ESBD_502655_1775853548990_RFP-1546 Pre Bid Question Answer 041026.pdf

RFP-1546 Pre Bid Question/Answer

04/10/26

Will this be used for the police?

No - HB35 is specific to Firefighters and EMS personnel - volunteer and paid.

Will the agency be providing contact information or a directory of peer supporters outside of the contracting department's own agency — such as regional or statewide peer support pools — to be loaded into the platform, or will the vendor be expected to source, compile, and maintain that external peer supporter network? Additionally, for small rural agencies and volunteer departments that may have no internal peer team at all, is there an existing mutual aid framework or interagency agreement in place that allows their personnel to access peer supporters from neighboring or partner agencies, or would establishing that cross-agency access be part of the scope of work?"

The agency will provide a directory of peer supporters but if the vendor has a list of them as well, we will review for potentiatl use. If a first responder agency does not have peer support internally, they can access the statewide network of peer supporters thru the vendor. Some first responder agencies will choose to use the vendor for their department level and may have mutual aid with neighboring agency peer support that they will want to cross access inside of the vendor platform.

The RFP requires de-identified reporting. Does that mean only the final reports need to be de-identified, or does the entire system — including automatic outreach triggers, peer support queues, follow-up tracking, and engagement data — need to avoid collecting any information that could identify individual responders, consistent with Tex. Gov't Code § 418.353?

Everything should be de-identified. No identifiable information will be collected unless an agency chooses to come on board with the vendor under the TDEM umbrella and issue credentials to each employee. It would be then be up to the employee to log in with credentials or use the anonymous option.

CAD/RMS/ePCR-triggered workflows identify individual responders by name and route that information to peer supporters and administrative dashboards without prior consent. How does TDEM expect vendors to handle this in a manner consistent with Tex. Gov't Code § 418.353? Please clarify whether individual responders or agencies have the ability to opt out of these workflows entirely, and how TDEM envisions vendors maintaining compliance with the RFP's confidentiality requirements in this context.

If an agency decides to come on board with the vendor under the TDEM umbrella, they can issue credentials to their sta and decide to explore the CAD/PCR connection option.

Disclosing user identifiable information would be the sole choice of the agency.

For Requirement C-4 (Integrated Training & Credentialing Tracking): Is the vendor required to provide and own the peer support training and certification program itself, or would a solution that tracks training completion, certifications, and continuing education while integrating with an existing third-party training program be considered acceptable?

HB35 requires TDEM to build a standard curriculum for training in the State. We will either bring a panel of SME's together with the help of the vendor or on our own depending on what is available and then once that curriculum is built, we may use the platform to manage and deliver the training. A third party would be acceptable as long as TDEM agrees on who the third party is and provided it does not change during the length of the contract.

For the Resource & Referral Hub requirement for "culturally competent clinicians for first responders": Does TDEM require vendors to provide a verified, clinically vetted referral network, or would a directory where clinicians self-list and self-attest their qualifications be considered responsive? Additionally, what specific qualifications must a clinician meet to be considered "culturally competent for first responders" — for example, does TDEM recognize certifications such as ERPSCC (Emergency Responder Peer Support Certified Clinician), ABPPSP (American Board of Police and Public Safety Psychology), or other equivalent credentials, or will TDEM define those standards separately?

TDEM will provide the list of clinical resources, although if the vendor has access to a network already, we would expect them to be shared with our network. There is no standard in Texas for culturally competent although the clinical resources will be vetted by TDEM and clinical consultants to ensure they have historically worked with first responders. TDEM would recognize those certifications as well as do our own review.