Amendment # 2.pdf

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal

Amendment # 2

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400023438 06/17/2022

CANDIS GOLSTON

803-898-9666 candis.golston@ddsn.sc.gov SCDDSN - Central Office Attn: Receiving 3440 Harden Street Extension

Columbia, SC 29203

DESCRIPTION: Consulting Acuity Tool Research

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: SC Department of Disabilities and Special Needs

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

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 06/27/2022 3:00 PM EST (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 06/02/2022 10:00 AM EST- EXPIRED

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: 1 (one)

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre- Proposal

DATE & TIME: 06/01/2022 10:00 AM- EXPIRED

If you’d like to attend email the Procurement Officer for instructions no later than

05/27/2022 by 5:00 PM

(As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions)

LOCATION: Virtual Microsoft Teams

AWARD &

AMENDMENTS

Award will be posted on 06/28/2022 07/20/22.The award, this solicitation, any amendments, and any related notices will be posted at the following web address: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

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 thirty (30) 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)

mailto:candis.golston@ddsn.sc.gov http://www.procurement.sc.gov/ http://www.procurement.sc.gov/

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

(a) 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.

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 PROVISON. STRICKEN TEXT IS

DELETED.

CHANGES TO THE SOLICITATION: EXTEND DATES, ANSWER VENDOR QUESTIONS, AND CLAUSES.

THE FOLLOWING DATES HAVE BEEN EXTENDED:

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 06/21/2022 to 6/27/2022 – The Opening Time remains 3:00 PM EST

AWARD & AMENDMENTS Award will be posted on 06/28/2022 to 07/20/22

THE FOLLOWING CLAUSE HAS BEEN ADDED TO SECTION VI. AWARD CRITERIA OF THE

SOLICITATION.

EVALUATION FACTORS – PROPOSALS (JAN 2006)

Offers will be evaluated using only the factors stated below. Evaluation factors are stated in the relative order of importance, with the first factor being the most important. Once evaluation is complete, all responsive offerors will be ranked from most advantageous to least advantageous. [06-6065-1]

The Evaluation Criteria Table

CRITERIA POINTS

Background

Qualifications

Approach

Pricing

TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS 100

Amendment 2

Questions and Answers to the Solicitation

For RFP

Consulting Acuity Tool Assessment Research

1. How will the different sections of the proposal be scored?

Answer: Please see the Evaluation Criteria as a part of this amendment.

2. Does the implementation evaluator have to be a distinct contractor? Or will the contractor who wins the instrument research and recommendation contract also be eligible to bid on the implementation work?

Answer: No. The same Offeror that meet the requirements and qualifications may perform the services under this solicitation.

3. What are the length and formatting requirements for the proposal – margins, spacing, font, etc.?

Answer: There are not specific formatting requirements that have to be followed.

4. The title of the solicitation cites the Acuity Tool. Does the Agency intend to use an existing tool or to develop a new tool?

Answer: The solicitation is asking for a review of the instruments that are in the peer-reviewed literature and in use by other states. Some of these likely are existing tools and others were developed by states or research institutions to meet specific needs. The implementation recommendations could be one instrument, a suite of instruments, or development of a new instrument.

5. The solicitation asks that the Offerer conduct peer-reviewed research in the first phase. Does this mean to conduct a literature review of peer-reviewed research?

Answer: Yes, that is accurate. The Offeror may include research information from other states.

6. On pages 19-20, the solicitation asks that the offerer "demonstrate expertise through a combination of both education, training, and experience in all of the following: measurement, statistical analysis, evaluation, psychiatry, medical evaluation, and background working with and/or studying individuals with disabilities from childhood through adult." Does the Agency require the Offerer to employ individuals with doctorate degrees in all of the stated categories of expertise listed in the quote?

Answer: No, that is not required.

7. Can you please share how you will score, or rank proposals based upon the categories of information requested to be a part of the proposal and the pricing?

Answer: Please refer to the answer in question one.

8. Can you please provide information or a link to review which provides information on your current tools that you use and possible acuity scoring approaches?

Answer: The agency is not currently using any standardized assessment instruments. The

Offeror shall provide scoring approaches for within your proposal.

9. Acknowledging the State prefers the vendor design their budget to be detailed to each deliverable milestone, can the selected vendor invoice monthly for services provided?

Answer: Yes.

10. For Section A of the proposal, is there a specific form for the HIPAA Business Associate Agreement with a signature line you wish for us to insert into our proposal?

Answer: Please see Attachment 1 as a part of this amendment.

11. If the vendor is not based in South Carolina, how often do you prefer onsite face-to-face meetings, and how many consecutive days in a row would you prefer these visits to be?

Answer: Offerors outside of SC, shall be required to attend meetings with a combination of virtual and with some face-to-face or in-person. There is not a preference on the number of consecutive days in a row these visits should be. The Offeror shall outline their recommendation for in-person visit(s) and how long they should be with appropriate justification provided.

12. Does being awarded this RFP preclude the vendor from pursuing the evaluation and pilot project RFP related to the instruments and recommendations to be determined for this RFP?

Answer: No, this does not preclude the vendor from pursing the evaluation/pilot project RFP.

13. Can you please clarify where within the suggested proposal outline, you want us to address that we agree to and meet all of the expectations, language and legal descriptions provided in the RFP?

Answer: The Offeror will submit the first page of the solicitation with an authorize signature from your entity. On page two of the solicitation all amendments must be dated of the acknowledgement of the changes to the solicitation.