Addendum No. 2 Q and A final.pdf

Revised 04/03/2023

Request For Proposals for

Full-Service Partnership

RFP DBH # 25-106A

ADDENDUM NO. 2 to RFP DBHE26-ADMN-6240

I. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Question: Please provide a list of the current service operators whose programs fall under this Request For Proposal (RFP) (either for a re-procurement or re-design of their services)

Answer: Please reference Clerk of the Board for all current County contracts:

https://sanbernardino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

2. Question: Does this RFP intend to serve individuals who are currently on probation, parole, or involved in a mental health court program?

Answer: Individuals who are currently on probation, parole, or involved in a mental health court program could potentially be individuals that are referred by the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to the Full-Service Partnership (FSP) program.

3. Question: Are these FSP services replacing any existing FSP services and contracts? If so, which programs and which agency(ies) is the current provider?

Answer: Please see Answer to Question No. 1.

4. Question: We are concerned that the county is accepting RFP questions up through March 30 and we won’t know when final answers will be released. By then, we should be finalizing our proposal and budget. The April 8 deadline seems too close to the Q&A period, and will not give us nor other respondents opportunity to adjust submissions and responses in time. Can you consider extending the submission deadline or providing the Q&A sooner?

Answer: This Addendum No. 2 will be posted one week prior to the RFP submission date.

5. Question: Regarding proposals for more than one region, page 14 of the RFP says:

“Proposers should propose how they would provide services, in separate sections within the proposal, for separate service areas.” What is meant by “separate sections”? For example, in Part 5 of the proposal, the Proposal/Narrative Description, can we have separate sections WITHIN A QUESTION, e.g., Q8 that might have a different facility for each region described in separate sections within that question? OR must we have a whole separate Part 5 for each region?

https://sanbernardino.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Answer: Proposals that submit a bid for services in more than one service area, will need to be reflected in your Proposal. Describe how you would service clients in one area and do the same for all areas you are submitting a proposal for. Please reference Section XI. Proposal Submission and Section XI. Proposal Submission, sub-section C. Proposal Format, as it is at the Proposers responsibility to determine how best to organize their submission in accordance with instructions provided.

6. Question: The RFP specifies that services must be delivered by a multidisciplinary team including roles such as peer specialists, vocational specialists, and nurses. Will the County accept a proposal that only addresses the multidisciplinary team psychiatrist and medication support components, or is the County only seeking “lead agencies” capable of staffing and managing the entire FSP team?

Answer: The County is seeking lead agencies capable of staffing and managing the entire FSP team. For more information, please see Section IV. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), Sub-section C. Program Description, #11.

7. Question: Page 65 states that the County wants separate budgets per region, and if that is the case, what is the breakdown of the number of clients to be covered in each region, so we can apply that to the budget

Answer: There is not a set number per region is it on as needed basis. Please see Section VI. Program Requirements (Scope of Work) for the priority population, or Section XI. Proposal Submission for further instructions.

8. Question: How much should be budgeted for flex funds?

Answer: It is the Proposers responsibility to determine how best to organize their submission in accordance with instructions provided.

9. Question: On page 27, the RFP says: “In order to be awarded a contract, all five geographical areas (e.g., East/West Valley, High Desert, Mountain Region, and Morongo Basin) must be covered. The County is willing to consider awarding multiple contracts, provided that, collectively, all service areas are fully and adequately serviced.” However, in other places it says: “proposers may propose one or multiple geographic regions to be served. Should we assume that the County’s ideal is a provider who can cover all five regions but that fewer regions is also acceptable?

Answer: Section IV., Paragraph C #12.d., Proposers that submit bids covering less than all 5 regions may be accepted. Granted that in combination with another awarded Proposer(s) collectively covers all 5 required regions.

10. Question: Are electronic signatures acceptable?

Answer: Signatures must match the form they are submitted. Electronic signatures are acceptable for Proposals that are submitted through ePro. Electronic signatures are not acceptable for hard copy submissions.

11. Question: Is there an expected length of stay for ACT?

Answer: There is no length of expected stay for clients in the FSP program, it is client performance based and will be determined upon assessments. Please see Section IV., Paragraph C. Program Description, #4.b. for further information.

12. Question: Is there an expected length of stay for ICM?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 11.

13. Question: Page 18 of the RFP it says: “Wellness Centers” are designated as a required Mental Health Service. Respondents are not expected to build out wellness centers are they? Do you mean provide linkage to wellness centers?

Answer: Section IV. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), Sub-section C. Program Description, #4, n., iii. Wellness Centers. Proposers are not expected to build out wellness centers but instead provide linkages to wellness centers as a piece of mental health services and support.

14. Question: Page 19: is IPS required?

Answer: Section IV. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), Sub-section C. Program Description, #6. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services are required.

15. Question: Page 24-25 of RFP: Only the ICM staffing model and NOT the ACT staffing model has mental health clinicians/therapists on the team – e.g., licensed clinicians (LCSWs, MFTs). Is this an oversight?

Answer: Section IV., Paragraph C.#11 g., ACT is a higher level of service therefore a psychiatrist is part of the multidisciplinary team. ICM team ratio are purposely different as their services requirements are different than ACT.

16. Question: Can you clarify how and by whom referrals will be made into this program? Will any assessments (e.g., CA-LOCUS) be provided with the referral?

Answer: Referrals are made by DBH. Assessments and documentation to determine Level of Care will be provided with referrals.

17. Question: Is there an incumbent provider for these services?

Answer: Yes, please see answer to Question No. 1

18. Question: The solicitation states: The FSP program must maintain an office that is available to clients within the geographical area of the County seven days a week, 24 hours a day, including holidays. Are direct service providers required to be in the office 24/7/365, or would an On-Call schedule be acceptable to meet this requirement?

Answer: Section IV. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), Sub-section C. Program Description, #10, a. Offices are to remain open 24/7/365, including holidays.

Section IV. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), Sub-section C. Program Description, #11.b.iii. Staff shall maintain on-call coverage for crisis support 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year on a rotating basis and shall be available to respond immediately to program participants by telephone or in person as dictated by participant needs. Psychiatric support shall be available during off-hours.

The expectation is that staff is on duty in office 7 days a week with on call 24/7, and able to dispatch 24/7.

19. Question: Will a County provide a budget template?

The budget sample was posted on March 20, 2026 on ePro. Sample for additional years was posted in ePro on March 30, 2026.

20. Question: Will the County provide a fee schedule for Medi-Cal services?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 19.

21. Question: What part of the Proposal is intended to be submitted as Cost Reimbursed?

Answer: Section IV. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), Sub-section C. Program Description, #19 Contract Reimbursement. Mode 60 and Mode 45 are examples, but must be allowable expenses tied to client services.

22. Question: Does the County have an expected length of service per client?

Answer: Please see answers to No. 11.

23. Question: Is the facility required to be open for 24-hour coverage or will 24-hour on-call staff meet this requirement?

Answer: Please see question No. 18.

24. Question: Section 5 Proposal/Narrative Description, prompt #8 (RFP p60), asks the bidder to “State the address of the facility and explain why it is appropriate for this contract (in targeted Geographic Service Area; near mass transit; user friendly; facility layout; etc.)” Are bidders required to have a site address identified at time of proposal submission?

Answer: Proposals may indicate a prospective site address, however, Proposers are required to have a site address established by the contract start date.

25. Question: May a bidder provide a proposed likely location in a specified region without the specific address being named in the response?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 24.

26. Question: RFP p1 states, “These services will support up to 400 participants with an estimate of 50 ACT level services within the 400, with serious mental illness and/or co-occurring substance use disorders across one or more regions within San Bernardino (County) County” Is it acceptable and reasonable for bidders to propose greater than 50 ACT level services, i.e., propose budgets that represent 75 - 100 ACT level participants within the 400?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 5.

27. Question: Section IV. C.12.D. RFP p27 states, “In order to be awarded a contract, all five geographical areas (e.g., East/West Valley, High Desert, Mountain Region, and Morongo Basin) must be covered. The County is willing to consider awarding contracts to multiple providers, provided that, collectively, all service areas are fully and adequately serviced.” a. Does the County have a preference for one vendor providing all services across all five geographical areas versus multiple vendors?

Are preference points provided for bidding to provide services to all five geographical areas?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 9.

Please see Section XII. Proposal Evaluation and Selection for how the County evaluates an agency or organization.

28. Question: Section IV. C.12.D. RFP p27 states, “In order to be awarded a contract, all five geographical areas (e.g., East/West Valley, High Desert, Mountain Region, and Morongo Basin) must be covered. The County is willing to consider awarding contracts to multiple providers, provided that, collectively, all service areas are fully and adequately serviced.” Please confirm that if a bidder submits a proposal to serve less than all five geographical areas, their proposal, if compelling and complete for the regions proposed, will not be at a disadvantage for not proposing to serve a countywide population.

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 27.

29. Question: Section IV. C.12.D. RFP p27 states, “In order to be awarded a contract, all five geographical areas (e.g., East/West Valley, High Desert, Mountain Region, and Morongo Basin) must be covered. The County is willing to consider awarding contracts to multiple providers, provided that, collectively, all service areas are fully and adequately serviced.” Are preference points provided for bidding on any specific regions?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 27.

30. Question: RFP p26 states, “While BHSA funding may be primary for services, leveraging Medi-Cal funding, where possible, will help maximize the services and funding available to participants. Contractor must have a Medi-Cal Certified site or be able to obtain Medi-Cal Certification at the time services begin. Contractor will be reimbursed on a fee-for-service cost reimbursement basis.” Will all components of the programs utilize Fee-For-Service billing, or will there be bundled rates for some (for example, for some of the ACT components)?

Answer: Billing for all programs will be fee-for-service. Bundled rates will not be utilized.

31. Question: Are start-up funds available? If so, what level/amount of start-up funding is available?

Answer: Start-up funds are not be available for this procurement.

32. Question: Please confirm bidders may utilize AdobeSign as an acceptable signature methodology for proposals submitted on-line via eProcurement.

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 10.

33. Question: Please provide an estimated date of award prior to the contract start date.

Answer: This item will be presented at the Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting on June 23, 2026. The BOS is the final authority establishing contracts in the County.

34. Question: Please confirm the contract start date , July 1, 2026 is the beginning of a start-up phase to begin program start-up activities.

Answer: The contract start date is July 1, 2026.

35. Question: Section IV.C.11.c.i (RFP p 24) states, To satisfy the requirements of ACT and ICM there is a minimum of two participant contacts per week or as indicated in the EBP fidelity scale. Please confirm that two contacts per week is an average of ICM and ACT together, (i.e., 4 participant contacts per week for ACT level and 1 participant contact per week for ICM level).

Answer: Confirmed. Two contacts per week are required for the ICM, multiple contacts per week are acceptable for ACT.

36. Question: Section IV.C.11.g.i. (RFP p25) states, 1 case manager per 15-20 clients is standard for ICM programs. Please confirm that the staff position in this ratio can be met with other direct care staff positions in addition to the case manager position.

Answer: Yes, the staff position in this ratio may be met through other direct care staff positions in addition to the case manager position, following the ICM model and must be distinct from the ACT staffing model, if you are submitting a bid for both services.

37. Question: Does the County have any requirements or restrictions regarding Member Expense or Client Flexible Support or Client Housing Support?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 21.

38. Question: Please describe where contractors will receive ICM referrals. Will ICM referrals come internally from a contractor’s ACT participants, or will referrals also come from other ACT providers?

Answer: Referrals will come from DBH.

39. Question: Section IV.C.11.g.iii.b describes the ICM Team Composition including Licensed clinicians (LCSWs, MFTs). Please confirm that unlicensed, registered clinicians can fulfill this requirement.

Answer: Unlicensed clinicians will not fulfill this requirement alone, unless they are under the supervision of a licensed clinician.

40. Question: The bidder's conference indicated the only funding sources were realignment and MHSA/BHSA. However, the RFP indicates Medi-Cal and MHSA/BHSA. Can you confirm which funding sources are available?

Answer: The funding for this RFP is MHSA/BHSA and Medi-Cal. Realignment is an error in the PowerPoint.

41. Question: The bidder's conference presentation indicated a requirement for a licensed facility, including Social Rehabilitation Facility, and other residential categories. This does not appear in the RFP. Can the County please clarify what facility licenses, beyond current or potential Medi-Cal certification, are necessary?

Answer: No, that was left in in error. The correct PowerPoint was posted on March 24, 2026 in ePro making that correction.

42. Question: We have not had any patients therefore we have not made any income come in at all.

Answer: This does not appear to be a question.

43. Question: Do we need to fill out the fillable budget form that part of the amendment.

Answer: Please see section XI. Proposal Submission for submission instructions.

44. Question: Please Clarify; “Proposer may opt to provide services to all 400 adults within the population throughout the County, designating slots for either or both ATC and ICMs and must specify the projected numbers, or may opt to provide an aspect of the services being offered and must specify the slots being proposed.

Answer: Please reference Section XI. Proposal Submission and Section XI. Proposal Submission, sub-section C. Proposal Format, as it is at the Proposers responsibility to determine how best to organize their submission in accordance with instructions provided.

45. Question: Please clarify if a proposer could apply for more than one geographic region for up to 400 clients within each region?

Answer: 400 is the total client count. Please Section VI. Program Requirements (Scope of Work), sub-section C. Program Description for priority population and Section XI.

Proposal Submission, sub-section C. Proposal Format.

50. Question: Please clarify, Page 15 – “Proposers may propose one or multiple geographic region to be served”

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 9.

51. Question: Please clarify, Page 27 Section D – “In order to be awarded a contract, all five geographical areas (Eat/West Valley, High Desert, Mountain Region, and Morongo Basin) must be covered. The County is willing to consider awarding contracts to multiple providers, provided that, collectively all service areas are fully and adequately served.”

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 9.

52. Question: Please Clarify: Page 22. “FSP program must remain an office that is available to clients 7 days per week.” Is this for availability afterhours as needed or is this the program expected to be open 7 days a week?

Answer: Please see answer to Question 18.

53. Question: Is it acceptable for Proposer’s to identify a planned or prospective Facility location rather than a fully secured lease at the time of submission?

Answer: Please see answer to Question Nos. 24 & 25.

54. Question: Are there minimum space or facility requirements (e.g. square footage, number of offices/group rooms) that should be reflected in the proposal?

Answer: There is not a minimum space or specific facility requirement, however, the site must be adequately sized to effectively serve the propriety population and staff.

55. Question: How are pre-award site visits conducted in situations where the final facility is contingent upon contract award?

Answer: Section I. Paragraph P, states that site visits may be conducted to verify information submitted in the RFP and to determine if the proposed facilities are appropriate for the proposed services to be provided. Once a contractor is awarded, a contract monitor will notify Quality Management which will assist in registering the agency with DHCS and conduct a walkthrough to ensure Medi-Cal certification.

56. Question: Would a detailed facility plan, including proposed location, layout, and timeline for securing the space be sufficient at this stage?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 24.

57. Question: In the absence of audited financial statements, will submission of unaudited financial statements (including balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement) for the past three years be considered sufficient for eligibility?

Answer: Please see Section XI. Proposal Submission, Sub-section C. #8 & Attachment G – Proposer’s Financial Capability.

58. Question: Are there minimum financial thresholds (e.g. cash, reserves, revenue levels) that proposers must meet in order to be considered responsive?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 57.

59. Question: How does the County evaluate newer or smaller organizations that demonstrate capacity to scale operations upon award, including plans for staffing, leasing, and financial management.

Answer: Please see Section XII. Proposal Evaluation and Selection for how the County evaluates an agency or organization.

60. Question: Would Inclusion of a financial plan outlining projected revenue, expenses, and scaling strategy strengthen the proposal of audited financials?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 44.

61. Question: Is it acceptable to submit current insurance documentation along with a plan to obtain additional coverage (e.g. expanded general liability, property insurance) upon securing a new facility?

Answer: At time of submission, Proposers are only required to complete Attachment H with current insurance coverages. Please see Section XI. Proposal Submission, Sub-section C. and Section V. Contract Requirements, Paragraph B. Indemnification and Insurance and Attachment H – Indemnification and Insurance Affidavit for further instructions.

62. Question: Are proposers required to have all required insurance policies fully in place at the time of submission, or is proof of intent and ability to secure appropriate coverage upon award, sufficient?

Answer: Please refer to Attachment H – Indemnification and Insurance Affidavit.

63. Question: Can the Insurance Affidavit (Attachment H) be completed based on current coverage with acknowledge of pending updates upon expansion?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 61.

64. Question: Would it be acceptable to provide references from professional partners, referral sources with whom we have collaborated in delivering behavioral health services?

Answer: Please see Section XI. Proposal Submission, Sub-section C. #12 for requirements of references.

65. Question: Are references required to be from government or large-scale contracts, or will clinical and community-based collaborations be considered responsive?

Answer: Please see answer to question 64.

66. Question: Would references that can speak to our quality of care, reliability, and service delivery be sufficient even if the scope differs from this RFP?

Answer: Please see answer to question 64.

67. Question: On Budget template the FY is protected how do we change for subsequent years following year one?

Answer: Additional fiscal years were uploaded to ePro on March 30, 2026.

68. Question: What is the RU number being requested?

Answer: We are defining RU to be the Reporting Unit number. This is provided to the Vendor from either the DBH Program contact or DBH IT at the time of contract award. This can be left blank at this time.

69. Question: Can we add “other qualified” staff and place in Direct service section?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 44.

70. Question; Where can Attachment I be found?

Answer: Please see answer to Question No. 19.