ASL_SAQMMA17R0202_QA's_-_05-25-17.doc

American Sign Language Interpretation Services SAQMMA17R0202

American Sign Language Interpretation Services SAQMMA17R0202

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS

1. Can the Past Performance Survey (Attachment A) be extended beyond May 10th, to allow our Customers ample time to reply?

RESPONSE: Yes. This date has been changed to May 31, 2017.

2. How many interpreting hours were provided by vendors in 2016 or YTD for 2017.

RESPONSE: The Department averaged approximately 200 service hours weekly during calendar year 2016.

3. What agency, or agencies, currently provide services for the Department of State?

RESPONSE: Various agencies.

4. What is the current hourly rate of those vendors?

RESPONSE: Does not exceed standard industry rates.

5. Will awards be made by Region?

RESPONSE: No, the Government anticipates the award of a single contract for all proposed categories.

6. We want to clarify that this next effort is NOT using the GSA schedule. It appears that you are not but we wanted to be sure as we prepare our response.

RESPONSE: SAQMMA17R0202 is not based on the GSA schedule.

7. Does the Combined Synopsis/Solicitation under solicitation number SAQMMA17R0202 contain requirements similar to a current contract?

RESPONSE: No.

8. If possible, please provide the current contract number. Or, is this a new requirement for the government?

RESPONSE: This is a new requirement.

9. Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? (like,from India or Canada)

RESPONSE: Any Offeror who can meet the requirements of the solicitation, FAR 52.225-5 Trade Agreements (Aug 2009) including security requirements, qualitied staffing and minimum staffing available to be present in person for meetings, assignments and able to provide direct oversight may apply.

10. Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

RESPONSE: Yes, on-site meetings are required.

11. Can we perform the tasks (related to RFP) outside USA? (like, from India or Canada)

RESPONSE: Any Offeror who can meet the requirements of the solicitation including security requirements, qualitied staffing and minimum staffing available to be present in person for meetings, assignments and able to provide direct oversight may apply.

12. Can we submit the proposals via email?

RESPONSE: Page 64, Proposals may be submitted via email to stewartj@state.gov.

13. Additionally there is no Price Matrix. The RFP references that pricing and CLIN structure is attached in Attachment A; however, that is the Past Performance Survey.

RESPONSE: The Price Schedule has been posted.

14. Please note that the Past Performance Survey provided for SAQMMA17R0202 references the incorrect services (career development, counseling, and coaching). Should we as vendor, make corrections to this survey and disseminate to our current and past customers, or will the government furnish a revised document referencing ASL interpreting and CART services?

RESPONSE: The correct Past Performance information has been posted.

15. For Solicitation Number: SAQMMA17R0202 would the State Department consider using Video Remote Interpreting services?

RESPONSE: No, this requirement is for on-site services.

16. Page 10 of the solicitation includes a bullet point that an interpreter or CART provider "interpret and/or transliterate continuously for not more than two (2) hours at a time without a break." Industry standard, however, is 90 minutes of continuous interpreting without a break. In order to be in compliance with this standard, would DOS consider making the change to the solicitation or allow an offeror the ability to propose an alternate standard?

RESPONSE: There is no standard set forth by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. who certifies interpreters. The standard used is two (2) hours with the understanding that our program staff are interpreters and make determinations based on time, cadence and content.

17. The bottom of page 11 includes a provision for handling assignments that may go past the allotted scheduled time, to include having an interpreter "contact the agency". Is agency defined as the Department of State or the contractor?

RESPONSE: The contractor is the intended “agency”.

18. Bottom of page 12 states that interpreters must have a minimum of 3 years of Federal government assignments, to include....potentially high personal and/or technical threat locations, as well as diverse locations. Is this a requirement for domestic support interpreters as well?

RESPONSE: A correction to the language has been removed: negotiations, high stress/emotional situations as well as potentially high persona and/or technical threat locations. The corrected page has been provided.

19. Top of page 16 requires that invoices be submitted on the 1st working week of each month, signed by a DOS employee. Does the Government mean the first full working week of the month? To allow for timesheet submission and approvals, along with any applicable travel expense(s), would the DOS consider changing this requirement to 5 business days after the end of the month? This would mitigate any confusions about an invoice due date.

RESPONSE: Yes, the Department requires invoicing by the first full working week of the month no later than five (5) business days after the end of the month.

20. Given that DOS may award a BPA to multiple vendors, how would task/delivery orders be competed and/or awarded post-award (beyond FAR 52.216-18 ordering procedures)?

RESPONSE: The requirement is now the award of a single contract for these services. FAR.216-18 has been removed.

21. The deductions outlined in the QASP (top of page 16) are severe. Are they to be assessed against a specific BPA task order awardee that fails to meet the objectives, which will be defined further at the task order level? For example an objective of "able to provide for the continuous, various, and variable requirements" is subject to interpretation yet carries a penalty that is pretty specific.

RESPONSE: The interpreter is a legal requirement by the Government and therefore a specific non-performance deduction will be assessed in the Contract for each request that is unfulfilled by the Offeror which is made by the Department within 72 hours of the service requirement date. Damages shall be equal to twice the international or domestic locality hourly rate for the requested number of hours. This shall be doubled to cover the contract scheduled time plus costs to fill the requirement through other sources deemed necessary.

22. Given the severity of the deductions outlined in the QASP (top of page 16), many offerors may increase pricing to mitigate the performance risk. Would the Government consider offering Incentives as well in order to off-set the imbalance?

RESPONSE: Deductions are part of both the contract provider as well as the Department. An example is a late cancellation within 72 hours is still billed and paid at the full rate requested despite the fact that services are canceled or not rendered.

23. Page 17 - 2nd Performance Objective outlines a stiff penalty for more than 1 customer complaint in a one-month period. Can the Government please provide clarity around the types of complaints, given that a complaint may be minor with the ability to immediately cure? "Customer complaint" is too broad given the severity of the penalty imposed.

RESPONSE: Examples include Interpreters not arriving on time for the requested assignment time; Interpreters dressed inappropriately for assignments; infractions of the RID/NAD Code of Professional Conduct, or interpreters sent that are not certified. Might need to be more specific. As well as interpreters who are unable to accurately translate for the employee; unable to follow the technical dialogue or lack of professional awareness of the environment in which they are assigned to translate.

24. Key Personnel (pages 25 and 66) - what are the Government's expectations with regards to Key Personnel? Are the required minimums (i.e., 10 certified interpreters that are part of the required 100 minimum on roster) considered Key Personnel?

RESPONSE: To qualify for the solicitation an Offeror must have the required staffing for the solicitation including a total of ten (10) full time employees; to provide non-cleared and/or cleared, who are certified (RID-CSC, CI/CT; RID-CI/CT; NIC; NIC-A; NIC-M or NAD-V) and/or CART Providers (CCP) through the National Court Reporters Association; two (2) of which shall have a security clearance of TS or TS-SCI with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a technical knowledge in the areas of Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Forensics, Document examination; two (2) others of the ten (10) full time employees of the Offeror shall be available to accept assignments world-wide on extended 90+ days of Temporary Duty, who possess a valid passport with greater than six (6) months prior to expiration from the date of potential travel. Except for the required Offerors (Interpreters/CART reporters) the Administrative or Program staffing are not defined by the Government beyond what personal are necessary for the Offeror to effectively execute and manage the contract which should be addressed in the Offerors Organizational chart.

25. Key Personnel (page 66) - resumes of Administrative staff are required. Are they considered Key Personnel? Is the number and type of administrative personnel up to the Offeror?

RESPONSE: Except for the required service providers (Interpreters/CART reporters) the Administrative or Program staffing is not defined by the Government beyond what personal are necessary for the Offeror to effectively execute and manage the contract which should be addressed in the Offerors Organizational chart.

26. Key Personnel (page 66) - does the Government require resumes for all service providers that will be on the "roster" (i.e., minimum 100 interpreters)?

RESPONSE: No, just the service providers ten (10) full-time certified interpreters. The section states that “The Contractor shall provide resumes and certifications of their proposed Administrative staff as well as that of their interpreter employees…” The two bullets before states …. “a minimum of ten (10) certified interpreters as full-time staff (employees). The Administrative or Program staffing are not defined by the Government beyond what personal are necessary for the Offeror to effectively execute and manage the contract which should be addressed in the Offerors Organizational chart of which it may be beneficial to the Offeror if your Management has key skills and knowledge which would stand about the competitors submission.

27. Clause H-032A Security Requirements (page 26) states that a Top Secret facility clearance is required, and includes the applicable DD-254 with the solicitation. If an Offeror only chooses to propose against Option 1 "non-cleared service providers", we assume a TS facility clearance will not be required? If this is not the case, would DOS consider sponsoring a company for a TS facility clearance?

RESPONSE: The requirement has changed which now does not provide for non-cleared services only; it requires both non-cleared and cleared under a single award. The Department will not sponsor an Offeror for a facility clearance. Offeror will not be considered if not able to provide all areas addressed in the solicitation.

28. Clause H-032B Personnel Clearance Requirements (page 27) states that contractor personnel assigned to this contract must possess a Secret or TS clearance unless designated by the COR as only working on unclassified portions of the contract. Can we assume this applies to all personnel under Option 1 "non-cleared service providers"?

RESPONSE: Yes.

29. Should the completed Section K - Representations & Certifications, as well as the completed/signed SF1449 (and any amendments) go in Volume I - Prices/Cost Proposal?

RESPONSE: Yes.

30. Attachment A Pricing Schedule - if we are only proposing under Option 1 (non-cleared service providers), assume we only need to fill out column 1 (non-cleared) of the template?

RESPONSE: The requirement has changed to a single award for non-cleared and cleared interpreters. The options have been removed.

31. Would an Offeror who chooses to propose under Option 1 only (non-cleared service providers) only provide Domestic support under a resultant BPA?

RESPONSE: The requirement has changed to a single award for non-cleared and cleared interpreters. The options have been removed.

32. The RFP (p. 25, Sect. H-016) references "Key Personnel" but leaves blank the section thereunder identifying "Key Personnel." Can the Government identify the specific positions that it considers to be "Key Personnel?"

RESPONSE: See response to questions 24, 40, 41, 45, 63, and 65. Except for the required service providers (Interpreters/CART reporters) the Administrative or Program staffing is not defined by the Government beyond what personal are necessary for the provider to effectively execute and manage the contract.

33. In Attachment A, Pricing Schedule (no section or page numbers provided) please confirm that the government is asking for pricing for CLASSIFIED remote CART. Due to the nature of the remote connectivity, a vendor would have to have an accredited SCIF, and secure DSN and other network connections in order to deliver this service. No requirements were specified in the DD-254 regarding audio/video or network encryption, and in fact, the DD-254 seems to indicate that there is no safeguarding and that the contractor will only have access to CLASSIFIED information while at a government facility OR another contractor facility, so remote CLASSIFIED CART appears not to be possible given the constraints of the RFP as written. If this is indeed the requirement, then the DD-254 needs to be corrected and additional details must be provided with regard to the type(s) of connections, hardware and software the contractor is to provide and to what government systems and networks the contractor will have remote access to. Please clarify.

RESPONSE: The Department will provide the necessary accredited SCIF, and secure DSN network connections and audio/video or network encryption where required in these areas.

34. In Attachment A, Pricing Schedule (no section or page numbers provided), the government lists Video Relay Interpreting as a CLIN. While most vendors provide Video Remote Interpreting, only FCC accredited organizations provide Video Relay capabilities and there are delivered free of charge to the customers. Please clarify whether the government is looking for video remote interpreting or video relay services.

RESPONSE: The Department will request if the need is necessary for the Offeror to provide Video Remote Interpreting by an accredited individual.

35. In Attachment A, Pricing Schedule (no section or page numbers provided) with regard to Video Remote Interpreting, what types of equipment and connectivity will the government furnish for the customer end of the connection? Is there a specific protocol with which the contractor must be able to communicate?

RESPONSE: The Department will provide the Video Remote Interpreting, equipment and connectivity for the Offeror to be able to provide the employee with the required services.

36. In Attachment A, Pricing Schedule (no sections or page numbers provided), the government is asking for pricing for CLASSIFIED services (Interpreting and CART) in many areas where there are no qualified and cleared personnel. For example, in Ohio, we only know of three interpreters who hold a security clearance. Will CLASSIFIED services in these areas require travel from other locations where cleared personnel are more concentrated? Please advise.

RESPONSE: Yes.

37. In RFP (p. 9 Sect. C. General Requirements) several current and retired national certifications are listed. However, in states where services may be needed but state licensure is more common than RID certification (i.e., Missouri), it is unlikely to find a large number of interpreters with RID certification. In fact, in the entire state of Missouri, there are only 81 certified interpreters listed in the RID database. We are confident that there are far more than 81 licensed interpreters in the state of Missouri. While it’s difficult to point to causal factors in various regions, the shortage of certified interpreters is hitting historic levels. The national testing moratorium from RID in January 2016, has halted the influx of new certified interpreters into the field for over one year. Since RID is still not granting any new certifications, many in the field, including RID are considering other forms of evaluation, specifically non-RID testing tools, as viable credentials. Even local RID chapters such as Illinois, are sponsoring BEI preparations workshops as an alternative path to certification. Considering this major shift in the field, will the Department of State consider accepting BEI (particularly in states where it’s pervasive such as Texas) certifications in addition to the RID certifications listed in the RFP?

See below excerpted from the RID.org webpage link to Certifications Under Moratorium.

The following certifications were placed under moratorium by the RID Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2016, and are not currently being awarded.

Restarting the awarding of these certifications is dependent upon

· RID operationalizing the 2007 member motion regarding establishment of criteria for recognizing tests other than RID’s – such as Boys Town, BEI, or some other non-RID or CASLI created testing tool

· the adoption of this criteria by the RID certified membership

· application of these entities for recognition of their test, and compliance of the test with the approved criteria

If and when these events happen, then the RID Board could determine lifting the moratorium on the appropriate certifications.

In the meantime, those that already have these certifications will continue to be recognized as RID-certified. The moratorium does not affect those who already have the credential – only those who desire to gain it now.

RESPONSE: The requirement is a national certification. The only current national certification is RID.

38. Must an offeror possess a TS FCL at time of submission in order to submit a proposal under Category 2. Cleared Service Providers or Category 3. Both Cleared and Non-Cleared Service Providers?

RESPONSE: Yes; this is now a single award and these Options have been removed. It is now one award for all services inclusive of all categories in the solicitation.

39. If an offerer submits a proposal under category 1. "Non-Cleared Service Providers" and receives an award, and then during the course of performance gains a Facility Clearance and the ability to provide cleared ASL interpreters and CART providers, will Department of State make provision (contract mod, etc.) to allow the offeror to perform under Category 3?

RESPONSE: No; the solicitation will not be separated. This is a single award for all services inclusive of all categories. Requirement to includes an existing facility clearance.

40. "Key Personnel" in Section L and Section M are unclear. The second bullet seems to indicate that offerors must provide one-hundred (100) interpreters, with ten (10) as full-time staff, but there is no (0) mention of CART Providers. The third bullet seems to indicate that offerors must provide twenty (20) interpreters OR CART providers, five (5) of whom should have TS or TS/SCI clearance, two (2) of whom must be full-time. Could the Government please clarify the Key Personnel sections, and the relationship between the requirements described in the 2nd and 3rd bullets?

RESPONSE: The required staffing by the Offeror for the solicitation includes a total of ten (10) full time employees; to provide non-cleared and/or cleared, who are certified (RID-CSC, CI/CT; RID-CI/CT; NIC; NIC-A; NIC-M or NAD-V) and/or CART Providers (CCP) through the National Court Reporters Association; two (2) of which shall have a security clearance of TS or TS-SCI with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a technical knowledge in the areas of Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Forensics, Document examination; two (2) others of the ten (10) full time employees of the Offeror shall be available to accept assignments world-wide on extended 90+ days of Temporary Duty, who possess a valid passport with greater than six (6) months prior to expiration from the date of potential travel. Except for the required Offerors (Interpreters/CART reporters) the Administrative or Program staffing are not defined by the Government beyond what personal are necessary for the Offeror to effectively execute and manage the contract which should be addressed in the Offerors Organizational chart.

41. Does the Government require that proposals include complete resumes of 100+ interpreters and/or CART providers? Could the Government clarify how many of each it requires, or could offerors conceivably provide all of one or the other?

RESPONSE: The required staffing by the Offeror for the solicitation includes a total of ten (10) full time employees; to provide non-cleared and/or cleared, who are certified (RID-CSC, CI/CT; RID-CI/CT; NIC; NIC-A; NIC-M or NAD-V) and/or CART Providers (CCP) through the National Court Reporters Association; two (2) of which shall have a security clearance of TS or TS-SCI with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a technical knowledge in the areas of Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Forensics, Document examination; two (2) others of the ten (10) full time employees of the Offeror shall be available to accept assignments world-wide on extended 90+ days of Temporary Duty, who possess a valid passport with greater than six (6) months prior to expiration from the date of potential travel. Except for the required Offerors (Interpreters/CART reporters) the Administrative or Program staffing are not defined by the Government beyond what personal are necessary for the Offeror to effectively execute and manage the contract which should be addressed in the Offerors Organizational chart.

42. The Work Statement does not seem to include any provision or procedures for cancellations by USG of requested assignments. How are late cancellations to be handled in the course of performance?

RESPONSE: A late cancellation within 72 hours’ may be invoiced and paid at the full rate and hours requested despite the fact that services are canceled or not rendered. This should be outlined in the solicitation.

43. The Work Statement does not seem to include any provision for how far in advance USG will generally request coverage of assignments. Could the Government please clarify its anticipated procedures for requesting coverage?

RESPONSE: Requests could be made months in advance or in some cases they could be for the same day. Service guarantee by the Offeror is required with 72 hours’ notice prior to the event.

44. Must the contractor be able to provide services at all locations listed in the pricing schedule? Or can a bidder submit a proposal and pricing for only some of the locations listed?

RESPONSE: Yes. The requirement has changed and only a single contract for all services and locations inclusive of all categories will be awarded.

45. p.67 Key Personnel - Can you clarify the requirements for the number of interpreters required? Paragraph 1 begins 'Minimum of 100' and Paragraph 2 begins 'Minimum of 20'. Is the first paragraph for vendors who only have non-cleared personnel? Is paragraph 2 referring to a subset of the 100 interpreters of those who are willing to travel? Must CART providers be willing to travel? Please clarify the number of interpreters required for each possibility: Cleared, non-cleared, both.

RESPONSE: The required staffing by the Offeror for the solicitation includes a total of ten (10) full time employees; to provide non-cleared and/or cleared, who are certified (RID-CSC, CI/CT; RID-CI/CT; NIC; NIC-A; NIC-M or NAD-V) and/or CART Providers (CCP) through the National Court Reporters Association; two (2) of which shall have a security clearance of TS or TS-SCI with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a technical knowledge in the areas of Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Forensics, Document examination; two (2) others of the ten (10) full time employees of the Offeror shall be available to accept assignments world-wide on extended 90+ days of Temporary Duty, who possess a valid passport with greater than six (6) months prior to expiration from the date of potential travel.

46. Will there be a requirement for non-cleared personnel to travel internationally?

RESPONSE: Yes. Requests could be made that require the Offeror to provide cleared and/or non-cleared interpreters to travel internationally for extended periods of time.

47. Will the agency work with an awarded vendor to have more interpreters cleared?

RESPONSE: No. Bids will not be considered if the Offeror does not possess an existing facility clearance or properly cleared staff the time of submission.

48. Page 14, Long term TDY states that there shall be no lapse in services rendered. If the interpreter is in another country and becomes ill, the vendor would not be able to provide a replacement immediately even if there is an interpreter immediately available domestically. The only way to meet this requirement would be to have a second interpreter in country at all times, which would be very costly to the Government. Can the Government change this requirement to allow time for the vendor to provide a replacement, taking into consideration the actual time it would take an available interpreter to fly to the country in question and be available for work?

RESPONSE: The Offeror shall provide for TDY a replacement immediately with the exception of an occasional sick day, death or service provider’s emergency situation. There is no exception for Domestic requirements.

49. In order for vendors to provide the best quotes based on volume, can the Government provide the following historical data based on services in the past year:

a. Total number of hours of services requested

b. Number of hours of TS cleared work

c. Number of assignments that were 3 hours or less in duration

d. Number of assignments that were 7 hours or more in duration

e. Number of assignments requested with more than 3 business days’ notice

f. Number of assignments requested with less than 3 business days’ notice

RESPONSE: The Department averaged approximately 200 service hours weekly during calendar year 2016 for all areas of service.

The Government does not track the other requested information and therefore will not estimate nor provide a matrix of this information.

50. Page 15 of the RFP, states the Government will double the actual cost of the requested number of hours, up to 18 hours per interpreter slot, and deduct that from the monthly billing at twice the contracted rate. While we agree with the principle that interpreters need to show as scheduled, this is not industry standard and is excessive. Since this is a set aside for small businesses, Will the Government remove this penalty and instead allow for reporting negative performance on CPARS?

RESPONSE: No. This is a legally required service of the Government and cannot go unfulfilled.

51. Page 16-17 QASP Table. The first item in the deduction column allows no leeway for the worst-case scenario day. Not only does it set a standard that is absolute perfection and nothing less, but it penalizes a vendor double the cost of the services which were not provided. Vendors already have a vested interest in filling every assignment as this is how they are paid. To require the vendor to pay the State Department when something beyond their control makes it impossible to fill an assignment or causes an interpreter to miss the assignment is unreasonable. Note: Even the most professional interpreters make mistakes with their schedule on occasion, so even the best vendors have no shows in rare instances. Will the Government change this to remove the monetary penalty and allow for a small, reasonable margin of error?

RESPONSE: No.

52. Page 16-17 QASP Table. In the Washington, DC area, interpreters usually book their schedules weeks in advance. Any request received with less than 5 business days’ notice is considered a late notice request and is difficult to fill. Many contracts do not require vendors to fill if the request is received with less than 5 business days’ notice. Will the Government change the time stipulation on this requirement to less than 5 business days’ notice?

RESPONSE: No. Service guarantee is required with 72 hours’ notice prior to the event.

53. QASP second row While there is no disagreement with the concept that 100% satisfaction is the goal, the reality in the world of sign language interpreting services is that it often takes some time to determine the specific preferences of any given consumer. Often a highly skilled interpreter turns out to be non-preferred and a less skilled interpreter is preferred. In a multi-award environment, vendors have a vested interest in meeting the needs of the consumers so that they can be trusted with more of the work from the State Department. The penalty of deducting half of a payment for customer complaints from small businesses is excessive. As a small business, we have never seen this in the hundreds of solicitations we have reviewed. The vendors will be required to pay the interpreters for the service rendered. Will the Government change the “Deduction” column to allow for an average instead of a set number per month and allow for complaints to be discussed with the agency and, if not resolved in a reasonable time, to be reflected on the vendor’s CPARs instead of deducting payment after the first complaint.

RESPONSE: Examples include Interpreters not arriving on time for the assignment; Interpreters dressed inappropriately for assignments; Infractions of the RID/NAD Code of Professional Conduct, or interpreters sent that are not certified.

54. Page 16-17 QASP. There seems to be a focus on penalties in the QASP table, with no incentives. Will the Government provide incentives for exceptional work?

RESPONSE: No.

55. ON page 43 Paragraph (d): This states that vendors will not be compensated for cancellations due to unanticipated holidays, weather, etc. This completely defeats the purpose of a Firm Fixed Price contract. Vendors are required by industry standards to pay the interpreters for these cancellations if they are made with less than two full business days’ notice. Would the State Department consider changing these to the normal two-day cancellation policy, which is industry standard?

RESPONSE: The Government shall pay to the Offeror for cancellations due to unanticipated holidays, or weather if the Government is closed and cancellation is made with less than two full business days’ notice.

56. Page 17 of the RFP, Standard. The expectation is no more than one (1) customer complaint per month. Without knowing the volume of services, it is difficult to know if this expectation is reasonable. If the State Department has hundreds of hours of services per month, this may be unrealistic, since even the best interpreter is not always the best fit for any given consumer. Will the Government consider revising this to state, “no more than one (1) valid complaint on average per month.”? Also, there are sometimes consumers who tend to complain more than others, and sometimes it is about personal preference, not skill. Will the Government take this into consideration if the complaints are coming from one consumer and all other consumers are happy with the services? In this situation, will the vendor still be penalized?

RESPONSE: Examples include Interpreters not arriving on time for the assignment; Interpreters dressed inappropriately for assignments; Infractions of the RID/NAD Code of Professional Conduct, or interpreters sent that are not certified.

57. Page 4 of the RFP, Schedule of Services, mentions Attachment A for the pricing section but Attachment A is Past Performance. There is no attachment for pricing instructions on FBO. Can the Government provide the attachment for pricing?

RESPONSE: The Pricing Schedule has been posted.

58. Page 4 1.1 states the requirement includes assistive devices and “information and technology for workplace adjustment and accessibility”. There is no further information throughout the solicitation on these requirements. Can the Government clarify what, if anything, is required in these areas?

RESPONSE: For this solicitation an assistive device for info and technology would be the equipment necessary to perform CART transcription.

59. Selecting a category: Since there is such a shortage of availability of cleared interpreters and the goal of this solicitation is to provide options to obtain these services, if a company is currently not a cleared facility, but has a sponsor and is currently in the process of obtaining Facilities Clearance, can they submit under the category 3. Both non-cleared and cleared service providers with the understanding that no cleared work will be provided prior to obtaining the Facilities Clearance?

RESPONSE: No, this is a requirement at the time of award.

60. Page 10, last bullet and page 11 of the RFP, Hours, Domestic, TDY Domestic, TDY Overseas. Due to injuries caused by Repetitive Stress Injuries, which have caused interpreters to leave the field, it is now industry standard to provide 2 interpreters for requests requiring continuous interpreting of 1.5 hours or more. Unwillingness to meet the industry standard in this area can lead to injury—putting vendors at risk of liability, and will cause most professional interpreters to decline the work. Will the Government change the requirement to state “Interpret and/or transliterate continuously for not more than 1 hour alone without a break?”

RESPONSE: There is no standard set forth by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. who certifies interpreters. The standard used is two (2) hours with the understanding that our program staff are interpreters and make determinations based on time, cadence and content.

61. Page 14 of the RFP, If scheduled for long term assignments domestic or abroad (TDY), only 1 interpreter or writer is to be assigned for a 5-12 week rotation, with some weeks lasting up to 7 days of work. Will the Government guarantee that ample breaks will be provided for the physical safety of the interpreter?

RESPONSE: The Department’s program staff are interpreters and shall make the determinations for assignments based on time, cadence and content.

62. Page 19 of the RFP, Place(s) of Performance. Can the Government provide the locations of the commonly used locations Domestic field offices and other State Department facilities (within the United States and overseas) where services will be needed? Can the Government also provide historical data on the number of hours of services used at the Domestic field offices, as well as the typical assignment lengths at these offices?

RESPONSE: That information is not available.

63. Page 66, second bullet: Can the Government clarify if this bullet is for 20 certified interpreters or 20 certified CART writers? Can the Government clarify how this list of 20 differs from the list of 100 in the bullet above it?

RESPONSE: The required staffing by the Offeror for the solicitation includes a total of ten (10) full time employees; to provide non-cleared and/or cleared, who are certified (RID-CSC, CI/CT; RID-CI/CT; NIC; NIC-A; NIC-M or NAD-V) and/or CART Providers (CCP) through the National Court Reporters Association; two (2) of which shall have a security clearance of TS or TS-SCI with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a technical knowledge in the areas of Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Forensics, Document examination; two (2) others of the ten (10) full time employees of the Offeror shall be available to accept assignments world-wide on extended 90+ days of Temporary Duty, who possess a valid passport with greater than six (6) months prior to expiration from the date of potential travel.

64. Page 66 first and second bullet: Can the Government clarify the purpose of the requirement for a specific number of the resources to be full-time staff? If the vendor is able to fill the work with fewer or more full-time staff, shouldn’t the requirement be to show sufficient resources to fill the work in general? Will the Government guarantee the vendor that there will be sufficient work under this award to support the staff members required per the solicitation?

RESPONSE: No.

65. End of page 69 beginning of page 70: Can the Government clarify the differences between the following numbers:

g. Minimum of 100 certified interpreters (with minimum of 10 staff)

h. Minimum of 20 certified interpreters OR CART writers (with minimum of 2 staff)

i. Minimum of 5 cleared (up to TS or TS-SCI) certified interpreters OR CART writers

j. Minimum of 1 certified interpreter willing to travel (Clearance required?)

RESPONSE: The required staffing by the Offeror for the solicitation includes a total of ten (10) full time employees; to provide non-cleared and/or cleared, who are certified (RID-CSC, CI/CT; RID-CI/CT; NIC; NIC-A; NIC-M or NAD-V) and/or CART Providers (CCP) through the National Court Reporters Association; two (2) of which shall have a security clearance of TS or TS-SCI with a minimum of 3+ years of experience with a technical knowledge in the areas of Information Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Budget, Forensics, Document examination; two (2) others of the ten (10) full time employees of the Offeror shall be available to accept assignments world-wide on extended 90+ days of Temporary Duty, who possess a valid passport with greater than six (6) months prior to expiration from the date of potential travel.

66. Page 70 of the RFP, Factor 3 Past Performance Refences. The RFP references Section C Statement of Work for Past Performance but there is not a section under Section C related to this. Can the Government provide more guidance on this section?

RESPONSE: The Statement of Work is found on Page 9 and is titled C – Statement of Work.

67. Is the Government interested in using Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)? If so, will the Government add a CLIN for this service.

RESPONSE: No.

68. Is the Government interested in using remote CART services? If so, will the Government add a CLIN for this service.

RESPONSE: Yes, these are found in the Pricing schedule.

69. State Department Locations: The solicitation repeatedly mentions Domestic Field Offices, but makes no mention of Residential Offices. Can the Government clarify if services will be provided to the Residential Offices.

RESPONSE: Services may be required to be provided by the Offeror anywhere in the world. Locations are not limited to just Government Offices or Facilities.

70. Page 16 states that each invoice shall be signed by a DOS employee. Can the Government clarify if this would be the COR who would sign?

RESPONSE: The COR has the final sign off for submission.

71. On page 13 The qualifications include NIC and NAD V. In our experience, NAD 5 is roughly equivalent to NIC-Advanced and NAD IV is similar to NIC. Will the Government allow NAD IV interpreters as well?

RESPONSE: No.

72. Based on historical data, can DOS provide the number and duration of TDY requests over the past 5 years?

RESPONSE: Numerous with the requirement dependent upon employee assignments and travel globally.

73. CART service is one of the service requirements on this contract, will this be both on-site and remote CART?

RESPONSE: Yes, both on-site and remote are required.

74. Based on historical data, can DOS provide the number of requests and duration of service requiring cleared service providers over the past year?

RESPONSE: No, this information is not tracked.

75. We would like to clarify on teaming. The SOW on page 10 states, “Interpret and/or transliterate continuously for not more than two (2) hours at a time without a break.” It is the industry standard to have a team for requests 90 minutes or more. May the requirement be updated to reflect the 90-minutes industry standard with the understanding that it may be case by case, sometimes 1 interpreter is sufficient for 2 hours and sometimes 2 are needed.

RESPONSE: There is no standard set forth by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. who certifies interpreters. The standard used is two (2) hours with the understanding that our program staff are interpreters and shall make determinations based on time, cadence and content.

76. We would like to visit the deduction concept. The SOW states on page 15 “Should the interpreter(s) or CART provider(s) not show up for an assignment; double the actual cost of the requested number of hours, up to 18 hours per interpreter slot, shall be deducted from the monthly billing for each occurrence at twice the contracted rate,” and on page 16, “2 times the billable hourly rate for the scheduled period for the inability to fill the requirement with 72 hours notification; this includes no-shows or cancellations without a certified replacement.” This is not the industry standard. Given the nature of this industry, situations beyond our control come up and there is no provider available as a replacement or at short notice. Will DOS consider removing the deductions?

RESPONSE: No.

77. Under specific requirements in the SOW on page 11, it states “The DOS may utilize the Contractor’s certified employee or designee interpreter and CART provider at any DOS location within a ten (10) mile radius from the point of assignment (domestic).” Suppose the assignment is in DC, 10 miles radius would cover areas outside of Washington, D.C. The time spent travelling to other location within 10 miles radius may use up a good portion of the assignment time frame. Can DOS confirm that any time re-route happens, original billing will remain unchanged and the end time cannot be extended without agency approval?

RESPONSE: Yes. For any extension in time the request has to be made and approved.

78. Under 1.1, it states that this contract “is a hybrid fixed price and labor hour contract. “ Can DOS state how many hours will be at fixed price annually?

RESPONSE: None; however the Department averaged approximately 200 service hours weekly during calendar year 2016 for all areas of service.

79. I wanted to inquire about the release date of the Q&A, given it impacts our ability to submit a proposal in response to that solicitation. Would you know when this is expected or is it possible to inform me if all proposals from vendors regardless of the part they are submitting on must be facility cleared?

RESPONSE: The program office is currently completing and formulating answers to all questions raised by the potential offerors and will release our response shortly. The Departments requirement requires that all Offerors to be considered will need a current facility clearance.

80. As we reviewing the Pricing Schedule, Attachment A, we have found what appears to be an error in the formatting. There are no page numbers or CLINs to reference but on the third page, beginning below the section listed as Domestic rates: Video Relay Interpreting, it appears that the CART pricing tables are missing the headers that we see on the first two pages of charts (STATUS/NON-CLEARED/CLEARED S/TS/TS+) and also that one price field is populated with what appears to be a header “Cleared S/TS/TS+” instead of being left blank for vendors to fill in a price. This formatting error appears on all of the charts on the last two pages of each year/period of performance immediately after the ‘Video Relay Interpreting’ chart.

RESPONSE: This information has been corrected and new schedule has been posted.

81. Additionally, we see that in the TDY pricing section description groups both ASL Interpreting and CART together. These are two distinct labor categories with different credentials, skill sets, and costs.

Please consider revising by splitting this into two separate sections, one for ASL/English interpreting TDY rates and the other for CART TDY rates. Otherwise, vendors will have to price this using either a blended rate or the higher rate of the two services, which is CART.

RESPONSE: This information has been corrected and new schedule has been posted.

82. Finally, there are TWO Option Year Three sections so we are assuming that one of them is supposed to be Option Year Four. Then we thought we better make sure that this isn’t Base Plus Three Options. Please clarify just to be safe.

RESPONSE: This information has been corrected and new schedule has been posted.

5/25/17 5/25/17