ATTACHMENT Q and A.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 23 KB Posted
- Attached to
- EAP SERVICES State and local contract opportunity
- Solicitation number
- 5400022442
- Issued by
- Richland County, South Carolina
About this file
This is an Attachment Q&A document for a South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SC DHHS) Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services solicitation issued as an Invitation for Bid (IFB). SC DHHS seeks a qualified contractor to provide comprehensive EAP services including up to three pre-paid confidential assessment and therapeutic counseling sessions annually for employees and participants, workplace conflict resolution services, estate planning advisory services, legal and financial assistance, childcare and eldercare referrals, substance abuse assessment and treatment coordination, wellness programs including tobacco cessation and healthy living initiatives, job accommodation and disability assessments aligned with EEOC guidance, critical incident support, and onsite training. The contract term is five years, with the previous contract expiring January 21, 2021, after which no EAP program has been in place.
Pricing is structured as a Per Employee Per Month (PEPM) rate with all services, including Fit for Duty referrals, incorporated into a single cost proposal. The incumbent vendor, Deer Oaks, provided services from January 2016 through January 2021 with no reported service issues. Contractor staff members directly serving SC DHHS employees or the HR Department must possess a minimum Master's degree in Human Services from an accredited institution and three years of full-time experience in the field. A critical requirement modification removed the previous mandate for three years of experience with public agencies in South Carolina, allowing qualified vendors with relevant public sector EAP experience in other states to bid. Contractors must verify participant eligibility through the SC DHHS Human Resources Department rather than accepting self-attestation, and must provide monthly, quarterly, and fiscal year-end utilization reports by the 15th of each month. Performance guarantees as specified in Section H of the Scope of Work are mandatory and non-negotiable.
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Other files for this state and local contract opportunity
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| APPENDIX-BSA.pdf | ||
| HIPPA COMPLIANCE.pdf | ||
| AMENDMENT 1.pdf | ||
| 5400022442.pdf |
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Text version
Sheet1
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
| Why is SCDHHS out to bid? | SC DHHS is seeking to implement an EAP Program. As stated on page 15 of the IFB (Introduction), "The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SC DHHS), Human Resources Department is seeking a qualified Contractor/Provider to provide an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) as outlined herein". |
| Who is the current vendor? | A contract was in place from January 2016 through January 2021. The vendor was Deer Oaks. That contract expired (January 21, 2021) and SC DHHS is now bidding for a new 5 year contract |
| Where is SC DHHS’ satisfaction level with the incumbent provider? | There is currently no incumbent provider. The previous contract expired January 21, 2021. SC DHHS had no issues with the previous contract vendor. |
| Have there been any service issues? If so, please explain. | No service issues. |
| How long has SC DHHS been with this vendor? | A contract was in place from January 2016 through January 2021. The vendor was Deer Oaks. The contract expired (January 21, 2021 - as stated on page 15 of the IFB). SC DHHS issued IFB 5400022442 to establish a new 5 year contract. |
| What does the current program model look like? | There is no current program model. |
| What type of estate planning services are expected to be included in the proposed program? | As employees/participants begin to reach retirement age or may be experiencing a life altering event, services by the Contractor/Provider should include, but not be limited to advisory services regarding: Wills, Durable Living Trust, Living Will/Advance Healthcare Directive, Durable Power(s) of Attorney for property and healthcare, Beneficiary designations on life insurance and/or other monetary assets, etc. |
| What type of workplace conflict resolution services are expected to be included in the proposed program? | SC DHHS expects that any Contractor/Provider responding to this IFB has as a basic tenent of its EAP platform, a model or models which specifically address workplace conflict. If a prospective offeror DOES NOT have the capacity to address a very common workplace issue (conflict) they do not need to submit an offer. We are not experts, but we expect the Contractor/Provider to have defined conflict resolution models/mediation processes/skills/strategies/techniques, etc. in place. |
| Should we include details and pricing for our Fit for Duty services in our response? | See Section IV (Information for Offerors to Submit) on page 22 of the Invitation For Bid (IFB) solicitation; as well as the Bidding Schedule on page 44 which requests a PEPM price. As per page 15 of the IFB, "SC DHHS is issuing this solicitation as an Invitation For Bid - (IFB). This is NOT a Request for Proposal - (RFP)". The "Fit for Duty Referrals...et al" as referenced in the bulleted list of the SOW, is not to be a separate component/service. Cost should be included in the PEPM. |
| Please expand on the request for Alcohol and Substance Abuse Awareness program, Tobacco Cessation program, and Healthy Living (Wellness-oriented) programs, are these all separate programs we should include with our proposal or will trainings and other solutions suffice? | Programs requested by SCDHHS are listed in the SOW , but to re-emphasize, each bullet point listed is expected to be provided by the successful Contractor/Provider. Further, an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Awareness program should be scheduled in coordination with SC DHHS Human Resources Department, if requested by the SC DHHS HR Department or an employee/participant. Given substance abuse’s significant impact on the workplace, the Contractor/Provider must have specific knowledge, training and experience in the assessment and treatment of chemical dependency and other addictions. Should an employee /participant directly contact the Contractor/Provider for assistance, the Contractor/Provider must have a program in place to address the issue as well as be able to coordinate with the state's health insurance plan and the SC DHHS HR Department to assist the employee/participant in attempting to resolve the issue ASAP. SC DHHS expects the Contractor/Provider to have programs in place to address all the bulleted points, whether that is individually or in a combination approach. See Section IV (Information for Offerors to Submit) on page 22 of the Invitation For Bid solicitation; as well as the Bidding Schedule on page 44 which request a PEPM price. |
| Please confirm there are 3 EAP counseling sessions included in the current program. | There is no current program in place. The IFB document states the Contracor/Provider must provide up to three (3) pre-paid confidential assessment and therapeutic counseling and/or treatment sessions annually for employees/participant upon request. |
| Does the current program allow for legal, financial, childcare, eldercare and personal convenience assistance? How are these services being administered? Through a website or can their employees call and speak to lawyers, financial professionals for example? Are the childcare, eldercare services self-service or does the program provide research and referrals? | There is no current program. The previous contract expired January 21, 2021. SC DHHS is soliciting an Invitation For Bid (IFB) based on the requirements/criteria stated in SECTION III - SCOPE OF WORK/SPECIFICATIONS. |
| Regarding trainings, how many onsite training hours are currently included in the program? How many were used last year | None as no contract or program has been in place since the contract expired January 21, 2021. |
| In the same vain, for critical incidents (i.e. a natural disaster, ee fatality, layoffs, etc.) what type of support does the current program allow for? How many annual onsite hours are built in? How many events were had last year? | None as no contract or program has been in place since the contract expired January 21, 2021. |
| What is the current rate on the program? | There is no current rate. The previous solicitation was issued as a Request For Proposal (RFP) in 2016. This solicitation is issued as an Invitation For Bid (IFB). |
| Is SC DHHS satisfied with the program utilization? Can you provide a copy of a most recent utilization report? | The previous contract expired January 21, 2021. There is no utilization report other than the stated HISTORICAL DATA listed on page 15 of the IFB. |
| As several of our clients are still dealing with the pandemic and other competing priorities we request the ability to provide references upon being chosen as a finalist, will this be acceptable? | Responsive and Responsibility checks are performed on the apparent low bidder. Following completion of those checks (as per Section 11-35-1410 of the SC Consolidated Procurement Code), reference checks will be conducted. As stated on page 15 of the IFB, "SC DHHS is issuing this solicitation as an Invitation For Bid - (IFB). This is NOT a Request for Proposal - (RFP)." There are no "finalists". See also "Section VI. Calculating the Low Bid". |
| In regards to the following mandatory requirement: Offeror shall provide information with their bid submittal which confirms it has the following qualifications: Three (3) years of experience in providing EAP services of similar size and scope as SC DHHS in public agencies within the State of South Carolina. We do not have any public agencies as EAP customers in South Carolina. Will this disqualify us from bidding? We do have EAP business with public agencies in other states. | We have deleted the requirement that a potential Offereor/Provider must have experience in the State of South Carolina as follows: "Three (3) years of experience in providing EAP services of similar size and scope as SC DHHS in public agencies within the State of South Carolina. " |
| In regards to the following mandatory requirement: Offeror shall provide information with their bid submittal which confirms it will provide a qualified professional staff that possesses and maintains the following qualifications: A minimum of a Master’s degree in Human Services from an accredited institution, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOS) and three (3) years of full time experience in the field. Is this requirement of staffing qualifications in regards to the EAP account team to be assigned to SC DHHS or in regards to our staff as a whole? In other words, do all the staff need to have those credentials? Or that we have staff with those credentials? | This is a requirement of any Contractor/Provider staff member who will be directly serving in a professional capacity SC DHHS employees/ participants or the SC DHHS Human Resources Department to address individual or agency EAP issues. |
| Performance Guarantees – we are unable to provide performance guarantees in the categories/areas requested in the RFP. Is SC DHHS open to performance guarantees on other categories/metrics? If we are unable to meet the requested performance guarantees, will this disqualify us from bidding? | As stated on page 15 of the bid document, INTRODUCTION, "SC DHHS is issuing this solicitation as an Invitation For Bid - (IFB). This is NOT a Request for Proposal - (RFP)". As regards the submitted question, Section H of the Scope of Work Performance Standards and Guarantee stands. No change to this section. |
| In regards to the following: Contractor/Provider shall verify that the Participant receiving services through the EAP is a SC DHHS employee or his/her dependent family member. We do not use eligibility files for EAP. We will ask the caller to attest that they are an employee at SC DHHS or a household member/dependent of an employee at SC DHHS. If they attest that they are, we will provide EAP services. We do not verify against an employee list or eligibility file. Please confirm that this is acceptable. | Because services are to be billed based on the criteria stated in the IFB, simply having someone attest to employment with SC DHHS or attest to being a qualified family member of a SC DHHS employee will not suffice. Employees/Participants may be referred to the Contractor/Provider by the SC DHHS Human Resources Department or they may contact the EAP Contractor/Provider directly. If the employee/family member (Participant) contacts the Contractor/Provider directly, their employment or relationship to a SC DHHS employee must be verified with the SC DHHS Human Resources Department. |
| In regards to the Reporting requirement: Contractor/Provider shall provide monthly, quarterly and fiscal year end (July 1st thru June 30th) summary statistical reports of program activities and utilization by employees by office location, based on mutually agreed upon criteria no later than the 15th of each month. We can provide monthly utilization reporting, however, we are unable to provide by the 15th of each month. We will provide 30 days after the month. Please confirm that this is acceptable. | As stated in the IFB, the 15th of each month is the required timeframe for reports. |
| In regards to the Services requested, can you please provide more details around “Job Accommodation/Disability Assessment”? | SC DHHS expects the Contractor/Provider to have knowledge of the EEOC Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and be able to assist employees/participant(s) who are in need or who request guidance in this area. The Contractor/Provider must be able to coordinate/advise/assist the SC DHHS HR Department and the employee/particiant with any aspect(s) of the EEOC Act as regards facilitation of any of the EEOC requirements, including but not limited to, making existing facilities accessible; job restructuring; part-time or modified work schedules; acquiring or modifying equipment; changing tests, training materials, or policies; providing qualified readers or interpreters; and possible reassignment to a vacant position. Any accommodation must be effective in meeting the needs of the individual employee/participant. |
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