Amendment 1.docx

SAP

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal Amendment 1

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400025766 09/22/2023

NAKENDRA PERRY

(803) 896-0022 nperry@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services 1201 Main St, Ste 600 Columbia SC 29201-3734

DESCRIPTION: Legislatively Mandated Program Evaluations

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Ed First Steps

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 10/09/2023 11:00 AM, EST (See "Deadline for Submission of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 09/15/2023 11:00 AM, EST (See "Questions from Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: One (1) Electronic Technical marked "Original", One (1) Redacted Electronic Technical Copy marked "Redacted”, One (1) Electronic Price marked “Original”, and One (1) Electronic Price Copy marked “Copy” See Section II. A “DISCLOSURE OF YOUR BID / PROPOSAL and SUBMITTING CONFIDENTIAL DATA, Section II. B “Electronic Copies- Required Media and Format” Initial here_____ if a redacted copy is NOT necessary

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre-Proposal

DATE & TIME: 09/14/2023 10:30 AM, EST

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Via Microsoft Teams Contact the Procurement Manager, by Wednesday, September 13, 2023, at 10:00 AM, EST for conference call phone number and access code, via email: nperry@mmo.sc.gov. The access code will not be provided to vendors who submit a request via email after September 13, 2023, at 10:00 AM, EST.

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, you agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of one hundred sixty (160) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(Full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(Business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov )

PRINTED NAME

(Printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

_________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

PREFERENCES – DO NOT APPLY PER SC CONSOLIDATED PROCUREMENT CODE [11-35-1524(E)(5)]

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or (4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged. [02-2A005-1]

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICIATION (JUN 2017)

The solicitation is amended as provided herein. Information or changes resulting from questions will be shown in a question-and-answer format. All questions received have been reprinted below. The “State’s response” should be read without reference to the questions. The questions are included solely to provide a cross-reference to the potential offeror that submitted the question. Questions do not form a part of the contract; the “state’s response” does. Any restatement of part or all of an existing provision of the solicitation in an answer does not modify the original provision except as follows: Underlined text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted. [02-2A097-1]

Answers to bidders’ questions

Budget and Administrative Information

1. Would the State please provide a budget ceiling for either the five-year project period or for each project year?

State’s Response: No, the state does not wish to provide a budget ceiling.

2. Would the State please confirm if South Carolina’s fiscal year and the project year are the same, from July 1 to June 30?

State’s Response: This is correct.

3. Would the State please provide details about requirements anticipated in terms of insurance and data security?

State’s Response: Insurance requirements are outlined in the solicitation. SCFS is an Enterprise customer of the SC Office of Technology and Information Services (DTO/DIS). Data security requirements are DTO/DIS policies https://admin.sc.gov/technology/policies_procedures

4. Would the State accept an Offerors federally approved indirect cost rate?

State’s Response: We will consider with itemization of rate, indirect costs, and total.

5. Would the State accept a Time & Materials contract?

State’s Response: We will consider a Time & Materials contract with a restriction of a maximum set amount.

6. Is it required that respondents provide a 15% match (cash or in kind)?

State’s Response: No match is required. This is mentioned in Appendix B because it is a requirement of First Steps Local Partnerships outlined in our legislation.

Scope of Work

7. Solicitation page 20 notes secondary and primary data as the source for outlined questions. May offerors propose additional data collection.?

State’s Response: Absolutely.

8. What is the expected content for the assessment of local partnership participation in primary data collection processes and quality improvement process and result documents described on solicitation page 24?

State’s Response: This will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but at its core, we need to be able to assess Local Partnerships’ compliance with their legislatively mandated participation and be able to identify solutions to increasing compliance, should it be lower than what is needed to carry out the scope of the evaluation.

Information for Offerors to Submit

9. Should any appendices submitted per solicitation page 15 be included in the Technical or Business Proposal, or should they be submitted as a separate document?

State’s Response: If the Appendix refers to either Technical or Business components of the solicitation, submit as an Appendix to that document.

10. Should the completed Cover Page and Page Two be included in the Technical Proposal or the Business Proposal?

State’s Response: Technical Proposal

11. Could South Carolina confirm whether the Experience and Qualifications section described on solicitation page 26 should be submitted as a separate document?

a. If not, should it be included in the Technical Proposal or the Business Proposal?

b. Does this section count toward the 50-page limit for the Technical Proposal?

State’s Response: a. Experience and Qualifications should be submitted within the Technical Proposal.

b. Yes, the “Experience and Qualifications” section counts towards the 50-page limit.

12. Does South Carolina have any specific proposal formatting requirements for the Technical or Business Proposal (e.g., spacing, font style or size)?

State’s Response: No

13. Do references/citations count toward the page limit for the Technical Proposal?

State’s Response: Yes, references/citations count toward the 50-page limit for the Technical Proposal.

14. May offerors submit complete CVs for the project team as an appendix, and thus be exempt from the 50-page limit?

State’s Response: No, please include within the technical proposal response as required within the solicitation. Offerors may wish to utilize a National Institutes of Health biosketch format for CVs, in order to stay within page count limitations.

15. Could South Carolina confirm which documents offerors should include in the Business Proposal beyond the budget (e.g., the summary of insurance policies on solicitation page 27, the Minority Participation on solicitation page 27, the Qualifications Information on solicitation page 29)?

State’s Response: Per the solicitation, Section VIII. Only include what requirements are indicated within the solicitation.

All other documents can be included as Appendix to the Technical proposal.

16. Offerors are required to provide a detailed budget listing Direct Costs and Personnel Costs, including salaries and fringe. Can offerors submit fixed fee pricing based on fully loaded rates, inclusive of overhead and profit rather than reporting salary and fringe?

State’s Response: No, we want the budget broken down as specified in the Business Proposal section. We will ensure that any data related to compensation are kept confidential. If Offerors prefer to include a line for profit, it can be added as a separate line in the budget.

The following changes have been incorporated to solicitation 5400025766:

DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST OR UNFAIR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE (FEB 2015)

You warrant and represent that your offer identifies and explains any unfair competitive advantage you may have in competing for the proposed contract and any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise from your participation in this competition or your receipt of an award. The two underlying principles are (a) preventing the existence of conflicting roles that might bias a contractor's judgment, and (b) preventing an unfair competitive advantage. If you have an unfair competitive advantage or a conflict of interest, the state may withhold award. Before withholding award on these grounds, an offeror will be notified of the concerns and provided a reasonable opportunity to respond. Efforts to avoid or mitigate such concerns, including restrictions on future activities, may be considered. Without limiting the foregoing, you represent that your offer identifies any services that relate to either this solicitation or the work and that has already been performed by you, a proposed subcontractor, or an affiliated business of either. [02-2A047-2]

DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST OR UNFAIR

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE (APR 2023)

(“OCI FAQ for Contractors” is available at www.procurement.sc.gov)

(a) You certify that, to the best of your knowledge and belief:

(1) your offer identifies any services that relate to either this solicitation or the work and that have already been performed by you, a proposed subcontractor, or an affiliated business or consultant of either; and

(2) there are no relevant facts or circumstances that may give rise to an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest, as defined in S.C. Code Ann. Reg. 19- 445.2127, or that your offer identifies and explains any unfair competitive advantage you may have in competing for the proposed contract and any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise from your participation in this competition or your receipt of an award.

(b) If you, a proposed subcontractor, or an affiliated business or consultant of either, have an unfair competitive advantage or a significant actual or potential conflict of interest, the State may withhold award. Before withholding award on these grounds, the State will notify you of the concerns and provide a reasonable opportunity for you to respond. The State may consider efforts to avoid or mitigate such concerns, including restrictions on future activities.

(c) The certification in paragraph (a) of this provision is a material representation of fact upon which the State will rely when considering your offer for award. [02-2A047- 3]

ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST (APR 2023)

(3) The Contractor agrees to immediately advise the Procurement Officer if an actual or potential organizational conflict of interest is discovered after award, and to make a full written disclosure promptly thereafter to the Procurement Officer. This disclosure shall include a description of actions which the Contractor has taken or proposes to take, after consultation with the Procurement Officer, to avoid, mitigate, or neutralize the actual or potential conflict.

(4) The State may terminate this contract for convenience, in whole or in part, if it deems such termination necessary to avoid an organizational conflict of interest. Contractor’s failure to include an appropriate termination for convenience clause in any subcontract shall not increase the obligation of the State beyond what it would have been if the subcontract had contained such a clause.

(5) The disclosure required by paragraph (a) of this provision is a material obligation of the contract. If the Contractor knew or should have known of an organizational conflict of interest prior to award, or discovers an actual or potential conflict after award, and does not disclose, or misrepresents, relevant information to the Procurement Officer, the State may terminate the contract for default.

[07-7A054-1]

ALL OTHER TERMS, CONDITIONS, BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS, AND SPECIFICATIONS REMAIN UNCHANGED. IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF ANY CONFUSION OR UNCERTAINTY ARISES AS A RESULT OF THIS AMENDMENT, IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFEROR TO CONTACT THE PROCUREMENT OFFICER FOR CLARIFICATION. CONTACT INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE COVER PAGE OF THIS AMENDMENT. REFERENCE THE “DUTY TO INQUIRE” CLAUSE IN THE ORIGINAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.

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