RFP 24-DCYF-CW-081_DEPS_V7.0.docx

COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

RFP NO. 24-DCYF-CW-081

Email: dcyf.depsvendor@dcyf.wa.gov

946-70: Payment Card Services 204-47: Integrated Hardware-Software I.T. Solution (Microcomputer) 206-55: Integrated Hardware-Software I.T. Solution (Mini/Mainframe Computer) 208-53: Integrated Software 209-37: Data Processing Software, Mini/Mainframe Computer 209-42: E-Commerce Software (Mini/Mainframe Computer) 209-54: Internet and Web Site Software for Main Frame Computers 209-87 Software, Mini/Mainframe Computer (Not Otherwise Classified)

State of Washington | RFP No. 24-DCYF-CW-081 Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) Competitive Solicitation

OVERVIEW, VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS, AND CONTRACT TERM

State of Washington | RFP No. 24-DCYF-CW-081

Competitive Solicitation

EXPLANATION OF SOLICITATION PROCESS

Table of Contents

1. OVERVIEW, VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS, AND CONTRACT TERM

Purpose and Background This Competitive Solicitation is issued to assist the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) in seeking qualified Contractor(s) to provide proven knowledge, experience, and success in performing similar work to what is required in this Request for Proposals (RFP). The selected Vendor will be expected to bring a team to provide technology expertise and innovative, efficiency-focused thinking to deliver the solution, product, and services specified within this RFP including attachments.

DCYF is a cabinet-level agency administratively created by Governor Inslee in 2017 with the goal of focusing on families and children to improve outcomes for at-risk families and youth. The creation of DCYF brought together several business functions that existed in the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the Department of Early Learning (DEL). Additional functions to support juvenile justice moved from DSHS to DCYF in 2019.

DCYF is the lead agency for state-funded services that support children and families to build resilience, health, and to improve educational outcomes. DCYF accomplishes this work by partnering with state and local agencies, Tribal partners, and other organizations in communities across the state of Washington.

DCYF’s guiding principles are:

A relentless focus on outcomes for children.

A commitment to collaboration and transparency.

A commitment to using data to inform and evaluate reforms, leveraging and aligning existing services with desired child outcomes.

A focus on supporting staff as they contribute to the agency’s goals and outcomes.

DCYF is currently working to modernize Social Service Payments System (SSPS) system and associated payment authorization systems/processes through a DCYF Enterprise Payment Solution (DEPS). DCYF aims to improve payment efficiency, accuracy, and transparency, ensuring that payment recipients (including vendors and service providers) receive timely and accurate support. This initiative is aligned with broader organizational objectives of enhancing system and process efficiency, complying with legislative and regulatory mandates, and making best use of technology where the risk-adjusted benefit is appropriate and substantial.

Objective and Scope The State of Washington, DCYF is requesting proposals from responsible Vendors to replace its legacy SSPS system and surrounding ecosystem with DEPS, an enterprise solution. Specifically, DCYF seeks a qualified Vendor to provide:

Design, Develop/Configure and Implement (DDI) services leveraging COTS/SaaS components OR LCAP/PaaS platforms, including build out of interfaces for integration with surrounding internal and external systems per DEPS’s non-functional requirements, provision of Human / User Centered Design services.

Decommissioning of in-scope legacy systems such as SSPS Legacy Systems Decommissioning services for SSPS as well as several peripheral systems, including data migration and conversion services from in-scope legacy systems to the new DEPS.

Project Management services for the implementation of the solution, in collaboration with DCYF project team.

Change Management services for the implementation of the solution, in collaboration with DCYF project team The DEPS and all Solution Services for an initial implementation period.

Maintenance and Operations (M&O) services for the implemented DEPS, for an initial period, with multi-year options for extension.

Anticipated Outcomes DCYF anticipates the following outcomes through replacement of SSPS and other related payment systems with DEPS:

Timely and Accurate Payments: Ensuring that all payment recipients, including vendors, service providers, and other payment beneficiaries, such as children and families, receive payments promptly and accurately, reflecting the value of their goods and services, and the importance of their contributions.

Streamlined and Standardized Processes: Simplifying and optimizing every aspect of the payment process to reduce delays, eliminate inefficiencies, and improve overall user experience and system performance for all participants.

Enhanced Transparency: Providing clear, accessible information about payment processes and statuses to payment recipients, including vendors and service providers, DCYF staff, and other participants, fostering trust and accountability.

Support for Participants: Offering a system that is responsive to the needs of payment recipients, including vendors and service providers, children, and families, ensuring that the technical solutions implemented enhance rather than hinder service delivery.

Adaptability and Future-Readiness: Building a flexible system that can adapt to changing needs, integrate new technologies, and comply with evolving legislative and policy requirements.

Quality Care and Services: Facilitating the provision of high-quality care and services for Washington's children and youth by ensuring the financial stability and support of payment recipients, including service providers, through efficient and reliable payment systems.

Appropriate Stewardship of Public Funds and Grants: Ensuring the responsible management of public funds and grants to safeguard that financial resources are allocated efficiently and transparently, optimizing the impact of every dollar invested.

Ability to Attract and Retain Talent: Fostering an engaging and innovative work environment to attract and retain dedicated professionals, by promoting professional growth, efficiency, and a direct contribution to enhancing the lives of families and children served and an opportunity to work with a shape modern technology.

Deprecation of Existing Legacy Systems: The opportunity to retire legacy technology and reduce reliance on legacy infrastructure which will simplify the Agency’s technology application portfolio.

These anticipated outcomes are aligned to, and quantified by, the benefits articulated in the cost benefit analysis.

Expected Quantitative Benefits Based on DCYF’s anticipated outcomes, the Department also identified quantitative benefits to be realized as a result of DEPS. Quantitative benefits are clear, specific benefits that the future state of DEPS is expected to provide to DCYF staff and the clients the Department serves. They include:

Improve reporting efficiencies.

Improve training time for DEPS understanding.

Improve processes and reduce manual entry / duplicative processes.

Improve department spending by reducing reliance on contractors through a shift to FTEs.

Improve User Experience: Providing high-quality online access for vendors, service providers and families to submit invoices, track payment status, and view payment history, optimizing system integrations and reporting capabilities to prevent and efficiently resolve overpayments.

Improve interface functionality with Comprehensive Child Welfare Case Management System (CCWIS) resulting in less FTEs needed to review failed authorizations.

Improve the accuracy authorization by Child Care Subsidy staff.

Improve the need for manual inputting as workaround to payment limit.

Improve the amount of time spent researching authorization and payment issues.

Improve the amount of fiscal analyst (FA) time spent assisting providers find their payment information, authorization status, or other information that is not easily retrieved.

Improve functionality for Journal Vouchers at the transaction level.

Reduce longevity of hypercare support.

Reduce the amount of money spent on mainframe hardware costs.

Reduce the amount of money spent on vendors for the upkeep of SSPS.

Increase ability for service providers and suppliers to self-serve without staff interaction.

Reduce questionable payment findings.

Business and Technical Context and Intended Business Outcomes Current State of DCYF’s Business Environment:

The Washington DCYF is a cabinet-level agency focused on the well-being of children, with a vision that "Washington state’s children and youth grow up safe and healthy— thriving physically, emotionally and academically, nurtured by family and community". DCYF oversees several services previously offered through the state DSHS and DEL. These include all programs from the Children’s Administration formerly in DSHS, such as Child Protective Services’ investigations and Family Assessment Response, licensed foster care, and adoption support. Also included are the juvenile rehabilitation institutions, community facilities and parole services, and all DEL services, such as the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program for preschoolers, Working Connections Child Care, and Home Visiting.

Within DCYF, the Child Welfare Field Operations (CWFO) is organized into six regions. Each region includes Regional Administrators, Deputy Regional Administrators, Area Administrators (who manage large offices or a constellation of smaller offices), and Social Service Specialists 5 (who are union-represented supervisors, reporting to the Area Administrator and managing approximately 6–8 Social Service Specialist staff). The CWFO employs approximately 2,200 people who are responsible for the direct service to children and families with active child welfare cases. Social Service Specialists, who are union represented, are the frontline staff, and they work in the following units:

Intake Child Protective Services (investigations) Child Family Welfare Services (court cases) Family Assessment Response (alternative response) Family Reconciliation Services Family Voluntary Services Licensing Division (licensing and monitoring of placement resources)

Intended Business Outcomes:

DCYF is looking to invest in DEPS to achieve the following business outcomes:

Timely and Accurate Payments: Ensuring that all payment recipients, including vendors, service providers, and other payment beneficiaries, such as children and families, receive payments promptly and accurately, reflecting the value of their goods and services, and the importance of their contributions.

Streamlined and Standardized Processes: Simplifying and optimizing every aspect of the payment process to reduce delays, eliminate inefficiencies, and improve overall user experience and system performance for all participants.

Enhanced Transparency: Providing clear, accessible information about payment processes and statuses to payment recipients, including vendors and service providers, DCYF staff, and other participants, fostering trust and accountability.

Support for Participants: Offering a system that is responsive to the needs of payment recipients, including vendors and service providers, children, and families, ensuring that the technical solutions implemented enhance rather than hinder service delivery.

Adaptability and Future-Readiness: Building a flexible system that can adapt to changing needs, integrate new technologies, and comply with evolving legislative and policy requirements.

Quality Care and Services: Facilitating the provision of high-quality care and services for Washington's children and youth by ensuring the financial stability and support of payment recipients, including service providers, through efficient and reliable payment systems.

Appropriate stewardship of public funds and grants: Ensuring the responsible management of public funds and grants to safeguard that financial resources are allocated efficiently and transparently, optimizing the impact of every dollar invested.

Ability to attract and retain talent: Fostering an engaging and innovative work environment to attract and retain dedicated professionals, by promoting professional growth, efficiency, and a direct contribution to enhancing the lives of families and children served.

Business Challenges with SSPS:

The following are some of the key business challenges associated with the current SSPS system:

Single payment authorization maximum amount of $999,999.99.

Different Service Provider identifiers in different legacy systems (SSPS, Barcode, FamLink, MERIT, EAS).

SSPS: The payment system for child welfare and child care subsidy providers; interface to upload in Agency Financial Reporting System (AFRS). The system is mainframe (Unisys, IBM and Windows Server) hosted by DSHS & application layer maintained by DCYF. Multiple system interfaces w/ most COA coding done in the source business system.

Barcode: System that houses and reviews proof of child care subsidy service delivery that are manually entered.

FamLink: A DCYF owned/managed Case management system for child welfare workers. FamLink contains various modules including: FamLink IVE module which is critical and affects coding of the SSPS payment data. It stores the child’s IVE eligibility information and codes payments accordingly, determining the eligible funding source and assigns the SOF (Source of Funds) to each payment. In addition, FamLink sends SOF corrections (account coding updates) to AFRS whenever there is a Title IVE Redeterminations.

MERIT: A report engine that is used in conjunction with SSPS and other systems Electronic Attendance System (EAS) – System used for attendance audit purposes.

Several FamLink codes can use the same SSPS authorization, causing errors in processing.

Tiered Reimbursement (TR) Service Codes in SSPS are not shared with FamLink.

Historical payment information is not easily available when investigating overpayments, payment adjustments and audit.

Inability to add comments/notes on Authorization.

Providers receive multiple payments that are not tied to a single invoice Inability to cancel a single payment from the total payment when multiple payments equal a total amount.

Pay out older than a year are complicated, manual, and prone to errors.

Inability to track checks that are reissued.

Inability to pull an automated warrant.

Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs) that go unused for too long revert back to paper warrant.

The handshake between FamLink and SSPS takes an excessive amount of time.

Inappropriate Child Welfare New/Renewal/Termination Authorization Notices causing confusion with service providers.

Term Code Holds up Provider File Closures.

Inability to process partial hours billed.

Unable to meet Monday invoicing deadlines Authorization cancelation communication.

SSPS is outdated and difficult to use.

Technical Challenges with SSPS:

The current SSPS is a mission critical, complex legacy system which runs on a Unisys mainframe where COBOL-based programs perform most of the authorization and payment processing logic to pay over 23,000 social service providers across childcare and child welfare, servicing more than 100,000 DCYF clients. The hardware platform includes an IBM mainframe for printing checks, remittance advice and trailers; a series of web-based applications which allow for online claiming of authorized payments, as well as performing administrative functions and reporting. In addition, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system called ‘Invoice Express’ is used for providers to submit invoices using a touch-tone phone. Between DSHS and DCYF, this system has been slated for replacement for many years. The Unisys mainframe is at the ‘end of life’. The COBOL developer resources to support this system are a scarce resource. The system must be streamlined and modernized to continue to support payment processing in the future.

Other Initiatives

CCWIS

The State of Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF, the Department, or the Agency) is requesting proposals from responsible Vendors to replace its legacy Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) system, FamLink, with a Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS).

One Washington (OneWA) One Washington (OneWA), led by the Office of Financial Management (OFM), is a state-wide transformation program focused on replacing 1960s-era technology with a cloud-based solution for finance, procurement, budget, HR, and payroll processes. Phase 1A of the program includes replacement of the AFRS and several other OFM systems with a new cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. A complete ERP system combines business functions (finance, procurement, budget, HR, and payroll) across an organization’s main resources and provides decision makers with real-time enterprise information. OFM’s OneWA project affects applications across the entire state enterprise, including DCYF. Agencies have started making changes in the impacted applications to integrate with OneWA.

Leadership and Governance DCYF understands the importance of active and visible leadership to the success of large complex initiatives such as DEPS. DEPS has support of Washington State’s central agencies and DCYF’s senior leadership.

Recognizing the pivotal role of DEPS in achieving our goals, DCYF employs a multi-layered project leadership approach outlined in Figure 1 below.

The Agency has put in place a governance structure that includes representative from Agency executive on the Executive Steering Committee, an Executive Sponsor Team, a Project Director and workstream leads. A number of these individuals are also involved in governance for related initiatives, such as CCWIS and OneWA.

DCYF Project Leadership

DEPS Project Leadership

Through this robust leadership framework, DCYF is well-positioned to navigate the complexities of IT modernization with precision and efficiency, ultimately delivering transformative e outcomes for the department.

Future DEPS Summary of Functionality: DCYF seeks a future state DEPS includes foundational capabilities expected of a modern-day financial management system. As part of the DEPS planning efforts, DCYF conducted a comprehensive business process analysis. Attachment C: Solution Functional RTM summarizes the list of business process workflows that the future state DEPS must support at a minimum.

Business Process Workflows

Preferred Technical Approach: The future DEPS solution will leverage cloud-based off-the-shelf solutions offered as Software as a Service or leverage Low Code Platforms to design and configure a solution on a Platform as a Service. DEPS will also be designed to work seamlessly and in alignment with the planned statewide ERP system.

State of Washington Oversight The DEPS project is subject to the State of Washington’s IT Gated Funding Oversight requirements and processes, as described at https://watech.wa.gov/strategy/state-it-projects/gated-funding. Included in these requirements are those specified in Section 701 of the 2023-25 Washington Operating and Transportation budgets. Vendors responses should address how their proposal will meet the following requirements of Section 701:

Section 701 (8) requires two-week sprint cycles with live-system demonstrations every two weeks. DCYF expects incremental solution configuration using agile sprints, however:

Vendors may propose an alternative sprint cycle if the Vendor believes two-week sprint cycles would be detrimental to the project and / or the alternative sprint cycle would be beneficial to DEPS.

Proposed sprint cycles should be no more than one month in duration and the benefits of the proposed sprint cycle should be explained in the Vendor’s proposal.

Section 701 (9) requires production deployment within 180 days of signed contract.

DCYF has engaged a strategic vendor partner to undertake a discovery and pre-planning phase. As part of this phase, the vendor has evaluated our existing legacy environment, conducted a feasibility study, market scan, and cost-benefit analysis. Based on these assessments, the vendor has recommended an implementation strategy to not deploy full business functionality in one go, but to do so through incremental functionality aligned to Epics / Features. This approach entails running both the legacy and new systems concurrently until the migration of users and information for all regions is completed. While running concurrently, data is migrated from SSPS and surrounding ecosystem to the new system in a one-way only fashion as each group starts to use the system. There is no bi-directional data flow between systems during this phase. The recommendation stems largely from the intricate interconnections within SSPS, resulting in significant effort to integrate the existing SSPS with the necessary APIs for bidirectional data transfer and modular decomposition. Furthermore, SSPS's design features tightly coupled, non-modular components, making the segmentation of the application into modules a highly resource-intensive and potentially unfeasible task.

Based on the recommended implementation approach, DCYF understands that it is unlikely to deploy full business functionality into production within 180 days. However, to meet this requirement, DCYF anticipates that the vendor can demo a usable set of functionalities within 180 days from the date of a contract award.

Section 701 (2) requires the project to put functioning software into production that addresses user needs, meets the project’s quality assurance plan, and is in compliance with WaTech’s Software Quality Best Practices Guideline (https://watech.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/CodingStandards_6.28.23.pdf).

If the Vendor takes exception to any of these requirements, the Vendor’s proposal should specify those exceptions and the reasons why.

Notional Project Schedule For planning purposes only, DCYF has included a notional DEPS project schedule consisting of 4 workstreams, described below. DCYF is providing this project schedule in this RFP to provide Vendors with an understanding of how DCYF anticipates the DEPS project might proceed. However, as part of this RFP, DCYF is interested in understanding the approaches, methodologies and schedules that Vendors will propose, and requests that Vendors describe their recommended approaches, methodologies and schedule in their response (see Attachment I: Implementation and Performance Non-Functional Requirements RTM).

DEPS Project Planning – Project initiation and all planning for all project initiatives. DCYF anticipates these efforts will last approximately 2-3 months.

DEPS Design, Development, & Implementation – Plan for and complete the design and development of DEPS with an integrated Vendor staff and DCYF project team, using an agreed upon incremental development approach, SDLC, and requirements tracing through the steps of requirements validation, solution design, configuration / development and system testing. Implement DEPS starting with an agreed upon Minimum Viable Product (MVP) scope that provides end-to-end support for the full lifecycle of enterprise payments, in accordance with the agreed upon (incremental) deployment plan. Regarding implementation, DCYF anticipates an incremental roll-out of DEPS but is interested in understanding the approaches Vendors will propose, and requests that Vendors describe their recommended implementation approach, methodology and schedule in their response. DCYF anticipates these efforts will last approximately 3 years.

Legacy Systems Decommissioning – Ensure the systems replaced by DEPS can be safely switched off and support terminated or limited, with minimal risk while enabling access to unconverted legacy data on a sustainable basis. DCYF anticipates that these efforts will last approximately 2 years.

NOTE: See for scope of systems to be decommissioned in Attachment I: Implementation and Performance Non-Functional Requirements Traceability Matrix Maintenance and Operations (M&O) – Make a clean transition from development to ongoing maintenance and operations (M&O) support, including management of DEPS over its full product lifecycle, allowing for continuous enhancement as business and technical requirements change. DCYF anticipates the transition to M&O to take approximately 6-9 months to happen in parallel with the M&O services requested of 5 years.

A visual depiction of DCYF’s notional project schedule is provided in Figure 2.

DCYF’s Notional Project Schedule Workstream Activities Legend:

Ongoing activities Workstream Activities Legend:

Ongoing activities

Acquisition Authority DCYF is issuing this RFP under delegation of authority from the Department of Enterprise Services (DES), as provided in Chapter 39.26 RCW and DES Policy No. DES-090-00.

Minimum Qualifications All Vendors must meet the following minimum qualifications:

Must be licensed to do business in the state of Washington or provide a commitment that it will become licensed in Washington within thirty (30) days of being selected as the Apparent Successful Vendor (ASV).

Must have a minimum of $50M in revenues and have successfully completed 3 financial management and/or Payment related projects with similar scope and focus for public sector organizations in the past 7 years.

Vendors failing to demonstrate in their Bids that they meet these minimum qualifications will be considered non-responsive and will therefore be disqualified from further consideration.

Period of Contract Performance DCYF intends to award up to (1) Contract to provide the services described in this RFP.

The initial term of the Contract will be for thirty-six (36) months for implementation and sixty (60) months for M&O and Decommissioning commencing upon the start date, (11/01/2025) or execution date, whichever is later. The term of the Contract may be extended by Amendment up to two (2) times for up to one (1) year per Amendment and will not exceed the date of (11/01/2033).

The initial contract should include procurement of solution acquisition (licensing) for the initial term.

Additional services that are appropriate to the scope of this RFP, as determined by DCYF, may be added to the resulting Contract(s) by a written Amendment mutually agreed to and executed by both parties.

Funding DCYF initial total amount for the Contract(s) shall not to exceed $38.0M and additional $1.9M for performance incentives in US Dollars. Additional funds may be available for a proposed Amendment to the Contract which results from this RFP. DCYF may reject any proposal in excess of that amount.

0. The overall budget for this project shall not exceed $39.2M. Bids in excess of $39.2M will be rejected as non-responsive and will not be evaluated. In the event additional funding becomes available, Contract awarded may be renegotiated to provide for additional related services.

Any Contract(s) awarded as a result of this Solicitation is contingent upon the availability of funding.

In the event that the Contract resulting from this Bid includes federal funds the Contractor upon entering into a Contract may be required to have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number Information on how to obtain a DUNS number can be found at the following location: https://grants.gov/web/grants/applicants/organization-registration/step-1-obtain-duns-number.html In the contract proposed as a result of this RFP, it is DCYF’S intent to use the following funding sources: State and Federal None of the total costs of the project or program will be financed by non-governmental sources.

Auxiliary Aids and Services for American with Disabilities Act (ADA) DCYF will provide access to this Solicitation Document to individuals with disabilities. Please contact the assigned Contract Manager to request auxiliary aids and services.

If an individual believes that the Department has discriminated on the basis of a disability, please contact the DCYF assigned Contract Manager.

Definitions Additional definitions for Contract-specific terms are found in the Sample Contract set forth as Attachment A.1 to this Solicitation and shall apply to those terms as they are used in this Solicitation. The following terms have the meanings set forth below:

DCYF – The Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families.

DEPS – DCYF Enterprise Payment Solution.

Amendment – A unilateral change to the Solicitation that is issued by DCYF at its sole discretion and posted on WEBS.

Apparent Successful Vendor or ASV – The Vendor selected as the entity to perform the anticipated services, subject to completion of Contract negotiations and execution of a written Contract.

Authorized Representative – An individual designated by the Vendor to act on its behalf who has the authority to legally bind the Vendor concerning the terms and conditions set forth in this Solicitation and related documents.

Average Scoring – Each member of the evaluating team reviews and evaluates the bid responses and determines the score to be given to each Vendor. The scores are then complied and averaged for the final award score.

Bid - An offer, proposal or quote for goods or services and all related materials prepared and submitted by a Vendor in response to this Solicitation. The terms Bid, quotation, response and proposal are all intended to mean the same thing.

Vendor– An individual or entity who submits a Bid, quotation, or proposal in response to a Solicitation issued for such goods or services by DCYF per RCW 39.26.010(3).

Certified Business – Means business or the status of a business that has been examined by the Washington State Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) and deemed to be a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE), a Minority Women’s Business Enterprise (MWBE), a Combination Business Enterprise (CBE), or a Socially and Economically Disadvantage Business Enterprise (SEDBE) per chapter 39.19 RCW.

Complaint – Is a process that may be followed by a Vendor prior to the deadline for Bid submission to alert DCYF of certain types of asserted deficiencies in the Solicitation per RCW 39.26.170.

Contract – A written agreement entered into between an Apparent Successful Vendor and DCYF as a result of this Solicitation.

Contractor – An individual or entity whose Bid has been accepted by the DCYF and is awarded a fully executed, written Contract.

assigned Contract Manager – An individual or designee who is employed by DCYF within the DCYF Contracts Unit Office and who is responsible for conducting this Solicitation.

Debriefing – a short meeting an Unsuccessful Vendor may request with the assigned Contract Manager following the announcement of the ASV for the purpose of receiving information regarding the review and evaluation of that Vendor’s Response.

Evaluator – Is a person designated by DCYF to evaluate proposals received in response to a Competitive Solicitation Document.

Information Technology (IT) Services – Are IT services to accomplish routine, continuing, and necessary functions, including but not limited to network operations, data entry services, security services, systems testing, and website maintenance. IT services also mean professional or other technical expertise provided by a consultant to accomplish a specific study, project, or task, including but not limited to quality assurance, independent verification and validation and project management. IT services are also governed by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) Chapter 43.105 RCW and OCIO Policy No. 121, subject to exceptions noted by law.

Project - The undertaking or work for which contracted Services are being requested pursuant to this Solicitation.

Protest – A process that may be followed by a Vendor after the announcement of the ASV to alert DCYF to certain types of alleged errors in the evaluation of the Solicitation.

RCW – The Revised Code of Washington. All references to RCW chapters or sections shall include any successor, amended, or replacement statute.

RFP – The Request for Proposal set forth in this Solicitation document.

Services – Are labor, work, analysis, or similar activities provided by a Contractor to accomplish a specific Statement of Work per RCW 39.26.010 (21).

Small Business - An in-state business, including a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity, that: (a) certifies, under penalty of perjury, that it is owned and operated independently from all other businesses and has either: (i) fifty (50) or fewer employees; or (ii) a gross revenue of less than seven (7) million dollars annually as reported on its federal income tax return or its return filed with the department of revenue over the previous three (3) consecutive years; or (b) Is certified with the Office of Women and Minority Business Enterprises under Chapter 39.19 RCW.

Solicitation or Competitive Solicitation – A formal process providing an equal and open opportunity for Vendors culminating in a selection based upon predetermined criteria. A Competitive Solicitation requests the submission of Bids, quotations or proposals for the consideration of DCYF in contracting to meet its needs. This RFP is a Solicitation.

Solicitation Document – Is a document that outlines the requirements and process for submitting a proposal or bid to acquire services or goods that DCYF desires and is released to prospective Vendors or other interested persons. Competitive Solicitation documents include Request for Proposal (RFP’s), Request for Qualifications and Quotation (RFQQs), Request for Qualifications (RFQs), Request of Quotation(s) (RFQs), and Request for Applications (RFAs).

Statement of Work – The detailed description services to be performed by the Contractor and set forth in the Contract.

Subcontractor – An individual or other entity contracted by Vendor to perform part of the services or to provide goods under the Contract resulting from this Solicitation. Subcontractors, if allowed, are subject to the advance approval of DCYF.

Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) – Works to give businesses the opportunity to thrive in the government-contracting marketplace. Their website can be found at www.washingtonptac.org Washington Electronic Business Solution or WEBS – Washington’s Electronic Business Solution, the Vendor notification system found at https://fortres.wa.gov/ga/webs/ and maintained by the Washington State Department of Enterprise Services.

State of Washington | RFP No. 24-DCYF-CW-081 Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) Competitive Solicitation

OVERVIEW, VENDOR QUALIFICATIONS, AND CONTRACT TERM

State of Washington | RFP No. 24-DCYF-CW-081

Competitive Solicitation

EXPLANATION OF SOLICITATION PROCESS

1. Solicitation Schedule The Solicitation Schedule set forth below outlines the tentative schedule for important events relating to this Solicitation. Except as modified in an Amendment issued by the assigned Contract Manager, the dates and times listed through the date of response submission are mandatory deadlines. The remaining dates are estimates and may change without the posting of an Amendment. Failure to meet the response deadline will result in Vendor disqualification.

Assigned Contract Manager The assigned Contract Manager is the sole point of contact for DCYF for this Solicitation. All communications concerning this Solicitation must be directed to the assigned Contract Manager listed on the cover page and below of this subsection of this Solicitation Document.

Except for the response which shall be submitted as provided in Section D, Proposal Content, Format and Submission, communications with the assigned Contract Manager should be sent via email. DCYF may disqualify any Vendor who communicates with anyone in DCYF other than the assigned Contract Manager regarding this Solicitation.

Name: Clemence Mumford Email: dcyf.depsvendor@dcyf.wa.gov DCYF considers all oral communications unofficial and non-binding. Vendors are to rely only on written statements issued by the assigned Contract Manager.

Any communications directed to parties other than the assigned Contract Manager may result in disqualification of the Vendor.

Posting of Solicitation Documents DCYF shall post this Solicitation, and all Amendments and announcements relating to this Solicitation, on WEBS. WEBS can be accessed at https://fortress.wa.gov/ga/webs/.

All Vendors must register as a vendor on WEBS, using an appropriate commodities code listed on the front page of this Solicitation, and must download this Solicitation from WEBS. This should be done as soon as possible in order for Vendor to receive notifications automatically generated on WEBS, but no later than the date set forth in Solicitation Schedule Sections, Solicitation Schedule for Announcement of the Apparent Successful Vendor(s).

Amendment, Cancellation and Reissuance of Solicitation

0. DCYF may amend or cancel or reissue this Solicitation at any time, in whole or in part, prior to execution of a Contract.

DCYF may reject all Bids and cancel or rebid this Solicitation. In the event it becomes necessary to revise any part of this Solicitation, Amendment(s) shall be posted on WEBS.

DCYF may reject all Bids and cancel or rebid this Solicitation. In the event it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, an Amendment will be provided to all who receive the RFP. All Amendments and notifications of cancellation shall be posted on WEBS. In the event of a conflict between Amendments or between an Amendment and this Solicitation Document, the document issued latest shall control.

For this purpose, the published questions and answers from the prebid conference and any other pertinent information shall be provided as an Amendment to the RFP.

Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises (MWBE), Small Business, and Veteran-Owned Business Enterprises

0. In accordance with the legislative findings and policies set forth in RCW 39.19, 43.60A.200, 39.26.240 and 39.26.245, the State of Washington encourages participation by Small Business, by veteran-owned business enterprises and by the Office of Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (OMWBE). Participation may be either on a direct basis in response to this Solicitation or on a Subcontractor basis. While the state does not give preferential treatment, it does seek equitable representation from the small, veterans, minority and women’s business communities.

DCYF will be included in the evaluation of Bids, no minimum level of MWBE participation shall be required as a condition for receiving an award and Bids will not be rejected or considered non-responsive on that basis.

Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises Participation Vendors may contact the Office of Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises (OMWBE) at http://omwbe.wa.gov/ to obtain information on certified firms for potential subcontracting arrangements or for information on how to become certified. Nothing in this section is intended to prevent or discourage participation from non-MWBE businesses.

The established annual Solicitation participation goals for MBE is 10% and for WBE, 4%, for this type of project. These goals are voluntary. Vendors may contact OMWBE at 360/753-9693 or http://www.omwbe.wa.gov to obtain information on certified firms.

Small Business Participation In accordance with the legislative findings and policies set forth in Chapter 39.26 RCW, the state of Washington encourages participation in all of its Contracts by Vendors defined as a Small Business. Participation may be either on a direct basis in response to this Solicitation or on a Subcontractor basis. However, no preference will be included in the evaluation of Bids.

Veteran-Owned Business Participation In accordance with the legislative findings and policies set forth in Chapter 43.60A.200 RCW, the state of Washington encourages participation in all of its Contracts by firms certified by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA).

For questions regarding the above go to: http://www.dva.wa/gov/.

Cost to Prepare Response DCYF will not be liable for any costs incurred by the Vendor in preparing of a Bid submitted in response to this Solicitation, conducting a site assessment and/or presentation, any other activities related to responding to this Solicitation, and/or submitting a response to this Solicitation.

Joint Proposals If Vendors submit a joint response with one or more other persons or entities, these persons or entities must designate a prime Vendor. The prime Vendor will be DCYF sole point of contact through the Solicitation process. If selected as the ASV, the prime Vendor shall sign the Contract and any Amendments and will be liable and responsible to DCYF for all performance under the Contract.

Wage Theft Prevention Vendor certifies that Vendor has not, within the three (3) year period immediately preceding the date of release of this Competitive Solicitation, been determined by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the state of Washington Department of Labor and Industries or through a civil judgment to have willfully violated state minimum wage laws (RCW 49.38.082; Chapters 49.46 RCW, 49.48 RCW, or 49.52 RCW). Vendor attests under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statement is true and correct. Vendor must submit, Attachment B, attached hereto and incorporated herein as though set forth in full.

Wage Violations Contractor represents and warrants that, during the term of this Contract and the three (3) year period immediately preceding the effective date of this Contract, it is not determined, by a final and binding citation and notice of assessment issued by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries or through a civil judgment entered by a court of limited or general jurisdiction, to be in willful violation of any provision of Washington State wage laws set forth in RCW Chapters 49.46, 49.48, or 49.52. For purposes of this Section 12 and pursuant to RCW 49.48.082 as now or hereafter amended, “willful” shall mean a knowing and intentional action that is neither accidental nor the result of a bona fide dispute, as evaluated under the standards applicable to wage payment violations under RCW 49.52.050(2).

Pay Equality Contractor represents and warrants that, as required by Washington State law (Laws of 2019, Chap.