RFR 23-35-MCD or MCD08 CART Services Posting.docx

RFR 23-35-MCD OR MCD08 CART SERVICES POSTING.DOCX

Open Market Bid BD-23-1067-MCD01-MCD01-88299

ISSUE DATE: MAY 7, 2023

1. Description or Purpose of Procurement:

The passage of Chapter 716 of the Acts of 1985 in December of 1985 established the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH). As part of its charge detailed in Section 194, MCDHH “shall improve accessibility and quality of existing services and shall promote development of new services when necessary.” Consequently, MCDHH is authorized to conduct procurements for communication access providers, including but not limited to sign language interpreters and CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) Captioners, for all Executive Branch agencies. The details of this charge are fleshed out in Code of Massachusetts Regulation 112 CMR 3.00: Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: Procedures and Structures for the Provision of Interpreters for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing by State Agencies.

MCDHH is the central point of contact for Commonwealth of Massachusetts agencies to obtain the services of qualified CART Captioners through its Interpreter / CART Referral Service. MCDHH’s Interpreter / CART Referral Service also accepts requests for CART Captioner services from private, not-for-profit, and other non-state entities. To meet the needs of these state and non-state requesters, MCDHH’s Interpreter / CART Referral Service establishes and maintains a roster of qualified CART Captioners who can accept and perform these job assignments in accordance with the standards of performance MCDHH requires of CART Captioners.

The purpose of this procurement is to create a pre-qualified list of CART Captioners that MCDHH’s Interpreter / CART Referral Service can use to fill incoming job requests. MCDHH invites steno CART Captioners, both individuals and businesses, to submit applications to this bid solicitation (RFR). Details of services, qualifications, compensation structure, application procedures, application assessment, and related information may be found in this document. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis throughout the contract term and additional individual and business CART Captioners may be added at any time. As a result of a successful and vigorous bid response, MCDHH will have a large roster of CART Captioners and an enhanced ability to fill requests and thus meet the communication access needs of Deaf, late-deafened, hard of hearing, and others needing realtime speech-to-text communication access in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, pregnancy, ancestry, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.

2. Applicable Procurement Law:

Executive Branch Goods and Services

3. Acquisition Method:

4. Whether Single or Multiple Contractors are Required for Contract:

Check One (“X”):

a. Estimated Number of Awards The target maximum number of Contractors: unlimited.

The Purchasing Department may award more or fewer contracts, if it is in the best interests of the Commonwealth to do so.

5. Entities Eligible to Use the Resulting Contract:

· Executive Office for Administration and Finance, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Technology Services & Security, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Education, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Public Safety & Security, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and its Agencies

· Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and its Agencies

· Public institutions of higher education

· The Judicial Branch, including the Courts

· The Legislative Branch

· Public hospitals owned by the Commonwealth, including but not limited to those under the Massachusetts Department of Public Health

· Local public libraries, public school districts, and charter schools

· Independent public authorities, commissions, and quasi-public agencies

· Cities, towns, districts, counties, and other political subdivisions of Massachusetts

· Public purchasing cooperatives

· Non-profit, UFR-certified organizations and agencies that are doing business with the Commonwealth

· Other entities when designated in writing by the Agency Chief Procurement Officer

6. Expected Duration of Contract (Initial Duration and any Options to Renew):

Initial Duration

Total Maximum Contract Duration

7. Anticipated Expenditures, Funding, or Compensation:

8. Contract Services, Qualifications, and Compensation Structure:

This document, the Bid Solicitation or Request for Response, is a key component of the master document:

MCDHH’s CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) Services Contract:

RFR / User Guide / Commonwealth Contract for Contract MCD08 For Use by Contractors, Requesters, Payers, Consumers, and All Other Entities Using MCD08 The Multi-Department Contract Which Begins July 1, 2023

MCDHH anticipates that, while the provisions of the full master document will be fundamentally and substantively similar to those of MCD03 and MCD07INTERIM, the document itself will not be complete until sometime in or around September 2023. Sections will be released upon completion and may be found on MCDHH’s web page, www.mass.gov/mcdhh.

PROSPECTIVE BIDDERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS BASED ON THIS RFR AND THE PRELIMINARY RATES AS SOON AS THOSE TWO DOCUMENTS ARE POSTED ON COMMBUYS. For the fleshed-out provisions typically contained in the User Guide, MCDHH recommends referring to those in the previous document associated with MCD07INTERIM until the full RFR / User Guide / Contract document for MCD08 is completed.

As noted in Section #1, MCDHH invites steno CART Captioners, both individuals and businesses, to submit applications to this bid solicitation (RFR).

Core Services: Individual CART Captioners and CART Captioner subcontractors of Business CART Providers may offer:

· On-site CART

· Remote CART

· On-site Streaming CART

Additional Services: Individual CART Captioners and CART Captioner subcontractors of Business CART Providers may offer one or more of these optional services:

· Projection service

· Jumbotron projection service

· CART in a language other than English using the Roman alphabet

· CART output

· Solo performance of long jobs (over three hours)

· Legal non-court CART

· Legal court CART

Qualifications of CART Captioners: Both individual Steno CART Captioners and Steno CART Captioner subcontractors of Business CART Providers must meet the following qualifications:

· Are able to provide verbatim text display of a multi-speaker communication event at a minimum speed of 180 words per minute sustained for no less than 55 minutes without a break, measured over any five-minute period during a 55-minute job

· Are able to provide verbatim text display of a multi-speaker communication event at a minimum accuracy of 96% according to NCRA standards sustained for no less than 55 minutes without a break, measured over any five-minute period during a 55-minute job

· Possess basic knowledge of hearing loss and the use of speech-to-text verbatim display as a means of providing communication access for Deaf, deaf, late-deafened, DeafBlind and hard of hearing individuals

· Hold a current certification from NCRA or another MCDHH-approved CART or Court Reporter’s professional organization or maintains a consistent record of earning CEUs

· Follow MCDHH’s Standards of Professional and Ethical Conduct for CART Providers

Additional qualifications for Business CART Providers:

· Must be in the business of providing steno CART Captioner subcontractors for a minimum of three years and preferably five years

Compensation Structure for CART Captioners: The rate structure for Contract MCD08 for both individual Steno CART Captioners and Steno CART Captioner subcontractors of Business CART Providers consists of a base hourly rate, years of experience, and one or more optional add-on rates.

· The base hourly rate for individual Steno CART Captioners and Steno CART Captioner subcontractors of Business CART Providers is the starting point for rate calculation and depends on whether the CART Captioner possesses a CRC (Certified Realtime Captioner) certification, and if the CART Captioner or CART business is new to MCDHH

· For Individual Steno CART Captioners, the base rate is determined by whether the Captioner has contracted with MCDHH to provide CART Services previously, and if the Individual Steno CART Captioner possesses a current CRC certification.

· For Business providers of Steno CART Captioning Services, the base rate is determined by whether the Business has contracted with MCDHH to provide CART Services previously, and if the subcontractor Steno CART Captioner performing the particular job assignment possesses a current CRC certification.

· The CART Captioner’s years of experience, defined as number of years the individual Steno CART Captioner has been providing CART Captioning services and the number of years the Business CART Provider has been offering services of Steno CART Captioner subcontractors

· One or more optional add-on services, including but not limited to:

· Projection service

· Jumbotron projection service

· CART in a language other than English using the Roman alphabet

· CART output

· Solo performance of long jobs (over three hours)

· Legal non-court CART

· Legal court CART

9. Applying to MCDHH’s Bid Solicitation for CART Services:

In accordance with the policies of Operational Services Division, only electronic applications submitted via COMMBUYS will be accepted in response to this RFR / Bid Solicitation. For instructions on how to submit a quote, please see Appendix B. For assistance with COMMBUYS please contact the COMMBUYS Help Desk at OSDHelpDesk@mass.gov or 617-720-3197 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.

The Commodity Code for CART Services is 82-11-00, Writing and Translations.

The application process to RFR 23-35-MCD, also known as MCD08, involves a written response, an interview, and, in the case of new individual Steno CART Captioners, an audition.

Part I. The written response is a Letter of Interest/Application and a Resume.

Letter of Interest/Application:

For Individual Steno CART Captioners, the Letter of Interest/Application should contain all the following information:

· Whether the individual is new to MCDHH and its CART contracts

· The number of years the individual has been providing Steno CART Captioning Services

· An affirmation that the individual can provide steno CART output of a multi-speaker communication event at a sustained speed of at least 180 words per minute for no less than 55 minutes without a break

· An affirmation that the individual can provide steno CART output of a multi-speaker communication event at a minimum accuracy of 96% according to NCRA standards for no less than 55 minutes without a break

· The highest CART certification the individual has attained

· Whether this certification is current (active)

· An affirmation that, if accepted as a member of the MCD08 contract, the individual will follow MCDHH’s Guidelines for Standards of Professional & Ethical Conduct for CART Captioners

For Business Steno CART Captioners, the Letter of Interest/Application should contain all the following information:

· Whether the business is new to MCDHH and its CART contracts

· The number of years the business has been providing Steno CART Captioning Services

· An affirmation that the business will provide only steno CART Captioner subcontractors to MCDHH with the skill level to caption a multi-speaker communication event at a sustained speed of at least 180 words per minute for no less than 55 minutes without a break

· An affirmation that the business will provide only Steno CART Captioner subcontractors to MCDHH with the skill level to caption a multi-speaker communication event at a minimum accuracy of 96% according to NCRA standards for no less than 55 minutes without a break

· An affirmation that, if accepted as a member of the MCD08 contract, the business CART Contractor will follow MCDHH’s Guidelines for Standards of Professional & Ethical Conduct for CART Captioners

Resume:

Any standard format of the applicant’s choice may be used.

For Individual Steno CART Captioners, be sure to include continuing education and CEUs earned going back five and preferably ten years.

For Business Steno CART Captioners, be sure to include the approximate size of the Steno CART Captioner pool you are able to draw from to fill MCDHH assignments. Note whether you have any certifications from the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office such as Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE), Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) or other certification. The Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office may be found at https://www.mass.gov/orgs/supplier-diversity-office-sdo.

Part II. MCDHH will contact applicants to schedule a mutually-convenient interview.

Part III. Individual Steno CART Captioners who have never contracted with MCDHH before will be asked to perform a two-hour audition. This will be a multi-person meeting typical of many of the jobs the Interpreter / CART Referral Service must fill.

10. Small Business Purchasing Program:

This section contains mandatory wording that must be retained in all bid solicitations even though it does not apply to RFR 23-35-MCD, also known as MCD08. The estimated value of this procurement exceeds the threshold for the Small Business Purchasing Program.

Program Background:

The Massachusetts Small Business Purchasing Program (SBPP) was established pursuant to Executive Order 523 to increase state contracting opportunities with small businesses having their principal place of business within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Pursuant to the SBPP, it is the intention of the issuing department to award this Small Procurement to one or more SBPP participating business(es) as described below.

SBPP Award Preference:

While all businesses, no matter the size or principal place of business, may submit responses to this solicitation, should an SBPP participant respond and meet the best value criteria as described in this solicitation, the SBPP participant shall be awarded the contract. The Strategic Sourcing Services Team (SSST) will not evaluate submissions from non-SBPP participants unless no SBPP Bidder meets the SSST’s best value evaluation criteria.

SBPP Participation Eligibility:

To be eligible to participate in this procurement as an SBPP participant, an entity must meet the following criteria, and be marked as an SBPP-registered business in COMMBUYS:

1. Have its principal place of business in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts;

2. Been in business for at least one year;

3. Employ a combined total of 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees in all locations, or employees work less than a combined total of 26,000 hours per quarter; and

4. Have gross revenues, as reported on appropriate tax forms, of $15 million or less, based on a three-year average.

Non-profit firms also must be registered as a non-profit or charitable organization with the MA Attorney General’s Office and be up to date with all filings required by that office and be tax exempt under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.

SBPP Compliance Requirements:

It is the responsibility of the Bidder to ensure that their SBPP status is current at the time of submitting a response and throughout the life of any resulting contract. Misrepresentation of SBPP status will result in disqualification from consideration, and may result in debarment, contract termination, and other actions. To learn more about the SBPP, including how to apply, visit the SBPP Webpage.

Program Resources and Assistance:

Bidders and Contractors seeking assistance regarding SBPP may visit the SBPP webpage, http://www.mass.gov/sbpp, or contact the SBPP Help Desk at sbpp@mass.gov.

11. Supplier Diversity Program (SDP) Plan:

Bid solicitation RFR 23-35-MCD, also known as MCD08, has been declared exempt from Supplier Diversity Program Plan requirements by the Executive Director of the Supplier Diversity Office. Therefore, the section in OSD’s RFR template addressing the SDP Plan has been excised.

12. Environmentally Preferable Products:

This section contains mandatory wording that must be retained in all bid solicitations even though it does not apply to RFR 23-35-MCD, also known as MCD08.

Products and services purchased by state agencies must be in compliance with Executive Order 515, issued October 27, 2009. Under this Executive Order, Executive Departments are required to reduce their impact on the environment and enhance public health by procuring environmentally preferable products and services (EPPs) whenever such products and services perform to satisfactory standards and represent best value, consistent with 801 CMR 21.00. In line with this directive, all Contracts, whether departmental or statewide, must comply with the specifications and guidelines established by OSD and the EPP Program. EPPs are products and services that help to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, protect public health and the environment, and promote the use of clean technologies, recycled materials, and less toxic products. Bid responses must identify how a contractor meets these goals.

13. Instructions for Submission of Responses:

[Mandatory provision.] Only electronic quotes submitted via COMMBUYS will be accepted in response to this RFR. Responses must be sent via the “Create a Quote” functionality in COMMBUYS. For instructions concerning how to submit a Quote, please see Appendix B.

Follow the instructions in the Job Aid “Creating a Quote in COMMBUYS: How to Respond to Bid Solicitations.” It may be found at https://www.mass.gov/doc/how-to-create-a-quote-in-commbuys/download.

When working in the ITEMS tab, be especially careful to clear the check mark in the “no bid” box. Failure to do so will result in an invalid bid response.

14. Evaluation Criteria:

Bidders (prospective Contractors) must submit responses that meet all the submission requirements of the RFR as set forth in Section 9. Only responsive proposals that meet the submission requirements will be evaluated, scored, and ranked by the evaluation team according to the evaluation criteria. Additional information may be requested for evaluation purposes.

Application Evaluation:

Responsive applications will be awarded points using the evaluation schema, below:

· Exceeds average expectations – outstanding; exceeds expectations on all aspects

· Meets average expectations – average; meets expectations on most aspects

· Does not meet average expectations – below expectations; deficient on essentially all aspects

The following evaluation schema will be used to assess all responsive applications. [For purposes of illustration, the evaluation schema is formatted into an applicant scorecard to be used by members of the evaluation team.]

NAME OF APPLICANT:

· INDIVIDUAL – Meets requirements for speed and accuracy

· BUSINESS – Will only provide subcontractors meeting requirements for speed and accuracy

· INDIVIDUAL – Agrees to comply with Standards of Professional & Ethical Conduct

· BUSINESS – Agrees to comply with Standards of Professional & Ethical Conduct

· INDIVIDUAL – Based on interview, would be a positive addition to MCDHH’s roster of CART Captioners

· BUSINESS – Based on interview, would be a positive addition to MCDHH’s roster of CART Captioners

Bid Evaluation Methodology: All applications will undergo an initial review by MCDHH’s Procurement & Contracting Manager. Only complete applications will be considered for further analysis and evaluation by the Director of Communication Access Services with one to three MCDHH colleagues at her discretion.

Bids will be evaluated based on the Letters of Application, Resumes, and results of interviews.

16. Estimated Procurement Calendar:

(Eastern Time Zone)

Bidders are required to monitor COMMBUYS for changes to the procurement calendar for this Bid.

17. Required Forms:

The successful Bidder will be required to complete the following Commonwealth documents:

The above attachments are available as part of the Bid record on COMMBUYS (WWW.COMMBUYS.COM).

A CORI (Criminal Offenders Records Information) check will be required.

18. RFR Attachments:

Appendix A: Required Specifications https://www.mass.gov/doc/rfr-required-specifications-of-commodities-and-services Appendix B: Electronic Quote Submission Instructions https://www.mass.gov/doc/instructions-for-vendors-responding-to-bids

19. Additional Information - MCDHH-Specific Terms

a) The Bidder is responsible for any and all costs associated with the preparation of the RFR response.

b) All response submissions, regardless of whether a contract is ultimately awarded to a particular Bidder, become the property of the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

c) The Agency may, during response review or at any time prior to selection, cancel a Request for Response or reject any or all responses if the Agency determines that such action is in the best interest of the Commonwealth.

d) The Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts make no guarantee that any commodities or services will be purchased from any contract resulting from this RFR.

e) MCDHH reserves the right to renegotiate and adjust rates, performance terms, and/or performance measures at any time during the life of the statewide contract.

f) All materials developed by the winning Contractors under this contract such as hand-outs, outlines, mailing lists, workshop agenda, publicity notices, and other materials will remain the property of the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

g) The Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing anticipates monitoring and evaluating the Contractor’s performance on an ongoing basis. Any contract resulting from this solicitation may be terminated at any time if the Contractor is unable to meet performance standards after given a reasonable opportunity to improve performance.

h) This Request for Response is developed in good faith based on needs known at the time of document preparation. Should additional information become available during the term of this contract suggesting the advisability of a different strategy and/or additional contract goals or performance benchmarks, MCDHH reserves the right to modify the contract accordingly, including adjusting the contract term, dates of performance, and/or contract maximum obligation.

Effective June 15, 2021, for all 1) CTR forms, including the Standard Contract Form, W-9s, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) forms, ISAs, and other CTR-issued documents and forms, or 2) documents related to state finance and within the statutory area of authority or control of CTR (i.e. contracts, payrolls, and related supporting documentation), CTR will accept signatures executed by an authorized signatory in any of the following ways: 1. Traditional “wet signature” (ink on paper); 2. Electronic signature that is either: a. Hand drawn using a mouse or finger if working from a touch screen device; or Page 2 b. An uploaded picture of the signatory’s hand drawn signature 3. Electronic signatures affixed using a digital tool such as Adobe Sign or DocuSign. If using an electronic signature, the signature must be visible, include the signatory’s name and title, and must be accompanied by a signature date. Please be advised that typed text of a name not generated by a digital tool such as Adobe Sign or DocuSign, even in computer-generated cursive script, or an electronic symbol, are not acceptable forms of electronic signature.

Updated: August XX, 2021