REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
Issue Date: June 15, 2005 RFP #: 715A063
Title: Sexual Violence Prevention
Issuing Agency: Virginia Department of Health
Center for Injury and Violence Prevention
109 Governor Street, 12th Floor
PO Box 2448
Richmond, Virginia 23218-2448
Period of Contract: From November 1, 2005 through October 31, 2006 and
renewable for four (4) 1-year periods.
Sealed Proposals will be received until 3 P.M. July 29, 2005 by the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Purchasing and General Services (OPGS) located at 109 Governor Street 12th Floor, Richmond, VA. 23219. To be considered, all proposals must be received at this address on or before the date and hour stipulated. Vendors should pay particular attention to ensure that the proposal is properly addressed. The state is not responsible if the proposal does not reach the specific destination by the appointed time. Proposals received after the date and hour designated are automatically disqualified and will not be considered. The official time used in the receipt of responses is that time on the clock or automatic time stamp machine in the Office of Purchasing and General Services.
The responses may be sent via US Mail to the Post Office Box address listed above as the "Issuing Agency", provided that it is submitted in adequate time to allow for delivery to the specific office location, 12 Floor, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Offerors are responsible for assuring timely receipt of the proposal at the specific office location and should make allowance for the possibility of an untoward event.
The safest way to insure the proposal is delivered on time, especially if it is submitted within the last seven (7) days prior to the due date, is to deliver it in person. The alternative is to use a commercial delivery service such as FEDEX or United Parcel Service, or the US Post Office Service's Express Mail. If any of these services are used, send the proposal to the following address:
VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
109 Governor Street, 12th Floor
RICHMOND, VA. 23219
Note: This public body does not discriminate against faith-based organizations in accordance with the Code of Virginia, Section 2.2-4343.1 or against an Offeror because of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age disability, or any other basis prohibited by state law relating to discrimination in employment.
All Inquiries for program information should be directed to Jayne Flowers who may be reached by calling (804) 864-7735 or E-Mail @ . All other inquires should be directed to Carol Shelton who may be reached by calling (804) 864-7659.
In compliance with this Request for Proposal and to all the conditions imposed therein and hereby incorporated by reference, the undersigned agrees to furnish the goods/services in accordance with the attached signed proposal or as mutually agreed upon by subsequent negotiation.
Date: ________________ By: Signature - Authorized Representative
_______________________________________
(Print Name)
Title:
of Above Authorized Representative
Name and Address of Firm or Organization:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Telephone: ( )
Fax: ( ) _
E-Mail: _________________________________________
FIN/FEI# _________________________________________
*PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE: Optional pre-proposal conferences will be held on Tuesday, June 28, 2005, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in a conference room of the Thomas Jefferson Health District, 1138 Rosehill Drive, Charlottesville, VA and Wednesday, June 29, 2005 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in a conference room of the Peninsula Health District, 416 J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, Newport News, VA.
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR RFP
I. PURPOSE PAGE 4
II. BACKGROUND PAGE 4
III. STATEMENT OF NEEDS PAGE 5
IV. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS PAGE 5
V. EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA PAGE 10
VI. REPORTING PAGE 10
VII. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE PAGE 11
VIII. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS PAGE 11
IX. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS PAGE 18
X. METHOD OF PAYMENT PAGE 21
XI. PRICING SCHEDULE PAGE 21
XII. ATTACHMENTS PAGE 21
I. PURPOSE: The intent and purpose of this Request for Proposals is to solicit sealed proposals from established Sexual Assault Centers in Virginia to develop a statewide reimbursement contract through competitive negotiations to procure sexual violence primary prevention programming. This proposal is being initiated by the Virginia Department of Health, Center for Injury and Violence Prevention (CIVP), an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
II. BACKGROUND:
Virginia Department of Health’s mission is to achieve and maintain optimum personal and community health by emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention and environmental protection. The Center for Injury and Violence Prevention is working toward the National Healthy People 2010 objectives to reduce the number of rapes and attempted rapes and to reduce sexual assault other than rape. In 2003, there were 4,900 forcible sex offences reported to the Virginia State Police, of which 87% were female.
In 2002, CIVP undertook a comprehensive survey regarding sexual assault in Virginia of 1,769 women and 705 men ages 18 and older. The survey indicates that one in four women and one in eight men have been victims of sexual assault. One of the key findings of the study was that of those victims of sexual assault, 78% of females and 94% of males experience their first victimization as a child. The average age of first sexual assault was 14 years for females and 12 years for males. The majority of assaults against females (96.4 percent) and males (60.0 percent) were perpetrated by males. The majority of the perpetrators victimizing females were relatives of the victims (28.4 percent), followed by friends (22.3) and acquaintances (18.2 percent). Unlike female victims, the majority of perpetrators victimizing males were friends (25.3 percent), followed by strangers (20.9 percent) and acquaintances (19.8 percent). (Masho, “Prevalence of Sexual Assault in Virginia,” www.vahealth.org/civp/sexualviolence , April 2003.)
Funding for this grant opportunity is provided to VDH from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program. RPE was established under the Violence Against Women Act which Congress established in 1994 and reauthorized in 2000. The CDC provides national leadership on sexual violence prevention by supporting rape prevention and education programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and seven U.S. territories.
VDH is working to prevent sexual violence by funding approaches that use primary prevention, broadly defined as education to a population before violence occurs. Primary prevention strategies may include Universal or Selected interventions. Approaches that are aimed at groups or the general population, regardless of each individual’s risk for sexual violence perpetration or victimization, are called Universal interventions. Groups can be defined geographically (e.g. entire school or school district) or by characteristics (e.g. ethnicity, age, gender). Approaches that are aimed at those who are thought to have a heightened risk for sexual violence perpetration or victimization are referred to as Selected interventions. Ongoing efforts or multi-session programs are preferred in order for the targeted population to have the opportunity to obtain new knowledge and practice new skills When possible, programs which have been evaluated during use with a similar target population should be used. This allows for the implementation of “best” or “promising” practices in prevention programming. VDH will provide training and technical assistance to assist contractors in building program capacity in prevention services and evaluation performance.
Approximately $600,000 is available for this funding process. It is anticipated that the average award will be $40,000, with multiple awards. Proposals are limited to established Sexual Assault Centers operating in Virginia. Offerors are encouraged to propose approaches or solutions that will result in best value.
III. STATEMENT OF NEEDS:
The contractor shall be an established Sexual Assault Center operating in Virginia. Contractors shall respond to this RFP with a portfolio of one or more projects from the choices below. No awards will be given to support projects whose sole purpose is to raise awareness of services or to promote state lobbying efforts. Projects must involve primary prevention interventions as defined above.
A. Intensive Youth Programming - Projects will use youth as the primary deliverers of messages. These projects involve youth in developing, delivering and/or implementing sexual violence prevention messages. The projects will be based on multiple contacts with the youth throughout the development and implementation process. Intensive youth programming should provide a focus that allows for building knowledge, enhancing skills, and promoting positive behaviors in youth.
(Examples: A peer education programs where the youth deliver a sexual violence prevention program to their peers. An after school club that works to spread a message through poster campaigns and other awareness-raising events)
B Multi-Session Curriculum-Based - Projects will use a pre-developed curriculum to provide information on sexual violence prevention. These projects will use a curriculum that is based on multiple contacts with the same audience members and will likely involve an educator who delivers the curriculum to the same group more than once. Multi-session curriculum-based projects should provide a focus that allows for building knowledge, enhancing skills, and promoting positive behaviors in youth.
(Examples: A program that delivers all lessons of the “Safe Dates” program to a youth group. An educator who delivers five lessons from the Virginia Responds Facilitator’s Guide to the same health class.)
C. Train-The-Trainer - Projects will focus on training providers (such as teachers, youth service workers, counselors) to deliver a curriculum in sexual violence prevention. These providers will then be expected to deliver the curriculum to targeted audiences. Train-the-trainer projects should focus on building the capacity of allied youth-serving professionals to address the issue of sexual violence prevention.
(Example: An educator provides a training for health teachers on a teen violence prevention curriculum. The health teachers then teaches the curriculum in the classroom.)
D. Community Education – (Community Education is limited to 20% of the total contact hours planned in any Offeror’s portfolio. Contact hours are the number of hours that are spent in direct client contact for the purpose of delivering training, education, or programming.) Projects will be one-time projects that raise the awareness of sexual violence prevention within the community. These projects may include a one-time classroom presentation to students or presentations to large, community groups where the educator only sees the audience one time.
(Examples: A presentation to a Boys and Girls’ Club on healthy relationships. An educator speaks at an assembly at the local high school. A church group receives a presentation on sexual violence prevention strategies.)
IV. PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
A. General Requirements
1. RFP Response: In order to be considered for selection, Offerors must submit a complete response to this RFP One (1) original and five (5) copies of the proposal shall be submitted. Proposals shall be submitted to:
Virginia Department of Health
109 Governor Street, 12th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
Attn: Debbie Vergara
Or
Virginia Department of Health
109 Governor Street, 12th Floor
PO Box 2448
Richmond, VA 23218-2448
Attn: Debbie Vergara
(if sent by UPS, FEDX, ETC. do not use the PO Box)
LATE PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
Proposal Envelopes: Envelopes must be identified on the outside with the following:
From:____________________________________________________
Name of Offeror Due Date Time Due
Street or Box Address RFP Number
City, State, Zip Code RFP Title
Attention: Debra Vergara
2. Proposal Preparation:
a. Proposal shall be signed by an authorized representative of the Offeror. All information requested shall be submitted. Failure to submit all information requested may result in the Purchasing Agency requiring prompt submission of missing information and/or giving a lowered evaluation of the proposal. Proposals which are substantially incomplete or lack key information may be rejected by the Purchasing Agency. Mandatory requirements are those required by law or regulation or are such that they cannot be waived and are not subject to negotiation.
b. Proposals should be prepared simply and economically, providing a straightforward, concise, clear description of capabilities to satisfy the requirements of the RFP. Emphasis should be placed on completeness and clarity of content.
c. Proposals should be organized in the order which the requirements are presented in the RFP. All pages of the proposal should be numbered. Each paragraph in the proposal should reference the paragraph number of the corresponding section of the RFP. It is also helpful to cite or indicate the paragraph number, subletter, and repeat the text of the requirement as it appears in the RFP. If a response covers more than one page, the paragraph number and subletter should be repeated at the top of the next page. The proposal should contain a table of contents, which cross references the RFP requirements. Information which the Offeror desires to present that does not fall within any of the requirements of the RFP should be inserted at an appropriate place or attached at the end of the proposal and designated as additional material. Proposals that are not organized in this manner risk elimination from consideration if the evaluators are unable to locate where the RFP requirements are specifically addressed.
d. Each copy of the proposal should be bound or contained in a single volume where practical. All documentation submitted with the proposal should be contained in that single volume.
e. Ownership of all data, materials, and documentation originating and prepared for the State pursuant to the RFP shall belong exclusively to the State and be subject to public inspection in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Trade secrets or proprietary information submitted by an Offeror shall not be subject to public disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; however, the Offeror must invoke the protection of Section 2.2-4342 of the Code of Virginia, in writing, either before or at the time the data is submitted. The written notice must specifically identify the data or materials to be protected and state the reasons why protection is necessary. The proprietary or trade secret material submitted must be identified by some distinct method such as highlighting or underlining and must indicate only the specific words, figures or paragraphs that constitute trade secrets or proprietary information. The classification of the entire proposal document, line item prices and/or total proposal prices as proprietary or trade secrets is not acceptable and will result in rejection and return of the proposal.
3. Oral Presentation: Offerors who submit a proposal in response to this RFP may be required to give an oral presentation of their proposal to the Virginia Department of Health. This provides an opportunity for the Offeror to clarify or elaborate on the proposal. This is a fact finding and explanation session only and does not include negotiation. The issuing state agency will schedule the time and location of these presentations. Oral presentations are an option of the purchasing agency and may or may not be conducted.