County of Alameda, General Services Agency – Purchasing
RFP No. 900977, Addendum No. 2
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA
ADDENDUM No. 4
to
RFP No. 901214
for
In-Place Interpretation and Document Translation Services
Specification Clarification/Modification and Recap of the Networking/Bidders Conferences
Held on March 28 and March 31, 2014
This County of Alameda, General Services Agency (GSA), RFP Addendum has been electronically issued to potential bidders via e-mail. E-mail addresses used are those in the County’s Small Local Emerging Business (SLEB) Vendor Database or from other sources. If you have registered or are certified as a SLEB, please ensure that the complete and accurate e-mail address is noted and kept updated in the SLEB Vendor Database. This RFP Addendum will also be posted on the GSA Contracting Opportunities website located at http://www.acgov.org/gsa/purchasing/bid_content/ContractOpportunities.jsp.**REVISED CALENDAR OF EVENTS
**REVISED BID FORM
Please note that a revised Exhibit A-Bid Form is included with this Addendum that reflects the updated information on the bid submittal requirements and replaces the one on page 5 of Exhibit A in the RFP.
**REVISED EXHIBIT B – INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS
Please note that a revised Exhibit B-Insurance Requirements Exhibit is included with this Addendum that reflects the updated minimum insurance limits, required by the County of Alameda, to be held by the Contractor performing on any contract awarded as a result of this RFP.
Alameda County is committed to reducing environmental impacts across our entire supply chain.
If printing this document, please print only what you need, print double-sided, and use recycled-content paper.
RFP No. 900977, Addendum No. 2
Page 2
County of Alameda, General Services Agency – Procurement and Support Services
RFP No. 901214, Addendum No. 4
The following Sections have been modified to read as shown below. Changes made to the original RFP document are in bold print and highlighted, and deletions made have a strike through.
Page 10 of the RFP, Section II. CALENDAR OF EVENTS has been modified to read as follows:
EVENT / DATE/LOCATIONRequest Issued / March 14, 2014
Written Questions Due / by 5:00 p.m. on March 31, 2014
Networking/Bidders Conference #1 / March 28, 2014 @ 2:00 p.m. / at: County of Alameda
Social Services Agency
California Poppy Room (A/B)
24100 Amador Street
Hayward, CA 94545
COMPLETE
Networking/Bidders Conference #2
(Online conference option enabled for remote participation) / March 31, 2014 @ 10:00 a.m. / at: General Services Agency
Room 201, 2nd Floor
1401 Lakeside Drive
Oakland, CA 94612
OR remotely @ http://gsaalamedacounty.adobeconnect.com/admin/show-event-catalog
COMPLETE
Addendum No. 1 Issued / April 15, 2014
Addendum No. 2 Issued / April 22, 2014 April 25, 2014
Addendum No. 3 Issued / May 2, 2014 May 16, 2014
Addendum No. 4 Issued / May 23, 2014
Response Due / April 30, 2014 May 6, 2014 May 16, 2014 June 9, 2014 by 2:00 p.m.
Evaluation Period / May 8 - May 23, 2014 May 27-June 16, 2014, June 9-June 30, 2014
Vendor Interviews / May 22 - 23, 2014 June 17-June 16-June 17, 2014 June 27-June 30, 2014
Board Letter Recommending Award Issued / July 8, 2014 July 30, 2014 August 12, 2014
Board Consideration Award Date / July 29, 2014 September 9, 2014
Contract Start Date / August 13, 2014 September 24, 2014
Page 4 of the RFP, Section I, “Statement of Work”, Item A is revised as follows:
It is the intent of these specifications, terms and conditions to describe to In-Person (face-to-face) Multilingual Interpretation Services, including In-Person American Sign Language (ASL) Services and Document Translation Services required by County of Alameda Social Services Agency Children and Family Services.
The County intends to award a three-year contract (with option to renew) to the bidder(s) selected as the most responsible bidder(s) whose response conforms to the RFP and meets the County’s requirements.
Page 5 of the RFP, Section I, under “Scope”, the last paragraph is revised as follows:
CFS currently requires interpretive services in Spanish, American Sign Language, Vietnamese, Tongan, Cantonese, Mandarin, Urdu, Burmese, Farsi, Tagalog, and Korean. The contracted organization must continue provide interpretive services in those languages and additional languages, including but not limited to Dari, Laotian, Hindi, Mien, Pashto, Russian, Swahili, and Punjabi.
Page 6 of the RFP, Section I, “Statement of Work”, Item No. 1, under “Specific Requirements”, the first sentence is revised as follows:
SSA expects to need approximately 600 1405 hours of in-person language services as well as the translation of several hundred documents in the coming fiscal year.
Page 7 of the RFP, Section I, “Statement of Work”, Item No. 2.a. under “Specific Requirements”, is revised as follows:
Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) shall have quick and short notice access to an interpreter. Interpreter appointment requests of less than 24 hours advance notice must be met for all of the most commonly used languages.
1) Standard appointments for interpretation and/or translation service are made within 24 hours
2) Short Notice appointments are made in less than 24 hours to provide interpretation and/or translation service during business hours, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
3) After Hours service is when interpretation service is provided between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m., regardless of when notice is given
Page 8 of the RFP, Section I, “Statement of Work”, Item E.2(c) is revised as follows: The Contractor shall have the capability of providing in all or most of the excess of one hundred fifty (150) language coverage, including the following:
American Sign Language / Hmong / SamoanArabic / Ilocano / Serbian
Armenian / Indonesian / Shanghainese
Bengali / Italian / Sinhalese
Bosnian / Japanese / Somali
Burmese / Korean / Spanish
Cambodian / Laotian / Swahili
Cantonese / Malay / Tagalog
Croatian / Mandarin / Tamil
Czech / Mien / Thai
Dari / Mongolian / Tibetan
Dutch / Nepali / Tigrinya
Farsi / Oromo / Toishanese
French / Pashto / Tongan
Fukienese / Polish / Turkish
German / Portuguese / Urdu
Gujarati / Punjabi / Vietnamese
Hakka / Romanian / German
Hindi / Russian / Hakka
Page 8 of the RFP, Section I, “Statement of Work”, Item E.2 is revised to include Item “e” under “Requirements” as follows:
e. The County will not reimburse Contractor for mileage or travel time. All costs must be included in the bid price.
Page 10 of the RFP, Section II, “Networking/Bidders Conferences”, Item No. 1 is revised as follows:
Provide an opportunity for Small Local Emerging Businesses (SLEBs) and large firms to network and develop subcontracting relationships in order to participate in the contract(s) that may result from this RFP.
Page 2 of Exhibit A, Item No. 4 is revised as follows:
The undersigned acknowledges receipt and acceptance of all addenda.
The undersigned agrees to the following terms, conditions, certifications, and requirements found on the County’s website:
§ Bid Protests / Appeals Process [http://www.acgov.org/gsa/departments/purchasing/policy/bidappeal.htm]
§ Debarment / Suspension Policy
[http://www.acgov.org/gsa/departments/purchasing/policy/debar.htm]
§ Iran Contracting Act (ICA) of 2010
[http://www.acgov.org/gsa/departments/purchasing/policy/ica.htm]
§ General Environmental Requirements
[http://www.acgov.org/gsa/departments/purchasing/policy/environ.htm]
§ First Source
[http://acgov.org/auditor/sleb/sourceprogram.htm]
§ Online Contract Compliance System
[http://acgov.org/auditor/sleb/elation.htm]
§ General Requirements
[http://www.acgov.org/gsa/departments/purchasing/policy/genreqs.htm]
§ Proprietary and Confidential Information
[http://www.acgov.org/gsa/departments/purchasing/policy/proprietary.htm]
Page 7 of Exhibit A, Item No. 3(a) (1) is revised as follows:
Bidders must use the templates on pages 11-12 9-10 of this Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet to provide references.
Page 7 of Exhibit A, Item No. 3(a) (2) is revised as follows:
Bidders are to provide a list of three (3) current and three (3) former clients. References must be satisfactory as deemed solely by County. References should have similar scope, volume and requirements to those outlined in these specifications, terms and conditions.
§ Bidders must verify the contact information for all references provided is current and valid.
§ Bidders are strongly encouraged to notify all references that the County may be contacting them to obtain a reference.
Page 7 of Exhibit A, Item No. 3(b) (1) is revised as follows:
This shall include clarifications, exceptions and amendments, if any, to the RFP and associated Bid Documents, and shall be submitted with your bid response using the template on page 13 11 of this Exhibit A – Bid Response Packet.
Responses to Written Questions
Q1) Is this contract being awarded to a single vendor or multiple vendors? Does the County reserve the right to make that decision later? Does the County require any one vendor to have all the languages needed? Does the County expect to fulfill all the languages required with multiple vendors? What is the County’s preference? Is the incumbent vendor covering all the languages needed?
A1) The County reserves the right to make sure that it has the full complement of services needed. That may require one or multiple qualified vendors. In the past the contract has been awarded to multiple vendors. Also, as noted in the RFP on page 18, Item No. 4, under “Award”: “The County reserves the right to award to a single or multiple Contractors”. The County requires that the vendor(s) provide all languages that are needed. Please see page 3 of this Addendum, under “Specific Requirements”, Item 2.c., revised from the RFP, “The Contractor shall have the capability of providing in excess of one hundred fifty (150) language coverage…” The County has multiple incumbent vendors and each of them covers the languages needed.
Q2) What is the expected turnaround time for translation services? How many documents and what type and length of documents does the County anticipate for translation services?
A2) Per page 7 of the RFP, under “Specific Requirements”, “Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) shall have quick and short notice access to an interpreter”. Usually, the documents are one page letters from families to the court, notices of action and memos. However, Children and Family Services (CFS) also completes lengthy multi-page reports for families and the court.
Q3) Since the Bidder cannot alter the bid form, how can the County accommodate an offer of alternate pricing? Written translation services can be provided by a sole translator or by a team of linguists including a translator, editor and proofreader. Which approach is requested for this RFP? Would the County like pricing for both options?
A3) The Bidder may submit more than one bid form if they want to provide alternate pricing options. The Bidder can submit more than one bid form if they want to show pricing to be provided by a sole translator or by a team of linguists.
Q4) Does the vendor list located on the last page of the RFP, (Exhibit C) represent the incumbent vendors?
A4) The vendor list includes, but is not limited to, the incumbent vendors.
Q5) Are Bidders allowed to exercise the option to bid on one or both of the services required under this RFP or must they bid on both interpretation and translation services?
A5) Bidders are allowed to bid on either interpretation services or translation services, or both.
Q6) Will Small Business Enterprise, Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, and Women’s Business Enterprise (SBE/DBE/WBE) vendor status be taken into consideration?
A6) No, there will be no consideration given to SBE/DBE/WBE status.
Q7) Should Bidders be prepared to receive interpreter or translation requests after-hours?
A7) The Contractor must be prepared for daily requests on a 24 hour basis. This is a 24-hour operation. Interpreters are rarely used on the weekends but frequently used after hours during the week. Bidders should be prepared for requests at any time (24 hour basis). Per page 7 of the RFP, under “Specific Requirements”, Item 2.b., “Alameda County Social Services Agency (SSA) shall have quick and short notice access to an interpreter”. Per 8 of the RFP, also under “Specific Requirements”, Item 2.d., “Contractor shall maintain interpretation service capability 24 hours per day, seven days per week.” The standard notice for interpretation and/or translation requests is 24 hours, short notice is less than 24 hours’ notice given to provide interpretation and/or translation service during business hours, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and after hours service is when interpretation service is provided between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m., regardless of when notice is given. Short notice fee quotations should be submitted in the revised bid form included in this Addendum for interpretation services and/or translation services, and after hours fee quotations should be included in this revised bid form for interpretation services.
Q8) On page 6 of the RFP, under “Specific Requirements”, Item No 1, it states that anticipated interpreting volume is 600 hours and in the Bid Form on page 5 of Exhibit A of the RFP form it says 1405 hours. Which number is correct?
A8) Please see the revised specification on page 3 of this Addendum. The correct number is 1405 hours.
Q9) Does the County know the relative demand of the different languages that need to be translated? What is the average need per month for interpreters for the additional languages listed on page 5 of the RFP under “Scope” and page 8 of the RFP, under “Specific Requirements’, Item No. 2.c.? What is the spend per language? Is there a breakdown of language usage (most used languages for translation, etc.)? What is the language mix and the percentage of usage for each language for interpretation services as well as for translation services?
A9) The County does not currently track usage, need or spend by language so this information is not available.
Q10) Will Bidders be penalized for bidding on a single service? How do Bidders indicate and respond to the RFP if they are only bidding for one service?
A10) No, bidders will not be penalized and may bid on a single service. The Bidder should fill out the relevant sections of the revised bid form included in this Addendum and indicate in their narrative what they are bidding on.
Q11) What was the total amount spent for this contract in 2013? For translation services only?
A11) The County tracks expenditures by fiscal year. For the last fiscal year, July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013, the County spent $118,000 on one vendor for both interpretation and translation services and $75,000 on the other vendor for interpretation services only.
Q12) Can Bidders utilize agency trained interpreters or are they required to utilize only interpreters who are certified or registered with the court? What percentage of assignments require court-certified interpreters?