23-Q-0012 RFQ Questions and Answers Comments from Commission.pdf

RFQ: 950441-23-Q-0012 Questions Responses

1 What are the “Capacity Building State Plans” referred to on page 3, Section 2.2 of the PWS? Would it be helpful for applicants to have access to those?

The reference to “Capacity Building State Plans” was not intended for this PWS and has been deleted from the PWS. See strike-through in Sec. 2.2.

2 What role does AbilityOne expect the Central NPAs to fulfill related to this project?

The intent of this requirement is to obtain independent subject matter expertise. All work will be performed by contractor personnel. Participants in the AbilityOne Program such as the Central Nonprofit Agencies (CNAs) or qualfied nonprofit agencies (NPAs) are not formally participating in performance of this requirement as team members or contributors to the deliverables. However, CNAs and/or NPAs may be requested to answer some technical questions and/or to provide some feedback during the performance period. If so, the Commission staff will facilitate all questions or feedback sessions.

3 What is the accurate interpretation of the two terms “deliverables” and “descriptions” and their respective requirements? The language related to the required products seems unclear or inconsistent. For example, under Deliverables PWS (Section 6, pages 6-7) the text refers to providing “description of…”, but on page 1 of the PWS (Section 1.1, Scope) and pages 1-2 (Section 1.4 Objectives) the text refers to “develop…” These words would lead to a much different expectation about the work. For example, designing a form versus describing the purpose of that form, what the form would include, and its use.

The following explains how "deliverables" and "descriptions" are intended. We expect the contractor to do three things:

1) Determine and describe what constitutes an adequate person-centered employment plan process.

That is, we expect the contractor to identify and describe the various components of an adequate person-centered employment plan process.

2) Determine and describe the information the qualified professional will include in a person-centered employment plan. This information will ultimately be submitted by the qualified professional through an electronic system, so the contractor should be aware of the type of electronic data systems currently in use for collecting such information.

3) Explain the rationale and purpose for the components the contractor has determined are necessary for an adequate person-centered employment plan process and for the data the contractor has determined should be submitted as part of the plan.

4 Attachment 5 appears to apply to a project providing IT Services, rather than a project described by this AbilityOne RFQ and PWS. For example, questions include “type of IT services,” “population of software users,” “number of interfaces,” and “complexity of software and applications and system configurations.” How should an applicant deal with this form?

Attachment 5 is intended to provide details on the contractor's use of any relevant IT systems in the past, whether such systems were developed, "off-the-shelf" software, or otherwise customized; the scale of such systems, whether any such systems are already in wide use by providers, and the user friendliness of those systems to support numerous users. Accordingly, Attachment 5 has been revised to be more narrowly focused for this purpose. Please see revised Attachment 5, dated 25 Aug 2023.

5 Are “qualified professionals/evaluators” to be internal staff to Non- Profit Agencies, Central Non-Profit Agencies, or external contractors?

(Referenced in Attachment 1, throughout Section 1 and Section 6 C and D)

The Commission is seeking the contractor's recommended approach, including the advantages and disadvantages of using internal, external, or a combination of internal and external qualified professionals and evaluators to complete the work needed. Some AbilityOne NPAs may have internal staff with these qualifications; accordingly, the contractor will recommend a process by which the Commission would assess and mitigate any perceived or potential conflicts of interest.

The contractor will provide three pieces of information: 1) What qualifications does an individual need to have in order to perform the PCEP, as designed by the contractor; 2) Does the contractor believe that it would be appropriate for an NPA to be permitted to use in-house individuals with such qualifications?; 3) If so, what guardrails would the contractor recommend so that the qualified professionals have full independence in doing their work?

6 Attachment 1, 2.10 Data Rights: For organizations/SMEs which have developed, copyrighted, and currently use subject matter relating to this RFQ, are we to understand use of any of that material, if used within this grant, would preclude the organization from using their material moving forward?

The Commission has decided not to preclude or discourage the future use of information or materials the contractors and SMEs use in performance of this project. The language about Governmentment exclusive ownership of data rights has been deleted.

Any trademarks or references to the Commission or AbilityOne must be removed prior to use outside of this contract engagement. Please see revised section

2.10 of the PWS

7 “On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), how satisfied are you with the final product and services received by the lottery?” What does “lottery” refer to here? (Attachment 6: Past Performance Questionnaire, Question 5)

Contracting: Attachment 6 has been updated, replacing "lottery" with "Vendor"

8 What is the award amount? Is there a minimum/maximum? Contracting: Per RFQ Amendment 01, posted on 18 Aug, the estimated budget is $300K-$400K

9 Does the award of this contract preclude engagement in other training contracts current in process? Or in development stage? (e.g., directly with SourceAmerica and/or NIB)?

This award does not preclude engagement of any other training or contracts currently in process or in development. As long as the contractor or SMEs do not share any information, documents, forms or recommendations related to this contract with any outside parties other than Commission with our explicit written permission.

10 Is there intention to DEVELOP a technology-based solution this year, or is the goal to develop a recommendation (to be developed outside the scope of this project)?

The contractor is not required to develop a technology-based solution, or even develop a recommendation for a technology-based solution that would be developed outside the scope of this project. Rather, pursuant to guidance from the Commission, the NPAs will be required to submit the forms developed by the contractor in an electronic format. The Commission believes that some electronic systems collecting this type of data may exist already. The contractor is expected to survey what systems might currently exist and the contractor's assessment of the utility of those systems for the needs of the Commission.

"We want the consultant to inform us about IT platforms and/or systems that can be used to collect the forms it has developed and such platforms or systems that would enable us to analyze the data submitted. We therefore want assurance that the contractor has engaged the expertise of individuals who understand web-based entry of such information as the contractor develops the process and forms. The contractor is not expected to develop the web-based system."

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