RFI 5400030103 - SE Services.pdf

State of South Carolina

Request for Information

Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400030103 08/17/2026

KENDALL JACKSON

803.898.2059 Kendall.jackson@sccb.sc.gov SC Commission for the Blind SCCB Procurement Office 1430 Confederate Ave Columbia SC 29201

DESCRIPTION: Supported Employment Services

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: L240 – SC Commission for the Blind

SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSE VIA EMAIL TO: Kendall.Jackson@sccb.sc.gov

SUBMIT RESPONSE BY (Opening Date/Time): 08/28/2026 17:00:00 (See Section IV - Response Instructions)

I. SCOPE OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

BACKGROUND

South Carolina Commission for the Blind (SCCB) receives both a Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) federal grant and a Supported Employment (SE) Services for Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities federal grant. This program provides grants to assist States in developing and implementing collaborative programs with appropriate entities to provide supported employment services for individuals with the most significant disabilities, including youth with the most significant disabilities, who require supported employment services following the achievement of a supported employment outcome. Supported employment grant funds are used to supplement funds provided under the State Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program to provide supported employment services.

SCCB is looking to establish a contract(s) with appropriate entities to provide SE Services to eligible South Carolina residents that will lead to competitive integrated employment. SCCB’s SE Services program will be split between two population groups, youth (ages 14-24 years old) and adults.

RELATED LAWS & OTHER GUIDANCE

34 CFR Part 363 - The State Supported Employment Services Program

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) defines competitive integrated employment (CIE) as work that is performed on a full-time or part-time basis for which an individual is:

Compensated at or above minimum wage and comparable to the customary rate paid by the employer to employees without disabilities performing similar duties and with similar training and experience;

Receiving the same level of benefits provided to other employees without disabilities in similar positions;

At a location where the employee interacts with other individuals without disabilities; and

Presented opportunities for advancement similar to other employees without disabilities in similar positions.

PROGRAM GOALS

South Carolina Commission for the Blind (SCCB) provides Supported Employment (SE) services to individuals with most significant disabilities, including youth with a most significant disability to support their achievement of a competitive integrated employment outcome in a job consistent with their unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, capabilities, interests, and informed choice. Supported Employment is an appropriate service based on a comprehensive assessment of rehabilitation needs that include an evaluation of the individual’s rehabilitation, career, and job needs.

Job Coaching, a Supported Employment service, is required to support a consumer’s job placement to ensure the consumer’s continued success in their competitive integrated employment setting.

These services may include:

bi-monthly monitoring, On-site training and orientation, Employer consultation, Job instruction, Working with consumers outside of regular business hours, including weekends (if applicable), based on consumer needs and job placement.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this Request for Information (RFI) is to locate appropriate entities willing and capable of providing SE services and get input from such entities on SCCB’s Program Goals above.

INFORMATION REQUESTED

Please answer the following questions.

1. Is your company/entity capable and willing to provide SE services?

2. Do you currently provide services that achieve Supported Employment goals?

3. If yes to Question 2, how do you provide those services and who do you work with?

4. What areas of South Carolina does your company/entity work in? Are you willing to travel to other areas of the state to provide services?

5. What business partnerships does your company/entity currently have and/or are in the process of forming that can provide SE services?

6. What are your thoughts providing Supported Employment services in South Carolina?

(Open-ended response)

II. RESPONSE CONTENT

A cover letter including company name, point of contact name, e-mail address, and telephone number.

Provide a brief overview regarding your company, including its history, expertise, and relevant experience in providing SE services.

Answers to the questions under “Information Requested”.

Any other information you think would help SCCB structure a Scope of Work for these services appropriately. i.e. What did we miss.

III. DISCLAIMER & CONFIDENTIALITY

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation for future business, an offer for procurement, or any other type of current or future procurement or contractual action and is only intended to gather input. SCCB will not award a contract based on this RFI, nor will it pay for the information it receives. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by SCCB to form a binding contract. No party is bound by the information provided in response to this RFI.

Respondents may describe potential services or solutions for planning purposes only.

Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. SCCB is not liable for any costs or fees incurred by the respondent in preparing its responses.

Confidentiality

If any of the information in the vendor response is considered confidential, proprietary, or a trade secret, it must be clearly indicated on the appropriate page of the vendor response. Release of such materials is governed by the South Carolina Freedom of Information Law, which in pertinent part requires the requester to provide specific justification as to why disclosure of particular information in the response would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the vendor. It is incumbent upon the vendor to specify company-specific trade secrets in need of protection where public disclosure of said trade secrets would harm the company.

Public Access to Procurement Information in South Carolina:

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t11c035.php

SECTION 11-35-410. Public access to procurement information.

A) Procurement information must be a public record to the extent required by Chapter 4, Title 30 (The Freedom of Information Act), except as otherwise provided by this code, and with the exception that commercial or financial information obtained in response to a request for proposals or any type of bid solicitation that is privileged and confidential need not be disclosed.

(B) Privileged and confidential information is information in specific detail not customarily released to the general public, the release of which might cause harm to the competitive position of the party supplying the information. Examples of this type of information include:

(1) customer lists;

(2) design recommendations and identification of prospective problem areas under an RFP;

(3) design concepts, including methods and procedures;

(4) biographical data on key employees of the bidder.

(C) The board shall promulgate regulations directing the public availability and disposition of documents submitted in response or with regard to a solicitation or other request where no award is made.

(D) For all documents submitted in response or with regard to any solicitation or other request, the person submitting the documents shall comply with instructions provided in the solicitation for marking information exempt from public disclosure. Information not marked as required by the applicable instructions may be disclosed to the public.

(E) A governmental body, with the approval of the appropriate chief procurement officer, may keep portions of a solicitation confidential and release the information to prospective offerors only upon execution of a nondisclosure agreement, provided the information is otherwise exempted from disclosure by law.

(F) If requested in writing before a final award by an actual bidder, offeror, contractor, or subcontractor with regard to a specific intended award or award of a contract, the procurement officer shall, within five days of the receipt of any such request, make documents directly connected to the procurement activity and not otherwise exempt from disclosure available for inspection at an office of the responsible procurement officer. Without otherwise limiting any other exemptions granted by law, and except as provided herein, documents of and documents incidental to proposed contractual arrangements, including those used for contract negotiations, are not exempt from disclosure after the date notice of intent to award is posted, unless the notice is subsequently canceled.

IV. RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS

The sole point of contact for this RFI is:

Kendall Jackson Procurement Manager South Carolina Commission for the Blind 1430 Confederate Ave Columbia, SC, 29201 803-898-2059 Kendall.jackson@sccb.sc.gov

Respondents shall make no contact with other SCCB personnel, except as permitted by the point of contact, concerning this RFI.

Respondents should provide their responses in Microsoft Word or PDF format via email to the point of contact listed above.

The emailed response must be received on or before the date and time of the RFI Response Due listed on the cover page. Please adhere to the following convention for subject lines in emailed RFI Responses:

[Company Name] – RFI#5400026315 Response