Amendment #1 Responses to Questions Received.pdf

STATE OF ALASKA

Department of Health Division of Behavioral Health

SAMHSA Unified Performance Reporting Tool (SUPRT)

RFP NUMBER 2026-1600-0063

Amendment # 1 ISSUE DATE May 7, 2026

This amendment is being issued to answer questions submitted by potential bidders and to provide additional important information.

Offerors must use Submittal Form A – Offeror Information to acknowledge this amendment.

Name: Annalisa Haynie Procurement Officer Email: Annalisa.Haynie@alaska.gov

Questions submitted by potential offerors and answers from the State:

Q# A# RFP

Section

Page Number Question Received / Response Provided by State of Alaska

Q1 General Question

N/A How has SOR 4 information been submitted to SPARS prior to this award?

A1 RFP page 7 states: "This information is currently gathered and manually entered by Division of Behavioral Health (DBH) staff into the SAMHSA’s Performance Accountability and Reporting System

(SPARS)."

mailto:Annalisa.Haynie@alaska.gov

Page Number Question Received / Response Provided by State of Alaska

Q2 General Question

N/A If a GPRA Intake or SUPRT Baseline was manually entered in SPARS, will providers manually enter the SUPRT Reassessment, Annual Assessment, and Record Closeout into SPARS, or will they be expected to create the assessments in the new system?

A2 Previously, GPRA Intake and SUPRT Baseline data in SPARS were entered manually by DBH staff. Going forward, providers will complete a contractor-issued template, and the data will be batch uploaded into

SPARS.

Q3 SEC. 1.01

Purpose of the RFP

4 “The Department of Health (DOH), Division of Behavioral Health (DBH), is soliciting proposals for a SaaS technology platform to collect client level SAMHSA Unified Performance Reporting Tool (SUPRT) data from State Opioid Response (SOR) subrecipient grantees and automate batch upload of these data to SAMHSA’s Performance Accountability and Reporting System (SPARS).”

SPARS has confirmed that they are not supporting any automation of a batch upload or error file retrieval until at least January 2027. Is DOH amenable to a phased implementation approach while SPARS develops this functionality on their end?

A3 The April 2026 SPARS newsletter announced that batch upload functionality for SUPRT-A and SUPRT-C is now available. Here is the link to that newsletter: April 2026 SPARS Newsletter. The newsletter is also attached for convenience.

Q4 SEC 1.03

Deadline for Receipt of Proposal

4 Please confirm the deadline for proposals is Friday, May 15th and not Monday, May 4th like it states in the RFP document.

A4 Per RFP SEC 1.03 - the deadline is updated to May 15, 2026. Please reference the RFP document that is posted live on the Online Public Notices website here: http://notice.alaska.gov/223603.

Q5 Attachmen t 2, Submittal Form G

IT25 “Solutions that create, read, or update client, consumer, or other person demographic data shall integrate with DOH's Master Client Index (MCI) to ensure their demographic records are registered in the MCI and appropriately merged with matching client records in the index. Any alternatives must be approved by DOH IT.”

Is this solution expected to integrate with DOH’s MCI?

A5 Response is pending and will be posted at a later date.

Q6 Attachmen t 7, Service Level Agreement

(SLA)

1 “The Offeror is responsible for monitoring performance against the SLAs within this RFP. Beginning in the second month after award, the selected vendor will provide a small monthly *report (see below).

Report is due at the end of the month.”

Given the time required to collect complete information, would DOH https://spars.samhsa.gov/system/files?file=privileged-resources/20260421_SPARS%20_Newsletter53_508.pdf&check_logged_in=1

Page Number Question Received / Response Provided by State of Alaska consider setting the reporting due date for monthly performance as the 5th calendar day of the following month?

A6 Yes, DOH will consider revising the monthly performance reporting due date to the 5th calendar day of the following month to allow sufficient time for complete collection of information for reporting.

Q7 Attachmen t 7, Service Level Agreement

(SLA)

1 “The application/system will maintain 99.5-99.9% uptime, excluding scheduled maintenance, measured monthly.”

Does scheduled maintenance include planned downtime for upgrades?

If it does not, would DOH consider excluding planned downtime from the uptime requirement?

A7 Per SLA, 2nd bullet, "The Offeror will communicate planned downtime due to upgrades or routine maintenance to DOH fifteen (15) calendar days prior to downtime."

Therefore, downtime that is scheduled accordingly for maintenance and upgrades is excluded from the uptime percentage requirement.

Q8 SEC 1.02

Budget

4 RFP estimates a budget of between $700,000.00 and $750,000.00 for completion of this project. Can you confirm whether this budget number encompasses all three project years or if it for the first project year only?

A8 The estimated budget range of $700,000 to $750,000 is intended to cover the full duration of the project, encompassing all three project years.

Q9 Attachmen t 2, Submittal Form G

Row 3 states, “The State of Alaska (and by extension DOH) requires that all business and technical resources utilized under the contract, including system development, testing, implementation, training, and located within the United States. This includes hosted services, vendor personnel, vendor contracted services, and any sub-contracted resources. All elements and services that receive, process, store, or transmit data used by the solution must be located within the United States.” We have experience working with states for SUPRT data collection and data visualization; however, one of our data visualization providers is headquartered in Germany. We have a US-based account, and our account is run through Amazon Web Services based in Oregon. If we were to use this service for Alaska’s SUPRT data collection, would proposal be disqualified?

Page Number Question Received / Response Provided by State of Alaska

A9 Per RFP SEC 3.13 Location of Work: "By signature on their proposal, the offeror certifies that all services provided under this contract by the contractor and all subcontractors (subcontractors not allowed for this solicitation per SEC 3.14) shall be performed in the United States.

If the offeror cannot certify that all work will be performed in the United States, the offeror must submit a request, set out in a separate document in their proposal, that provides a detailed description of the portion of work that will be performed outside the United States, where, by whom, and the reason that is necessary.

The offeror must also provide this information when completing the DOH IT Contractual Requirements Submittal Form (Attachment 2 - Submittal Form G).

Failure to comply with these requirements may cause the state to reject the proposal as non-responsive or cancel the contract."

Q10 SEC 2.01 7 The RFP states that DBH staff currently manually enter SUPRT data into SPARS. Is this data entry up to date or would the contractor be expected to enter into SPARS any existing SUPRT data collected prior to the contract start date?

A1

Once the contract is executed, all entry will be shifted from DBH staff to contractor. There is potential for a minimal quantity of entry backlog.

Q11 SEC 3.01 8 The RFP indicates that the platform must support operational and program evaluation reporting. Has DBH determined the specific operational and program evaluation indicators they’d like the platform to report on, or will those be developed with the contractor?

A1

The table below lists the current evaluation indicators which include

(1) intake, (2) 6-month follow-up, (3) annual follow-up, and (4) discharge. SAMHSA continues to evaluate additional SUPRT indicators, so this list may change and is not exhaustive.

Q12 Would the contractor be expected to report operational and program evaluation indicators on the platform using other data sources besides data collected through the SUPRT tool?

A1

No.

Page Number Question Received / Response Provided by State of Alaska

Q13 Does DBH anticipate requesting SUPRT survey modifications initially during months 1 and 2 and/or regularly during the project period, or will the survey only need to be modified if SAMHSA informs grantees that the SUPRT instrument has been edited?

A1

DBH anticipates that SUPRT survey modifications would only be required if SAMHSA formally updates or revises the SUPRT instrument during the project period.

Q14 SEC 3.04 10 The timeline on page 10 of the RFP includes this activity: "Maintains portal for DOH for SOR survey deletion and return codes." Can you clarify what "survey deletion and return codes" refers to?

A1

SOR survey deletion and return codes apply when client records fail during the batch upload process.

Q15 SEC 3.04 10 The timeline on page 10 of the RFP includes this activity: "Maintains Alaska SOR grantee/program resource website." Is this a website for grantees to access the SUPRT data collection tool and training and technical assistance materials? Or is this a grantee website that is broader than SUPRT data collection activities?

A1

This is a website for grantees to access the SUPRT data collection tool, training resources, and technical assistance materials. The site may also provide links to other websites if the information is accurate and relevant.

Q16 Attachmen t 3, Submittal Form H

Submittal Form H (Cost Proposal) indicates a cost should be provided for each deliverable for each year (Years 1, 2, 3). Can you confirm the anticipated start and end dates for each of these years? Or, if we should assume 12 months for each year, or if the Years are aligned with grant years, where Year 1 might be shorter?

A1

Offerors should assume 12 months for each year. Depending on start date of the contract, the initial term and final term could be prorated to align with any desired performance period end date if alignment to a specific end date is required.

Q17 Attachmen t 3, Submittal Form H

Please confirm that the information required on Form H (Cost Proposal) is the only budget information required. Just the cost per deliverable per year, and not line item costs such as staff hourly rates by number of hours etc.

A1

Costs proposed per deliverable must be all-inclusive. Offerors shall account for all anticipated expenses and assumptions necessary to complete each deliverable, including personnel costs (salaries, wages, and fringe benefits), direct and indirect costs, materials and supplies, equipment, and administrative and overhead expenses.

Q18 COVER

PAGE

1 Does an interested party need to take additional steps to register with the procurement officer in order for our offer to be accepted?

A1

No, there are no additional steps required to register with the procurement officer.

Page Number Question Received / Response Provided by State of Alaska

Q19 SEC 3.06,

Attachmen t 6

11 (Intent to Propose and Non-Disclosure Agreement), could the State provide additional context on the need for executing a NDA to access the NIST CSF Assessment Questions List, particularly given that these materials are intended to inform offerors' scope and cost?

Additionally, would the State consider allowing offerors to review and propose revisions to the NDA prior to execution, or confirm whether the NDA must be accepted without modification in order to obtain the assessment materials?

A1

Execution of the NDA is optional. Its purpose is to allow interested offerors to review the NIST CSF Assessment Question List in advance so they can better understand the depth and scope of the security assessment requirements and prepare a more accurate proposal. The NDA exists solely to protect the assessment materials from inappropriate disclosure outside the procurement process.

For this procurement, the NDA must be accepted as-is in order to obtain the assessment materials. The State will not be modifying the NDA or negotiating revisions to it as part of this RFP’s schedule.

Offerors who prefer not to sign the NDA may still submit a proposal (as long as Procurement agrees); however, they will not receive advance access to the assessment questions.

Changes to the RFP

Change 1: Submittal Form H – Incorporates Responses from AMD#1 questions 16 and 17 above.

End of Amendment #1

SPARS NEWS DATA EDITION | February 2026 1

APRIL 2026 | I s s u e 5 3

SPARS NEWS DATA EDITION | April 2026 1

As of February 2026, the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) grantees can submit SAMHSA Unified Performance Reporting Tool–Administrative (SUPRT-A) and SAMHSA Unified Performance Reporting Tool–Client (SUPRT-C) data using the SPARS batch upload feature. For grantees who previously used batch upload for National Outcome Measures (NOMs) or Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) data, this functionality offers a familiar workflow while supporting SUPRT reporting requirements.

SPARS Batch Upload Fundamentals

• No specialized access or advanced technical expertise is required.

• Batch upload allows grantees to submit multiple client records at one time rather than entering each record individually through SPARS data entry screens. This approach can save time, reduce manual data entry errors, and better align SPARS reporting with existing systems-based workflows.

SAMHSA’s Performance Accountability and Reporting System (SPARS)

Batch Upload Now Available for SUPRT-A & SUPRT-C Data Records

• During batch upload, SPARS automatically performs data validation checks and generates status updates in the table on the Data Upload History page. The corresponding Error Report and Invalid Records links help users identify and correct formatting or data issues before final processing to the SPARS database.

NEWS

SPARS NEWS DATA EDITION | April 2026 2

• The Batch Upload error report now includes ClientID!

• SPARS users familiar with NOMs and GPRA batch uploads will find the SUPRT batch upload process familiar, with a streamlined Grant Dashboard workflow, clearer status tracking, added validation, and an Accept or Cancel step for submitting only valid records.

Did you know?

SPARS SUPRT Batch Upload Process

The SUPRT Batch Upload process allows users to efficiently submit multiple SUPRT-A or SUPRT-C records at one time by uploading a prepared comma-separated values (CSV) file through the Data Upload page. The process includes the following steps:

• Download the appropriate CSV template and populate it according to tool codebook specifications

• Upload the completed file via the Data Upload page

• Review validation results, as SPARS performs file-, client-, and record-level checks and displays status updates

• Access the Error Report to identify any records that require correction

• Download Invalid Records File which contains only the records that did not pass validation

• Correct the records in the Invalid Records File and re-upload it on the Data Upload page

• Repeat until all records pass, then select Accept to submit the data or Cancel to discard the upload

To support this functionality, a SUPRT-A/C Batch Upload Guide and accompanying Batch Upload Training are now available through the SPARS Resources and Training areas, respectively.

The training provides a visual, step-by-step demonstration of:

• Preparing CSV template files with client-level data

• Uploading the prepared file to SPARS

• Leveraging validation messages generated by

SPARS during upload to finalize the submission

The guide offers detailed instructions on:

• Formatting requirements

• Navigating the upload interface

• Resolving errors SPARS identifies in the upload file

Together, these resources help grantees confidently and efficiently submit SUPRT data in SPARS.

Additional SUPRT materials can be found on the SPARS Resources page.

https://spars.samhsa.gov/resources?search_api_fulltext=&field_document_type%5B39%5D=39&field_data_entry_type%5B56%5D=56&items_per_page=10&sort_bef_combine=created_DESC https://spars.samhsa.gov/resources?search_api_fulltext=&field_document_type%5B5%5D=5&field_data_entry_type%5B56%5D=56&items_per_page=10&sort_bef_combine=created_DESC https://spars.samhsa.gov/content/batch-upload-guide https://spars.samhsa.gov/content/batch-upload-guide https://spars.samhsa.gov/resources https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/dashboard https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/100?check_logged_in=1 https://spars.samhsa.gov/content/batch-upload-guide https://spars.samhsa.gov/resources?search_api_fulltext=&field_document_type%5B39%5D=39&field_document_type%5B5%5D=5&field_document_type%5B6%5D=6&field_document_type%5B7%5D=7&field_document_type%5B26%5D=26&field_document_type%5B52%5D=52&field_data_entry_type%5B56%5D=56&items_per_page=10&sort_bef_combine=created_DESC https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/100 https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/100

SPARS NEWS DATA EDITION | April 2026 3

New CORT Trainings Now Available

In 2025, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) launched its new CSAP Online Reporting Tool (CORT). SPARS now offers program-specific data entry trainings for grantees collecting CORT data.

These trainings help grantees understand CORT reporting requirements and timelines for work plans, annual target reports, and quarterly performance reports across CSAP grant programs using CORT, including:

• First Responders Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (FR-CARA) Data Entry Training

• Grants to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (PDO) Data Entry Training

• Improving Access to Overdose Treatment (ODTA) Data Entry Training

• Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act (STOP Act) Data Entry Training

• Strategic Prevention Framework–Partnerships for Success (PFS) Data Entry Training

• Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs (SPF Rx) Data Entry Training

In addition to demonstrating data entry processes, the trainings direct grantees to supporting materials available in the SPARS Resources area, including Reporting Requirements documents and Question-by-Question Guides that provide detailed reporting guidance.

https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/99 https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/95 https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/94 https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/98 https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/97 https://spars-lc.samhsa.gov/group/96 https://spars.samhsa.gov/resources?search_api_fulltext=&field_data_entry_type%5B55%5D=55&items_per_page=10&sort_bef_combine=created_DESC

For general questions, please contact SPARS toll-free at (800) 685-7623 or email SPARSHelpDesk@mathematica-mpr.com

Have suggestions related to SPARS or this newsletter?

Let us know using this link – SPARS Suggestion Box

We welcome your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

SUGGESTION BOX

Upcoming Reporting Deadline: April 30, 2026

To support planning and timely submission, grantees should note the following reports are due:

CSAP Online Reporting Tool (CORT)

• Quarterly Performance Report: Quarter 2

Minority AIDS Initiative: Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Pilot Program-Online Reporting Tool (MAI-PORT)

• Quarterly Performance Report: Quarter 2

Prevention Navigator

• Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) Quarterly Performance Report: Quarter 2 (cohorts 2022 and later)

• MAI HIV Adult/Youth Questionnaire

State Opioid Response (SOR)/Tribal Opioid Response (TOR)

• Section A Quarterly Report: Quarter 2

• Section B Annual Sub-Recipient Entity Inventory (if applicable)

For assistance, users may contact the SPARS Help Desk for account access, system issues, or help using SPARS. Users seeking strategic guidance to improve outcomes, analyze data, or tell their program’s story may submit a Technical Support Request.

For additional guidance on when and how to leverage each, refer to SPARS News, Issue 52.

mailto:SPARSHelpDesk@mathematica-mpr.com https://redcap.vumc.org/surveys/?s=8HMCH9LEARHMTLR7 https://spars.samhsa.gov/content/20262-spars-news-issue-52-newsletter