

Response to Question 17

Offeror may propose to include other illnesses. All work proposed by offeror should be justified as needed to achieve the goals of the project.

Question 18

Page 6, Technical Requirements, Task 7 – What “other causes of chronic absenteeism and early withdrawal” beyond asthma, diabetes type I, diabetes type II, and seizures should the contractor be prepared to consider in this SOW?

b. Will this baseline raw data be provided to the contractor?

Response to Question 18

Determining causes of chronic absenteeism and chronic withdrawal is within the scope of work. No current data is available.

Question 19

What tool is the surveillance system currently using to populate the data?

Response to Question 19

This project is to design or develop a new surveillance system. Nothing is currently in place.

Question 20

A survey is usually the tool that is created to capture surveillance information, but the solicitation doesn’t mention anything about a tool for capturing the data needed to populate the surveillance system, so is a survey an expected work product?

Response to Question 20

A survey along with methods for administration and evaluation of data integrity is an expected work product.

Question 21

L.9, c, 3

Offeror understands there is indeterminate travel to be required during execution of the SOW. Since the number of trips, destination, length of stay, and other details required to provide an accurate travel budget for this firm fixed price requirement cannot be known at this time, request the CDC either:

1) Provide a fixed, not-to-exceed designated travel number for all offerors to enable the CDC to objectively compare and evaluate all offerors’ pricing;

OR

2) Create a separate, cost reimbursable CLIN for travel.

Response to Question 21

Create a Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) for travel. Travel will be reimbursed for cost only.

Question 22

Is there a set definition, qualifications, or pre-determined pool of data champions, or will the offeror be responsible for identifying and selecting these individuals?

Response to Question 22

Offeror will be responsible for identifying and selecting data champions.

Question 23

What level of involvement will CDC have in defining the requirements for the data platform? Has any initial work been done in this area that can be shared, or will that be part of the scope of work?

Response to Question 23

CDC will work with the awardee to define and evaluate data platform. No initial work has been done in this area.

Question 24

In Task 4, should our budget include the cost of the data platform, or will that amount be negotiated separately by CDC?

Response to Question 24

The proposal should include the cost of the data platform.

Question 25

Question regarding terminology: What qualifies as a Past Performance Evaluation? Our current government grants do not provide this specific report. Is there another report you would like us to provide in its place.

Response to Question 25

For this solicitation, please provide the information listed under L.11 Past Performance.

Question 26

Is there a mandatory or target scope or size of demonstration jurisdiction?

Response to Question 26

There is no mandatory scope or size of demonstration jurisdiction. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of their responsiveness to establishing a surveillance system that will eventually be nationally representative.

Question 27

Page 7, HHSAR Provision, 352.239-73: Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Notice

1) Is the HHS Section 508 Product Assessment Template referenced on page 7 of the RFP required at proposal submission, or to be provided following award?

2) If required at proposal submission, please confirm the Template should be provided as an appendix and does not count toward the Technical Proposal page limit, as it is a lengthy document.

Response to Question 27

1. 508 Product Assessment Template referenced on page 7 of the RFP is required at proposal submission.

2. The template should be provided as an appendix and does not count toward the Technical Proposal page limit.

Question 28

Pages 50, 2, 20 - M.3, Technical Evaluation Criteria; Section B; F.5

Section M of the RFP states “Past performance will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Cost and Price will be evaluated, but not scored, to ensure a proper balance throughout the 24 month period of performance.”

Sections B and F.5 of the RFP indicate the period of performance is 36 months. Please confirm the period of performance should be 36 months.

Response to Question 28

The period of performance is 36 months.

Question 29

Pages 43-44; L.3 FAR 52.222-46 Evaluation of Compensation for Professional Employees (Feb 1993)

Please confirm the total compensation plan required as part of proposal submission should be provided as an appendix in the Business Proposal.

Response to Question 29

Total compensation plan that is required as part of the proposal submission should be provided as an appendix in the Business Proposal.

Question 30

Page 51, M.3, B. Staffing Plan, d.

Please confirm written copy(ies) of the draft subcontracting agreement(s) and any Service Level

Agreements should be provided as an appendix and are excluded from the Technical Proposal page limit.

Response to Question 30

Written copy(ies) of the draft subcontracting agreement(s) and any Service Level Agreements should be provided as an appendix and are excluded from the Technical Proposal page limit.

Question 31

Page 45, L.8, (a)

Will the Government allow 10-point font size for tables and 8-point font size for graphics?

Response to Question 31

The Government will allow 10-point font size for tables and 8-point font size for graphs.

Question 32

Page 6, C, Task 3

Please provide the total number of nurses to be trained.

Response to Question 32

Offeror should determine and justify the total number of nurses to be trained.

Question 33

Pages 5, 51 – C, Scope of Work; M.3, C, Management Plan

The RFP states “The Offeror shall have demonstrated experience and capacity with working with the school nurse workforce in at least 45 states to collect and submit data pertaining to standardized definitions for chronic illnesses and other parameters.”

1) Does the Government require training in 45 states? If so, please identify those states.

2) Will the 5 other states be considered as follow-on work for the next phase of the project? What are the considerations for training these states?

Response to Question 33

The intent is to include the maximum number of states to make the surveillance as representative of the nation as possible. The offeror should justify the states included in their proposal.

Question 34

Page 47 – L.11, Past Performance

“The Offeror should include 3 contracts with similar requirements as described in the statement of work completed during the past three years Additionally, the contractor shall include any contracts discontinued within the past three years and reasons for discontinuation.”

Please confirm any discontinued contracts discussed in offerors’ proposals should be those contracts

“with similar requirements as described in the SOW.”

Response to Question 34

Yes, any discontinued contracts discussed in an offerors’ proposals should be those contracts with similar requirements as described in the SOW.

Question 35

Page 6, C, Task 6

How does the Government define a “nurse”? Are there any education requirements?

Response to Question 35

Nurse refers to a Registered Nurse (RN). Other qualifications, such as Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) could be proposed with justification as to match between qualifications and needs of the project.

Question 36

Page 1: 45 - How does the Government define a “nurse”? Are there any education requirements?

Response to Question 36

Nurse refers to a Registered Nurse (RN). Other qualifications, such as Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) could be proposed with justification as to match between qualifications and needs of the project.

Question 37

Page 1; 45 – A, Standard Form 33, Block 9, L.6, g

Due to the detailed level of documentation required from Prime offerors and subcontractors, will the

Government please extend the proposal submission due date to August 24, 2018, by 10:00 AM ET?

Response to Question 37

The due date will not be extended.