IWWTI Grant Application.docx

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ SERVICES

GRANT APPLICATION

FOR

INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR

TRAINING INITIATIVE

ISSUED: May 10, 2018

Grant Application #: DVS_IWWTIApplicationFY18

Grant Application - Table of Contents

Section 3.3 Re-Opening Application Process…………………………………………………..7 Section 4. RESPONSE EVALUATION 8 Section 4.1 Qualifying Responses……………………………………………………………...8 Section 4.2 Response Review Process, Evaluation Criteria and Selection……………………..8 Section 5. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS…………………………………………………..11

Section 5.10 Independence ……………………………………………………………………14

Section 5.23 Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan (formerly Affirmative Market Plan)

GRANT APPLICATION ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENT A ---- MODEL GRANT AGREEMENT

ATTACHMENT B ---- RESPONSE FORM

GRANT APLICATION BASIC DATA

Purchasing Department Department of Veterans’ Services

INTRODUCTION

Purpose of Procurement Pursuant to 815 CMR 2.00, The Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services (“DVS”) issues this Grant Application (“Grant Application”) to solicit Responses from qualified non-profit private organization(s), licensed to transact business within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Commonwealth”), with proven experience training medical and mental health providers within the Commonwealth, to administer the Invisible Wounds of War Training Initiative (“IWWTI”) program (“Program”) throughout the Commonwealth.

Chapter 47 of the Acts of 2017, line item 1410-0012 appropriated $650,000 for the education and training of medical providers in veterans' mental and behavioral health issues, suicide prevention, and substance abuse and treatment.

Approximately one in three military veterans will be impacted by the invisible wounds of war, which include, but are not limited to, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, substance use disorders, depression, suicide and traumatic brain injury (collectively, referred to herein as “IWW”). Throughout the United States, approximately 20 military veterans commit suicide each day. Male veterans under the age of 30 are three times more likely to commit suicide than their peers. Substance abuse often precedes suicidal behavior in military veterans. It is estimated that 30% of Army suicides and over 45% of suicide attempts since 2003 involve some form of alcohol or drug abuse. In order to ensure that the significant population of military veterans residing in Massachusetts who may suffer from IWW receive the highest quality medical treatment from their providers, DVS is launching the IWWTI.

Insufficient numbers of medical personnel within the Commonwealth are trained to recognize and treat IWW. The Commonwealth seeks to train more medical personnel in this area of specialization.

The purpose of the Program is to enhance existing efforts to provide mental health service providers state of the art training on the most effective and current techniques for recognizing and treating military veterans (and their families) suffering from IWW, throughout the Commonwealth, at no cost to the client.

The target market for the training includes the broadest possible spectrum of mental health service providers including, but not limited to, physicians, osteopaths, psychologists, therapists, nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, counselors generally (including, but not limited to substance abuse disorder counselors, marriage counselors, family counselors, clergy, etc.), licensed clinical independent social workers, social workers generally, dentists, chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, alternative medicine providers, etc.

The Program may provide training at diverse locations throughout the entire Commonwealth.

Eligible organizations are invited to submit the response and supporting documentation (collectively, “Response”) as set forth in this Grant Application and the attached Response Form.

Number of Grant Agreements, Grant Term, Deadline for Responses DVS intends to allocate up to $650,000 in State Fiscal Year 2018 in one or more Grant Award(s) resulting from this Grant Application. DVS will select the winning grantee(s) (“Grantee”) in accordance with the criteria set forth in this Grant Application.

A Respondent may submit only one Response.

Any Grantee under this Grant Application and DVS shall enter into the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form, Commonwealth Terms and Conditions and the attached Model Grant Agreement (collectively, “Grant Agreement”), which shall commence upon execution by the parties. The term of the Grant Agreement shall be one (1) year from date of execution of the Grant Agreement. The Grant Agreement may be extended for six additional years through June 30, 2025, in increments to be determined by DVS and upon terms agreed to by the parties. DVS may also extend the Grant Agreement for any reasonable time period DVS determines necessary to complete a subsequent procurement.

DVS will accept Responses from qualified Respondents until 4:00 pm, local time, on Monday, Thursday May 31, 2018.

Respondent Qualifications In addition to all other requirements specified herein, a Respondent must:

Be a private non-profit entity authorized to transact business within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;

Possess the capability and willingness to execute the Program, as outlined in in this Grant Application and the Grant Agreement;

Possess significant experience administering large public programs;

Demonstrate significant experience implementing training and providing services to Massachusetts veterans, training third parties in the recognition and treatment of IWW within the Commonwealth;

Have prior experience training diverse populations at diverse locations throughout the Commonwealth;

Be solely responsible for meeting all obligations under the Grant Agreement; and Submit a Response by the deadline set forth in in the Grant Application.

Procurement Timetable The timeline for this Grant Application, which is subject to change at the discretion of DVS, is as follows:

MODEL grant agreement Attachment A, the Model Grant Agreement contains provisions that shall be incorporated into any contract to be executed with the successful respondent(s) (such contract shall also include the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form and Commonwealth Terms and Conditions for Human and Social Services). DVS reserves the right to modify Attachment A as it deems necessary. Changes to the contract documents after their execution by the parties shall be made only by written amendment.

RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

Response Submission Instructions Complete Responses must be submitted by the deadline specified in this Grant Application. Respondents must complete and submit the Response Form, which is attached as Exhibit A (“Response Form”). All Responses must be submitted in accordance with the submission instructions in this Grant Application and the Response form.

All procurements posted on COMMBUYS, known as Bids, require the submission of electronic responses, known as Quotes. To submit an electronic Quote, Respondents must register and maintain an active COMMBUYS Seller subscription account. Questions regarding COMMBUYS should be directed to the COMMBUYS Help Desk at commbuys@state.ma.us. In addition, there is a webcast, How to Locate and Respond to a Bid in COMMBUYS, that Respondents may find helpful. See Section 5, infra, for further information about COMMBUYS.

Respondents must submit electronic Quotes on COMMBUYS by the date and time specified in this Grant Application. COMMBUYS will not accept submissions after the specified deadline. The Respondent shall comply with all COMMBUYS electronic submission requirements and file size limits.

A complete Grant Application Response Form shall consist of:

A Cover Letter;

A completed Response Form; and All required attachments specified in the Response Form.

Each document and document section submitted shall include only information specific to the topic of that document and section. Superfluous information may be disregarded.

DVS, in its discretion, may decline to consider any material that is not presented in accordance with DVS’ instructions in evaluating the Respondent’s Response.

The Respondent shall adhere to page limits where specified. Respondents are strongly encouraged not to submit attachments that are extraneous, duplicative, or do not apply directly to the content requested. DVS will not consider attachments that are not required or narrative that exceeds text responses noted in the Response Form.

Responses submitted via any means other than COMMBUYS including, but not limited to paper, flash drives, videotapes, audiotapes, and diskettes will not be accepted. Facsimile and e-mailed responses will not be accepted.

Subcontractors A. The Respondent shall state whether subcontractors will be used to perform any services proposed under the Response and/or contained in Grant Agreement, and if so, shall, to the extent practicable, identify such subcontractor(s) by corporate or other legal entity name, address, telephone number, identify a point of contact, provide a live email address of the point of contact and indicate its status as a minority, women’s owned business, or veteran’s owned enterprise. If the subcontractor is an individual then the Response shall provide the name, business address, telephone number, and email address of each such person;

B. The Respondent shall describe generally in this section, and in detail wherever applicable throughout its Response, the respective responsibilities and functions that each subcontractor would perform if the Respondent were awarded the Grant Agreement, and how the Respondent will manage each subcontracting entity;

C. The Respondent guarantees that all subcontracts and other agreements or arrangements for provision of services and/or payment will be in writing and will contain terms consistent with all terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement. All such subcontracts shall contain language obligating the subcontractor to indemnify, save, hold harmless and defend DVS and the Commonwealth from any liability or claims arising out of the subcontractor’s acts or omissions; and D. Proposals to use subcontractors for a specific service(s) must not cause any additional administrative burden on DVS, and shall not relieve the Respondent of any and all legal obligations under the Grant Agreement.

Re-Opening of Application Process A. If DVS, after the initial deadline for Responses has passed, has not received a sufficient number of Responses, as determined by DVS at its sole discretion, DVS may immediately reopen the Grant Application to accept additional Responses.

B. If DVS does not enter into a Grant Agreement with a Grantee or terminates any Grant Agreement awarded under this Grant Application for any reason including, but not limited to, the Grantee’s failure to perform its obligations under the Grant Agreement, then DVS may, but is under no obligation, in the exercise of its sole discretion, reopen the Grant Application to accept additional Responses. DVS shall be under no obligation to reopen the application process; rather DVS may, at its sole discretion, negotiate with and award a Grant to any other Respondent.

C. Additional qualified Respondents may submit Responses in accordance the requirements contained herein if this Grant Application is ever reopened for Response submissions during the term of the Grant Agreement.

D. DVS will determine when and if the Grant Application will be reopened. Information regarding reopening will be posted on the same COMMBUYS site where this Grant Application is posted.

RESPONSE EVALUATION

Responses to this Grant Application shall be evaluated by an Evaluation Committee appointed by DVS (“Committee”).

Qualifying Responses The Committee will evaluate all Responses of qualified Respondents that comply with the requirements this Grant Application.

Any Response may be rejected at any time during the evaluation process if the Respondent:

Fails to demonstrate to DVS’ satisfaction that it meets the Respondent qualifications set forth in this Grant Application;

Fails to demonstrate to DVS’ satisfaction that it meets all other Grant Application requirements;

Fails to satisfy all Response Requirements contained in Section 2; to submit a response organized in accordance with all instructions, or to submit a response that is complete in all respects;

Fails to submit all required information and to otherwise comply with all requirements of the Response Form;

Receives a rating of “Fair”, “Poor”, or “Non-Responsive” in the evaluation of one or more items in the Respondent’s Response;

Has any interest that may, in DVS’ sole determination, conflict with performance of services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or is otherwise anti-competitive;

Fails to agree to a date and time for an oral presentation, if invited by the Committee, or fails to make an oral presentation;

Fails to agree to a site visit;

Rejects or qualifies its agreement to any of the mandatory provisions of the Grant Application; or Fails to reach agreement with DVS on Grant Agreement terms.

Response Review Process, Evaluation Criteria and Selection The Committee will evaluate all Responses of qualified Respondents that comply with the requirements of Section 2.1.

Evaluation Criteria The Committee will determine whether the Respondent satisfied all requirements of the Response Form, and will evaluate each element of the Response for comprehensiveness, appropriateness, feasibility, clarity, effectiveness, and responsiveness to the needs of DVS and the goals of IWWTI. The Committee will also consider the financial reasonableness, competitiveness and value of the Response to DVS. Cost will be one factor, but not the sole factor, in the Committee’s consideration. DVS is not required to choose the Respondent that proposes the lowest cost. In addition, the Committee may consider any relevant information about the Respondent known to it. The Committee may also consider the Respondent’s understanding of the nature and scope of the services requested, and history providing services to the Commonwealth’s veterans’ community. DVS may fully or partially fund the request submitted by the Respondent.

Response Rating The Committee will (1) evaluate Responses in accordance with the criteria described below; (2) give a rating of “Excellent”, “Very Good”, “Good”, “Fair”, “Poor”, or Non-Responsive for each section evaluated; (3) assign each of the Responses an overall rating; and (4) compare the Responses to one another.

Actions for Non-Compliance with Grant Application The Committee, in its sole discretion, may determine that any non-compliance with any Grant Application requirement is insubstantial. In such cases, the Committee may:

Seek clarification from the Respondent;

Allow the Respondent to make technical corrections;

Apply appropriate adjustments in the scoring of the evaluation; and/or Utilize other remedial action the Committee deems appropriate, such as applying a combination of all four remedies.

Oral Presentation/Finalist Interviews The Committee may, in its sole discretion, invite those Respondents whose Responses have been judged competitive and responsive in the course of the evaluation to participate in an oral presentation/finalist interview. At that time, the Respondents’ Responses may be discussed and clarified, but not changed in any way. The Committee reserves the right to apply restrictions to the structure and content of the oral presentations, and to instruct the Respondents regarding attendees and the presentation/interview process.

Oral presentations /finalist interviews shall not be open to the public nor to any competitors. Failure of a Respondent to agree to a date and time for a presentation/interview or to make a presentation/interview may result in rejection of the Respondent’s Response.

Site Visits The Committee may, in its sole discretion and at its convenience, elect to inspect any of the Respondent’s (or subcontractor’s) offices, facilities or resources prior to executing a Contract under this Grant Application. A site visit may include a detailed introduction to the Respondent’s/subcontractor’s operations that are relevant to this Grant Application and/or the Response. Failure to agree to such a site visit may result in rejection of the Respondent’s Response.

Past Performance The Committee, in its sole discretion, may consider in its review process evaluations of a Respondent’s performance in programs or grants administered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in general and DVS in particular, and any corrective actions or restrictions imposed by them. The Committee may also consider any information that may have previously been provided by the Respondent or is otherwise available or known to DVS.

References Each Respondent must provide no less than three (3) references to discuss with the Committee its experiences working with the Respondent and its capability to carry out the duties as envisioned in this Grant Application and the Grant Agreement and their goals. These should include reference(s) with knowledge of Respondent’s performance related to concluded or ongoing projects similar to the IWWTI. If the Respondent is currently performing or has performed any work for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, then at least one reference must be from a representative of that state entity. The Committee may verify or contact any reference provided at any time during the evaluation process. In addition, DVS reserves the right to request, verify, and contact additional references from any Respondent at any time prior to executing the Grant Agreement under this Grant Application.

Best and final Offer DVS reserves the right to request a best and final offer (“BAFO”) from any Respondent.

Recommendation to Enter into Grant Agreement Negotiations After the Committee completes its evaluation of the Responses, (and, if applicable, finalist interviews/oral presentations, site visits, and BAFO), the Committee will recommend to the Secretary of DVS, or his designee, the Respondent with whom to begin Grant Agreement negotiations. The Secretary of DVS or his designee will make a decision based on the Committee’s recommendations and the best interests of the Commonwealth. DVS is under no obligation to award any Grant Agreement pursuant to this Grant Application.

Best Value Selection and Contract Negotiation DVS will select the Response which, in its sole discretion, demonstrates the best value overall to DVS and the Commonwealth. DVS, in its sole discretion, may negotiate with the selected Respondent prior to executing a Grant Agreement. A recommendation for Grant award will be contingent upon successful negotiation of the Grant Agreement terms. Should DVS fail to reach an agreement on Grant Agreement terms with the Respondent then DVS, in its sole discretion, may negotiate with, and award a Grant to, any other Respondent it selects, or reopen the Grant Application, as set forth in this Grant Application.

Grant Award The award of any Grant under this Grant Application shall be subject to sufficient appropriation, availability of state and federal funds, all necessary state and federal approvals, and successful negotiation of a Grant Agreement terms.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Issuing Office Department of Veterans’ Services 600 Washington Street, 7th Floor Boston, MA 02111

COMMBUYS Market Center COMMBUYS is the official source of information for this procurement (known as a Bid in COMMBUYS terminology) and is publicly accessible at no charge at www.commbuys.com. Information contained in this Grant Application document and in COMMBUYS, including file attachments, announcements, modifications and information contained in the related Questions and Answers (Q&A), if any, are all components of the procurement.

Respondents are solely responsible for obtaining all information distributed for this procurement via COMMBUYS.

It is each Respondent’s responsibility to check COMMBUYS for:

· Any amendments, addenda, announcements or modifications to this procurement, and

· Any Q&A records related to this procurement.

The Commonwealth accepts no responsibility and will provide no accommodation to Respondents who submit a Response to this Grant Application (known as a Quote in COMMBUYS terminology) based on out-of-date information received from a source other than COMMBUYS.

COMMBUYS Subscription. Respondents may elect to obtain a free COMMBUYS Seller subscription which provides value-added features, including automated email notification associated with postings and modifications to COMMBUYS records. In order to submit a Response, Respondents must register and maintain an active COMMBUYS Seller subscription account.

All Respondents agree that, if awarded a Grant Agreement: (1) they will maintain an active seller account in COMMBUYS; (2) they will comply with all requests by the procuring entity to utilize COMMBUYS for the purposes of conducting all aspects of purchasing and invoicing with the Commonwealth, as added functionality for the COMMBUYS system is activated; and (3) in the event the Commonwealth adopts an alternate market center system, successful Respondents will be required to utilize such system, as directed by the procuring entity.

The COMMBUYS system introduces terminology, which Respondents must be familiar with in order to conduct business with the Commonwealth. To view this terminology and to learn more about the COMMBUYS system, visit the COMMBUYS Resource Center.

Questions specific to COMMBUYS should be made to the COMMBUYS Help Desk at commbuys@state.ma.us.

Respondent Communications Grant Application Contact Respondents are prohibited from communicating directly with any employee of DVS concerning this Grant Application, and no other individual Commonwealth employee or representative is authorized to provide any information or respond to any question or inquiry concerning this Grant Application except as specified below. Respondents may contact the contact person for this Grant Application in the event the Respondent is having trouble accessing the complete Grant Application or obtaining any required attachments electronically through COMMBUYS.

Grant Application Contact:

Dianne Handrahan Chief Fiscal Officer Department of Veterans’ Services 600 Washington St., 7th Floor Boston, MA 02111 Email: dianne.handrahan@massmail.state.ma.us Reasonable Accommodation Respondents with disabilities or hardships that seek reasonable accommodation, which may include the receipt of Grant Application information in an alternative format, must submit a written statement to the Grant Application contact person describing the Respondent’s disability and the requested accommodation to the contact person for the Grant Application. The Commonwealth reserves the right to reject unreasonable requests.

Grant Application Copies Respondents should download all Grant Application documents from COMMBUYS. If necessary, Respondents may request a copy of the Grant Application, or any of its components, by contacting the Grant Application contact person as set forth in this Grant Application.

Electronic Communication/Update of Respondent’s/Grantee’s Contact Information It is the responsibility of the Respondent and awarded Grantee to keep current the e-mail address of the Respondent’s contact person and prospective Grant manager, if awarded a grant, and to monitor that e-mail inbox for communications from the Committee, including requests for clarification. The Committee and the Commonwealth assume no responsibility if a prospective Respondent’s/awarded Grantee’s designated e-mail address is not current, or if technical problems, including those with the prospective Respondent’s/awarded Grantee’s computer, network or internet service provider (ISP) cause e-mail communications sent to/from the prospective Respondent/awarded Grantee and EOHHS to be lost or rejected by any means, including e-mail or spam filtering.

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Grant Application Questions Respondents may submit written questions concerning this Grant Application until, but no later than, the date and time specified in the timetable in this Grant Application. Written questions must be submitted via the COMMBUYS Bid Q&A functionality.

Questions received after the deadline may be disregarded. DVS will review questions received by the deadline and at its discretion prepare written responses to questions which DVS determines to be of general interest. The written answers will be posted on COMMBUYS. Only written answers are binding on DVS. Respondents should check COMMBUYS for updates.

Grant Application Errors This Grant Application may contain errors that may be corrected by DVS at any time prior to Grant Agreement execution. Corrections to this Grant Application will be posted on COMMBUYS.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form and Commonwealth Terms and Conditions Respondents selected as Grantees agree to abide by the terms of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form and Commonwealth Terms and Conditions. DVS is prohibited from amending these documents or agreeing to any change in their language. Any Respondent’s suggestion or requirement altering these documents will be disregarded.

Acceptance of Response Content The entire contents of the Respondent’s Response shall be binding. This Grant Application and all response documents submitted in response to it by a selected Respondent will, at DVS’ discretion, be incorporated by reference into any Grant Agreement awarded as a result of this Grant Application.

Alterations Respondents may not alter (manually or electronically) the Grant Application language or any procurement component files, except as directed in the Grant Application. Modifications to the body of the Grant Application, specifications, terms and conditions, or which change the intent of this Grant Application are prohibited and may disqualify a Response.

Independence By submitting a Response to this Grant Application, the Respondent certifies that the Response has been arrived at independently and has been submitted without any communication, collaboration, or without any agreement, understanding or planned common course or action with, any other Respondent or potential Respondent of the services described in the Grant Application.

Authorizations and Appropriations Any Grant awarded under this Grant Application is subject to all necessary federal and Commonwealth approvals, as applicable, including from the Office of the Comptroller, and is subject to appropriation of sufficient funding, as determined by DVS.

Confidentiality The Respondent shall comply with all confidentiality requirements set forth in Section Response Form. The selected Respondents shall be required to comply with all state and federal laws and regulations applicable to the privacy and security of personal and other confidential information, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the privacy and security regulations promulgated thereunder (45 CFR Parts 160 and 164) (the Privacy and Security Rules), and the additional terms, conditions and obligations relating to the privacy, security and management of personal and other confidential information set forth in the Response Form. Further, DVS reserves the right to add any requirement during the course of the contract that it determines it must include in the contract in order for DVS to comply with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations relating to privacy and security, including but not limited to the Privacy and Security Rules.

Conflict of Interest The Respondent may not have any interest that will conflict with the performance of services required under any Grant or Grant Agreement resulting from this Grant Application, or that may be otherwise anti-competitive, as determined by DVS, for the duration of the Grant. In order to so demonstrate, a Respondent may be required to submit any additional relevant information requested by DVS regarding its financial, legal, contractual or other interests. If DVS, in its sole judgment, determines that a Respondent possesses a conflicting interest, DVS may propose, consider or require any measures to eliminate or mitigate such conflicting interest to DVS’ satisfaction.

Grant Expansion If additional funds become available during the Grant duration period, DVS may, but is not required to, increase funding for the Grant executed as a result of this Grant Application, subject to available funding, satisfactory grant performance, and need.

Costs The Commonwealth will not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by Respondents in responding to this Grant Application.

Debriefing Upon notification of the award decision, any non-selected Respondent may make a written request for debriefing. A debriefing meeting provides the Respondent an opportunity to discuss the evaluation of its Response. A request for debriefing must be received by the Grant Application contact specified under Section 4.3.A within 14 calendar days after the postmark of the award decision notification to the Respondent. Debriefing meetings shall be held at the discretion of DVS.

Ownership of Submitted Responses DVS shall be under no obligation to return any Responses or materials submitted by a Respondent in response to this Grant Application. All materials submitted by Respondents become the property of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will not be returned to the Respondent.

Public Records All Responses and related documents submitted in response to this Grant Application are public records and are subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66, § 10 and M.G.L. c. 4, § 7 subsection 26. Any statement submitted in Responses that are inconsistent with these statutes will be disregarded.

Response Duration The Respondent’s Response shall remain in effect until a Grant Agreement resulting from this Grant Application is executed.

Restriction on the Use of the Commonwealth Seal The Respondents and Grantee are not permitted to display the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Seal in their bid package or subsequent marketing materials if they are awarded a Grant Agreement, because use of the coat of arms and the Great Seal of the Commonwealth for advertising or commercial purposes are prohibited by law.

Assignment The Grantee shall not be permitted to assign its obligations under the Grant Agreement to a third party.

Program Modifications and New Initiatives DVS shall have the option at its sole discretion to modify, increase, reduce or terminate any activity related to the Grant Agreement whenever, in the sole judgment of DVS, the goals of the program have been modified or altered in a way that necessitates such changes. In the event that the scope of work or portion thereof must be changed, DVS shall provide written notice of such action to the Grantee and the parties shall negotiate in good faith to implement any such changes proposed by DVS.

DVS additionally reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to amend the Grant Agreement to implement state or federal statutory or regulatory requirements, judicial orders, settlement agreements, or any state or federal initiatives or changes affecting DVS, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or the Grant Agreement.

Notwithstanding the generality of the foregoing, DVS reserves the right to amend the Grant Agreement to implement new initiatives or to modify initiatives related to:

New DVS programs or information technology systems;

Expansion of, or changes to, existing DVS programs or information technology systems;

Other programs as specified by DVS; and Programs or information technology systems resulting from state or federal legislation, regulations, initiatives, or judicial decisions that may affect, in whole or in part, DVS or the Grant Agreement.

The parties shall negotiate in good faith to implement any such changes proposed by DVS. The Grantee’s responsibilities are subject to change due to implementation of such initiatives. DVS reserves the right to modify the Grant Agreement due to program modifications. In addition, the Grantee may request an opportunity to enter into negotiations with DVS over amendments to the Modified Grant Agreement related to new initiatives or modified initiatives as described in this section. DVS may grant such a request in its sole discretion.

Any changes to the Grant Agreement under this section shall be subject to appropriate approvals.

Supplier Diversity Program Plan (formerly Affirmative Market Plan) Supplier Diversity Program (SDP): Massachusetts Executive Order 565 reaffirmed and expanded the Commonwealth’s policy to promote the award of state contracts in a manner that develops and strengthens certified Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs), Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), Minority and Women Nonprofit Organizations (M/WNPOs), Veteran Business Enterprises (VBEs), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises (SDVOBEs), Disability-Owned Business Enterprises (DOBEs), and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Business Enterprises (LGBTBEs).

Partnerships with M/WBEs, M/WNPOs, VBEs and SDVOBEs: All Respondents are required to make a significant financial commitment to partner with certified M/WBEs, M/WNPOs, VBEs and/or SDVOBEs (collectively, “SDP Partners”) certified or verified by the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO). Respondents must identify a commitment in the form of a specific percentage of sales made under the resulting contract that will be spent with an SDP Partner(s) on a Massachusetts fiscal year basis, using SDP Plan Form #1 – SDP Plan Commitment. This percentage commitment will extend for the life of any resulting contract.

A. Each response must include a Supplier Diversity Program Plan.

B. In accordance with Commonwealth guidelines as described in the SDP Plan, SDP participation will account for no less than ten percent of the total available evaluation points. Respondents must submit a completed SDP Plan form that evidences significant and measurable commitments to SDP Plans. Each Respondent must download this form, complete it, and submit it as part of its Response. Respondents are required to state a specific percentage of contract revenues that will represent the SDP commitment for the entire contract period, including any renewals. The form is incorporated by reference as SDP Plan Form 1.

This requirement extends to all Respondents regardless of their certification status, and no Respondent will be awarded a grant unless and until the above requirement is met. Respondents may not list themselves or affiliates as SDP Partners.

DVS will monitor a Grantee’s performance, and use the Grantee’s reported expenditures with SDP Partners to fulfill SDP expenditure benchmarks. DVS reserves the right to contact SDP Partners at any time to request that they attest to the amounts reported to have been paid to them by the Grantee.

Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Resources: Resources available to assist Prime Bidders in finding potential Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and Women Business Enterprises (WBE) partners can be found at: www.mass.gov/sdp. Resources available to assist Prime Bidders in finding potential Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (SDVOBE) partners can be found on the Operational Services Division’s SDO webpage at: www.mass.gov/sdo. The Operational Services Division’s Supplier Diversity Program offers training on the SDP Plan requirements. The dates of upcoming trainings can be found at: http://www.mass.gov/anf/budget-taxes-and-procurement/procurement-info-and-res/osd-training-events-and-outreach/osd-training-and-outreach.html. In addition, the SDP Webinar can be located on the SDP website at www.mass.gov/SDP.

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