Amendment 04 W912JF23R0026 31JUL2023 .pdf

Amendment 04

Combined Synopsis / Solicitation W912JF‐23‐R‐0026 Behavioral Health Services

The purpose of Amendment 04 is to update the Q & A document with questions #7‐9.

Questions and Answers Document v.3

Question 1:

With reference to the 24/7/365 support, assessment, and referral services, is a crisis line sufficient to fulfill this requirement?

Answer 1:

Telephonic support and/or availability is expected during non‐business hours, but in person services are expected during business hours Monday‐Friday. Per the PWS weekend in‐person will be expected during required drill weekends / pre‐mobilizations tasks etc.

Question 2:

Contract Type: Could you kindly confirm whether this solicitation is for a personal or non‐personal contract? This information will help us tailor our proposal accordingly.

Answer 2: Non‐personal.

Question 3:

Clinical Criteria: Considering the diverse range of skills and education among Behavioral Health Specialists, we would greatly appreciate it if you could provide a clear definition of the specific clinical qualifications you are seeking for this contract. Understanding this in detail will help us identify the most suitable candidates for the requirements.

Answer 3:

Please see 1.4.7 Special Qualifications of PWS. Basically, they need to have at least a Master's degree in behavioral sciences. They need to be currently licensed to independently practice in the state of Arkansas for 2 or more years. Examples are LCSW, LMFT, LPC, Licensed Psychologist.

Question 4:

Hours of Operations: To better plan our resources and ensure the seamless delivery of services, could you please clarify the expected hours of operation for the awarded contract? Any information you can provide on this matter would be highly beneficial.

Answer 4:

Our duty hours are 0700‐1530 central time. There is some flexibility in this range. After‐hours crisis consultation, if conducted, will count towards their overall time. Compressed schedule is an option.

Question 5:

Credentialing Package: We currently have Behavioral Health Specialists on staff who are practicing clinicians. To ensure compliance with the solicitation's requirements, could you inform us if the expectation is for the awarded specialists to be practicing clinicians as well? If yes, we would appreciate receiving a list of documents that constitute the credentialing package, as this will allow us to prepare and compile the necessary credentials accordingly.

Answer 5:

Credentialing and privileging requirement is noticeably absent from the PWS. Please see 1.4.7 for licensing requirements.

Question 6:

Scope of Services: Section 3.0 of the solicitation appears to be requesting personnel and equipment, while the clinical section seems to focus solely on Behavioral Health services. We seek clarification on whether the scope of work includes additional items such as medical records and ancillary services. Understanding this distinction will help us better address the requirements in our proposal.

Answer 6:

Question 7:

Reference Section PWS p. 82 MRE/SRP/In Office ‐ 3500 Evaluation Screening Units: Assuming this is the initial Behavioral Health Screening using the TAPAS standard instrument using the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Batter testing platform, is this correct?

Answer 7:

No to TAPAS. We have a list of conditions which the army requires us to profile. For SRPs, we use Army and Combatant Commander medical standards.

Question 8:

Reference Section PWS p. 82 Behavioral Health ‐ 2000 Evaluation Units: Assuming that each unit is 60‐120 minutes of time with SM performing additional evaluations because the TAPAS screening identified something requiring further analysis, is this correct? Or are these pre‐deployment Level 2 assessments?

Answer 8:

These are typically 20‐30 min evals of bio/psychosocial/spiritual needs and linkage to appropriate resources.

Question 9:

Reference Section PWS p. 62, 1.4.1 For calls before and after business hours, we are assuming that the contractor will bring a toll‐free number, an IVR, and an existing CRM (e.g., our GCC Microsoft Dynamics or govcloud Salesforce tools) to document calls, is this correct? This would allow us to use existing call center capabilities to support the 24/7 call center requirements (and make it more cost‐effective). Or would you like us to provide designated resources to support the call center 24/7 utilizing the government's phone number, IVR, and CRM tools?

Answer 9:

The government will supply mobile phones to contractors for duty/after duty hours. Rotational schedule for on‐call. These are typically rare and are more consultative than formal crisis assessments.