Community Empowerment RFA Questions and Answers.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 14 KB Posted
- Attached to
- Community Empowerment and Crisis Response Services Master Agreement Request for Application
- Solicitation number
- BD-24-1022-DMH08-8210C-93112
- Issued by
- Massachusetts
About this file
This document is a Questions and Answers (Q&A) file related to a Request for Application (RFA) issued by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) for a Community Empowerment and Crisis Response Services Master Agreement. The RFA seeks to establish a pool of qualified vendors from which DMH can purchase services to address the immediate and long-term mental health needs of communities exposed to trauma. Services will be purchased on an as-needed basis. The RFA covers two types of services: Community Intervention and Response (CIR) and Community Outreach and Recovery Engagement (CORE). Responses to the RFA are due on an ongoing basis, and qualified vendors will be added to the master agreement as needed. The contract term is not specified.
Regarding pricing, the RFA allows bidders to propose different rates for different services, and to use multiple payment mechanisms such as unit rates and fixed cost based on deliverables. There is no maximum potential award per service. Applicants that are not currently EOHHS (Executive Office of Health and Human Services) qualified must submit certain financial information, while those that are qualified do not. The RFA does not replace any of DMH's existing trauma response contracts.
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Sheet1
| Community Empowerment and Crisis Response Services Master Agreement Request for Application | |||||
| BD-24-1022-DMH08-8210C-93112 | |||||
| Questions | |||||
| Question # | Created Date | User Created | Question Subject | Question | Answer |
| 1 | 9/27/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR and CORE services | In the RFA, page 10, language states for CIR, "CIR services include, but are not limited to..." On the application Part I a., the check boxes for CIR only include the five listed services. What mechanism is made to describe and/or check off an 'other' category, which would encompass the language of "not limited to"? | CIR services are currently limited to the five listed services on the application Part 1a. DMH may expand or revise the CIR Service components in the future. |
| 2 | 9/27/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CORE Services | May an organization create a CORE service that targets longstanding community trauma created by a specific community condition, such as gun violence? MAy we choose to address a single cause of community trauma to the exclusion of any others? | Yes. Organizations may identify one or more types of community trauma to address. |
| 3 | 9/27/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR service response time | Please describe the length of time DMH anticipates will pass between a critical incident occurrence, a SOW being negotiated with a contractor, and CIR service initiation. | The intent is be able to make a services available as soon as they are needed. The time periods you asked about will vary depending on the incident, the terms that need to be negotatiated, and the availability of the contractor. It could be as quick as days or it could be a couple of weeks. |
| 4 | 9/28/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | Selected Financial Information | What are the documents required for submission in the application, as referred to in the Checklist of Attachments to the application response form? | All initial applications (by providers not currently on the Master Agreement) must include all of the documents included in the Checklist of Attachments, as well as the application form itself. Following an initial application, requests to be qualified for additional services must include only Section 3 of the Application and the attachments indicated in that section. Please note: whenever an Applicant files an Application for more than one service, then the Applicant needs to submit seperately the attachments required by Part III of the Application for each additional service. Please see the First Amended and Restated RFA Subsection 5.2.1. |
| 5 | 9/28/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | Selected Financial Information | Is the required selected financial information only required if an organization is not yet EOHHS qualified? | Yes, the financial information required in Part II.f.1 (Fiscal Solvency) is only required if an Applicant is not an EOHHS Qualified Provider. Part II.f.2 needs to be completed by all Applicants. |
| 6 | 9/28/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | application form error | The very first fillable line of hte application, where the bidder inserts its name, DMH has filled in an uneditable text that says, "DMH-2024-3029-01". Will you be correcting this and re-releasing a corrected form? | DMH will correct and re-post this form. |
| 7 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR Public Education | In this closed referral, Master Agreement system, under what circumstances would an agency need to create public service announcements or other outward facing marketing materials? | Agencies in their bids should indicate if they are proposing a public information campaign related to addressing one or more types of trauma, or if they are planning to create marketing materials supporting one or more service components. DMH will only issue SOWs for public education campaigns to agencies which have proposed such campaigns and been determined qualified. |
| 8 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR/CORE Public Education | What is the process for creating an SOW related to "developing ... educational materials"? Can an agency request a SOW for public education from DMH when it has a need to create or print additional marketing materials? | "Developing… educational materials" is a function of the "Public Education" service component, which refers specifically to executing a public information campaign. Marketing materials are distinct from this, and should be included in the the Cost Workbook under "Program Support" for any service requiring marketing. |
| 9 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR/CORE Public Education | Also, will DMH ever request an agency to create specific marketing materials the department determines are needed? | DMH has an interest that CORE/CIR services are accessible, and Applicants should include a general marketing strategy in their service proposal where applicable. Should DMH have an interest in specific marketing materials, this would be discussed at the time of issuing a SOW. |
| 10 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR/CORE Public Education | Will DMH require final DMH approval for CIR/CORE marketing materials? | DMH approval may be required depending on the nature of the response. Approval will be indicated as part of the SOW. |
| 11 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR service components | If an agency determines that their model includes the capacity to offer several combined service components in order for the service to be effective, will DMH negotiate with the agency to include all identified services in a single SOW? | Yes, DMH may do that when all components are needed. |
| 12 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | CIR Referrals | What is the specific infrastructure DMH will use to receive information of community need for CIR services? Are you asking for response to DMH service recipients and funded programs only? Or is this for any community need in the state? | DMH may contract with a provider after a disaster declaration by the state or federal government, as additional funding is made available, or as communities or localities contact DMH for such support. In all cases CIR (and CORE) responses are publically available and are not limited to DMH clients or DMH funded programs. |
| 13 | 10/4/23 | Tracy Alexander/Behavioral Health Network, Inc. | Contract model duplication | Will this CIR MA contract replace any existing trauma response team contracts in the Commonwealth? | This RFA is not intended to replace any of DMH's existing truama response contracts. |
| 14 | 10/4/23 | Megan Hempstead/Eliot Community Human Services, Inc. | Service Rates | Can a bidder propose different rates for different proposed services? In particular when proposing services in both the CIR and CORE categories? | Yes. Each proposed CIR and CORE service must include a unique Cost Proposal Workbook. |
| 15 | 10/4/23 | Megan Hempstead/Eliot Community Human Services, Inc. | Service Rates | Can a bidder propose to use multiple payment mechanisms? For example, a Unit Rate for one set of services and Fixed Cost Based on Deliverables and Milestones for another? | An Applicant must complete the Cost Proposal Workbook as indicated. The specific payment mechansim that will be used to pay a provider will be determined as part of a SOW negoatiation. |
| 16 | 10/4/23 | Megan Hempstead/Eliot Community Human Services, Inc. | Business References | Does a bidder need 3 business references for EACH proposed service? Can there be overlap (a business provides a reference for more than one service being proposed)? | Separate Business references must be provided for each service for which an Application is being submitted. However, the same business reference can be used for more than one service. |
| 17 | 10/4/23 | Esther Powell/Advocates, Inc. | Reference form | in the third guideline, does the second sentence's "Massachusetts agency" refer to a Massachusetts state agency, or any agency in Massachusetts? As in, are you expecting a list of every Massachusetts state agency with which we have contracted over the past three years? | We are expecting a list of every Massachusetts state agency (government agency) with which you contracted with during the last 3 years (as applicable). |
| 18 | 10/4/23 | Esther Powell/Advocates, Inc. | Reference form | Can a police department be a reference? Is that considered a Massachusetts state agency? | There are no limitations on what types of groups can provide business references. Government Organizations are encouraged as references, but are not required. |
| 19 | 10/4/23 | Esther Powell/Advocates, Inc. | Cost Proposal Workbook | Is there a maximum potential award per service? | No there is not. |
| 20 | 10/4/23 | Esther Powell/Advocates, Inc. | Budget | Section 1.3.5 of the RFA references a Subsection 3.4.1 for more information on Unit Rate, Cost Reimbursement or Fixed Cost methods. There is no section 3.4.1 in the RFA. | Please see Subsection 4.2.1. |
| 21 | 10/4/23 | Esther Powell/Advocates, Inc. | Response form | In the application response form, the "Organizational or Individual Name" field at the top of page 1 has the document name listed and is not editable. Should that be changed so that the applicant's name can be entered in that field? | See response to Q6. |
| 22 | 10/4/23 | Esther Powell/Advocates, Inc. | Volume of work expected | What is the expected volume of requests from DMH to providers by region? | Vendor capacity to provide CIR or CORE services should be indicated in the vendor's response. Based on this capacity, funding availability and the needs of DMH, DMH will select qualified vendors using the critieria in Section 7 of the RFA. |
| 23 | 10/4/23 | Courtney Brown/The Home for Little Wanderers | Application Technical Question, section 5.2.2 | What is the recommended naming convention for applicants that submit more than one proposal/response? How would you like Section 3 to be submitted? | Please see the First Amendment to the RFA that is being posted on the same day that these answers to questions are being posted. The Amendment adds several new naming conventions to address Applications for mutlitple services. |
| 24 | 10/4/23 | Courtney Brown/The Home for Little Wanderers | More than one service proposal | How would you like Section 3 to be submitted? What is the naming convention is this a separate attachment? | See answer to Q23 above |
| 25 | 10/4/23 | Courtney Brown/The Home for Little Wanderers | More than one proposal | Understantind Section 3 needs to be completed for each proposal, do you also want all the attachments listed in the Checklist of Attachments for each proposal? For example, do you want the Staff demographics and Business references attached to each individual service proposal? | No. Only those attachments related to Part III of the Application need to be submitted for each additional service. |
| 26 | 10/4/23 | Courtney Brown/The Home for Little Wanderers | Application Attachment | Application, part F, Fiscal Solvency-if the box that is next to "Check if EOHHS qualified" is checked -is there a required attachment/document to submit? | No, see response to Q5. |
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