Addendum One Q&A.pdf

SPB Form 26 Last Revised 4-17-2025

SOLICITATION ADDENDUM ONE

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

SOLICITATION NUMBER: 126746 O3

Childcare Provider Market Rate Survey (MRS) Opening Date: September 29, 2026

Addendum Effective Date: September 23, 2026

Questions and Answers

Following are the questions submitted and answers provided for the above-mentioned solicitation.

The questions and answers are to be considered as part of the solicitation. It is the responsibility of bidders to check the State Purchasing Bureau website for all addenda or amendments.

Question Number

RFP

Section

Reference

RFP

Page

Number

Question State Response

1. V.D. p. 35 Contract Cadence and Deliverables: Please clarify the anticipated cadence of the Market Rate Survey (MRS) and Narrow Cost Analysis (NCA) during the four-year initial contract term and any renewal periods. Are the MRS and NCA expected once during the initial four-year base period, annually, biennially, or on some other schedule? Please identify the activities and deliverables anticipated during each contract year and renewal year.

The first report is due April 1, 2027. Each subsequent report will be due on April 1st every odd year thereafter.

Please refer to Section V. D.

Deliverables.

2. IV.C. p. 22 Invoicing and Payment: Please clarify the anticipated invoicing structure. Can the contractor invoice monthly for work performed, or only upon completion/acceptance of specified deliverables?

Following receipt and approval of a properly submitted invoice, what payment timeframe should the Contractor anticipate?

Please refer to Section IV. C.

Invoices.

DHHS has 45 calendar days from the date of a properly submitted invoice to pay the contractor.

3. n/a n/a Narrow Cost Analysis Methodology: Does DHHS expect the contractor to independently develop and execute the NCA methodology, or does DHHS prescribe or provide an existing Nebraska or federal methodology and/or model? If DHHS prescribes or provides a methodology, please provide documentation.

DHHS expects the contractor to independently develop and execute the MRS and NCA in accordance with 45 CFR 98.45.

4. Existing Resources and Data:

What existing survey instruments, historical datasets, provider contact databases, prior MRS/NCA datasets, cost models, administrative datasets, and documentation will DHHS provide?

The contractor can propose existing information necessary within their workplan for DHHS to review and approve. DHHS will provide an excel document with child care provider information, including address, phone number, and email address. As well as information available to DHHS through current Subsidy providers as needed to address all required data sets.

5. Survey Administration: Is DHHS providing the licensed-provider database/contact information, and does DHHS facilitate or authorize provider outreach?

DHHS will provide an excel document with child care provider information, including address, phone number, and email address.

DHHS will not facilitate provider outreach. The contractor is responsible for this.

6. Survey Incentives: Does DHHS anticipate or permit using provider incentives to encourage survey participation? If so, should bidders include anticipated incentive costs in their Cost Proposal, and are there any restrictions regarding the type or value of incentives that may be offered?

DHHS permits incentives to encourage survey participation.

Anticipated incentive costs should be included in the cost proposal.

Cash incentives are not allowed.

The contract should include an incentive proposal in the Project Work Plan, indicating the type of incentive, its value, and who will receive it, for DHHS to review and approve.

7. Survey Response Rate: Does DHHS have a minimum required or target survey response rate, sample size, confidence level, geographic representation, or

DHHS would like the overall survey response rate to be no less than 65%.

representation by provider type that the Contractor must achieve?

8. III.J. p. 18 Insurance Flowdown: Which insurance requirements specifically must subcontractors independently maintain, versus being covered under the prime contractor's policies?

Please refer to Section III.J. – Vendor Duties, Insurance Requirements.

9. n/a n/a Insurance Requirements: Will the State of Nebraska consider insurance limits lower than those currently stated in Section II.K? If so, could DHHS identify the minimum acceptable limits or indicate if this will be part of the negotiation with the selected firm?

DHHS will work with the selected vendor to negotiate this requirement. No.

10. Accounting and Cost Principles: Please clarify whether Contractor pricing, invoicing, and cost allowability will be governed by any federal cost principles, including 2 CFR Part 200, and identify any required indirect-cost methodology or limitations applicable to the Contractor.

Yes, the contractor’s pricing, invoicing, and cost allowability will be governed by the federal cost principles set forth in 2 CFR Part 200.

11. n/a n/a Vendor Demonstrations (Section I.W / Schedule of Events Item 7): Please clarify the anticipated format and scope of Vendor Demonstrations, if required, including anticipated duration, whether demonstrations will be conducted virtually or in person, which key personnel would be expected to participate, and whether bidders should anticipate a presentation, structured interview, demonstration of proposed methodologies/work products, or some combination thereof.

No demonstrations are planned at this time.

12. I.E. 3 Vendor Registration: For an out-of-state bidder, at what

Please refer to Section I.E.

Procurement Procedure, point must the bidder be authorized to transact business in Nebraska and/or provide a Certificate of Good Standing from the Nebraska Secretary of State: at proposal submission, prior to contract award, upon execution, or at another point specified by DHHS?

Secretary of State / Tax Commissioner Registration Requirements.

13. For purposes of developing the proposed methodology, will the awarded vendor be provided access to materials from prior Nebraska Market Rate Survey and cost analysis efforts, including prior survey instruments, provider universe and available provider contact information, historical survey datasets, sampling and weighting methodologies, response-rate documentation, outreach materials, and prior cost-analysis data, assumptions, or models? If so, would you please identify which of these materials the Department anticipates making available to the selected vendor?

The contractor will have access to prior MRS public reports.

Reports include the methodology of survey development, survey questions, distribution and sampling, response rate, data management and communication materials.

14. Subcontracting: Is subcontracting permitted under this RFP? If so, is there a limit on the percentage of work that may be subcontracted, and must subcontractors be identified in the proposal?

Please refer to Section VI.

Yes, the contractor is permitted to subcontract the work. There is no limit on the percentage of work the subcontractor may perform. The contractor must be identified in the proposal.

15. Corporate experience and references: May a proposed subcontractor's experience and references be used to meet the bidder's corporate experience and reference requirements, or will the bidding team be evaluated as a whole?

Subcontractor experience and references may count toward overall experience requirements, but must be clearly identified and listed separately from those of the prime vendor.

16. Budget: Can DHHS share an estimated budget or anticipated contract value for this project?

No. The budget and contract value should reflect the scope of work required to achieve specified deliverables.

17. Provider roster: Will DHHS provide the licensed childcare provider roster, including email addresses, mailing addresses and phone numbers? In what format, and when would it be available to the contractor? Approximately how many licensed providers are on the current roster?

Yes, DHHS will provide a provider roster in Excel format.

The roster includes the provider's name, license number, hours of operation, capacity, address, phone number, and email address.

The current roster includes approximately 2,645 licensed providers .

18. Methodology: Does DHHS expect the contractor to replicate the methodology and survey instrument used for the 2025 Market Rate Survey? If so, will the prior instrument be provided? Is an alternative methodology, such as a narrow cost analysis, within the scope of this RFP?

No. Additional expectations and data element requirements have been outlined that exceed the previous Market Rate Survey.

The new methodology must include all new data elements.

The contractor has the authority to develop new methodology and survey instruments as long as they align with the requirements of the RFP and 45 CFR Part 98.

19. Timeline: What are the anticipated contract start date, survey fielding window and final report due date?

November 1, 2026, is the anticipated contract start date.

Surveys must be completed within 90 days of the survey start date of the survey. The final report is due April 1, 2027.

20. Response rate: Is there a minimum required response rate or sample size for the survey?

DHHS would like the overall response rate to be no less than 65%.

21. Participation incentives: May the contractor offer incentives to providers for completing the survey, and if so, should those costs be included in the cost proposal?

DHHS permits incentives to encourage survey participation.

Anticipated incentive costs should be included in the cost proposal.

Cash incentives are not allowed.

The contract should include an incentive proposal in the Project Work Plan, indicating the type of incentive, its value, and who will receive it, for DHHS to review and approve.

22. Languages: Beyond English and Spanish, are survey materials required in any other languages?

Languages beyond English and Spanish are not required but will be accepted if the contractor chooses use them.

23. Meetings and presentations:

Are in-person meetings or presentations to DHHS required? If so, how many are anticipated, and where would they take place?

Meetings can be in-person or virtual. If in in person, meetings will be held at the Nebraska State Office Building, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

This addendum will be incorporated into the solicitation.

24. Submission: Please confirm the required submission method (electronic, hard copy, or both), the number of copies, and that proposals are due September 29, 2026 at 2:00 PM Central time.

We accept electronic submissions; our office does not accept hard copies.