PUR 7776.pdf

PUR 7776 (Revised 07/2022) Incorporated by Reference: Rule 60A-1.045, F.A.C.

DESCRIPTION OF INTENDED

SINGLE SOURCE PURCHASE

(PUR 7776)

This description of commodities or contractual services intended for purchase from a single source is posted in accordance with sections 120.57(3) and 287.057(3), Florida Statutes (F.S.), and will remain posted for a period of at least 15 business days.

Commodity or Contractual Service Required (commodity or United National Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC), manufacturer, model, and description, as appropriate):

86132102 – Training planning and development consultancy service 86132200 – Educational support services 86101810 – Personnel skill training

Quantity or Term (as appropriate):

2 years upon execution

Requestor (division, bureau, office, individual, as appropriate):

Office of Child and Family Well-Being

Performance and/or Design Requirements (e.g., intended use, function or application, compatibility, requirements; reference to policy, rule, statute or other act of the Legislature, etc., as appropriate): The Vendor will be required to provide the Department’s complete simulation, critical thinking, and case management training, to continue to provide quality training to Children Protection Investigators (CPI) and Children Protection Investigator Supervisors (CPIS). The Vendor must utilize the Theory of Administrative Tethering and the "Good Call" Tool in this specialized training, to meet the quality expectations of the Department. The Vendor will be required to build the Department custom simulations.

AGENCY: Florida Department of Children and Families

TITLE: Simulation Training for Child Welfare Short description of the commodity or service desired: The Department intends to continue to provide innovative, and data proven training techniques for Simulation training in Child Welfare.

The Vendor will be required to continue to work with the Department to provide custom simulations. This pre-service training will prepare trainees for the reality of the work by providing real life experiences and an environment in which it is safe to fail.

CONTACT

Name: Alicia Reifinger Address: N/A Telephone: N/A Email: Alicia.Reifinger@myflfamilies.com, all communication shall be in writing

Internal tracking number, if any: DCF SS 2324 062

Date posted: 10/02/2023 Last day for receipt of information: 10/23/2023 mailto:Alicia.Reifinger@myflfamilies.com

Intended Single Source:

REAL Academy

Estimated Dollar Amount:

The total amount of funding for this project is $2,953,165 which is comprised of three projects. The first project totaling $917,885 in funds from the Office of Child and Family Well-Being is for instructional design. The second project is for $999,999 in funds from the Office of Child and Family Well-Being will be to provide deliverables to Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW), a division of Florida State University for administrative tethering video training, progress reports, fidelity monitoring tool, and training master trainers for simulation of which will be 100% reimbursed back to DCF upon completion of deliverables. For Fiscal year 2, the third project totaling $1,035,281 is comprised in funds from the Office of Child and Family Well-Being of which FICW will also completely reimburse upon completion of deliverables.

Justification for single source acquisition (what is necessary and unique about the product, service or source; steps taken to confirm unavailability of competition, as appropriate):

The Department has a current Purchase Order with REAL Academy, this is the only Vendor that can continue ongoing work. Additionally, REAL Academy is the only organization offering child welfare simulation (custom or out-of-the-box products), technical assistance to implement simulation, practice-driven training into existing training curriculum, and a Learning Management System assisting to bridge practice gaps and provide CEUs. The Department is currently under contract with the Real Academy and this single source will allow a continuation of the services currently provided that only they can provide. While other vendors create simulations, only REAL Academy offers a train-the-trainer model enabling participants to participate in the creation of simulations for ongoing sustainability. Only REAL Academy has a suite of trade-secret-protected decision-making tools (Behavior Branch™, Good Call Tool™, and Nexus™) to improve critical thinking/reasoning in child welfare practice, all of which are created, researched, validated, and owned by REAL Academy. Furthermore, only REAL Academy has access to certain copyrighted materials based on the research summarized in Toward the Theory of Administrative Tethering: Re-thinking Child Welfare Training amid Rationally Bounded Administrative Decision-Making and Collaborative Governance Processes: Marino, Kevin: 9781793642943: Amazon.com: Books) to strengthen the attachment of frontline professionals to policy, law, and practice.

Administrative Tethering uses evaluation measures to examine each participant’s strengths and Bounded Rationality to support maximum sustainability of the project, by providing a diagnostic tool to frame adjustments required for the trainer/management approach to retain, maintain, adapt, and improve professional skills in a manner not found with any other vendor.

In September of 2020, the Florida Institute for Child Welfare (FICW) conducted a level three evaluation of our current Pre-service curriculum yielding the following policy recommendations:

“Continue emphasizing hands-on learning strategies in pre-service training, such as training mock-cases, and trials, role plays, and FSFN practice;”

“Develop strategies across regions to provide, realistic opportunities for interacting with families with diverse scenarios during training;” and most notably “Participants stressed the need to learn under less scripted conditions...”

https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Theory-Administrative-Tethering-Decision-Making/dp/179364294X https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Theory-Administrative-Tethering-Decision-Making/dp/179364294X https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Theory-Administrative-Tethering-Decision-Making/dp/179364294X

Out-of-the-box or one-time customized simulations may meet the first two recommendations for a short period of time but are not sustainable in our constantly changing system of care without the implementation support provided only by REAL Academy. Further, the performance of trainees and validation of transfer of knowledge is not measurable without the evaluation measures of Administrative Tethering™ provided only by REAL Academy, and the training will not integrate into ongoing practice without the use of REAL Academy’s proprietary decision-making tools. Only a vendor with the ability to tailor and embed these hands-on learning experiences into Florida’s complex system of care will be able to meet the need of the Pre-service redesign.

Approved By (names & titles, as appropriate, e.g., requestor, requestor management, information systems, budget, purchasing):

Amy Hines, Director of Education and Training Holly Merrick, Budget Office Kimberly McMahon, Chief of Solicitation Administration Thomas Valentine, Assistant General Counsel Daniel May, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Office of Child and Family Well-Being Sharron Washington, Assistant Secretary of Office of Quality and Innovation Kathryn Williams, Assistant Secretary of Office of Child and Family Well-Being

Prospective vendors are requested to provide information regarding their ability to supply the commodities or contractual services described. If it is determined in writing by the agency, after reviewing any information received from prospective vendors, that the commodities or contractual services are available only from a single source, the agency shall provide notice of its intended decision to enter a single-source purchase contract in the manner specified in Rule 60A- 1.045, Florida Administrative Code, and section 120.57(3), F.S.