RFP IBEH 2027000023 - Q&A.docx

Request for Proposals Q&A Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Data Integration, Analytics and Transformation Services

RFP IBEH 202700023

August 21, 2026

1. Evaluation of Subcontractor/Teaming Partner Experience: For purposes of evaluating the experience and qualifications required under Proposal Content Items 1 through 7, may an Offeror serving as Prime Contractor rely upon and describe the relevant experience, past projects, technical qualifications, and personnel experience of a committed subcontractor or teaming partner? If so, will that experience be evaluated as part of the Offeror's response to the applicable evaluation criteria?

· Yes, an offeror serving as a prime contractor may rely upon the relevant experience of a committed subcontractor or partner. And that experience will be evaluated as part of the offeror’s response to the evaluation criteria.

2. Pre-Award Level-of-Effort Assumptions: Exhibit A provides that approved Work Plans will establish the level of effort by program after contract execution. For purposes of preparing the initial six-month budget, does BHA have an estimated total number of Contractor hours, average monthly level of effort, or anticipated allocation of effort among PREVAIL, JBBS, and Co-Responder? If not, should Offerors propose the staffing and hours they determine are reasonable within the $65,400 funding limitation?

Offerors may propose staffing and hours they determine are reasonable within the funding limitation as well. The program specific breakdowns are as follows:

· PREVAIL 6-month cost is $23,400, billing an average of 26 hours/month, with an estimated cost of $3,900/month.

· Co-Responder 6-month cost is $24,500, billing an average of 27.2 hours/month, with an estimated cost of $4,083/month.

· JBBS 6-month cost is $17,500, billing an average of 19 hours/month, with an estimated cost of $2,917/month.

3. Existing Environment - Maintenance vs. New Development: The RFP states that BHA is seeking operational data support within an existing and evolving environment and is not seeking a new statewide data infrastructure or enterprise platform. Please clarify the anticipated balance during the initial six-month period between maintaining, troubleshooting, and enhancing existing workflows and developing new data pipelines, processing functions, BigQuery structures, Tableau workbooks/dashboards, or other technical components.

· The focus in the first six months is on maintaining the current operational environment; new pipelines or functions would be minimal and only on an ad hoc, as needed basis.

4. Access to Existing Technical Assets: Will the awarded Contractor receive access, as applicable to approved Work Plans, to existing source code, Python processing functions, BigQuery datasets/schemas, data dictionaries, transformation/business rules, Tableau workbooks/data sources, technical documentation, and other existing technical artifacts necessary to perform the services? Please identify any known limitations on such access.

· Yes, any necessary access will be given.

5. Technical Access and Deployment Authority: What level of access and permissions does BHA anticipate providing Contractor and approved subcontractor personnel within GCP, BigQuery, Tableau, and related environments? Please clarify whether Contractor personnel may modify, test, and deploy technical changes directly or whether production changes/deployments must be performed or approved by TaDa, OIT, or other State personnel.

· Access will be granted to all of the environments listed. Modifications and tests can be performed by the contractor without external approval.

6. Existing Python Processing Functions: Exhibit E identifies timer-activated Python processing functions operating daily for the current program workflows. Does the Contractor's scope include maintaining, debugging, modifying, testing, or deploying these existing functions and associated pipelines? If so, will the Contractor receive the applicable source code, dependencies, configurations, logs, and supporting documentation?

· The Scope does not include maintaining, debugging, modifying, testing, or deploying these functions and associated pipelines.

7. CiviCore and GAIN/Chestnut Access: For CiviCore and GAIN/Chestnut, should Offerors anticipate that Contractor personnel will receive direct system, database, API, export, or other technical access necessary for integration and troubleshooting, or will BHA and/or the applicable system vendors provide extracted data and perform system-side activities? Please also clarify the Contractor's expected role in coordinating technical changes or troubleshooting with those vendors.

· The Contractor will have direct access to systems, databases, APIs, exports, and other technical resources necessary for integration and troubleshooting as needed.

8. PHI/PII and BAA Scope: Please clarify which datasets, systems, or Contractor activities under this engagement are anticipated to involve PHI, PII, or other confidential information subject to the BAA or State security requirements. In particular, should Contractor personnel anticipate access to identifiable source-level data before de-identification, or will Contractor access generally be limited to de-identified reporting datasets?

· The Contractor will need access to Chestnut (GAIN), Civicore, and certain internal BHA spreadsheets and reports to perform the required services. Information in the BHA’s secure databases, including Chestnut and Civicore, may contain identifiable information and may not be de-identified before Contractor access.

· The Contractor will remove or strip PII before the data is used for Tableau activities or stored in BigQuery or similar reporting or storage environments. The successful Contractor will be expected to maintain the confidentiality of PHI and PII in accordance with the requirements of the solicitation

· See Exhibit A - Statement of Work, Article 3.7, and Article 4; and Exhibit F - Technical Environment and Data Environment Overview, Sections 4.3, 5.4, and 6.2.

9. Remote Performance: May Contractor and approved subcontractor personnel perform the services remotely from locations within the United States, provided all BHA/OIT privacy, security, access-control, and data-handling requirements are satisfied? If any recurring activities require onsite performance in Colorado or use of State facilities/equipment, please identify those requirements.

· A contractor or subcontractor may perform services remotely within the United States. Onsite services or performance are not required for this scope of work.

10. Security and Technical Onboarding: What security, privacy, training, credentialing, equipment, network-access, or other onboarding requirements must Contractor and approved subcontractor personnel complete before receiving access to BHA/OIT systems or program data? Please identify any requirements that Offerors should account for in the proposed implementation schedule or budget.

· All training and onboarding will be completed with program managers for specific program requirements and access. Any specific Office of Information Technology (OIT) systems must be given access directly through OIT, therefore, any requirements must be conducted with OIT specifically. No known associated costs expected.

11. Reporting, Dashboard, and Ad Hoc Workload: Please provide, to the extent currently known, the anticipated volume and frequency of recurring reports, dashboards, data extracts, visualizations, and ad hoc analytical requests across PREVAIL, JBBS, and Co-Responder during the initial six-month period. For existing recurring products, should the Contractor anticipate primarily maintaining/updating existing products or substantially redesigning them?

· During the first six months, the Contractor should expect to mainly maintain and update the reports, dashboards, data extracts, visualizations, and other products that already exist. The amount of recurring and ad hoc work may vary based on the needs of PREVAIL, JBBS, and Co-Responder.

· Please see Exhibit A - Statement of Work, especially Articles 3 - Activities & Services; 5 - Deliverables; and 6 - Contract Monitoring & Performance Standards, for more information about the required work.

12. Historical Data and Known Backlog: Exhibit E identifies historical Co-Responder datasets and other data maintained across existing storage environments. Should Offerors anticipate significant historical-data cleanup, reconciliation, migration, validation, or backfill during the initial six-month period? If so, please identify the applicable programs, approximate historical periods, or known backlog/data-quality issues to the extent currently available.

· No, the Contractor should not anticipate significant historical-data cleanup, reconciliation, migration, validation, or backfill during the initial six-month period.

13. Stakeholder Meeting Cadence: Exhibit A requires regular coordination with the three Criminal Justice programs, TaDa, OIT, external system vendors, and other stakeholders. What meeting cadence should Offerors reasonably assume during the initial contract period, and which meetings are expected to require participation by technical personnel in addition to the Contractor's project/contract lead?

· Meetings with the three program managers occur as needed. Meetings with TaDa, OIT, external system vendors, and other stakeholders occur a couple of times a year or as needed for technical assistance.

14. The solicitation references Tableau “or similar tools.” May a respondent propose Power BI for dashboards and reporting while working with BHA’s existing GCP and BigQuery environment, or is continued use of Tableau required?

· The use of Tableau will be required for the initial six month period. The reference to similar tools refers to the possibility that BHA may source a different reporting dashboard during the initial or any subsequent contracting periods.

15. Are GCP, BigQuery and Tableau qualifications mandatory for the proposed personnel, or will comparable cloud data integration and business intelligence experience be considered?

· The GCP, BigQuery, and Tableau are not mandatory qualifications and comparable cloud data integration and business intelligence may also be considered with OIT permissions.

16. May project references include comparable work led by the proposed key personnel under prior organizations, or must the referenced contracts have been performed directly by the prime respondent?

· Project references may include both comparable work led by the key personnel or by the prime respondent.

17. Does BHA anticipate any regular onsite or in-state presence, or may the services be delivered primarily remotely?

· A contractor or subcontractor may perform services remotely within the United States. Onsite services or performance are not required for this scope of work.

18. Is there an anticipated budget range or maximum contract value that respondents should use when developing the staffing plan and cost proposal?

· The maximum initial six month budget for this project is $65,400. For the initial six month period, a maximum amount of $17,500 is available for JBBS, $23,400 for PREVAIL, and $24,500 for Co-Responder. Annual renewal of the budget is dependent on the annual legislative long bill and appropriated funds contained therein and will be communicated by BHA to the vendor in the Spring of 2027.

· For additional information, please see the Request for Proposals: Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Data Integration, Analytics and Transformation Services, Section 3; Section E.8; and the “Additional Information” section.

19. Please confirm the response deadline. Colorado VSS currently appears to show September 7, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

· The solicitation has been amended, and the updated Proposal Due Date is September 8, 2026, at 2:00pm. Please reference the document: RFP IBEH 2027000023 Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Data Integration, Analytics and Transformation Services.1 to see this amendment in the Basic Information and Timeline section in page 2 of the document.

20. On page 9 of 17 of the RFP, under 8, Budget submission, it is noted that we should use Exhibit B- Budget template to show costs for the initial six- month contract term plus recurring annual costs. How do you want the annual recurring costs to be displayed? For example, should we copy the template and use one sheet to display budget for the initial 6- months and another sheet to display recutting annual costs and a third sheet for optional services?

· Recurring annual costs may be shown at a 6-month rate with a note identifying they are recurring in the budget description. Example: “This is a recurring annual cost and the amount shown is pro-rated for 6-months, but is expected to recur annually at $X”. Alternatively, you may also add an additional tab to the Budget Template worksheet, and label it “recurring annual costs” and provide a list of services and their annual cost.

21. Is there a budget target for the recurring annual costs?

· All budgetary items must remain with the current maximum dollar amount of $65,400, and it is the offeror’s discretion on how to include recurring annual costs into this maximum allowable amount.

· For additional information, please see the Request for Proposals: Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Data Integration, Analytics and Transformation Services, Section 3; Section E.8; and the “Additional Information” section.

22. Will the Contractor be provided direct accounts/access to BHA's existing Tableau, GCP/BigQuery, and CiviCore environments, or is coordination expected to route through BHA/OIT staff for data pulls and updates?

· Direct account access will be provided to Tableau, GCP/BigQuery, and CiviCore environments.

23. Will BHA provide the Contractor with existing licensed accounts/seats for Tableau, GCP/BigQuery, and CiviCore at no cost to the Contractor, or is the Contractor expected to procure and pay for its own licensing for any of these platforms as part of this engagement?

· Tableau, Chestnut, and CiviCore are included. GCP/BigQuery is not currently charging for additional accounts/ seats.

24. Is there an incumbent contractor or internal staff currently performing this work? If so, is a transition or knowledge-transfer period anticipated, and would that time be separately funded or absorbed within the initial six-month budget?

· There is an incumbent contractor performing this work, and any knowledge transfer will come from the incumbent to BHA, and then BHA to the awarded contractor. There will not be a transitional period, this contract is anticipated to start on January 1, 2027, and any transition activities should be absorbed within the initial six-month budget.

25. Does Criminal Justice Information (CJI) fall within the scope of this engagement, given that Exhibit A and Exhibit E both state that program databases do not store criminal history or law enforcement investigative records? If not, would the CJI/FBI CJIS Security Policy references in Exhibit F be inapplicable?

· We do not store any criminal history or law enforcement records. For additional information, see Exhibit A- Statement of Work; Section 3.2.5.

26. Can BHA confirm which Cyber/Network Security Liability insurance tier is expected to apply to this Contract (0-1m records, 1m-3m records, or 3m+ records)?

· 0-1 million records

27. Is the SOC 1 Type II / SOC 2 Type II audit requirement in Exhibit F expected to apply to a data-analytics support engagement of this size and nature, or is it intended primarily for larger IT infrastructure contracts?

· Primarily for larger IT infrastructure contracts

28. Can the Department provide the scoring scale or rubric that evaluators will use for each evaluation factor?

· The scoring scale and rubric evaluators will follow the points assigned under E. Proposal Content criteria listed on the RFP:

1. Relevant Organizational Experience - 10 Points

2. Organizational Capacity - 10 Points

3. Public Sector or Health/Human Services Experience - 10 Points

4. Multi-Stakeholder Data Environment Experience - 10 Points

5. Data Integration & System Coordination - 10 Points

6. Reporting & Data Visualization - 10 Points

7. Data Privacy and Security Practices - 10 Points

8. Budget Submission - 30 Points

29. Can the Department confirm list of documents that must be included in the proposal submission package?

· Please return the maximum five (5) page proposal addressing the proposal content in Section D of the RFP, Exhibit B - Budget Template, and the Signature Page in Section K of the RFP.

30. Is there a required naming convention for individual files inside the zip file, or only for the zip file itself?

· There is not a required naming convention for individual files.

31. Are exhibits E ,F,G,H required to be completed and submitted, or are they for review only?

· Exhibits E, F, G, and H are for your review only and do not need to be completed or submitted.

32. Who will be the Contractor’s primary day-to-day point of contact after contract award?

· After contract award, BHA will identify the Contractor’s primary day-to-day point of contact and will provide the appropriate program-level contacts for JBBS, Co-Responder, and PREVAIL. During the solicitation period, Offerors must direct all questions and communications through the process identified in the RFP.

33. Are subcontractors permitted for this engagement?

· Yes, subcontractors are permitted for this engagement.

34. Are electronic signatures acceptable on the Signature Page?

· Yes, Electronic signatures are acceptable

35. Is completion of the Demographic Form required at the time of proposal submission, or may it be completed separately?

· The demographic form is a voluntary submission and does not affect your proposal, and may be completed separately from the time of your proposal submission.

36. Will the Department confirm whether the mandatory criteria include only the submitted proposal, Exhibit B, and Signature Page?

· The mandatory documents that are required to be submitted for this proposal are the maximum five (5) page proposal, Exhibit B - Budget Template, and the Signature Page.

37. Does the Department prefer references from public sector, behavioral health, human services, or criminal justice-related projects?

· All of these references would be acceptable to BHA.

38. What specific information should be included for each reference, such as contact name, title, organization, phone number, email, project dates, and project description?

· References are not required as part of this RFP, so any included references and their content an offeror may provide is discretionary to the offeror.

39. Should references be limited to projects similar in size, scope, and complexity to the services described in Exhibit A?

· References are not required as part of this RFP, so any included references are not limited to projects in similar size, scope, or complexity to this RFP.

40. If references are required, how many references should vendors provide?

· References are not required for this RFP, and the number of references an offeror may provide is discretionary to the offeror.

41. What are the key source systems feeding data for PREVAIL, Co-Responder, and JBBS?

· CiviCore, Chestnut Health Systems, Google Sheets/Excel

42. What data formats and ingestion methods are currently used, such as APIs, database connections, SFTP, CSV/Excel, or manual uploads?

· APIs, CSV/Excel, manual uploads, and database connections (via API).

43. How does data currently flow between source systems, CiviCore, GCP/BigQuery, and Tableau?

· CiviCore→GCPBigQuery→Tableau

44. What ETL/ELT, integration, and orchestration tools are currently used?

· None are being used currently by the BHA contractor or staff.

45. What is the frequency and approximate volume of data received from each major source?

· About 40,000 records in a year for JBBS, about 30,000 in a year for Co-Responder, and about 1,000 records in a year for PREVAIL.

46. Is BigQuery the centralized reporting repository, or are reports and dashboards sourced from multiple systems?

· Sourced from multiple systems (CivicCore, GAIN, Google Cloud Platform environments); however, BigQuery is the primary centralized reporting repository.

47. How many external providers, agencies, or program sites currently submit data into the environment?

· There are 29 Co-Responder Providers, 48 JBBS Providers, and 6 PREVAIL Providers

48. Are data submissions standardized across providers and programs, or do formats and definitions vary by source?

· Formats and definitions are consistent within programs, but can vary across different programs

49. What identifiers are currently used to match or link individuals and records across PREVAIL, Co-Responder, JBBS, and other systems?

· First name, last name, DOB, client ID number (if present)

50. What are the major data quality, matching, reconciliation, or integration challenges in the current environment?

· Ensuring data submissions from providers are complete and timely; integrating data into visualization products such as Tableau

51. Which existing integrations and data pipelines will the selected contractor be responsible for maintaining or supporting?

· Databases such as Civicore and Chestnut and the data is then pipelined into Tableau for public facing dashboards.

52. What level of access will the contractor receive to CiviCore, GCP/BigQuery, Tableau, source systems, and their development/test environments?

· Administrator access with the program manager.

53. How many existing dashboards, recurring reports, data pipelines, and interfaces are currently in production and expected to be supported?

· 3 dashboards, 1 data pipeline, and 3 databases.

54. Are there any planned system migrations, new data sources, integrations, or architectural changes during the contract period?

· At this time, BHA is not planning any system migrations, new data sources, integrations, or architectural changes during the contracting period. This may be subject to change at the discretion of BHA and would be communicated in advance to the awarded contractor.

55. What are BHA’s highest-priority technical and data improvements that the selected contractor should address during the initial six-month term?

· Emphasis in the first six months is on maintaining the current operational environment, not on improvements

56. Can vendors provide commercial references?

· References are not required for this RFP, and the type of references an offeror may provide is discretionary to the offeror.

57. How many resources can a vendor provide?

· References are not required for this RFP, and the number of references an offeror may provide is discretionary to the offeror.

58. Does the program currently have an external evaluator and is an external evaluation legislatively mandated?

· The program currently has an external evaluator, but external evaluation is not legislatively mandated.

59. Who is the primary audience for the dashboard(s)? Are these public facing dashboards that are available to the general public, are these internal dashboards for internal BHA or are these dashboards for grantee agencies?

· The dashboards support BHA program staff and program providers. Additionally, the Contractor will incorporate program data into existing, program-specific dashboards on the BHA website; those dashboards are public-facing. Access to non-public data and systems will be limited to authorized personnel in accordance with the Contract’s confidentiality and security requirements.

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