ESBD_File_290805_HHS0012318_RFI_2-1-1 TIRN_CRM.pdf

RFI No. HHS0012318 Page 1 of 9

Cecile E. Young, Executive Commissioner

Request For Information (RFI)

For

2-1-1 Texas Information and Referral Network (TIRN)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Database

RFI No. HHS0012318

Date of Release: June 24, 2022

Responses Due: July 26, 2022 at 10:30 A.M. Central Time

NIGP Class-Item Codes:

208-32 *Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM), Microcomputer

208-37 *Database Software, Microcomputer

915-20 Call Center Services

917-55 Information Distribution Services

920-45 *Software Maintenance and Support Services

948-43 Health Information Services

952-74 Referral Services

958-74 *Human Resources Management Services

958-77 *Project Management Services

Health and Human Services Commission

Procurement and Contracting Services Division

RFI for 2-1-1 Texas Information and Referral Network (TIRN)

RFI No. HHS0012318 Page 2 of 9

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

1.2 Background

1.2.1 Current Environment

1.2.2 Vision

2. General Instructions and Response Requirements

2.1 General Information

2.2 Response Submission, Date, Time, and Location

2.3 Designated Point-of-Contact

2.4 Response Format

2.5 Acceptance of Terms and Conditions

3. Texas Public Information Act

4. Disclaimers

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1. Introduction

The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) administers the Texas Information and

Referral Network (TIRN), which is comprised of 25 Area Information Centers (AICs) that provide general information and referral (I&R) services to individuals in all 254 counties in Texas.

Individuals and families seeking I&R can contact their local AIC by dialing “2-1-1,” which is the national abbreviated dialing code for free access to health and human services I&R. They can also access information through the TIRN Network by visiting the public website at:

https://www.211texas.org/. In addition to providing comprehensive I&R services to all counties in their regions, AICs play an integral role in the Governor’s Homeland Security Strategic Plan for

2020-2025 by providing information to the public in the event of a disaster or emergency. In fiscal year 2018, 2-1-1 TIRN handled over two million calls and had over 1.7 million webpage views at

211texas.org.

HHSC is authorized to engage with vendors through this RFI by Texas Government Code §

2155.090(b). All HHSC engagements based upon this RFI with the vendor community will be conducted in accordance with the Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) Vendor Interaction

Policy, currently available on the HHS website at: https://hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/ documents/doing-business-with-hhs/vendor-contract-information/vendor-interaction-policy.pdf.

1.1 Purpose

2-1-1 Texas, a program of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, is committed to helping Texas citizens connect with the services they need. Whether by phone or internet, our goal is to present accurate, well-organized, and easy-to-find information from state and local health and human services programs. We accomplish this through the work of our 25 AICs across the state. 2-1-1 Texas is a free, anonymous social service hotline available.

No matter where you live in Texas, you can dial 2-1-1, or (877) 541-7905, and find information about resources in your local community. Whether you need help finding food or housing, childcare, crisis counseling or substance abuse treatment, one number is all you need to know.

Annually, millions of Texans dial 2-1-1 to reach TIRN for help with basic needs like food, housing, childcare, or emergency services. 2-1-1 TIRN, a program of HHSC, hosts a free anonymous hotline that operates options 1 (community programs and services), 4 (emergency assistance registry), 5 (disasters), 6 (public health emergencies) and 8 (mental health and substance abuse). To view available data related to the needs of 2-1-1 TIRN callers throughout

Texas, you can search, view, and display the information as charts and graphs at https:\\tx.211counts.org

This RFI is being issued to solicit information from interested vendors with respect to the implementation of a fully developed, functional, and proven Customer Relationship Management and Information and Referral Database (CRM/IRD) software application which enables 2-1-1

TIRN to provide quality services twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, three hundred sixty-five (365) days a year.

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.2155.htm#2155.090 https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.2155.htm#2155.090 https://hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/doing-business-with-hhs/vendor-contract-information/vendor-interaction-policy.pdf https://hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/doing-business-with-hhs/vendor-contract-information/vendor-interaction-policy.pdf

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1.2 Background

1.2.1 Current Environment

The System Agency administers the HHSC/TIRN program. It is comprised of 25 AICs that provide I&R services to individuals in all 254 counties in Texas.

HHSC administers 2-1-1 TIRN through 25 competitively procured information and referral contracts. Each contractor, referred to as an Area Information Center, covers a geographic region in Texas. 2-1-1 TIRN provides Texas residents with accurate, well-organized, and easy-to-find information from state and local social services programs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This includes interactive voice response options 1,4,5,6, and

8). TIRN collects, organizes, and disseminates comprehensive and accurate information regarding government and non-profit social services available to residents of Texas.

Additionally, within the AIC’s there are four Emergency Service Escalation Centers contractors that provide Emergency Response and Escalation services.

1.2.2 Vision

Deliver best-in-Class customer experiences to customers and Stakeholders with information and referral services. The CRM/IRD solution is critical to enabling 2-1-1 TIRN to connect

Texans to government and social services and provide information and referral 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the following functions:

A. A central repository of information about service providers;

B. A client management and referral system;

C. A resource data directory with a publicly available version of the database;

D. A data analysis and reporting data the generates both resource data and call data;

E. A web-based centralized system for use by up to 26 separate entities with over 750 total users

As far as the technical infrastructure, HHSC is interested in evaluating multiple deployment options for the TIRN Solution, including Software as a Service (SaaS), hosted on premise at the Data Center Services, overseen by the Texas Department of Information Resource

(DIR), or hosted by the vendor. Vendors responding to this RFI should highlight deployment options available with shared solutions, as well as if deployment option alters answers to some of the questions asked in this RFI.

2. General Instructions and Response Requirements

In responding to the questions, vendors should include any information that provides background in current trends and developments in technologies, methodologies, and tools, for large-scale data consolidation for data analytics and performance management. For vendors providing ideas and information on theoretical approaches that have not been applied to large-scale implementations for state government, provide information on your experience on the proposed solution and how it applies to this project’s goals. Obtaining information on emerging theoretical and conceptual solutions is an important component of this RFI.

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Vendors should provide ideas and information regarding, but not limited to, the aspects of hands-on direct experience as requested below.

Questions for HHS 211 TIRN CRM / IRD Solution Request for Information

A. General

a. In what states and/or agencies is your CRM/IRD solution currently in use?

b. Describe the scalability of your solution based on the following metrics:

i. An average of over 10,000 calls per day – Call centers from across the state take calls and each call should be accounted for via a contact form in the

CRM.

ii. 50,000 active resource records – this number accounts for the number of agencies and the number of programs provided by those agencies that are part of the IRD.

iii. High system availability (~100%) – citizens of Texas need to be able to reach out for services no matter the time of day.

c. Describe the deployment options available with your solution? Are any of your implementations hosted within a state sponsored data center?

d. Texas is interested in understanding how the specific features below are integrated into your solution.

i. Chat

ii. SMS

iii. Geo-location to include filtering

iv. Taxonomy Terms (see C.b.ii)

B. License Structure

a. Describe the type of licensing model your solution utilizes and what are the components that impact the model (i.e., types of users, # of concurrent or total users, # of active or archived records, etc.).

b. What are some additional cost drivers outside of licensing of the solution you tend to see as part of an implementation of this scale?

c. Are there any 3rd party licensing or pricing impacts that affect the overall implementation?

RESPONSES SHOULD NOT INCLUDE THE PRICING ITSELF, but rather the drivers or components or basis of pricing

C. Solution

a. Describe at a high-level the base product capabilities, functionality and modules contained within your Customer Relationship Management solution.

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i. Are there additional optional components or modules that are available to expand the base capabilities?

b. Describe at a high-level the base product capabilities, functionality and modules contained within your Information and Referral solution.

i. Are there additional optional components or modules that are available to expand the base capabilities?

ii. Does your Information and Referral solution utilize a standard Taxonomy for defining services?

c. Describe your solution’s approach to promoting interoperability including supporting Application Programming Interface (API), Data sharing, XML, or other technologies.

d. Reporting and analytic capabilities are important to Texas to ensure we are providing the best possible experience to our clients. Describe the reporting capabilities of your solution, with particular attention to authenticated users and their ability to create, customize and run reports.

e. Describe some scenarios where baseline functionality of your solution did not meet the needs of a particular client, whether at the federal, state, local or non-governmental level, but through configuration or design changes, your solution was adopted and successfully implemented.

f. During times of emergency in Texas, customer contacts and information referrals increase dramatically. Describe your solution’s ability to manage and report on

Emergency Management related events (i.e., hurricane’s, floods, PHEs, etc.)

g. Texas provides self-help services through 211Texas.org, which displays content from the Information and Referral database.

i. Describe your approach to providing and maintaining an online self-help portal.

ii. What technologies do you use to deliver the portal to clients?

h. Many of the Texas client service programs have specific needs for documenting services and referrals provided to callers. Describe your solutions ability to provide configurable, program specific data elements to capture information related to clients.

i. Role-based security is an important component of any solution and is of particular interest to Texas. Describe how your solution integrates role-based security levels to ensure the users have the appropriate access to information. Describe the granularity of roles with respect to the reporting, administration, service centers and the programs they support.

D. Transition and Data Migration

a. Based on your experience implementing your solution for other clients,

i. what key elements would you consider essential to ensuring a successful transition?

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ii. how long would you anticipate a transition of this size to take?

iii. what types of databases and conversion paths do you support?

iv. what types of data conversions have you had to manage in order to successfully migrate to your solution?

v. what migration tool or method do you typically use for this type of migration effort?

b. Describe at a high level any challenges you had to overcome with the implementations for other clients.

c. If possible, please provide an example of an implementation plan you have successfully used to implement your solution.

d. Describe the various training approaches (Train-the-Trainer, CBTs, classroom, etc.) you have used with your solution implementations.

i. What approaches work best and where have you seen challenges?

ii. How does training fit into your overall migration plan?

iii. What is your experienced approach to training during operations, after transition and migration is complete?

As noted in the Introduction, HHSC will not accept or respond to telephone calls, emails, or questions regarding this RFI. HHSC may choose to contact vendors directly after reviewing the information provided in response to the RFI for clarification only. Any contact or communication from HHSC requesting clarification on a submitted response does not indicate a preference towards a vendor or offer them any type of advanced standing on any project related to or not related to this RFI.

2.1 General Information

This RFI is issued for the sole purpose of obtaining ideas and information on solutions for performance management and analytics data systems. All interested parties are encouraged to respond to this RFI.

HHSC will not be liable for any costs incurred by vendors in the preparation and submission of information in response to this RFI.

All materials received by HHSC become the property of HHSC and will not be returned to the sender. There will be no acknowledgment by HHSC of receipt of the information. Acceptance of responses to this RFI places no obligations of any kind upon HHSC. Any ideas or information received from vendors to the RFI in any form may be used by HHSC without restriction for any purpose determined by HHSC.

It is not the intent of HHSC to provide answers, but if additional information is issued relating to the RFI, it will be made available on the Electronic State Business Daily.

2.2 Response Submission, Date, Time, and Location

HHSC welcomes written responses and comments related to this RFI by:

July 26, 2022 at 10:30 AM Central Time http://www.txsmartbuy.com/sp

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Responses must be submitted via e-mail to HHSC’s designated point-of-contact, as identified in

Section 2.3. Faxed responses or verbal inquiries will not be accepted. It is not the intent of HHSC to respond to comments or questions, but if additional information is issued relating to the RFI, it will be made available on the Electronic State Business Daily.

2.3 Designated Point-of-Contact

HHSC’s official sole point-of-contact for this RFI and the delivery point for all responses and correspondence is:

Lorena Vela-Parker, CTCD/CTCM

Contract Administration Manager II

Email: Lorena.Vela-Parker@hhs.texas.gov

All communications relating to this RFI must be directed to the HHSC sole point-of-contact named above. All communications between vendors and other Texas Health and Human Services System

(HHSC/DSHS) staff members concerning this RFI are strictly prohibited.

2.4 Response Format

All responses must be:

A. clearly legible;

B. sequentially page-numbered and include the vendor’s name at the top of each page;

C. correctly identified with the RFI number and submittal deadline;

D. in Verdana font, size 12 for normal text, no less than size 10 for tables, graphs, and appendices;

E. the page limit for the RFI written response is 20 pages, this does NOT include attachments and/or reference material;

F. vendors must respond by email;

G. searchable pdf format;

H. HHSC will not accept any submission or portion of a submission containing a copyright.

All pages of the response should include the RFI title consistently in either the footer or header of each page. Vendor should submit supporting material, if any, as attachments along with RFI responses. All proposals become the property of HHSC after submission.

2.5 Acceptance of Terms and Conditions

Vendor indicates its agreement to the terms and conditions of this RFI by submitting a response to this RFI to HHSC. If a vendor does not agree to the terms and conditions of this RFI, the vendor should not submit a response to this RFI to HHSC.

http://www.txsmartbuy.com/sp mailto:Lorena.Vela-Parker@hhs.texas.gov

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3. Texas Public Information Act

A response submitted to this RFI is subject to the Texas Public Information Act (the “Act”), located in Texas Government Code Chapter 552 and may be disclosed to the public upon request.

Subject to the Act, vendors may protect trade secret and confidential information from public release. If the vendor asserts that information provided in the response includes trade secrets or other confidential information, materials containing such information must be clearly marked in large, boldface type and include the words “confidential” or “trade secret” at top of the page.

Furthermore, the vendor must identify trade secret or confidential information, and provide an explanation of why the information is excepted from public disclosure, on the Respondent

Information and Disclosures form. Marking information as “confidential” or “trade secret” does not guarantee or ensure that the Texas Attorney General will except such information from public disclosure under the Act. HHSC shall have no liability to any vendor for complying with the Act.

HHSC will process any request from a member of the public in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Act. Vendors should consult the Texas Attorney General’s website

(www.oag.state.tx.us) for information concerning the Act’s procedures and application to proprietary information and potential exceptions to public disclosure that may be available to

Vendor.

4. Disclaimers

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning and does not constitute a Request for Offer or a commitment on the part of the HHSC to conduct a solicitation for the above-listed services in the future. Vendors are advised that HHSC will not pay for information submitted in response to this RFI, nor will it compensate vendors for any costs incurred in the development and/or furnishing of a response. HHSC will not accept or respond to telephone calls, emails, or questions regarding this RFI.

Please note that a vendor’s participation in this RFI will neither preclude nor give advantage to that vendor in any future solicitation. Similarly, a vendor’s decision not to submit a response to this RFI will neither preclude nor disadvantage that vendor in any future solicitation. By issuing this RFI and receiving responses, HHSC does not commit to issue a future solicitation regarding the subject matter of this RFI. HHSC may withdraw or cancel this RFI at any time in its sole discretion.

[END OF RFI]

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/DocViewer.aspx?K2DocKey=odbc%3a%2f%2fTCAS%2fASUPUBLIC.dbo.vwTCAS%2fGV%2fS%2fGV.552%40TCAS2&QueryText=552&HighlightType=1 http://www.oag.state.tx.us/