GAME_RFP.doc

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Disabled Persons Protection Commission

Building Partnerships for the Protection of Persons

With Disabilities Initiative Request for Quote:

Game Development: Awareness and Action: Educating Persons with Disabilities to Recognize Abuse

Bid Name:

DPPC Edward Byrne Memorial Grant Document Number:

DAC-BYRNE-001

Project Title:

Game Development: Educating Persons with Disabilities to Recognize, Report and Respond to Abuse Purchasing Department:

Disabled Persons Protection Commission 50 Ross Way

Quincy, MA 02169

Contact:

John W. Brown, Director of Admin and Finance/CFO

(617) 727-6465 Telephone & Voice Messages

(617) 727-6469 Fax

E-mail john.w.brown@state.ma.us Response Due:

April 11, 2008 by 5:00 p.m.

Contract Period:

May 5, 2008 through December 31, 2008.

Max Funding Obligation:

To be determined according to game prototype and duplication costs.

Summary The Building Partnerships for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities Initiative (BPI) of the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC) creates multi-disciplinary partnerships among service providers, law enforcement, state mandated abuse reporting agencies and adult protective services agencies to create a comprehensive system of protection and response to abuse of persons with disabilities.

Currently, DPPC and BPI have contracted for the development of a curriculum and video presentation to teach persons with disabilities how to recognize, report and respond if they are being physically, emotionally or sexually abused. This solicitation seeks to contract with an individual or company (Developer) to develop a game based on the training curriculum to help persons with disabilities recognize, then safely report and respond to abuse and neglect. The winning applicant will work with the curriculum and video development personnel which include persons with disabilities. Therefore, prior experience working with persons with disabilities is preferred. However, an academic understanding of the complexities involved when persons with disabilities are abused is critical.

The Developer will:

· Attend meetings of the curriculum development teams to learn first hand the complexities involved in recognizing, reporting and responding to abuse of persons with disabilities;

· Present a draft concept of the game design and to the curriculum development teams for approval and suggestions;

· In cooperation with the video company and curriculum development teams provide art direction and physical design of the game;

· Create a low fidelity product after review by the curriculum development teams, DPPC and BPI;

· Consider all options for game development and give thorough consideration to the methods of use by persons with disabilities to maximize the game’s effectiveness and

· Consider all options for game development with special thought given to cost effective replication.

The terms of 801 CMR 21.00: Procurement of Commodities and Services are incorporated by reference into this RFQ.

1. Description or Purpose of Procurement:

The BPI through the DPPC is seeking a game Developer (Developer) to create a game, based on a separately developed curriculum that will help persons with disabilities and their family members/service providers recognize, report and respond to the abuse of persons with disabilities. The Developer should have prior experience working with persons with disabilities.

The game will be developed concurrently with the curriculum. Thus, it is extremely important that the Developer works collaboratively with the curriculum development team (the Workgroup, the Planning and Implementation Committee (PIC) and Ms. Colleen Ryan from the MA Department of Mental Retardation).

While the scope of this bid covers only the concept and prototype development of the game, it is the intention of DPPC to replicate the game for use by numerous groups. Therefore, the Developer must design the game giving consideration to cost effective replication. The game should be easily handled by those with minimal dexterity, easy to understand and engaging to persons with limited capacity for attention.

Applicant expectations

The successful applicant will be prepared to provide in-depth technical assistance for construction and art design/direction and content design supported by recommendations garnered from the statewide curriculum working groups. The final low fidelity product will be sufficiently developed that it will take minimal adjustments to mass produce. Mass production estimates must of 500 or 1,000 must be included along with the final presentation of the product.

Time Line

The project may begin as early as May 5, 2008 and must be completed by December 31, 2008.

Game development should begin after consultation with the Statewide working groups when the Developer has a firm grasp of the complexities involved in teaching persons with disabilities about identifying and disclosing abuse.

An initial design concept and preliminary mock-up should be presented to DPPC/BPI and the statewide working groups by August 31, 2008. A final design concept and mock-up will be presented to DPPC/BPI and the statewide working groups by October 31, 2008.

A low fidelity product must be submitted by the Developer no later than December 1, 2008

If the Developer is able to produce numerous copies of the high fidelity final product, that must be described and priced separately and completed by December 31, 2008.

The cost for each phase in the timeline should be described and priced separately.

2. Acquisition Method:

Fee for service.

3. Single or Multiple Contractors Required.

Single contractor required.

4. Single or Multiple Departments:

Only the procuring Department may contract under the BID.

5. Expected Duration of Contract and any Renewal Options:

Duration is May 5, 2008 through December 31, 2009.

6. Anticipated Expenditures, Funding, or Compensation:

Contract will be fee for service and will have a maximum obligation.

7. Contract Performance Specifications:

The selected Developer will provide all services according to the procedures described in an agreement with the DPPC. Required general service capabilities and characteristics include:

· Past Performance:

· Experience

· Technical Understanding

· Quality Control

· Key Personnel and Professional Staff

· Management Approach

· Sample Products

Capabilities and capacities specifically necessary for this project include the ability to:

· Coordinate with the DPPC; BPI and the Statewide curriculum development teams.

· Coordinate with and attend at least two monthly Workgroup meetings;

· Provide in-depth technical assistance and support to game production including game concept, content design, art direction, and research; and

· Provide recommendations and cost estimates for full scale production services for a specified quantity of final produce games.

The exact number of final product games will be incorporated into the DPPC’s contractual agreement with the successful bidder. Should the Developer’s performance fall below the specified service characteristics and requirements, the Developer will be subject to a warning, progressive discipline and/or penalty as determined by DPPC in conjunction with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Operational Services Division. Continued failure to meet these service characteristics and requirements may result in termination of this contract.

Contractor Preferred Qualifications:

· Five or more years of game design experience preferred

· Previous experience working with persons with disabilities

· Prior service to a Commonwealth of Massachusetts public sector agency

· Location within Massachusetts or neighboring states strongly preferred

8. Instructions for Submission of Response:

One original and two copies of the application must be submitted by the deadline. All application packets must include the following items, in the order they are listed below:

1.) Cover page, which must include the RFQ number; the RFQ short title; and name, address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of bidder and the authorized signature of the fiscal agent for the bidding agent in BLUE ink;

2.) A narrative statement in ten or fewer pages (excluding résumés) summarizing the Developer’s qualifications for this contract. The statement should include, but not be limited to, the following:

a. Overview of the agency or individual (mission, organizational structure, number of support staff) including years of service and business location;

b. Special experience, background, and qualifications for providing services including any and all previous experience working with persons with disabilities and any prior experience working with Massachusetts public sector agencies;

c. Résumés of all who will be directly involved in the project or, if it will be necessary to hire, job descriptions that will be used to post the position(s);

d. Designation of a primary point of contact for DPPC;

e. Proposed rate schedule, which will include all charges likely to be incurred in delivering the services described in this document. Rates should be itemized for charges including but not limited to:

f. Estimated content design, art direction, and research;

3.) Minimum of three references from agencies for whom similar types of services have been provided;

4.) Bidder certification by the State Office of Minority and Womens Business Assistance (SOMWBA), if applicable.

9. Proposal Submission, Deadline for Response and Procurement Calendar Hand deliver or mail one original and five copies of the application to:

John W. Brown, Director of Administration & Finance / CFO

Disabled Persons Protection Commission

50 Ross Way

Quincy, MA 02169

The tentative calendar of events associated with this procurement is as follows:

April 11, 2008

Proposals due by 5:00 p.m.

April 23, 2008

DPPC Evaluation of Proposals

April 25, 2008

BPI Evaluation of Candidates

April 28, 2008

Contract award announced

April 30, 2008

Additional contract terms negotiated

May 2, 2008

Contract documents signed

May 5, 2008

Contract begins

10. Proposal Evaluation Proposals containing all required components listed in section 8, above, will be deemed “responsive.” All non-responsive proposals will be eliminated from further consideration.

A team of DPPC and BPI staff (the proposal team) will review the responsive proposals. The proposal team will rate and rank proposals using the 100 point scoring criteria listed below. Selected applicants may be requested for an in-person interview with designated staff.

The Steering Committee of BPI will recommend the final grant award recipient to the Executive Director of the DPPC who will make an offer to hire the winning Developer. All decisions of the Executive Director of DPPC, the grant awarding authority, are final.

Proposal Rating Scoring Criteria (100 points total):

· Production experience including past experience working with persons with disabilities and public sector agencies in Massachusetts. (25 points)

· Adequate organizational and staff capacity; resumes and job descriptions are included; a production manager is named. (15 points)

· Ability to meet DPPC’s service needs including consultation with the statewide curriculum development teams. (15 points)

· A comprehensive, reasonable, well described and regionally competitive budget that includes estimated rate changes for subsequent years. (25 points)

· Bidder’s references are satisfactory (10 points)

· Bidder possesses SOMWBA certification (10 points)

11. Additional Information:

(a) No bidder’s conference is offered.

(b) The bidder is responsible for any and all costs associated with the preparation of the bid response.

(c) All bid responses become the property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission.

(d) All materials developed by the winning Developer under this contract will remain the property of the Disabled Persons Protection Commission.

(e) In the event that no bidder possesses all of the qualifications outlined in this request, DPPC will consider the most qualified of the bidders.

(f) The winning bidder must meet all contracting obligations and specifications of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

12. Required Specifications

Bidder Communication. Bidders are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of the procuring department except as specified in this Bid, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this Bid. Bidders may contact the contact person for this Bid in the event this Bid is incomplete or the bidder is having trouble obtaining any required attachments electronically through Comm-PASS.

Reasonable Accommodation. Bidders with disabilities or hardships that seek reasonable accommodation, which may include the receipt of Bid information in an alternative format, must communicate such requests in writing to the contact person. Requests for accommodation will be addressed on a case by case basis. A bidder requesting accommodation must submit a written statement which describes the bidder’s disability and the requested accommodation to the contact person for the Bid. The PMT reserves the right to reject unreasonable requests.

Public Records. All responses and information submitted in response to this Bid are subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L., Chapter 66, Section 10, and to Chapter 4, Section 7, Subsection 26. Any statements in submitted responses that are inconsistent with these statues shall be disregarded.

Best Value Selection and Negotiation. The PMT may select the response(s), which demonstrates the best value overall, including proposed alternatives, that will achieve the procurement goals of the department. The PMT and a selected bidder, or a contractor, may negotiate a change in any element of contract performance or cost identified in the original Bid or the selected bidder’s or contractor’s response which results in lower costs or a more cost effective or better value than was presented in the selected bidder’s or contractor’s original response.

Costs. Costs which are not specifically identified in the bidder’s response, and accepted by a department as part of a contract, will not be compensated under any contract awarded pursuant to this Bid. The Commonwealth will not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by bidders responding to this Bid.

Comm-PASS. Bidders are solely responsible for obtaining and completing the required attachments that are identified in this Bid and for checking Comm-PASS for any addenda or modifications that are subsequently made to Bid this Bid or attachments. The Commonwealth and its subdivisions accept no liability and will provide no accommodation to bidders who fail to check for amended Bid s and submit inadequate or incorrect responses. Bidders are advised to check the “last change” field on the summary page of Bid s for which they intend to submit a response to ensure that they have the most recent Bid files. Bidders may not alter (manually or electronically) the Bid language or any Bid component files. Modifications to the body of the Bid, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this Bid are prohibited and may disqualify a response.

Northern Ireland Notice and Certification. All bidders must complete the Northern Ireland Notice and Certification form to satisfy M.G.L. c.7 section 22C, which states that no state agency may procure commodities or services from any bidder employing ten (10) or more employees in an office or other facility located in Northern Ireland unless the bidder certifies through the notice and certification form that if it employs ten or more employees in Northern Ireland, a) the bidder does not discriminate in employment, conditions and privileges of employment on account of religious or political belief, b) the bidder promotes religious tolerance within the workplace and the eradication of any manifestations of religious and other illegal discrimination and, c) the bidder is not engaged in the manufacture, distribution or sale of firearms, munitions, including rubber or plastic bullets, tear gas, armored vehicles or military aircraft for use or deployment in any activity in Northern Ireland.

Subcontracting Policies. Prior approval of the department is required for any subcontracted service of the contract. Contractors are responsible for the satisfactory performance and adequate oversight of its subcontractors. Subcontractors are required to meet the same state and federal financial and program reporting requirements and are held to the same reimbursable cost standards as contractors.

Affirmative Market Program. Massachusetts Executive Order 390 established a policy to promote the award of state contracts in a manner that develops and strengthens Minority and Women Business Enterprises (M/WBEs). As a result, M/WBEs are strongly encouraged to submit responses to this Bid, either as prime vendors, as joint venture partners, or as subcontractors

Non-M/WBE bidders are strongly encouraged to develop creative initiatives to help foster new business relationships with M/WBEs within the primary industries affected by this Bid. The highest number of points may be awarded for responses that clearly illustrate how the proposed business relationship(s) will result in the development and growth of the M/WBEs within these primary industries. A lesser number of points may be awarded for traditional subcontracting relationships. The least number of points may be awarded for ancillary uses of M/WBEs.

In order to satisfy this section, the bidder must submit: the names, addresses, phone numbers and contact persons of each M/WBE firm; a description of each business relationship to be established; and the actual dollar amounts, or percentages, to be awarded to each M/WBE firm. MBE and WBE firms must submit a copy of their SOMWBA certification letter for the current period. A directory of SOMWBA certified firms is available via the Internet at www.state.ma.us/somwba.

A Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) or a Woman Business Enterprises (WBE) is defined as a business that has been certified as such by the State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance (SOMWBA). Minority and women-owned firms that are not currently SOMWBA-certified but would like to be considered as an M/WBE for this BID should apply for certification. A fest track application is available, and will be considered for the purposes of this Bid. For further information on SOMWBA certification contact the State Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance at (617) 727-8692 or via the Internet at www.magnet.state.ma.us/somwba.

Contract Expansion. If additional funds become available during the contract duration period, the department reserves the right to increase the maximum obligation to some or all contracts executed as a result of this Bid or to execute contracts with contractors not funded in the initial selection process, subject to available funding, satisfactory contract performance and service or commodity need.

Multi-State EMall™. Required for statewide and OSD-designated statewide contracts only. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has implemented the Multi-State EMall according to the Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) model. The Commonwealth has adopted this method of Electronic Commerce and is in the process of selecting contracts for implementation. This new method of Electronic Commerce or others may become a requirement of this contract at a later date. At least 120 days notice will be given before an implementation requirement will be enforced. More information about OBI is available at: www.openbuy.org.

Information Technology – Clarification of Language in Section 11, Indemnification of the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions. Required for the following object codes within the “Expenditure Classification Handbook” as issued by the Office of the Comptroller

U02- Telecommunication Services, Voice

U02- Telecommunication Services, Data

U07- Software purchases

H03- IT consulting & Maintenance

J08- IT Cabling/installation & maintenance

K01- IT equipment purchases

L01- IT TELP

L21- IT Rental or Lease

L41- IT Technical Support

Pursuant to Section 11. Indemnification of the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions, the term “other damages” shall include, but shall not be limited to, the reasonable costs the Commonwealth incurs to repair, return, replace or seek cover (purchase of comparable substitute commodities and services) under a contract. “Other damages” shall not include damages to the Commonwealth as a result of third party claims, provided, however, that the foregoing in no way limits the Commonwealth’s right of recovery for personal injury or property damages or patent and copyright infringement under Section 11 nor the Commonwealth’s ability to join the contractor as a third party defendant. Further, the term “other damages” shall not include, and in no event shall the Contractor be liable for damages for the Commonwealth’s use of contractor provided products or services, loss of Commonwealth records, or data (or other intangible property), loss of use of equipment, lost revenue, lost savings or lost profits of the Commonwealth. In no event shall “other damages” exceed the greater of $100,000, or two times the value of the product or service (as defined in the contract scope of work) that is the subject of the claim. Section 11 sets forth the contractor’s entire liability under a contract. Nothing in this section shall limit the Commonwealth’s ability to negotiate higher limitations of liability in a particular contract, provided that any such limitation must specifically reference Section 11 of the Commonwealths Terms and Conditions.

13. Required Attachments

The following attachments are required to be completed when submitting a bid for the above Bid:

(a) Standard Contract Form including Northern Ireland Notice and Certification

(b) Commonwealth Terms and Conditions

(c) W-9 (Massachusetts Substitute W-9 Format)

(d) Consultant Contractor Mandatory Submission Form (if applicable)

(e) Affirmative Action Plan – Employers (if applicable)

(f) Authorization for Electronic Funds Payment (EFT)

The proposal must be received at DPPC by Friday April 11, 2008 at 5:00 pm.

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DPPC RFQ/BPI Game Development

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