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FAQs - Vendors

Below are the questions asked by vendors during the current and our last solicitation. Please note, not all questions will apply to all vendors.
 

When bidding for a contract, how many copies of the proposal are required?

Only one copy of the proposal is required.

I have a couple questions regarding the polygraph testing on this new proposal.  We have heard that we will NOT be invoicing for polygraph testing, that the polygrapher will have their own contracts.  Yet, information about what we would charge for polygraphs was included in the proposal.  We know that one of our polygraphers is not going to be doing a contract but two other polygraphers.  Should we include the fees in that portion of the proposal or should we leave that blank? Are we indeed going to continue billing for polygraphs?

Yes, include the fees in the polygraph portion of the proposal.  We are including polygraph testing with our sex offender treatment contracts AND we are soliciting for an independent polygrapher for maintenance polygraphs of various types.

Do all counselors performing chemical dependency treatment have to have a BA or Masters level degree to perform services.

No, counselors must be state certified and must be overseen by a primary clinician with a Masters degree or a BA degree and at least two years of chemical dependency treatment experience. Paraprofessionals and interns must also be supervised by a clinician with the same degrees and experience.

What are the monitoring reports and what if we do not have any?

The monitoring reports would be reports we generated for you, if you previously held a BPA contract with us. If you do not have any, just indicate that.

Do we have to use your forms for our staff qualifications or can we use our own?

You can use your own form as long as it contains all of the required information.

Who do you want us to use as references and can we use US Probation and Pretrial Services as a reference?

With respect to references, you cannot use us. You can use any other company or local CSO for whom you provide services. We are not looking for individual clients you have served.

6010 individual counseling: The unit price is based on a 30 minute session, not on the estimated monthly quantity, correct? In other words I am to list the price for a 30 minute session and not times the quantity listed?

That is correct. You are to provide the price for a 30 minute session. Do not multiply it by the estimated quantity.

Regarding the background statement in section d- Copies of compliance with all federal, state and local fire safety and health codes. Vendor has had multiple site inspections but does not have specific copies of compliance. How should they address this section?

Provide copies of any certificates or any documentation that the vendor has passed any inspections within the last year; particularly the fire safety inspections and for vendors dealing with food service, any health inspections.

RFP Attachment D References: My agency/private practice is relatively new and private so can't provide the required info, can use people who worked for who can attest to my abilities or how do handle this section?

You may list as your references, people and/or agencies you worked for, however, do not list individual clients.

You did not include a UA project code or an MRT (manualized cognitive behavioral group counseling) as a service to bid on. Should we add it in?

If we did not include a certain project code, it is because we do not, or no longer require that service. Please do not add in any services we did not originally list on the RFP.

Are there any page limits for the attachments?

No, there are no limits for your attachments.

I am currently under contract for both central and south King County. If I don't win the contract for both catchment areas, will I be able to continue working with all my federally referred clients, even if they are in the catchment area I no longer have the contract for?

No. The clients who live in a catchment area where another vendor has won the contract, will be transferred to the winning vendor. Under limited circumstances, the winning vendor could give permission for the client to continue treatment with a previous vendor due to continuity of treatment.

Can defendants/offenders attend the same treatment groups with established clients, or do they require their own group?

Federal clients can attend groups with other established clients. They do not require their own separate groups. Federal client files, however, must be kept separately from all other client files.

Can assessing agency also provide treatment or must they refer if they are the assessor?

In all cases we have included a project code for the assessment and project codes for individual and group treatment. In other words, the same agency can do the assessment as well as the recommended treatment.

When completing the proposal, is the supplied documentation pages to be completed filling in blanks (such as from page B-2 of 2) or do we create our own document?

You can either fill in the blanks on the document we sent you, or you can create your own. However, if creating your own, be careful to include all required information provided in the RFP or you run the risk of being found technically unacceptable.

Regarding Short-term Residential Treatment, the RFP specifies that this cannot exceed 90 days. Are there a minimum number of days the client must stay at our facility?

While we set the maximum number of days a client can be in inpatient treatment, there is no minimum number of days a client must stay at the treatment center.

I understand you will supply all the collection materials for UA's. Will you also be paying the lab processing fees?

Yes, we will supply all of the collection materials for UA's and we will set up and pay for UPS to ship the samples to our lab at the courthouse in Seattle for the processing.

What are the boundaries for the South King County catchment area?

The boundaries for the South King County catchment area are Tukwila to the Pierce County Line and Puget Sound to Black Diamond/Enumclaw.

Will the mental health treatment provider be expected to have the capacity to provide specialized (State certified) treatment of paraphilias (sexual deviancy disorders)?

No. We specifically contract for sex offender treatment services.

In doing the form Program Discharge Summary Profile does the word program mean the probation clients only, such in questions 2, 3, etc. or does it mean all of our client base. If we did the evaluation and then the treatment are they to be counted as only one client or would they count as two clients?

The Program Discharge Summary Profile is for past and current Probation clients only. Evaluation and treatment with the same client would count as one client.

Your estimate of one mental health intake assessment per month leads us to conclude that there would be approximately 12 per year.  Your estimate of seven 30-minute counseling sessions per month will amount to a very thin level of service by the time four months have elapsed in the contract period.  Can you explain how this number of counseling sessions would be sufficient for the expected number of people receiving intakes?

We use historical data when estimating our monthly quantities (EMQ's). When an EMQ is below one per month, we round up to one. We would estimate 6, 30 minute sessions, per client, per month. We typically want our clients seen once a week for one hour for mental health treatment. Reminder, the EMQ's are estimates only.

L-9 attachment A is the Certification of Compliance Statement. I have questions on how to fill it out.  For subcontractors, what name goes in each of the two blanks on this form? And who signs the form? Does the subcontracting person or agency put their name in both blanks and the authorized person to sign for the subcontracting entity sign it? Or is the name of the offeror supposed to go in one of the blanks and then the offeror signs the form?

You will want to photocopy Attachment A and you fill it out with your name in both spaces and you sign one copy, then you do the same with each subcontractor, putting their names in both spaces and you sign certifying on behalf of your sub-contractor.