HSS25019-LABSUPSVCS-rfp.docx

STATE OF DELAWARE

DELAWARE HEALTH

AND SOCIAL SERVICES

Division of Management Services 1901 N. DuPont Highway New Castle, DE 19720

State of Delaware

LABORATORY STAFFING SUPPORT SERVICES

Request for Proposal HSS 25 019 For Division of Public Health

December 12, 2024

- Deadline to Respond – February 20, 2025

1:00 PM (EDT)

STATE OF DELAWARE

DELAWARE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

DIVISION OF PUBLIC HEALTH

STATE OF DELAWARE

DELAWARE HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

DIVISION OF PUBLIC HEALTH

6982(b) Version: 7/22/2022

DHSS 11/01/2022

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

LABORATORY STAFFING SUPPORT SERVICES

ISSUED BY DIVISION OF PUBLIC HEALTH

CONTRACT NUMBER HSS 25 019

Contents:

Appendix A - Minimum Mandatory Submission Requirements Appendix B – Scope of Work and Technical Requirements Appendix C – Professional Services Agreement Attachment A – Job Descriptions Attachment B – Job & Pricing Matrix -pages 1 & 2 Attachment C – Recruitment Process Example

** CTRL Click on the headings above will take you directly to the section.

Overview The State of Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health, seeks professional services for LABORATORY STAFFING SUPPORT SERVICES . This request for proposals (“RFP”) is issued pursuant to 29 Del. C. §§ 6981 and 6982.

The proposed schedule of events subject to the RFP is outlined below:

RFP Advertisement December 12, 2024 at 8:00 AM

Deadline for Questions January 6, 2025

Response to Questions Post January 30, 2025

Deadline to Receive Proposals February 20, 2025 @1:00PM

Evaluation of Proposals Due March 6, 2025

Estimated Notification of Award March 17, 2025

Estimated Project/Contract Begins August 1, 2025

Each proposal must be accompanied by a transmittal letter which briefly summarizes the proposing firm’s interest in providing the required professional services. The transmittal letter must also clearly state and justify any exceptions to the requirements of the RFP which the applicant may have taken in presenting the proposal. (Applicant exceptions must also be recorded on Attachment 3).

Furthermore, the transmittal letter must attest to the fact, at a minimum, that the Vendor shall not store or transfer non-public State of Delaware data outside of the United States. For technology related solicitations, Vendors may refer to the Delaware Department of Technology and Information identified terms and conditions included in this solicitation.

The State of Delaware reserves the right to deny any and all exceptions taken to the RFP requirements.

NO PREBID MEETING

Questions may be submitted no later than January 6, 2025. All inquiries must be submitted in the Q/A section of the project listing in the Bonfire Procurement Portal (https://dhss.bonfirehub.com).

The Department’s response to questions will be posted, according to the procurement schedule, under the project listing in Bonfire and to the State of Delaware Bid Solicitation Directory Website: http://www.bids.delaware.gov/ by January 30, 2025.

[balance of page is intentionally left blank.

Scope of Services

A. Background

The mission of the Division of Public Health is to protect and enhance the health of the people of Delaware. The Division accomplishes its mission by:

· working together with others;

· addressing issues that affect the health of Delawareans;

· keeping track of the State’s health;

· promoting positive lifestyles;

· responding to critical health issues and disasters;

· promoting the availability of health services.

The accomplishment of this mission will facilitate the Division in realizing its vision of creating an environment in which people in Delaware can reach their full potential for a healthy life.

The Delaware Public Health Laboratory (DPHL) requires laboratory scientists to perform high complexity testing methods in compliance with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards among other compliance entities. DPHL also requires laboratory scientists to assist with usage and administration of the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) as standard functions of their role. DPHL also requires a CLIA Director in order to perform high-complexity patient testing.

B. Project Goals

It is the goal of this Request for Proposal to identify a vendor(s) and execute a contract(s) to implement the procedures necessary to allow placement of temporary employees from one or more vendors to support daily operations. Positions identified through this solicitation, and resulting award, will cover general temporary employees only. These services shall not be used in lieu of the standard State recruitment and hiring procedures, nor to circumvent controls on employment levels. This contract is not intended to permanently replace any current State employee or position. At the same time, this contract cannot dictate whether the agency requires a temporary employee for two weeks, or six months, as an example.

· Provide flexible temporary staffing solutions for high complexity testing and LIMS administration at the Delaware Public Health Laboratory.

· Provide staffing costs at a reduced rate than the Division’s cost for State positions of the same classification.

C. Scope of Work/Bidders Requirements

All components listed in this section are mandatory.

EXPECTATIONS OF VENDOR

Vendor must be able to supply personnel for the positions detailed in Attachment A.

· Vendor must pre-screen and interview potential candidates for assignment. All costs associated with skills and background verification are to be paid by the vendor.

· The vendor is responsible to assure only qualified personnel are utilized. Upon request of the State agency, the vendor must furnish related academic accomplishments (i.e., degrees)/test scores/resumes and proof of background check of temporary personnel who are scheduled for interviews.

· Vendor must perform background checks on all prospective candidates and provide the results to the Delaware Public Health Laboratory prior to hiring any candidate. This is at the cost of the Vendor. These background checks shall include all of the following:

· Delaware Sex Offender Central Registry

· Social Security Number Trace

· Country Criminal (Past 7 years)

· Federal Criminal (Past 7 years)

· Locator Select

· Max 1 Jurisdiction Client Matrix Application

· Max 1 Jurisdiction Criminal Enhanced Nationwide

The successful Vendor will be given a reasonable time as determined by the agency to fill a job order from the date of its placement. In the event that the successful vendor cannot fill the job order within a reasonable time as determined by the requesting agency, the requesting agency reserves the right to cancel the order and place it with another vendor. It is the State’s intention, in all cases where possible and regardless of the size of the order, to provide timely and reasonable notice to The Vendor concerning orders placed with them.

In an emergency situation where the requirement to fill a job is less than the normal response time and the successful vendor cannot fill the order, the requesting agency can cancel the order and place it with another vendor.

The Vendor, and not the State, is the legal responsible employer of the employees performing under this contract. The Contractor(s) will be responsible for all payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, payroll reports, and other employer Federal and State requirements for temporary employees. Performance under this contract will be by individuals provided by a private sector firm. The Vendor is responsible for supervision of their employees. The Vendor may perform performance evaluations on each employee in order to review satisfactory and unsatisfactory performance.

Vendors are only permitted to fill those positions for which they have been awarded. Awarded vendors are not authorized to fill positions they have not been awarded nor positions not on the contract.

Both the State and the Vendor(s) will commit to quarterly reviews of internal customer satisfaction and will make consistent efforts to improve customer satisfaction. The Division may provide information to The Vendor in order to adequately review the employee’s performance and to discuss a path forward for that employee. Vendor will commit to checking in with requesting agencies; no less than a bi-monthly basis, to ensure all is going well and if any updates need to be made (position title, supervisor name, etc) to the placements. It is The Vendor’s responsibility to ensure that this information is accurate.

The State may elect to end the assignment of any position placed under this award for any reason at any time. The Vendor shall perform terminations of assignments of their employees at The Division on behalf of The Division and/or in conjunction with the Division. This shall not include involvement from State Human Resources.

The Vendor(s) shall provide all equipment, materials and labor to supplement the State of Delaware’s need for as described herein. The contract will require the Vendor(s) to cooperate with the ordering agency to ensure the State receives the most current state-of-the-art material and/or services.

The Vendor(s) must submit a completed information and pricing Excel Spreadsheet, attached as Attachment B. The Supplier(s) should provide each of the State and the Contract Users a single, local point of contact (and a backup) to handle questions or problems that may arise. At least one Customer Service Representative must be available during Supplier’s operating hours. Representatives should be available by phone, fax, or email (local or 800 number preferred).

· For pricing reference, The State of Delaware Selective Market Pay Table for Chemistry and Lab Services is provided and provides hourly pay rates for each State position classification listed in Attachment A: https://dhr.delaware.gov/classcomp/pg/fy25/071424/smv-cls.shtml (Fiscal Year 2025)

· For pricing reference, State salary awards above 75% of midpoint are rare.

· For pricing reference, competitive bids shall not exceed a 40% markup from Pay Rate.

The Vendor shall provide a method of timesheet submission, digital or physical, that is approved by a State position who oversees the daily work of the assigned staff member. Vendor shall be responsible for inaccurate timesheet submissions from their employees and recoup the Division with any excess fees paid to the Vendor as a result of this activity. The State will hold the contracted vendor(s) liable for fraudulent or over-reporting of hours worked.

Vendor must agree to submit invoices to the Division in various payment structures as requested by the Division, including monthly, weekly, and/or biweekly invoicing against multiple purchasing orders, invoicing a consolidated list of temporary employees, individual employees, or a mix of both.

The Vendor(s) shall provide a recruitment process outline for review that shall be tailored to each Agency’s requests. Attachment C is an example recruitment process for a prospective bidder to follow after award.

EXPECTATIONS OF THE ASSIGNED STAFF

Vendor, at their discretion, may provide the assigned staff with all or a selection of terms in this section as well as the details of the specific position as described in Attachment A. The Division inherently expects temporary employees to understand these expectations. Further operational expectations will be presented to the temporary employee throughout their assignment.

Temporary employees will conduct themselves in a professional manner. Temporary employees must be respectful of other State employees, non-State employees, and customers with whom they interact with. The State reserves the right to reject any candidate that does not exhibit professional behaviors (e.g., common courtesy and cordiality) towards other State employees or representatives of the state.

The temporary employee agrees to work in an efficient and accurate manner, considerate of cost impacts of errors. The temporary employee shall abide by the policies and procedures followed by the organization they are assigned to.

Dress Code must be followed by temporary personnel in accordance with Division and State guidelines. This also includes proper usage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Where an identification badge is required, the badge MUST be turned in at the end of the assignment. The successful bidder will be held accountable for the return of the badge and financially responsible for the costs incurred for card replacement.

No temporary employee for the State may use illegal drugs, nor may any temporary employee consume alcohol at work or at such times that the temporary employee’s work is negatively affected. Indications of such use may result in immediate termination and no acceptance for further assignments. While assigned to the Delaware Public Health Laboratory, all policies related to drug and alcohol use apply.

The successful vendor(s) will abide by the State of Delaware Department of Technology & Information (DTI) Acceptable Use Policy, found at http://dti.delaware.gov/pdfs/pp/AcceptableUsePolicy.pdf. Signed Acknowledgement Statement will be required by all Temporary Employees how are granted access to the State’s network. Staff assigned will need to agree to and abide-by all HIPAA-related data protection policies.

Temporary employees may be required to operate a State vehicle or other equipment. Requests for non-state employee drivers are reviewed by the Insurance Risk Office. Approval from the Insurance Risk Office does not waive any liability of the vendor.

Mileage reimbursement requests received due to (but not limited to): (1) a vendor’s unwillingness to authorize the use of State equipment; or (2) the substitute employee not approved by Fleet and/or the Insurance Coverage Office; or (3) the substitute employee electing to utilize their personal vehicle instead of a Fleet vehicle (with authorization) or carpooling will not be approved.

Agencies that require training of temporary employees which requires out of state travel or overnight stay must be compliant with all provisions of the State Travel Policy if so approved. If out-of-state training is approved by the Agency Head/Cabinet Secretary, the State shall be billed only for the actual hours of training and not travel or time away from the State.

The normal workweek is 37.5 hours per week, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The Division’s Program (ex: Division of Public Health Laboratory) may elect not to set a standard schedule for each placement. However, The Division and/or Program Leadership may elect to end the assignment of any position placed under this award due to scheduling conflicts with operational needs or due to lack of employee consistency to agree upon start or end time.

· Occasional adjustments to set schedule are to be pre-arranged with both employer and State supervisor.

· Lunch breaks are for lunch breaks, in compliance with Department of Labor regulations. They are not to be used to make up for tardiness.

· Overtime is defined as any hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek and is required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in the United States. The Vendor shall submit overtime rates in Attachment B. The Division will not prioritize overtime for temporary employees over State employees.

· The Division will not accept or approve of billing rate types other than the rate types available on the Attachment B template. Bidders shall not add rate types to Attachment B upon submission of bid.

· Holidays are defined as the legal holidays of the State of Delaware. Regular hourly rates will be paid on the observed holiday only to those placed employees working in a facility that operates on a 24/7 basis on a designated holiday. Temporary employees not working in a 24/7 facility will not be eligible for holiday pay by the State of Delaware. Temporary employees are not prohibited from taking advantage of any holiday or vacation time permitted by their employer.

· The State reserves the right to limit the number of hours a temporary employee is permitted to work weekly.

In the event of inclement weather, including State of Emergency declarations, late openings, early closing temporary employees are to follow the same instructions as Non-Essential personnel unless otherwise required for essential functions. This shall be communicated to the assigned staff at each event. Temporary employees will not be paid for those hours not worked due to State Delays & Closings. Information regarding State of Delaware Delays & Closings can be found online at: https://dhr.delaware.gov/closings/index.shtml

Required Information The following information shall be provided in each proposal in the order listed below. Failure to respond to any request for information within this proposal may result in rejection of the proposal at the sole discretion of the State.

A. Minimum Requirements

1. Provide Delaware license(s) and/or certification(s) necessary to perform services as identified in the scope of work.

Prior to the execution of an award document, the successful Vendor shall either furnish the Agency with proof of State of Delaware Business Licensure or initiate the process of application where required.

2. Vendor shall provide responses to the Request for Proposal (RFP) scope of work and clearly identify capabilities as presented in the General Evaluation Requirements below.

3. Complete all appropriate attachments and forms as identified within the RFP.

4. Proof of insurance and amount of insurance shall be furnished to the Agency prior to the start of the contract period and shall be no less than as identified in the bid solicitation, Section V, Item G, subsection 8 (insurance).

B. General Evaluation Requirements

1. Experience and Reputation

2. Expertise (for the particular project under consideration)

3. Capacity to meet requirements (size, financial condition, etc.)

4. Location (geographical)

5. Demonstrated ability.

6. Distribution of work to individuals and firms or economic considerations

7. Other criteria necessary for a quality cost-effective project

Professional Services RFP Administrative Information A. RFP Issuance

1. Public Notice Public notice has been provided in accordance with 29 Del. C. § 6981.

2. Obtaining Copies of the RFP This RFP is available in electronic form through the State of Delaware Procurement website at www.bids.delaware.gov and on Bonfire at https://dhss.bonfirehub.com.

Paper copies of this RFP will not be available.

3. Assistance to Vendors with a Disability Vendors with a disability may receive accommodation regarding the means of communicating this RFP or participating in the procurement process. For more information, contact the Designated Contact no later than ten days prior to the deadline for receipt of proposals.

4. RFP Designated Contact All requests, questions, or other communications about this RFP shall be made through Bonfire at https://dhss.bonfirehub.com.

Communications made to other State of Delaware personnel or attempting to ask questions by phone or in person will not be allowed or recognized as valid and may disqualify the vendor.

Vendors should rely only on information posted at https://dhss.bonfirehub.com.

The RFP designated contact is:

Su Webb Bureau of Contracts and Grants 417 Federal Street Dover, DE 19901 E-mail Address: su.webb@delaware.gov

Contracts, Management and Procurement Contact:

Eddie Mui Management Analyst III DHSS_DMS_dmsprocure@delaware.gov

5. Consultants and Legal Counsel The State of Delaware may retain consultants or legal counsel to assist in the review and evaluation of this RFP and the vendors’ responses. Bidders shall not contact the State’s consultant or legal counsel on any matter related to the RFP.

6. Contact with State Employees Direct contact with State of Delaware employees other than the State of Delaware Designated Contact regarding this RFP is expressly prohibited without prior consent. Vendors directly contacting State of Delaware employees risk elimination of their proposal from further consideration. Exceptions exist only for organizations currently doing business in the State who require contact in the normal course of doing that business.

7. Organizations Ineligible to Bid Any individual, business, organization, corporation, consortium, partnership, joint venture, or any other entity including subcontractors currently debarred or suspended is ineligible to bid. Any entity ineligible to conduct business in the State of Delaware for any reason is ineligible to respond to the RFP.

8. Exclusions The Proposal Evaluation Team reserves the right to refuse to consider any proposal from a vendor who:

a. Has been convicted for commission of a criminal offense as an incident to obtaining or attempting to obtain a public or private contract or subcontract, or in the performance of the contract or subcontract:

b. Has been convicted under State or Federal statutes of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, receiving stolen property, or other offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty that currently and seriously affects responsibility as a State contractor:

c. Has been convicted or has had a civil judgment entered for a violation under State or Federal antitrust statutes:

d. Has violated contract provisions such as;

(1) Known failure without good cause to perform in accordance with the specifications or within the time limit provided in the contract; or

(2) Failure to perform or unsatisfactory performance in accordance with terms of one or more contracts;

e. Has violated ethical standards set out in law or regulation; and

f. Any other cause listed in regulations of the State of Delaware determined to be serious and compelling as to affect responsibility as a State contractor, including suspension or debarment by another governmental entity for a cause listed in the regulations.

B. RFP Submissions

1. Acknowledgement of Understanding of Terms By submitting a bid, each vendor shall be deemed to acknowledge that it has carefully read all sections of this RFP, including all forms, schedules and exhibits hereto, and has fully informed itself as to all existing conditions and limitations.

2. Proposals To be considered, all proposals must be submitted in through Bonfire at https://dhss.bonfirehub.com/ and respond to the items outlined in this RFP.

The State reserves the right to reject any non-responsive or non-conforming proposals.

Responses submitted by hard copy, mail, facsimile, or e-mail will not be accepted.

All proposals must be submitted prior to 1:00 PM EST on February 20, 2025.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Important Notes:

· Logging in and/or uploading the file(s) does not mean the response is submitted. Users must successfully upload all the file(s) and MUST click the submit button before the proposal due date and time.

· Users will receive an email confirmation receipt with a unique confirmation number once the submission has been finalized. This will confirm that the proposal has been submitted successfully.

· Each submitted item of Requested Information will only become visible to DHSS after the proposal due date and time.

· If the file is mandatory, you will not be able to complete your submission until the requirement is met.

· Uploading large documents may take significant time depending on the size of the file(s) and your Internet connection speed. The maximum upload file size is 1000 MB.

· Minimum system requirements: Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox. Java Script must be enabled.

· Notarizations are no longer required.

Need Help? Please contact Bonfire directly at Support@GoBonfire.com or 1(800)354-8010 ext. 2 for technical questions or issues related to your submission. You can also visit their help forum at https://bonfirehub.zendesk.com/hc.

Any proposal submitted after the Deadline for Receipt of Proposals date will not be accepted. The contents of any proposal shall not be disclosed as to be made available to competing entities during the negotiation process.

Upon receipt of vendor proposals, each vendor shall be presumed to be thoroughly familiar with all specifications and requirements of this RFP. The failure or omission to examine any form, instrument or document shall in no way relieve vendors from any obligation in respect to this RFP.

3. Proposal Modifications Any changes, amendments or modifications to a proposal must be submitted through Bonfire prior to the proposal due date. Changes, amendments or modifications to proposals shall not be accepted or considered after the hour and date specified as the deadline for submission of proposals.

4. Proposal Costs and Expenses The State of Delaware will not pay any costs incurred by any Vendor associated with any aspect of responding to this solicitation, including proposal preparation, printing or delivery, attendance at vendor’s conference, system demonstrations or negotiation process.

5. Proposal Expiration Date Prices quoted in the proposal shall remain fixed and binding on the bidder at least through December 31, 2025. The State of Delaware reserves the right to ask for an extension of time if needed.

6. Late Proposals Proposals submitted after the specified date and time will not be accepted by the Bonfire Portal. Evaluation of the proposals is expected to begin shortly after the proposal due date. To document compliance with the deadline, the proposal will be date and time stamped upon receipt by Bonfire.

7. Proposal Opening The State of Delaware will receive proposals via Bonfire until the date and time shown in this RFP. Proposals will be opened in the presence of State of Delaware personnel.

There will be no public opening of proposals, but a public log will be kept of the names of all vendor organizations that submitted proposals. The contents of any proposal shall not be disclosed in accordance with Executive Order # 31 and Title 29, Delaware Code, Chapter 100.

8. Non-Conforming Proposals Non-conforming proposals will not be considered. Non-conforming proposals are defined as those that do not meet the requirements of this RFP. The determination of whether an RFP requirement is substantive, or a mere formality shall reside solely within the State of Delaware.

9. Concise Proposals The State of Delaware discourages overly lengthy and costly proposals. It is the desire that proposals be prepared in a straightforward and concise manner. Unnecessarily elaborate brochures or other promotional materials beyond those sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired. The State of Delaware’s interest is in the quality and responsiveness of the proposal.

10. Realistic Proposals It is the expectation of the State of Delaware that vendors can fully satisfy the obligations of the proposal in the manner and timeframe defined within the proposal. Proposals must be realistic and must represent the best estimate of time, materials and other costs including the impact of inflation and any economic or other factors that are reasonably predictable.

The State of Delaware shall bear no responsibility or increase obligation for a vendor’s failure to accurately estimate the costs or resources required to meet the obligations defined in the proposal.

11. Confidentiality of Documents The State of Delaware and its constituent agencies are required to comply with the State of Delaware Freedom of Information Act, 29 Del. C. § 10001, et seq. (“FOIA”). FOIA requires that the State of Delaware’s records are public records (unless otherwise declared by FOIA or other law to be exempt from disclosure) and are subject to inspection and copying by any person upon a written request. All proposals are subject to FOIA’s public disclosure obligations.

The State of Delaware wishes to create a business-friendly environment and procurement process. As such, the State respects the vendor community’s desire to protect its intellectual property, trade secrets, and confidential business information (collectively referred to herein as “confidential business information”). Proposals must contain sufficient information to be evaluated. If a vendor feels that they cannot submit their proposal without including confidential business information, they must adhere to the following procedure, or their proposal may be deemed unresponsive, may not be recommended for selection, and any applicable protection for the vendor’s confidential business information may be lost.

In order to allow the State to assess its ability to protect a vendor’s confidential business information, vendors will be permitted to designate appropriate portions of their proposal as confidential business information.

Vendor(s) may submit portions of a proposal considered to be confidential business information in separate file(s) identified as “Confidential Business Information” and include the specific RFP number. The file must contain a letter from the vendor’s legal counsel describing the documents in the file, representing in good faith that the information in each document is not “public record” as defined by 29 Del. C. § 10002, and briefly stating the reasons that each document meets the said definitions.

Upon receipt of a proposal accompanied by such separate file(s), the State of Delaware will open the file to determine whether the procedure described above has been followed. A vendor’s allegation as to its confidential business information shall not be binding on the State. The State shall independently determine the validity of any vendor designation as set forth in this section. Any vendor submitting a proposal or using the procedures discussed herein expressly accepts the State’s absolute right and duty to independently assess the legal and factual validity of any information designated as confidential business information. Accordingly, vendor(s) assume the risk that confidential business information included in a proposal may enter the public domain.

12. Multi-Vendor Solutions (Joint Ventures) Multi-vendor solutions (joint ventures) will be allowed only if one of the venture partners is designated as the “prime contractor”. The “prime contractor” must be the joint venture’s contact point for the State of Delaware and be responsible for the joint venture’s performance under the contract, including all project management, legal and financial responsibility for the implementation of all vendor systems. If a joint venture is proposed, a copy of the joint venture agreement clearly describing the responsibilities of the partners must be submitted with the proposal. Services specified in the proposal shall not be subcontracted without prior written approval by the State of Delaware, and approval of a request to subcontract shall not in any way relieve Vendor of responsibility for the professional and technical accuracy and adequacy of the work. Further, vendor shall be and remain liable for all damages to the State of Delaware caused by negligent performance or non-performance of work by its subcontractor or its sub-subcontractor.

Multi-vendor proposals must be a consolidated response with all cost included in the cost summary. Where necessary, RFP response pages are to be duplicated for each vendor.

a. Primary Vendor The State of Delaware expects to negotiate and contract with only one “prime vendor”. The State of Delaware will not accept any proposals that reflect an equal teaming arrangement or from vendors who are co-bidding on this RFP. The prime vendor will be responsible for the management of all subcontractors.

Any contract that may result from this RFP shall specify that the prime vendor is solely responsible for fulfillment of any contract with the State as a result of this procurement. The State will make contract payments only to the awarded vendor. Payments to any-subcontractors are the sole responsibility of the prime vendor (awarded vendor).

Nothing in this section shall prohibit the State of Delaware from the full exercise of its options under Section IV.B.18 regarding multiple source contracting.

b. Sub-contracting The vendor selected shall be solely responsible for contractual performance and management of all subcontract relationships. This contract allows subcontracting assignments; however, vendors assume all responsibility for work quality, delivery, installation, maintenance, and any supporting services required by a subcontractor.

Use of subcontractors must be clearly explained in the proposal, and major subcontractors must be identified by name. The prime vendor shall be wholly responsible for the entire contract performance whether or not subcontractors are used. Any sub-contractors must be approved by State of Delaware.

The use of subcontractors will be permitted for this project. If a subcontractor will be used, it must be specified in the vendor’s proposal, which shall include identification of the proposed subcontractor, the service(s) to be provided, and the subcontractor’s qualifications to provide such service(s). Subcontractors shall adhere to the same requirements as the primary contractor. The primary contractor’s fully executed agreement (i.e. the contract document containing all required signatures) shall bind all sub- or co-contractors to the primary contractor by the terms, conditions, specifications, and standards set forth in the RFP. All such terms, conditions, specifications, and standards shall preserve and protect the rights of the agency under the RFP and any subsequent proposals and contracts with respect to the services performed by the sub- or co-contractor, so that the sub- or co-contractor will not prejudice such rights. Nothing in the RFP itself shall create any contractual relationship between any sub- or co-contractor and the agency.

The proposed subcontractors must be approved by the Division of Public Health.

c. Multiple Proposals A primary vendor may not participate in more than one proposal in any form. Sub-contracting vendors may participate in multiple joint venture proposals.

13. Sub-Contracting The vendor selected shall be solely responsible for contractual performance and management of all subcontract relationships. This contract allows subcontracting assignments; however, vendors assume all responsibility for work quality, delivery, installation, maintenance, and any supporting services required by a subcontractor.

Use of subcontractors must be clearly explained in the proposal, and major subcontractors must be identified by name. The prime vendor shall be wholly responsible for the entire contract performance whether or not subcontractors are used. Any sub-contractors must be approved by State of Delaware.

The use of subcontractors will be permitted for this project. If a subcontractor will be used, it must be specified in the vendor’s proposal, which shall include identification of the proposed subcontractor, the service(s) to be provided, and the subcontractor’s qualifications to provide such service(s). Subcontractors shall adhere to the same requirements as the primary contractor. The primary contractor’s fully executed agreement (i.e. the contract document containing all required signatures) shall bind all sub- or co-contractors to the primary contractor by the terms, conditions, specifications, and standards set forth in the RFP. All such terms, conditions, specifications, and standards shall preserve and protect the rights of the agency under the RFP and any subsequent proposals and contracts with respect to the services performed by the sub- or co-contractor, so that the sub- or co-contractor will not prejudice such rights. Nothing in the RFP itself shall create any contractual relationship between any sub- or co-contractor and the agency.

The proposed subcontractors must be approved by the Division of Public Health.

14. Discrepancies and Omissions Vendor is fully responsible for the completeness and accuracy of their proposal, and for examining this RFP and all addenda. Failure to do so will be at the sole risk of vendor. Should vendor find discrepancies, omissions, unclear or ambiguous intent or meaning, or should any questions arise concerning this RFP, vendor shall notify the State of Delaware’s Designated Contact, in writing, of such findings at least ten (10) days before the proposal opening. This will allow issuance of any necessary addenda. It will also help prevent the opening of a defective proposal and exposure of vendor’s proposal upon which award could not be made. All unresolved issues should be addressed in the proposal.

Protests based on any omission or error, or on the content of the solicitation, will be disallowed if these faults have not been brought to the attention of the Designated Contact, in writing, at least ten (10) calendar days prior to the time set for opening of the proposals.

15. RFP Question and Answer Process The State of Delaware will allow written requests for clarification of the RFP.

Questions must be submitted before the due date identified in the Procurement Schedule for this RFP. All inquiries must be submitted in the Q/A section of the project listing in the Bonfire Procurement Portal (https://dhss.bonfirehub.com).

The Department’s response to questions will be posted, according to the procurement schedule, under the project listing in Bonfire and to the State of Delaware Bid Solicitation Directory Website: http://www.bids.delaware.gov/ .

To contact Delaware Health and Social Services or ask questions in relation to this RFP, respondents must register with the Organization’s public purchasing portal at https://dhss.bonfirehub.com (the “Portal”) and initiate the communication electronically through the Opportunity Q&A. Delaware Health and Social Services will not accept any respondent’s communications by any other means, except as specifically stated in this RFP.

16. State’s Right to Reject Proposals The State of Delaware reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals or any part of any proposal, to waive defects, technicalities or any specifications (whether they be in the State of Delaware’s specifications or vendor’s response), to sit and act as sole judge of the merit and qualifications of each product offered, or to solicit new proposals on the same project or on a modified project which may include portions of the originally proposed project as the State of Delaware may deem necessary in the best interest of the State of Delaware.

17. State’s Right to Cancel Solicitation The State of Delaware reserves the right to cancel this solicitation at any time during the procurement process, for any reason or for no reason. The State of Delaware makes no commitments expressed or implied, that this process will result in a business transaction with any vendor.

This RFP does not constitute an offer by the State of Delaware. Vendor’s participation in this process may result in the State of Delaware selecting your organization to engage in further discussions and negotiations toward execution of a contract. The commencement of such negotiations does not, however, signify a commitment by the State of Delaware to execute a contract nor to continue negotiations. The State of Delaware may terminate negotiations at any time and for any reason, or for no reason.

18. State’s Right to Award Multiple Source Contracting Pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 6986, the State of Delaware may award a contract for a particular professional service to two or more vendors if the agency head makes a determination that such an award is in the best interest of the State of Delaware.

19. Potential Contract Overlap Vendors shall be advised that the State, at its sole discretion, shall retain the right to solicit for goods and/or services as required by its agencies and as it serves the best interest of the State. As needs are identified, there may exist instances where contract deliverables, and/or goods or services to be solicited and subsequently awarded, overlap previous awards. The State reserves the right to reject any or all bids in whole or in part, to make partial awards, to award to multiple vendors during the same period, to award by types, on a zone-by-zone basis or on an item-by-item or lump sum basis item by item, or lump sum total, whichever may be most advantageous to the State of Delaware.

20. Supplemental Solicitation The State reserves the right to advertise a supplemental solicitation during the term of the Agreement if deemed in the best interest of the State.

21. Notification of Withdrawal of Proposal Vendor may modify or withdraw its proposal by written request, provided that both proposal and request is received by the State of Delaware prior to the proposal due date. Proposals may be re-submitted in accordance with the proposal due date in order to be considered further.

Proposals become the property of the State of Delaware at the proposal submission deadline. All proposals received are considered firm offers at that time.

22. Revisions to the RFP If it becomes necessary to revise any part of the RFP, an addendum will be posted on the State of Delaware’s website at www.bids.delaware.gov and (https://dhss.bonfirehub.com. The State of Delaware is not bound by any statement related to this RFP made by any State of Delaware employee, contractor or its agents.

23. Exceptions to the RFP Any exceptions to the RFP, or the State of Delaware’s terms and conditions, must be recorded on Attachment 3. Acceptance of exceptions is within the sole discretion of the evaluation committee.

24. Business References Provide at least three (3) business references consisting of current or previous customers of similar scope and value using Attachment 5. Include business name, mailing address, contact name and phone number, number of years doing business with, and type of work performed. Personal references cannot be considered.

25. Award of Contract The final award of a contract is subject to approval by the State of Delaware. The State of Delaware has the sole right to select the successful vendor(s) for award, to reject any proposal as unsatisfactory or non-responsive, to award a contract to other than the lowest priced proposal, to award multiple contracts, or not to award a contract, as a result of this RFP.

Notice in writing to a vendor of the acceptance of its proposal by the State of Delaware and the subsequent full execution of a written contract will constitute a contract, and no vendor will acquire any legal or equitable rights or privileges until the occurrence of both such events.

a. RFP Award Notifications After reviews of the evaluation committee report and its recommendation, and once the contract terms and conditions have been finalized, the State of Delaware will award the contract.

The contract shall be awarded to the vendor whose proposal is most advantageous, taking into consideration the evaluation factors set forth in the RFP.

It should be explicitly noted that the State of Delaware is not obligated to award the contract to the vendor who submits the lowest bid or the vendor who receives the highest total point score, rather the contract will be awarded to the vendor whose proposal is the most advantageous to the State of Delaware. The award is subject to the appropriate State of Delaware approvals.

After a final selection is made, the winning vendor will be invited to negotiate a contract with the State of Delaware; remaining vendors will be notified in writing of their selection status.

26. Cooperatives Vendors, who have been awarded similar contracts through a competitive bidding process with a cooperative, are welcome to submit the cooperative pricing for this solicitation. State of Delaware terms will take precedence.

C. RFP Evaluation Process An evaluation team composed of representatives of the State of Delaware will evaluate proposals on a variety of quantitative criteria. Neither the lowest price nor highest scoring proposal will necessarily be selected.

The State of Delaware reserves full discretion to determine the competence and responsibility, professionally and/or financially, of vendors. Vendors are to provide in a timely manner any and all information that the State of Delaware may deem necessary to make a decision.

1. Proposal Evaluation Team The Proposal Evaluation Team shall be comprised of representatives of the State of Delaware. The Team shall determine which vendors meet the minimum requirements pursuant to selection criteria of the RFP and procedures established in 29 Del. C. §§ 6981 and 6982. Professional services for this solicitation are considered under 29 Del. C. § 6982(b). The Team may negotiate with one or more vendors during the same period and may, at its discretion, terminate negotiations with any or all vendors. The Team shall make a recommendation regarding the award to the Department of Health and Social Services, who shall have final authority, subject to the provisions of this RFP and 29 Del. C. § 6982(b), to award a contract to the successful vendor in the best interests of the State of Delaware.

2. Proposal Selection Criteria The Proposal Evaluation Team shall assign up to the maximum number of points for each Evaluation Item to each of the proposing vendor’s proposals. All assignments of points shall be at the sole discretion of the Proposal Evaluation Team.

The proposals shall contain the essential information on which the award decision shall be made. The information required to be submitted in response to this RFP has been determined by the State of Delaware to be essential for use by the Team in the bid evaluation and award process. Therefore, all instructions contained in this RFP shall be met in order to qualify as a responsive and responsible contractor and participate in the Proposal Evaluation Team’s consideration for award. Proposals which do not meet or comply with the instructions of this RFP may be considered non-conforming and deemed non-responsive and subject to disqualification at the sole discretion of the Team.

The Team reserves the right to:

· Select for contract or for negotiations a proposal other than that with lowest costs.

· Reject any and all proposals or portions of proposals received in response to this RFP or to make no award or issue a new RFP.

· Waive or modify any information, irregularity, or inconsistency in proposals received.

· Request modification to proposals from any or all vendors during the contract review and negotiation.

· Negotiate any aspect of the proposal with any vendor and negotiate with more than one vendor at the same time.

· Select more than one vendor pursuant to 29 Del. C. § 6986. Such selection will be based on the following criteria:

Criteria Weight All proposals shall be evaluated using the same criteria and scoring process. The following criteria shall be used by the Evaluation Team to evaluate proposals:

Qualifications and experience of temporary employment company. Previous experience with similar contracts (this should include government as well as private sector contracts), geographical presence, and business profile

Scope of Work & Company Profile and Capabilities

Vendors are encouraged to review the evaluation criteria and to provide a response that addresses each of the scored items. Evaluators will not be able to make assumptions about a vendor’s capabilities so the responding vendor should be detailed in their proposal responses.

3. Proposal Clarification The Evaluation Team may contact any vendor in order to clarify uncertainties or eliminate confusion concerning the contents of a proposal. Proposals may not be modified as a result of any such clarification request.

4. References The Evaluation Team may contact any customer of the vendor, whether or not included in the vendor’s reference list, and use such information in the evaluation process. Additionally, the State of Delaware may choose to visit existing installations of comparable systems, which may or may not include vendor personnel. If the vendor is involved in such site visits, the State of Delaware will pay travel costs only for State of Delaware personnel for these visits.

5. Oral Presentations After initial scoring and a determination that vendor(s) are qualified to perform the required services, selected vendors may be invited to make oral presentations to the Evaluation Team. All vendor(s) selected will be given an opportunity to present to the Evaluation Team.

The selected vendors will have their presentations scored or ranked based on their ability to successfully meet the needs of the contract requirements, successfully demonstrate their product and/or service, and respond to questions about the solution capabilities.

The vendor representative(s) attending the oral presentation shall be technically qualified to respond to questions related to the proposed system and its components.

All of the vendor's costs associated with participation in oral discussions and system demonstrations conducted for the State of Delaware are the vendor’s responsibility.

Contract Terms and Conditions

0. Contract Use by Other Agencies REF: Title 29, Chapter 6904(e) Delaware Code. If no state contract exists for a certain good or service, covered agencies may procure that certain good or service under another agency's contract so long as the arrangement is agreeable to all parties.