RFP Event 18 Questions Answered.docx
DOCX document 40 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- 18
- Issued by
- Ada County, Idaho
About this file
This document is a Request for Proposals (RFP) from the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (IDVR) for Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) Activities for Local Groups. The RFP seeks proposals from vendors to provide group instruction in job exploration, workplace readiness, and self-advocacy skills to students with disabilities during the school day. Services may be provided in-person or virtually, with a minimum group size of 5 students. The RFP states a desired timeline to begin offering services during the current school year semester and continue into the spring semester. Vendors must submit a cost proposal in the format specified, providing an hourly rate for the services. IDVR will work with school districts to determine the number of students to receive the services, but does not currently have a defined list of participants. Curriculum must align with the Pre-ETS service definitions, and will be reviewed and approved by IDVR prior to implementation. IDVR will evaluate the effectiveness of the program based on student assessment results and the number of students served in each service category.
The RFP does not provide details on pricing set-asides, incumbents, or funding sources. IDVR has elected to solicit these group services through the RFP process rather than establishing it as a service all providers could offer, due to state procurement requirements for group services.
View the file
Other files
Show all 33
On GovTribe
Work with this file
- Download the original file
- Contacts named in this file
- Similar government files
- Ask GovTribe AI about this file
Text version
RFP Event 18 Group Short-Term Pre-Employment Transition Services
| Question |
| RFP |
Section
| RFP Page |
| Question |
| Response |
| Upon award of contract, what is the desired/proposed timeline for implementation? |
| We would like to be able to start offering school districts access to the service during the first semester of the school year. It will continue into the spring semester as well. |
| 2 |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| 25-26 |
| “Offerer must provide a per student cost for each service provided”, but the Cost Proposal asks for per hour cost. What exactly is desired? |
| The cost submitted must be a per hour cost based on the description of Group Size. The per student cost example was removed from the amended RFP. |
| 3 |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| 25-26 |
| On the Face to Face and Virtual columns, does the company need to provide a per student cost or a per hour cost, or a per class cost? What information is expected here? |
| The unit of measure states this as Hourly, so vendors must submit an hourly cost based on the Description of Group Size |
| 4 |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| 25-26 |
| “Offered must use the highest number on each line for their firm fixed fully burdened price” – what lines does this refer to? There is only one fully burdened total cost box per class type? |
| Offeror must use the highest number of students in the Description of Group Size column. |
| 5 |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| 25-26 |
| Are we required to utilize the templates provided on pages 24 – 25 to provide the cost for each class? Is there another format that would be accepted? |
| Attachment 5 is a Mandatory Evaluated item for this RFP and must be returned with no change made to it. Failure to do so may result in offeror being found nonresponsive |
| 6 |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| 25-26 |
| Should the Fully Burdened Cost be based on the number of students or the per hour cost? Instructions provided in the first paragraph of page 24 appear to contradict each other “Costs may vary based on number of students who attend…Offeror must include different price points if students cost…” |
| IDVR desires a cost per hour. Offeror’s fully burdened cost would be all rows under the FACE TO FACE and/or VIRTUAL column added together. |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| 25-26 |
| Please provide more examples and details regarding the cost proposal; the charts as for per hour cost, but the invoicing example provided is per student cost. Which format is desired for this RFP? |
| The per student cost was removed from the example in the amended RFP. |
Additional examples:
Example 1: Five (5) students participate in two-hours of instruction in self-advocacy, which includes knowing the difference between high school and postsecondary accommodations, applying for college, SAT/ACT, financial aid, how to do college visit, living on campus verse off, and knowing their rights and responsibilities.
The Per hour cost is $100/hour. The cost to invoice for this service would be $200 because it is two-hours of service.
Example 2: Twelve (12) students participate in two-hours of instruction in self-advocacy, which includes knowing the difference between high school and postsecondary accommodations, applying for college, SAT/ACT, financial aid, how to do college visit, living on campus verse off, and knowing their rights and responsibilities.
The Per hour cost is $150/hour. The cost to invoice for this service would be $300 because it is two-hours of service.
| 8 |
| Attachment 5 – Cost Proposal |
| So we just do all attachements on Bid what would we put for amount to charge of students for those of us never have done this? Is there a step by step guide how to successfully complete a bid? |
| Instructions are included in Section 6 - Mandatory Submission Requirements (pg 12). Responses to sections 7, 8, and 9 may be provided as an attachment with reference to the appropriate section and number. Cost Proposal must be completed on the Cost Proposal form on (pgs 24-25) and submitted as a separately uploaded file. |
| 9 |
| General |
Also in the bid it contradict's itself. First it says curriculum will be provided then it says to state your curriculum ? Which is it?
You will tell us what you will be teaching to the students. However, it must fall in one of the three categories of Job Exploration, Work Readiness, or Instruction in Self-Advocacy.
Job Exploration Counseling may include discussion or information on:
· The student's vocational interest inventory results
· The labor market
· In-demand industries and occupations,
· Non-traditional employment options,
· Administration of vocational interest inventories, and
· Identification of career pathways of interest to the students.
Workplace readiness traits describe several commonly expected skills that employers seek from most employees. Work readiness skills are a set of skills and behaviors that are necessary for any job. Work readiness skills are sometimes called soft skills, employability skills, or job readiness skills.
These abilities help employees learn how to interact with supervisors and co-workers. They help reinforce the importance of timeliness and build an understanding of how we are perceived by others. This includes social skills, independent living skills, financial literacy, and job seeking skills.
Self-advocacy refers to: an individual's ability to effectively communicate, convey, negotiate, or assert his/her own interests and/or desires. Self-determination means that individuals with disabilities have the freedom to plan their own lives, pursue the things that are important to them and to experience the same life opportunities as other people in their communities. It means taking the responsibility for communicating one’s needs and desires in a straightforward manner to others. The development of self-advocacy skills should be started at an early age. It includes disability understanding, goal setting, request and utilizing accommodation.
| 10 |
| Cost Proposal |
| As a New company I am unsure as to what to do question pricing unit is this one youth or a group of youth also is the rate per hour or say for example 110 dollars for one youth for 16 hours. OR 100 dollars for 1 youth for 1 hour? |
| We are requesting bids for group services, not individual services. Group sizes must have at least five (5) students unless permission is granted to serve a smaller number because of the rural nature of the school. Your cost proposal should be the cost to provide one-hour of service to a group of students. If the program requires 16-hours of service, the total cost would be the dollar/hour rate that you have indicated in your bid multiplied by 16. |
| 11 |
| 5.6 |
| 11 |
| How fast will the contract begin once an award is made? |
| As soon as a school requests the service. We intend to have services requested during the current school year semester. As well as spring semester. |
| 12 |
| 8 |
| 14 |
| What are the qualifications for the individual that will be running/ meeting with the Pre-ETS students. Do they need to have a certain degree, etc? |
| As noted in section 8.2.4 of the RFP, personnel working in positions that support students in training shall be at least eighteen (18) years old and have workplace and work readiness skills gained through at least one (1) year of their own paid work experience. No degree is required. |
| 13 |
| 9 |
| 15 |
| What are the Curriculum requirements? |
| You will tell us what you will be teaching to the students. However, it must fall in one of the three categories of Job Exploration, Work Readiness, or Instruction in Self-Advocacy. |
Job Exploration Counseling may include discussion or information on:
· The student's vocational interest inventory results
· The labor market
· In-demand industries and occupations,
· Non-traditional employment options,
· Administration of vocational interest inventories, and
· Identification of career pathways of interest to the students.
Workplace readiness traits describe several commonly expected skills that employers seek from most employees. Work readiness skills are a set of skills and behaviors that are necessary for any job. Work readiness skills are sometimes called soft skills, employability skills, or job readiness skills.
These abilities help employees learn how to interact with supervisors and co-workers. They help reinforce the importance of timeliness and build an understanding of how we are perceived by others. This includes social skills, independent living skills, financial literacy, and job seeking skills.
Self-advocacy refers to: an individual's ability to effectively communicate, convey, negotiate, or assert his/her own interests and/or desires. Self-determination means that individuals with disabilities have the freedom to plan their own lives, pursue the things that are important to them and to experience the same life opportunities as other people in their communities. It means taking the responsibility for communicating one’s needs and desires in a straightforward manner to others. The development of self-advocacy skills should be started at an early age. It includes disability understanding, goal setting, request and utilizing accommodation.
| 14 |
| 9 |
| 16 |
| Is there a list of Pre-ETS students that need this service that are already in the pipeline or are we recruiting Pre-ETS students from scratch? |
| No, we do not have a list as we have not had this service to offer to the school districts. However, at least 50% of school districts have requested that more Pre-ETS be provided to their students during the school day. Once we know what services have been awarded and in which service areas, IDVR will work with the school districts to determine which services they would like and the number of students who will receive the service. You will not recruit Pre-ETS students. |
| 15 |
| 9 |
| 16 |
| If there is a list of Pre-ETS students that need this service is there a number per Customer Service area that need the services? |
| We do not currently have a list. |
| 16 |
| General |
| How many weeks are we expecting each class to run? |
| The number of weeks is up to each bidder to determine. However, most classrooms will have a limited amount of time to allow services in the classroom, so too many hours of service might not work for the district. |
| 17 |
| General |
| How often are we expecting each class to run? | ||
| Based on district requests, I believe we will want to offer many services each semester. I do not have an exact number, but a guestimate would be 30-50 services per semester over many different school districts. | Comment by Tracy Warren: Please review to see if this is what you are meaning. Trying to avoid them thinking they would provide 30-50 services to a couple of districts in their area. | Comment by Alison Lowenthal: Yes, this is better. |
| 18 |
| General |
| In the VR Manual of 2019 it indicates when a CRP can be reimbursed for travel related to services including job site development when it is over 25 miles from the staff's office. For what use to be Region 5 and 6 it is noted that this has to be negotiated on an individualized basis with the regional manager. Since this has all changed with the new IDVR organization, what is the protocol or who is it a CRP should converse about regarding this issue? Also, more specific to the CRP's in the southeast center, would it be possible for the southeast center to follow suit with the other centers and identify the zip codes or communities where this would be appropriate and not have it managed differently from the rest of the state? |
| This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager outside of this process. |
| 19 |
| General |
Do you have an anticipated distribution date for the new VR CRP manual? And if so, will there be a separate meeting to review this with all the CRP's in order to ensure it is as clear as one can hope or questions can be answered?
This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager outside of this process.
| 20 |
| General |
| know that in past meetings we have discussed the expectations VR has of CRP's in regards to responding or taking action with a VR referral or inquiry. Has VR set these same type of expectations for VRC's and VRA's when responding to either a customer or a CRP? CRP staff have encountered situations where they have attempted to make contact via email or telephone and not gotten responses- example being someone has been successful in getting a job offer and hired- attempts to notify the VRC and VRA are made with no response as to receiving the information or guidance as to what they would like the CRP to do |
| This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager or other IDVR personnel outside of this process. |
| 21 |
| General |
We know that we have been told to contact the regional manager with these issues; and not the customer center general supervisor however, there is concern that when these issues are brought up the party involved chooses to not engage with that particular CRP- a natural tendency to avoid people who have caused one to be called out. Is there another way these issues can be addressed without the concern of retaliation? Are they better addressed as a generic issue? I, as well as most ACCSES-Idaho members are more than willing to have difficult conversations as long as others are not harmed - specifically the customer or the CRP who is trying to provide quality service.
This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager or other IDVR personnel outside of this process.
| 22 |
| General |
What is the status of the work being done for rate setting for CRP services?
This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager outside of this process.
| 23 |
| General |
We are aware of the RFP for group supported employment that has been published; can you share why IDVR elected to pursue this route vs. setting a rate and scope of service that would allow all CRP’s to offer this service?
This solicitation is not for group supported employment. This solicitation is for group Pre-ETS services for students provided during the school day in either job exploration, work-place readiness, or instruction in self-advocacy.
| 24 |
| General |
You sent out the crp employment report but am wondering if you could walk through the report with all of us to aid in understanding how the numbers are generated. For example, on the statewide report it speaks to 370 customers served by CRP's and of these 188 achieved an employment outcome. When calculating the success rate, is there any scrubbing of the data to pull out those customers who elected to not pursue employment for any reason?
I am sure you will get other questions as you review this- if you see this as being too much for the meeting agenda, possibly you could host another time where this is the primary topic. With the staff changes that take place routinely in a CRP- offering this review again would be helpful- especially for the new staff.
This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager or other IDVR personnel outside of this process.
| 25 |
| General |
From the data collected statewide, and reported on the CRP report sent, it appears approximately 225 people served by CRP's were not successful in achieving their employment outcomes. Has IDVR analyzed these cases to determine why this occurred and identified what could possibly been done to rectify the case so that an employment outcome could have been achieved? Is this typically done by VR with all customers who are closed unsuccessful?
This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager or other IDVR personnel outside of this process.
| 26 |
| General |
Is there any data or information that could be used to increase the success rate? I am sure IDVR is like our agencies, in that we want our customers to be successful, especially when time and resources have been invested.
This question does not apply to this solicitation but can be asked of the IDVR CRP Manager or other IDVR personnel outside of this process.
| 27 |
| Attachment 5 |
| 24-25 |
| There are ten High Schools in my area. Do I bid for each school or just one bid that would apply to each school? |
| One bid that would apply to each school you would provide services to. |
| 28 |
| RFP Event 18 |
1.2.4
| 2 |
| What will IDVR use to determine a student is “approved” to participate in the program to ensure the student will benefit from the service and can productively engage in group instruction? |
| IDVR will work with the school districts and teachers to determine if the student can benefit from the service and engage in group instruction. If the teachers have background knowledge that the student can participate in group services and the student requires the service, IDVR will approve the service. |
| 29 |
| 1.2 |
| 2 |
| There is reference to open VR case and Open Pre-Case. What is a “pre-case” and what information will IDVR have related to the person’s disability and accommodations they may need to participate in classroom instruction? |
| A pre-case allows students to receive Pre-ETS without applying for a traditional VR case. Almost all Pre-ETS Programs can be accessed through the pre-case format. Any other VR services, for example transportation, require a VR case. IDVR will connect contractors with the school districts to be able to discuss accommodation needs that students receiving group instruction may need. Teachers will also assist in providing accommodations as the instruction will take place in their classrooms. |
| 30 | ||
| 8.2.4 | ||
| 14 | ||
| Is it expected that those working to support students in training have a criminal background check in addition to other criteria identified in this section. | ||
| Personnel working in positions that support students in training shall be at least eighteen (18) years old and have workplace and work readiness skills gained through at least one (1) year of their own paid work experience. They are not required to have a background check. All services provided will be supervised by educational personnel. | Comment by Tracy Warren: Do you want to explain that these services will always be supervised by educational personnel? Or is that too much detail to include here? | Comment by Alison Lowenthal: I will add that. |
| 31 |
| 9.1.6 |
| 15 |
| What is the timeline for submitting curriculum once a contract is awarded? What criteria is used to determine it is “approved” by IDVR? |
| Curriculum should be submitted within a month of award, so we can make the service available to students as soon as possible. The criteria IDVR will use to determine if the curriculum is approved is based on the need for the curriculum to meet the definitions of job exploration, work-readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy set by WIOA as pre-employment transition service. |
| 32 |
| 9.1.10 |
| 15 |
| Can face to face and virtual participation be combined to compose a group of 5; this would facilitate those in frontier or rural areas in participating where a group of 5 may not be possible. |
| If the need arises to combine face-to-face and virtual instruction the IDVR Transition Manager will make the determination if this will be approved. In most cases, to support frontier and rural schools, all instruction would be provided virtually without face-to-face to reduce the burden to the contractor of providing two types of instruction at one time. |
| 33 |
| 9.3.1 |
| 16 |
| What is the definition of “high quality” instruction. What will be used to determine the quality of the curriculum? |
| When we refer to high-quality instructional materials, we mean those that include specific learning goals and lessons are aligned to one of the three pre-employment transition services. The criteria IDVR will use to determine if the curriculum is approved is based on the need for the curriculum to meet the definitions of job exploration, work-readiness training, and instruction in self-advocacy set by WIOA as pre-employment transition service. |
| 34 |
| General |
| How will IDVR determine the effectiveness of this strategy in providing these services to students? What is the definition of success for this program i.e. number of students served, cost of provision of service? |
| IDVR will determine the effectiveness of this strategy based on the assessment results of students who receive the service. IDVR will also look at the number of students served in each of the three different pre-employment transition service categories. |
| 35 |
| General |
| Why did IDVR elect to enter into contracts with a select group of providers rather than establishing it as a service all providers could choose to offer and provide much like individual pre-ETS work-based learning experiences? |
| IDVR elected to solicit for this service because it is not an individual service, but rather a group service. The Division of Purchasing and most state executive agencies are subject to the State Procurement Act, Idaho Code Title 67, Chapter 92 and these group services are subject to following this code. |
RFP EVENT 18 20
File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .