Montgomery County, PA Office of the Commissioners

Request for Proposal (RFP): 26-01 Language Access Services

1. Purpose The intent of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to obtain firm fixed price proposals from qualified Contractors to provide Over-the-Phone Interpretation (OPI), Video Remote Interpretation (VRI), Remote Video Conferencing (RVC), Simultaneous Live Interpretation, In-Person Interpretation, Document Translation and Transcriptions and services for the Visually and Hearing-Impaired for various Montgomery County (County) departments on an “as-needed-basis”, three hundred sixty-five (365) days a year/ seven (7) days a week/ twenty-four (24) hours a day. The County intends to select a pool of providers as a result of this RFP. The County does not guarantee any minimum services to any one (1) Contractor. Vendors MUST include standardized glossaries and/or predictive text generators for cost reduction purposes. Confirm supported platforms for VRI/RVC (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Zoom) and any licensing requirements for the County.

2. Background Information Montgomery County is located approximately 20 miles west of Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Governed by a three-member Board of Commissioners, the County government is a large, diverse organization whose mission is to provide quality services in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

Montgomery County, with over 865,000 residents, is the third most populus County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and has a population greater than four states (Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and North Dakota). Some of the services the County government provides its citizens include human services, a highly regarded community college, child welfare services, an outstanding park and historic site system, mental health services, and a judiciary recognized as one of the Commonwealth’s finest.

The County’s prudent fiscal management and integrity is constantly borne out by the highest AAA Bond Rating possible from the financial marketplace – one of less than 50 counties in the U.S. with such a rating.

RFP for Language Interpretation Services

3. Scope of Work The County is seeking (at a minimum) the following types of Language and Translation Services:

Over-the-Phone Interpretation (OPI)

This service provides real-time language interpretation via telephone, ensuring immediate communication access for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP).

• Available in over 200 languages, 24/7, for county staff and limited public use.

• Use Cases: 911 and other emergency calls, to include services for high-priority, life-safety emergencies with no service interruption.

• quick consultations, intake processes, and situations where in-person or video interpretation is not feasible.

Contractor shall make available and provide over-the-phone interpretation services to all County departments upon request and in any setting where interpretation is needed.

Over-the-phone interpretation services must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days of the year, Support 3-way calling and including all holidays.

Contractor must make over-the-phone interpretation accessible through dedicated toll-free numbers, interpreter applications, and web portals. Contractor must provide over-phone-interpretation to Limited English Proficient individuals in all languages needed by the County and identified list of languages identified in the Language List, including languages of lesser diffusion. It is of paramount importance to ensure that all 911 calls are handled in a timely and accurate manner.

a. Contractor will provide the County with qualified interpreters as defined herein.

“Qualified interpreter” for the purpose of this master agreement means “an individual who (a) adheres to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC) (b) has demonstrated proficiency in speaking and understanding both spoken English and at least one other spoken language, and (c) via a video remote interpretation (VRI) service, telephone, or an on-site appearance, is able to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially to and from such language(s) and English, using any necessary specialized vocabulary or terms without changes, omissions, or additions and while preserving the tone, sentiment, and emotional level of the original oral statement.”

b. Contractor must provide an immediate response to the phone call and connect the County department or agency to the next available interpreter for the requested language within the following mandatory timeframes 95% of the time: 1) Maximum answer time (The time for a Contractor’s client service representative to accept an incoming call): five (5) seconds 2) Maximum connection time (The time for a Contractor’s Client Services Representative to connect to an interpreter or, if using a fully automated access, the time it takes to connect to an interpreter): 30 seconds for commonly used languages in the County.

c. Contractor must have sufficient staffing/capacity to answer up to 60,000 calls per month from the County. Contractor shall provide the County with the opportunity to brief the interpreter to provide background and context on the situation prior to initiating the interpreted conversation.

d. Contractor shall provide various support materials designed to build public awareness of the language access services available to the public, as well as printed materials for County staff.

Contractor must ensure that the services provided are accurate and of high quality to ensure effective communication and accessibility for Limited English Proficient individuals. The Contractor will also ensure that the equipment and technology used for services are reliable and of high quality to ensure effective communication with County staff and LEP individuals accessing service.

Services to be performed for any and all projects will be determined as the need arises and will be communicated to the Contractor that has been awarded a Master Agreement. Contractor shall process service request submitted through any County-approved means, including by phone, email, and through a secure portal. Each County Department or Agency will have an individual account or unique client ID number under this contract and will request services from the Contractor directly with the Contractor invoicing each Department.

Video Remote Interpretation (VRI)

VRI offers on-demand interpretation through secure video platforms, combining audio and visual cues for better understanding.

• Ideal for American Sign Language (ASL) and languages where facial expressions and gestures are critical.

• Use Cases: Medical appointments, social services, and counseling sessions.

Contractor shall make available and provide Video Remote Interpretation services and simultaneous live interpretation through a variety of video-hosting platforms, including but not limited to Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other similar platforms upon request by the County. For video-remote interpretation, Contractor shall provide video interpretation services through an application that can be accessed on a smartphone, tablet, or iPad and/or desktop computer and laptop devices.

Must adhere to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC)

Remote Video Conferencing (RVC)

This service integrates interpretation into scheduled virtual meetings on platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

• Can include multiple interpreters or AI-powered multilingual support for large sessions.

• Use Cases: Public hearings, community forums, inter-agency meetings, and training sessions.

Contractor shall make available and provide remote video conferencing services and simultaneous live interpretation through a variety of video-hosting platforms, including but not limited to Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other similar platforms upon request by the County. For video-remote interpretation, Contractor shall provide video interpretation services through an application that can be accessed on a smartphone, tablet, or iPad and/or desktop computer and laptop devices.

Must adhere to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC)

Simultaneous Live Interpretation

Provides real-time interpretation during live events or meetings, often using headsets, audio channels, or AI tools. As needed.

• Suitable for conferences, town halls, and large-scale public events.

• Use Cases: County commissioner meetings, cultural celebrations, and emergency briefings.

Contractor shall make available and provide Simultaneous Live video conferencing services and simultaneous live interpretation through a variety of video-hosting platforms, including but not limited to Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and other similar platforms upon request by the County. For video-remote interpretation, Contractor shall provide video interpretation services through an application that can be accessed on a smartphone, tablet, or iPad and/or desktop computer and laptop devices.

Must adhere to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC[N)

In-Person Interpretation

Professional interpreters are physically present to assist with communication in sensitive or complex settings.

• Critical for high-stakes interactions such as medical services, hearings, and child welfare cases.

• Use Cases: Clinics, social service offices, and law enforcement interviews.

The Contractor will provide the services for spoken language and American Sign Language (ASL) through on-site, in-person interpretation to all County Departments.

Contractor shall provide onsite in-person interpretation of spoken language or American Sign Language (ASL) to individuals who are limited English proficient and Deaf or hard of hearing for County Departments or Agencies. Contractor shall provide all interpretation services to limited English proficient individuals that are requested by the County, including, but not limited to, simultaneous and consecutive interpretation in all languages needed by the County and identified in the Language List, including languages of lesser diffusion. Contractor shall provide the County with qualified interpreters. “Qualified interpreter” for the purpose of this master agreement means “an individual who (a) adheres to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC) (b) has demonstrated proficiency in speaking and understanding both spoken English and at least one other spoken language, and (c) via a video remote interpretation (VRI) service, telephone, or an on-site appearance, can interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially to and from such language(s) and English, using any necessary specialized vocabulary or terms without changes, omissions, or additions and while preserving the tone, sentiment, and emotional level of the original oral statement.” The Contractor must ensure that all interpreters who provide in-person interpretation at any County Department or Agency are fully compliant with the County’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements (as set forth in Exhibit A). Furthermore, the Contractor will ensure that interpreters have proper personal protective equipment (PPEs), as needed, for the setting. Services to be performed for any and all projects will be determined as the need arises and will be communicated to the Contractor that has been awarded a Master Agreement. Contractor shall process service requests submitted through any County-approved means, including by phone, email, and through a secure portal for processing service requests. Contractor must establish individual accounts or unique client ID numbers for each County Department or County approved Agency and Providers under this Agreement and must provide department or agency specific invoices to each. Proposed rates should be applicable to all County Departments, Agencies and Providers.

Must adhere to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC)

Document Translation and Transcriptions

Professional translation of written materials into multiple languages to ensure accessibility.

• Includes vital documents, outreach materials, forms, signage, and digital content.

• Use Cases: Public notices, victim’s statements, health guidelines, emergency alerts, and educational resources.

The Contractor will provide document translation services to all County Departments.

Contractor shall provide the types of services described herein, including, but not limited to translating, formatting, and field testing of non-English language forms;

translating and formatting of non-English legal documents and contracts, translation and formatting of posters, brochures and other informative leaflets/notices and websites/selected web pages, translating and formatting of correspondence, and/or the conversion of technical or complex forms into “Plain Language English” which is readability at a fifth-grade reading level. The Contractor shall make available and provide document translation services to all County departments upon request.

Interpretation and translation services must be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days of the year. The term “translation” for the purposes of this master agreement means “conveying meaning, style, tone, and intent from text written in one language to text written in another language” and any other translation related tasks such as transcreation, localization, editing, and proofreading. Contractor shall provide translation services for all materials requested by the County, including, but not limited to, translating and formatting of written content in paper or electronic form of medical and legal documents, vital written materials, contracts, brochures, and other informative leaflets/notices, websites, selected web pages, correspondences, forms, publications, autogenerated text, and conversion of technical or complex forms into “Plain Language” that is readability at a fifth-grade reading level. Contractor shall provide translation from English into the target language and vice versa as needed by the County. Translation must be provided by Contractor for all languages identified in the Language List incorporated in this Agreement, including languages of lesser diffusion. Contractor shall provide the County with qualified translators as defined here.

“Qualified translator” for the purpose of this master agreement means “an individual who (a) adheres to generally accepted translator ethics principles, including client confidentiality, (b) has demonstrated proficiency in writing and understanding both written English and at least one other written non-English language, and (c) is able to translate effectively, accurately, and impartially to and from such language(s) and English, using any necessary specialized vocabulary or terms without changes, omissions, or additions and while preserving the tone, sentiment, and emotional level of the original written statement.” Services to be performed for any and all projects will be determined as the need arises and will be communicated to the Contractor.

Contractor shall process service request submitted through any County-approved means, including by phone, email, and through a secure portal for processing of service requests. Contractor must establish individual accounts or unique client ID numbers for each County Department or Agency under this Agreement and must provide department- or agency-specific invoices to each department or agency.

Must adhere to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC[N)

Visually and Hearing-Impaired Services

Comprehensive services for individuals with visual or hearing impairments, ensuring compliance with ADA and language access standards.

• Includes ASL interpretation, real-time captioning, Braille, large print, screen-reader compatible formats, and multilingual 911 texting capabilities in different languages.

• Use Cases: Emergency services, public meetings, healthcare, and educational programs.

The Contractor will provide the services for certified deaf interpreters, tactile Interpreting, and legal interpreting to all County Departments and Agencies.

Contractor shall provide the types of services described herein, including, but not limited to, Certified Deaf Interpreters, Tactile Interpreting, and Legal Interpreting services to individuals who are visually impaired or hard of hearing and who are interacting with or receiving services from County Departments or Agencies. Contractor shall also provide audio description, real-time closed captioning, closed captioning services, application remediation, eLearning Testing, PLT accessibility Testing, document compliance (PDF/Word/etc.), training, and general consultations

Must adhere to generally accepted interpreter ethics principles, including client confidentiality, and to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice published by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (NCIHC[N)

4. Quality Assurance

The Contractor must have established Quality Assurance practices that ensure the accuracy of interpretations. Contractor must implement a quality assurance process that includes at least the following practices: proofreading and editing, review of interpretations for accuracy, process for soliciting and implementing customer feedback, assessing timeliness of translations, and procedures for ensuring consistency with preferred terminology of a County department or agency or particular sector (e.g., public health, legal), while considering cultural nuances and ensuring completion of documents in a timely manner. For the avoidance of doubt, all materials translated by Contractor, including the first draft of the translation and any subsequent draft, must be proofread by the Contractor before they are provided to the County.

5. Confidentiality

The Contractor is responsible for the confidentiality of all information shared with them and will take the appropriate actions to keep the information or materials they receive confidential throughout the translation or interpretation process Which may include Personal Identifying Information, PII. At a minimum, Contractor shall limit access to County documents to translators and management staff for purposes of translation, and it shall not discuss information that interpreted with anyone, except for County staff and other Contractor staff for purposes of providing services pursuant to this Agreement. The Contractor will use encrypted passwords to protect any County documents shared with the Contractor for purposes of providing services. The Parties acknowledge that protecting the confidentiality of the information shared by County residents and the County’s data are critical to the satisfactory provision of services.

Contractor shall adopt measures to ensure the confidentiality of information shared in documents and during interpretations, including by ensuring the confidentiality of the medium through which interpretation is offered. County documents and information may be used only as authorized under the terms of this Agreement and only to provide the interpretation and translation services outlined in this Agreement. Contractor shall not disclose information obtained in the provision of services for any unauthorized purpose. Contractor is required to notify the County immediately if anyone requests our information. The Contractor, staff, and subcontractors with access to the County’s information will take all steps to keep all information confidential such as having staff agree to confidentiality policies (e.g., nondisclosure agreements, organization’s code of ethics, etc.). Contractor shall advise all staff supporting the provision of services to the County of requirements for handling County information and the mandatory procedures for maintaining the confidentiality of County information. County departments and agencies may be subject to specific confidentiality laws that may apply to the provision of services pursuant to this Agreement. Contractor must comply with any applicable confidentiality laws in the provision of services to the County department or agency. Contractor further understands and acknowledges that it may be required to execute. Contractor must inform the County if anyone or entity requests any of our information.

6. Training and Certification Process

The Contractor is required to have an established training plan for all staff in order to provide uniform service delivery to all County departments and agencies. Contractor must have a company certification process and standards for hiring staff and ongoing certification. The certification process and ongoing certification requirements may include internal written or oral proficiency tests that addresses industry-specific terminology, cultural and localization issues, and integrated translation skills/fluency for both English and the candidate or Contractor staff member’s native language. The Contractor shall identify all accreditations from relevant accrediting associations (e.g., American Translators Association, ISO standards, National Accreditation Authority, medical translations, etc.) held by its translators and/or interpreters. The Contractor will also provide information on any industry service arenas they may have specializations in (e.g., medical, legal, social services etc.). The Contractor will conduct a refresher training and re-assessment with designated County staff, or within thirty (30) days of any change in the Contractor’s current policies and procedures. Interpreters to have criminal clearances and child abuse clearances. Policies and procedures need to identify and mitigate conflicts, especially within small linguistic communities.

7. Reports

1. Contractor shall provide analyses and data relating to its services to the County, including document invoices, total translated languages, word counts, total expenditures, and unique client ID number records. Contractor must provide such data in a format that will facilitate the creation of customized reports and analysis including the ability to segregate data and to break out the day by year, quarter, month, week or day if needed.

2. Customizable reports whether by request or from an online data portal will be provided to accommodate all of the County’s reporting/tracking and project scheduling requirements, including, but not limited to, summary reports for number/timeframe/day of week of requests received during standard/non-standard hours, for expedited written requests, during observed holidays, for routine written requests, etc.

8. Language List

Spanish Mandarin Chinese Cantonese Vietnamese Korean Arabic Russian Polish Portuguese Ukrainian K’iche’ Mam French Haitian Creole Hindi Gujarati Tagalog Urdu Bengali Punjabi Hmong Persian German Italian Thai Japanese Armenian Greek Turkish Hebrew Yoruba Igbo Twi Somali Amharic Swahili Nepali Pashto Farsi Malayalam Tamil Telugu Kannada Sinhala Marathi Oriya Assamese Lao Khmer Burmese Indonesian Malay Sundanese Javanese Filipino Ilocano Cebuano Kapampangan Chavacano Samoan Tongan Fijian Maori Hawaiian Chamorro Palauan Marshallese Chuukese Kosraean Yapese Bislama Tok Pisin Pidgin English Creole English Dutch Afrikaans Norwegian Swedish Danish Finnish Estonian Latvian Lithuanian Romanian Bulgarian Serbian Croatian Bosnian Slovene Slovak Czech Hungarian Albanian Macedonian Georgian Azerbaijani Kazakh Uzbek Turkmen Kyrgyz Tatar Bashkir Chechen Dagestani Q’eqchi’ Belarusian Moldovan Luxembourgish Breton Catalan Galician Basque Occitan Welsh Scottish Gaelic Irish Gaelic Cornish Manx Frisian Faroese Icelandic Sardinian Corsican Maltese Esperanto Interlingua Volapük Latin Arabic Egyptian

Arabic Levantine Arabic Gulf Arabic Maghrebi Berber Tamazight Kabyle Tachelhit Tigrinya Oromo Shona Zulu Xhosa Tswana Sesotho Venda Tsonga Ndebele Bemba Chewa Luba Lingala Kongo Fula Wolof Mandinka Bambara Songhai Dogon Kanuri Hausa Dinka Nuer Acholi Luo Kikuyu Kamba Meru Somali Maay Arabic Sudanese Arabic Chadian Arabic Mauritanian Arabic Yemeni Arabic Iraqi Arabic Syrian Arabic Lebanese Arabic Palestinian Arabic Jordanian Arabic Saudi Arabic Kuwaiti Arabic Bahraini Arabic Qatari Arabic Emirati Arabic Omani Arabic Moroccan Arabic Algerian Arabic Tunisian Arabic Libyan

9. Intellectual Property Rights

County shall own all rights, title and interest in and to the Deliverables. For purposes of this Agreement, the term “Deliverables” shall mean any documentation and deliverables created by Contractor during the performance of services that are identified in this Agreement. Contractor hereby assigns to the County all rights, title and interest in and to any and all intellectual property whether or not patentable or registrable under patent, copyright, trademark or similar statutes, made or conceived or reduced to practice or learned by Contractor, either alone or jointly with others, during the period of Contractor’s agreement with the County or result from the use of premises leased, owned or contracted for by the County. Contractor acknowledges that all original works of authorship which are made by Contractor (either solely or jointly with others) within the scope of this Agreement and which are protectable by copyright are “works made for hire,” as that term is defined in the United States Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 101), and shall belong solely to County. Contractor agrees that the County will be the copyright owner in all copyrightable works of every kind and description created or delivered by Contractor, either solely or jointly with others, in connection with any agreement with the County

10. Questions All vendor questions must be submitted through the Bonfire (Euna) portal at:

Montgomery County PA.

11. Contract Term The period of the contract shall be for two (2) years commencing on date of contract execution. On the anniversary of the commencement of the contract, and each anniversary thereafter, this contract may be renewed, at the County’s sole discretion, for up to three (3) additional years or portions thereof, up to a cumulative total of five (5) years (hereinafter referred to as the “Renewal Terms”). Any Renewal Term shall not commence or be effective unless and until such time as a notice of renewal shall be delivered from the County to the contracting party.

In the event of pricing changes due to changes in prevailing costs of labor and materials in the area, the successful contractor may submit a request for price adjustments in line with these changes for the duration of any Renewal Term(s). The County reserves the right to accept or reject said proposed adjustments.

12. Proposal Format Proposals must be submitted directly into the Bonfire (Euna) portal. The following items should be included in your proposal submission:

• Technical Proposal (10 to 12 pages maximum) o Company background o Years of experience in each area o Provide detailed response narrative addressing the requested language interpretation services o Capacity to deliver services to part of all county departments o Describe how your firm will reliably support up to 60,000 OPI calls/month and concurrent demand across modalities. Include concurrency limits and any throttling practices.

o Identify all segments/services that contractor can provide and the languages that can provided in each.

o Provide detailed response narrative addressing the quality assurance, confidentiality, training and certification processes and reporting capabilities.

o Provide a detailed project plan with milestones for go-live across all modalities within 60–90 days (or propose realistic timeline).

o Provide references for at least 3 state/regional/local organizations, metropolitan 911 centers, PSAPs, or emergency communications https://montcopa.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=openOpportunities agencies that your company has performed similarly sized projects for language interpretation services.

o Provide and value-added considerations o Provide any interpretation/ translation services that contractor can provide that are not identified in this RFP o Others:

o Describe training for County users (live/virtual), quick guides, signage, and multilingual public-facing materials (Sec. 3.d).

o Provide help desk hours, ticket SLAs, escalation contacts, and bilingual support availability for County staff.

o Confirm availability of toll-free numbers, mobile/desktop apps, and web portals; include accessibility of IVR in multiple languages o Provide your surge capacity plan (e.g., public health events, disaster response) and guaranteed mobilization timelines

• Cost Proposal o Provide pricing for each service area that you are submitting o Cost should be presented in a manner that is most cost effective for

County Departments and provide all options for savings alternatives/

NOTE: Do NOT include cost in your Technical Proposal. Technical and Cost Proposals should be submitted as separate documents.

1. Rate Structure: Provide per-minute (and minimum increment) rates for OPI/VRI, hourly for in-person, and per-word/per-page for translation, broken down by language tier and modality.

2. Billing Increments: State billing increments (e.g., 1-minute vs. 15-minute rounding) and any connection or platform fees.

3. After-Hours & Holiday Rates: Specify and justify any differentials.

4. Cancellation & No-Show: Provide policies and fees for in-person and scheduled sessions.

5. Savings Mechanisms: Detail volume discounts, bundled pricing, prepaid or flat-rate options, and how County-wide contracting will maximize savings.

6. Renewal-Year Caps: Propose caps/indices for price adjustments during renewal terms and the documentation required to request an adjustment.

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL

Submissions are made electronically through the Bonfire Portal.

Offeror must submit both a “Technical Proposal” (NO PRICING) and a “Cost Proposal” as separate documents as part of its Proposal package. In addition, a current W9 and completed Appendix “A” document must be uploaded.

13. Optional Contract Piggyback Montgomery County would like to share the opportunity for Non-Profit Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and local government agencies to access high-quality language access services at a pre-negotiated rate through Montgomery County’s existing language service contracts. This piggyback opportunity allows eligible organizations to receive competitive pricing and streamlined access to interpretation, translation, and other language-related services.

Bidders must complete and return the Provider Contract Piggyback form indicating their willingness to participate in this offering as part of their response submission. A non-affirmative response will in no way have a negative impact on the County’s evaluation of your Bid.

All Piggyback agreements will be made between the vendor and the CBO/local government agency. The County is not responsible for managing these agreements with the vendor or guaranteeing how much any organization will use this service. A copy of the Agency Contract Piggyback Form has been included for reference.