INFORMATIONAL BULLETINS (PY 2002)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SUMMARY FROM BIDDERS’ CONFERENCES FOR FOLLOW-UP SURVEY RFP

Follow-Up Survey Request for Proposal

A Bidders’ Conference Call was held on:

Wednesday, October 16, 2002
1:30pm – 3:30pm

A Bidders’ Conference was held on:

Thursday, October 17, 2002
1:30pm – 3:30 pm
Alameda County Workforce Investment Board Offices
Eden Multiservice Center
24100 Amador Street 6th Floor
Hayward, CA 94544

Only the questions from attendees of the conferences that could not be directly answered by referencing the RFP document are listed below:

QUESTION 1: The RFP requires that the contractor be able to provide the survey in Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Does this mean that the survey will need to be translated into those languages by the contractor?

ANSWER 1: It is the responsibility of the contractor to be able to conduct the surveys in the listed languages. It is the responsibility of the contractor to translate the surveys in a culturally sensitive manner.


QUESTION 2: What will the language needs of the job seekers will be?

ANSWER 2: The language needs of the job seekers are not systematically collected.

The following demographics are based upon the participants currently enrolled in our ADULT program:
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 1%
Asian: 29%
Black/African American: 25%
Hawaiian Native/Other Pacific Islander: 2%
White: 32%
Hispanic or Latino: 11%



The following demographics are based upon the participants currently enrolled in our ADULT program:
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 1%
Asian: 35%
Black/African American: 12%
Hawaiian Native/Other Pacific Islander: 2%
White: 30%
Hispanic or Latino: 20%


QUESTION 3: When the RFP specifies a minimum 70% response rate, does it mean overall or by each quarter?

ANSWER 3: The minimum 70% response rate is by adult and dislocated worker.


QUESTION 4: Is there any reason that a job seeker would be excluded from the interview and not count against the contractor’s performance?

ANSWER 4: Everyone will be included as part of the contractor’s performance unless they meet one of the three state approved qualifications. The participant must be institutionalized, involved in long-term health issues, or be deceased. The one-stop career centers will provide updated information on the job seekers, but it is the ultimate responsibility of the contractor to contact all other job seekers. The contractor should build those costs into the bid.


QUESTION 5: What are some examples of the types of incentives that might be used to encourage the job seekers to respond to the survey?

ANSWER 5: The types of incentives that have been used by other programs include calling cards, gas cards, entrance into raffles, sports tickets, and restaurant coupons.


QUESTION 6: Is the cost of incentives to be included in the bid?

ANSWER 6: Yes, all costs of doing business to meet the performance requirements should be included in the bid.


QUESTION 7: What contact information will be provided to the contractor?

ANSWER 7: The MIS Unit will provide on a monthly basis the following information: job seeker name, address, phone number, case manager, case manager phone number or e-mail, reason for exit, employer at exit. In addition, the MIS Unit is currently developing a system to provide two additional contact people with phone numbers for each job seeker. The one-stop career centers will update the contact information as they learn of changes. However, it is the ultimate responsibility of the contractor to obtain additional contact information to achieve the minimum 70% response rate for the interviews. The cost of developing additional information should be built into the bid.


QUESTION 8: Will the employer contact information be included?

ANSWER 8: No, the employer contact information is confidential. Employers are not to be used to contact the job seekers.


QUESTION 9: Are the administrative costs part of the $100,000 or are they in addition to the $100,000?

ANSWER 9: A maximum of $100,000 is available to cover all the costs of providing the activities outlined in the RFP.


QUESTION 10: Does the explanation of the budget have to fit only on the budget page or can an additional attachment be used?

ANSWER 10: Additional attachments are fine. Use whatever means that clearly explain how the budget was determined.


QUESTION 11: Where will the job seekers be living?

ANSWER 11: The job seekers can be living anywhere after exit.


QUESTION 12: Who will be the one-stop career center contact people?

ANSWER 12: The Site Managers will be the initial contacts. They may designate someone to work with the contractor. The case managers will be contacted about specific job seeker issues.


QUESTION 13: How much money will be available for a contract extension after the initial 18 months?

ANSWER 13: It is impossible to predict funding availability that far into the future.




QUESTION 14: Is there a cost associated with using Smartware?

ANSWER 14: Smartware is an Internet based software and will be provided at no cost to the contractor. The contractor will need to have access to the Internet. Training will be provided at no cost by the ACWIB MIS staff.


QUESTION 15: Will collateral contact with someone other than the job seeker count as a successfully completed interview?

ANSWER 15: No, the collateral contact would not be able to answer the support questions or the customer satisfaction questions.


QUESTION 16: Is there partial credit for partially completed surveys?

ANSWER 16: No, to receive credit and payment the survey must be totally completed.


QUESTION 17: The RFP indicates that mandatory attendance for in-service training sessions for MIS and fiscal will be required. How often will the meetings be held?

ANSWER 17: There will be an initial forms training session held either in Hayward or at the contractor site. On-going MIS technical assistance will be available via telephone or e-mail. The fiscal meetings are usually held annually.


QUESTION 18: How will the survey questions be developed?

ANSWER 18: The proposal indicates the maximum number of questions that will be required. The ACWIB staff in conjunction with others will develop the types of outcomes that are needed. The contractor will be responsible for developing the actual wording of the questions to achieve the outcome. The bid will be based upon the number of questions.


QUESTION 19: Page 4 Section e states: “The contractor will also be responsible for any other follow-up reports required by the Department of Labor, the State, or the WIB.” This is rather expansive.

ANSWER 19: That sentence will be removed from the RFP and no longer applies.




QUESTION 20: Where is more information located about the Workforce Investment Act?

ANSWER 20: The Department of Labor has a web site located at www.doleta.gov. The State has a web site located at www.calwia.org.


QUESTION 21: How is it decided how much to charge to the adult funds and the dislocated worker funds?

ANSWER 21: The bidder should make a judgment with regards to the time necessary to gather and provide the information between the adults and dislocated worker population.


QUESTION 22: Will different questions be asked during the different quarters?

ANSWER 22: No, the same questions will be used for all the surveys.


QUESTION 23: Is the contractor responsible for analyzing the data collected in the surveys?

ANSWER 23: No, the contractor only needs to gather the data.


QUESTION 24: Will the report from MIS come divided by quarter.

ANSWER 24: Yes, the MIS report will come with the job seekers grouped by first, second, and third quarters.


QUESTION 25: The RFP indicates that the bidder will have three minutes to make a presentation to the Operations Committee and the Workforce Investment Board. Does that include the questions from the members?

ANSWER 26: No, the three minutes are available for the bidder presentation. At the end of the three minutes, the members will have an opportunity to ask questions. The questions and answer period will last until the members do not have any more questions.


QUESTION 27: When will the contracting begin?

ANSWER 27: The contracting can begin right after the Workforce Investment Board selects the contractor unless there is an appeal.