RFP DASPS 2365-15
Questions and Answers
Release #6
Dated 4-24-15
Q:
On page 13 of the RFP, it states the following: 5.1.4. The Proposer is responsible for
assuring that all submissions are complete, have all desired headers and footers, and are
paginated. What are the desired headers and footers? I can’t find any direction about this in
the document.
A:
The RFP doesn’t have a required format for headers and footers. It is recommended you have
them for ease of evaluation.
Q:
Q&A from 3-20-15 referenced “key persons” language being added as a definition. Has that
been completed?
A:
That is being added by addendum next week.
Q:
Attachment #12 states "In developing local service priorities, proposer should be sensitive to
the cultural, linguistic, socio-economic and geographic diversity of the underserved
populations in the proposed service area." It doesn’t say that the equity lens must be one of
the priorities. Is this correct?
A:
Yes, this is correct.
Q:
On Attachment 12 added April 7th, it is stated that we may select up to for 4 priorities within
the target population to serve. We were informed by the state office previously, and prior to
this RFP, that “Families of color” was to be a priority and that we could choose up to 3
more. Is this no longer a requirement? (Families of color)
A:
Yes that is correct, families of color is no longer a requirement. Central Admin will be notifying
sites of this change in the near future.
Q:
Attachment 12 added 4-7-2015 states “Please note: Programs are not required to conduct the
NBQ with every single birth in their geographic service area, however screening is a priority
for HFO and the NBQ screen should be offered to any pregnant woman or parent with a
new baby that the program comes in contact with and has capacity to screen.” HFA requires
that families be screened prenatally or within 2 weeks after birth. This seems to indicate we
can screen them anytime as long as they have a “new” baby or are pregnant. Please clarify.
A:
The HFO Statewide screening target population is All Births, however we acknowledge that it is
difficult to screen all births. HFA does not require that programs screen a specific percentage of
their target population, therefore there is no requirement of how many screens a program
completes. However, we do believe that screening for risk of abuse and/or neglect is very
important and hope that programs will take the same approach and allocate resources to screening.
The majority of eligibility screens should take place either prenatally or within 2 weeks of the
baby’s birth.
Q:
Q&A dated 4-3-2015 states “there should be only 1 Program Manager for each program”
however the question is asking about service delivery area. Does it mean one program
manager per Service Delivery Area (for example Wasco, Sherman, Wheeler, Hood River
and Gilliam Counties)? Or one per program if we are subcontracting out to multiple
subcontractors?
A:
If your proposal is to serve the entire Service Delivery Area, (ie Wasco, Sherman, Wheeler, Hood
River and Gilliam counties), then yes there should be 1 program manager. Even if your proposal
is to subcontract, you are still operating as one program with one program manager.
Q:
One condition of the RFP is to submit written evidence from Early Learning Hubs that they
are willing to work with us if we were awarded a contract. We have contacted multiple Early
Learning Hubs and are being told that they have already submitted a letter of support and
aren’t willing to submit anything for another provider, or that the Early Learning Hub is
responding to the RFP in partnership with the current provider. These responses remove
the competitive process of the RFP.
A:
This requirement is being removed by addendum that is scheduled to be released next week.
Q:
Our relationship with other service providers actively focuses on connecting families with
each other’s services, our response to question 5.2.8.1 includes information requested in
5.2.8.2. Do you recommend repeating the information, referring to the prior answer, or
summarizing the information and referring to the prior answer?
A:
5.2.8.1 asked about your experience while 5.2.8.2 asked about how you will complete this task if
awarded this RFP. If you would like to restate the information in one section into another section,
please re-type the content and reframe from referring back to another question.
Q:
I can’t find restrictions on page numbers. Are there any requirements concerning response
length?
A:
It is encouraged to be as concise as possible. You don’t want to lose the evaluator in lengthy
descriptions that don’t directly address the question being asked.
Q:
Section 5.2.4 of the RFP states we need to show partnerships with health, social service, and
early learning hubs. What is your expectation for us regarding health partnerships?
A:
It is expected that proposers have (or have a plan to build) relationships with health care providers
or CCO to better coordinate screening services and increase wrap-around care for families
enrolled in HFO.
BUDGET Related Questions:
Q:
There was a reference to updated Fiscal Guidelines being added to the documents listed, but
I don’t see them?
A:
Please refer to the first tab of the Attachment 10 - Budget
Q:
The budget break down takes some expenses that are commonly direct costs such as rent,
utilities, and land line telephones and places them into admin. In some communities simply
renting a small office far exceeds the allowable admin for this program.
I would like to suggest that you allow us to determine the costs that are most needed in our
community as part of our FSU rate. We are able to provide in-kind costs for Executive
Management and other typical admin expenses but placing rent, utilities and phones into
this category is simply too much for a 10% admin rate.
A:
Rent, utilities, and phones are typically considered administration and will be for the purpose of
this RFP.
Q:
The RFP does not require a budget narrative; nor do I see instructions about where to
include explanatory information about the budget. Since not everything in the budget will be
self-explanatory, do you have a preference as to where/how we include explanations?
A:
If you have narrative you would like to include for your budget, please submit that as an
attachment.
Q:
Can I change formulas in the budget worksheet to accurately reflect my budget? I am
concerned about how the table in cells B6:E10 figures cell D9. It appears that the number in
that cell represents the FSU cost for state only slots. That cell includes all funds that are not
MIECHV funds divided by the number of state slots. In our county we use some of our
other funds to augment our MIECHV so they should not be included in the cost of a state
FSU in box D9. Can I go ahead and change that formula to accurately reflect?
A:
Yes. Please include a note/narrative attachment explaining this.