Q&A: RFP for Operations and Management of the America’s Job Center of California℠ (AJCC) Network
How many awards will be granted to RFP respondents?
One award will be given to the successful respondent for all four regions.
Does the $5.655M outlined in Section 1.2 Table 1. Estimated Funding Streams include supportive services?
Yes, the $5.655M includes supportive services.
Will SDWP negotiate indirect rates based on federal guidance?
SDWP will negotiate based on federal guidance, practices allowable for WIOA funding, and guidance from the Employment Development Department.
Who are the current AJCC operators in San Diego?
The current AJCC operators are ResCare, KRA, and Grossmont Unified High School District.
Will respondents receive a copy of the current performance report for San Diego’s America’s Job Centers of California?
Please refer to the Program Performance in Section 2.11 of the RFP.
How does the announced closing of the Metro AJCC and move to South Metro affect the four regions?
The closing of the Metro AJCC does not affect the regions. South Metro is the main location for program services of the metro region.
Is the respondent expected to negotiate MOU agreements with all required partners or does SDWP already have an MOU in place?
SDWP has an MOU in place with all required partners. See the RFP attachment titled “WIOA Partner MOU Phase 2” in Section 2.4. The respondent is only expected to negotiate MOUs with any additional partners that the respondent is proposing as part of the RFP response.
Even though not required, is the respondent permitted to establish agreements (subcontracts or non-financial) with required partners?
Such agreements are at the discretion of the partner and the respondent. Respondents may subcontract operations of regions or aspects of AJCC services to partners in a specific region(s), for a specific population or countywide. As outlined in section 1.5, consortiums, joint ventures, or collaboration of organizations with complementary skills and experience are encouraged to apply, but proposals must clearly identify one legal entity as the prime respondent that will hold contracting responsibilities and liabilities. Respondents must also clearly distinguish which partnerships represented in a response are subcontracts and which are non-financial collaborations.
Are respondents required to include a monitoring plan with the RFP submission?
Please see Section 4.5 in the RFP and attachment titled “Contract General Provisions” (see Section 29.0 titled “Procurement and Purchases” and Section 42.0 titled “Subcontracting”).
Do respondents need to provide new PC’s or laptops for staff as part of their bid, or is existing equipment available?
See Section 2.14 attachment titled “Service Level Agreement for Technical Support.”
Should respondents use the AJCC annual costs in the Section 2.10 attachment called “AJCC Facilities Description and EDD Lease Information” as their budget estimate for rent?
Yes, respondents should use the AJCC annual costs listed in the above attachment.
Will SDWP provide existing floor plans in each of the main career centers throughout the four regions? This information can help a vendor determine what types of activities and numbers of FTE might be provided in each location.
SDWP will provide this information to the successful respondent.
Is there an inventory of equipment available and/or a replacement schedule?
All equipment belongs to SDWP, and will be transferred to the successful respondent. See Section 2.14 attachment titled “Service Level Agreement for Technical Support.”
Should bidders include costs for development of a website and hosting?
No, SDWP is moving to a single template for all AJCC websites. The successful respondent should expect to update and maintain online content to include but not limited to website, social media, etc.
Will SDWP provide staffing charts (by center) and salary information?
SDWP is not able to release this information.
What is the average current payment for supportive services by region? Is there a target expenditure rate?
See the Operations Manual, Chapter 4 for more information on the supportive services limit.
Will SDWP consider expanding use of the Connect 2 Careers “platform” for use in outreach for Adult and Dislocated Worker job seekers?
SDWP is developing, in conjunction with Code for America, an outreach tool which will be made available for use by the successful respondent.
Is the successful respondent required to provide services in detention centers?
The respondent is expected to provide a reentry-friendly environment, but is not responsible to deliver services within a detention facility at this time.
Please describe how services are provided to WIOA Youth participants. Will the successful respondent have any responsibility for Youth services?
The respondent will be expected to provide a Youth-friendly environment but will not be responsible to deploy WIOA Youth-funded programs.
Will SDWP provide a list of area youth service providers?
See the Programs section of the SDWP website for more information on Youth Programs.
Will SDWP publish the names of the members of the review board for the proposals?
No, SDWP is not able to release this information.
Please confirm if the Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) is due only after an award has been made, or if it is due with the proposal response on October 5.
Submitting an SOQ is only required of the successful respondent whose proposal wins the award of the funds under this RFP.
Please clarify the fourth bullet on page 16 regarding differentiated services.
“Differentiated services” refers to any service strategy a respondent may propose that is outside the baseline of required services outlined within the RFP.
Please advise if the transition plan requested in the first bullet under “Staffing” counts towards the 25-page limit or if it can be provided as an attachment.
Any content the bidder wishes to submit related to a transition plan should be include as description with the 25-page narrative. A full transition plan will be required of the successful bidder upon award.
Please advise if the qualifications and resumes of key personnel in the second bullet under “Staffing” counts towards the 25-page limit or if they can be provided as attachments.
A one page summary of qualifications for key staff may be submitted as attachments.
Are charts, tables, graphics, etc. subject to the 12-point, double-spaced requirement?
Charts, tables and graphics are not subject to the formatting requirements of the proposal narrative. Minimum of 8 point font strongly preferred.
With a 25-page, double-spaced limit on the narrative, please advise if we need to repeat the question prior to each response. The questions take up 8 double-spaced pages, leaving 17 pages to respond. If questions are to be included, can they be single-spaced and/or in a smaller font size in order to maximize response space?
It is not required for respondents to list the questions within the proposal.
Who are the current youth contractors and are the youth staff co located?
Current Youth Contractors include: Able-Disabled Advocacy (Metro); Access (all regions), Interfaith Community Services (North), International Rescue Committee (East), San Diego Second Chance (Metro), San Diego Continuing Education, San Diego Community College District (Metro), YMCA San Diego (North). No youth staff are currently co-located at an AJCC.
Page 9, the RFP mentions the need for a warm hand off of youth aging out (25); how is the current process set up and is it working?
Refer to SDWP’s Operations Manual Chapter 4: Part 1 Attachment E Customer Co-Enrollment Policies and Procedures.
Will SDWP provide access and training to the NANDI system? If not, can you provide the cost of setting up the system, recurring, annual, etc.
SDWP will provide the successful respondent with access and technical assistance in use of the NANDI system.
Who certifies training providers; SDWP or the State, or both?
Both.
Page 12, the RFP mentions “provide customer service to training providers”; can you expand on the statement?
Community organizations, employers and training providers will contact AJCC staff members with general questions about AJCC programs, processes etc. It is expected that AJCC staff will answer questions and provide a quality customer service experience when contacted by these organizations.
Can SDWP provide case load reports per staff at each location?
Case load numbers vary, on average between 100-150 participants per casemanger/career advisor.
Will SDWP provide copies of the existing contracts with KRA, ResCare and Grossmont School District?
No.
Section 2.9 of the RFP states that training funding will be $2,500,000 – $4,000,000 per year and that $1,456,000 is spent annually on wage subsidies. Are the wage subsidies part of the $2.5 – $4.0 training funding or in addition to the training funding?
$2.5M-$4M is estimated to be allocated of WIOA funding for a variety of training opportunities which includes but is not limited to: Individual Training Accounts (ITAs), Customized Training, Apprenticeship Training Accounts (ATAs) and On-the-Job Training (OJTs). OJTs are a form of training that could be considered a wage subsidy. In addition to the $2.5M-$4m in WIOA training funding, an estimated $1.4M in County HHSA Expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) wage subsidy funding is expected to be available, and this funding can only be used as a wage subsidy.
Is the Board willing to provide the selected contractor with a cash advance (amount negotiated)?
No.
Must copies of fully executed MOUs with non-required partners (i.e. community partners) be included in the proposal or can bidder simply identify potential partners and include a strategy for engaging them and a time frame for finalizing MOUs?
Respondents will not be disqualified for excluding MOUs with identified program partners, however MOUs submitted with the proposal are requested to demonstrate the strength of the respondent’s program design.
Has the board pre-purchased any preferred assessment tools for use at Career Centers? If none, should the purchase of assessment tools (i.e. Work Keys, Key Train, Career Ready 101, etc.) be a part of what a bidder should include in their submitted budget?
Bidders may propose tools beyond CalJOBS for such functions and should include any related expenses in their budget.
Does the SDWP provide any technology that the bidder would have access to that supports tracking things like electronic attendance, check-in/out of AJCC career centers, or captures real-time initial triage questions (i.e. what brings you in today)? If so, can the SDWP please describe these systems and their capabilities? If not should expenses for these items be included in the bidder’s budget or would the board consider providing them directly?
Bidders may propose tools beyond CalJOBS for such functions and should include any related expenses in their budget.
In online answers posted to questions, the SDWP mentioned the development of an outreach tool in conjunction with Code for America that will be made available for use by the successful respondent. For the bidder to budget and scope its response appropriately, would the SDWP provide information about the expected capabilities (i.e. txt, webchat, case management, etc) of this outreach tool, and the expected timeframe the bidder might have access?
Tool provides texting capabilities. More information will be provided to the successful respondent after the award of funding.
The “Service Level Agreement for Technical Support” outlines that the SDWP will provide support for both hardware and software needs. However, this document does not describe the types of equipment already available to a prospective bidder. What hardware is currently available for bidder staff (i.e. desktops, laptops, tablets, LCD projectors, printers, etc.) and what is available for job seeker use in resource rooms or workshop areas? What is the current volume/counts for these different types of hardware?
Overall, desks, laptops, projectors, telephones and printers are existing and available for use of AJCC staff. More information will be provided to the successful respondent after the award of funding.
If a vendor is proposing additional technology to help manage career center workflow, does CalJobs [or other technology used by SDWP] allow for data exchange (push or pull)?
Data can be exported from CalJOBS but CalJOBS does not currently support the import of data.
Does CalJOBS provide the ability for the Vendor to enter both phone number and email contacts for participants? If CalJOBS captures the above data elements is there a feature for the Vendor to export the email address and phone numbers of the entire caseload assigned to the Vendor?
Yes, this data is captured and can be exported by the AJCC operator.
Does CalJOBS provide the appropriate fields to track Opt In and/or Opt Out of outreach campaigns such as SMS (text messages), Email, or Robocalls. This would allow the vendor to ensure that the Participants have agreed to receive messages via the approved method.
The system does not include an Opt In or Opt Out option but does include “Preferred Notification Method”.
Is the bidder expected to be the employer of record for the expanded Subsidized Employment (ESE) program, and for other subsidized placements in the adult and dislocated worker programs?
No, currently for ESE and WIOA programs it is expected that San Diego businesses are the employer of record. However, SDWP is open to future program design discussions where the AJCC operator could be the employer of record in some scenarios.
Would the SDWP provide more detail about the terms contained within the existing lease agreements, or provide copies of the lease agreements themselves?
Existing leases will be made available to the successful respondent.
If the SDWP expects for the California EDD to provide new enrollment and performance targets for program year beginning July 1, 2018, would the board consider allowing a bidder to propose the maximum number of enrollments according to the available funding identified in the RFP?
Yes.
To adequately model the necessary staff to serve each AJCC location, would the SDWP provide foot traffic and enrollment information by month, for each AJCC location (North Coastal, North Inland, Metro, South, and East), for the last 6 months? For example, how many job seekers come into these sites by reason for visit (initial visit, follow-up visit, etc.), and how many enrollments occur each month at these locations?
The following foot traffic numbers are a rough estimate across all the AJCC sites within each region. These are the total estimated visits, which may count each individual visit from one participant who visits multiple times within a year.
East: 18,000.
North: 39,000.
Metro: 76,000
South: 25,000
Are WiFi connections available in each of the existing AJCC locations, and are these costs for WiFi services covered by the SDWP?
WiFi is not currently provided by SDWP.
In the SLA document referenced, section 2.2, specifically lists that equipment will be provided for Job Seekers by SDWP. Please confirm if all needed equipment will be furnished for Vendor staff as well (phones, PC/laptops, Network/Internet connectivity, Email, and associated software)
Yes, all basic office equipment and phones, desktop computers and internet will be provided.
Are the items listed under “suggested formatting” optional requirements that respondents may alter?
Proposals that do not meet the required formatting will be disqualified. Proposals that do not meet the suggested formatting will not be disqualified, although the suggested formatting is highly encouraged.
Will the successful respondent be required to sign the MOU?
The successful respondent will be subject to the terms of the MOU as SDWP’s contractor and AJCC operator.
Will the costs the successful respondent must pay under the MOU be reimbursed?
The facilities and infrastructure costs associated with the MOU are included in the funding and budgets under this RFP.
What entity (or entities) hold the current leases for the AJCC physical locations?
Refer to Reference Document – AJCC Facilities Descriptions and EDD Lease Requirements.
To what extent will SDWP expect a new AJCC vendor to assume any existing leases rather than disrupt service delivery and/or existing infrastructure allocation agreements?
The successful respondent will be expected to assume management of all AJCC lease locations.
Of the $5.65 million total, how much money does SDWP expect bidders to set aside to support training? Will SDWP permit any of the training funds to support a trainer position who could facilitate access to online training and certifications?
Funding for participant training (e.g. Individual Training Accounts and On-the-Job-Training) is separate from this budget. Respondents may propose additional training services and assessment tools and should account for these costs in their budgets.
Of the $5.65 million total, how much money does SDWP expect bidders to set aside to support services? Does SDWP have any assessment reports about the extent to which these support services improve performance?
See the Operations Manual, Chapter 4 for more information on Supportive Services.
To what extent does SDWP use “co-enrollment” approaches – by program and/or population?
See the Co-enrollment policy in the Operations Manual, Chapter 4.
The SDWP references on its website numerous “special projects”. To what extent will these program rely on AJCC services and/or staffing? To what extent will the AJCC operation and management vendor be able to influence the service delivery model used in these programs? To what extent would SDWP consider using the AJCC operation and management vendor as a delivery agent for these special projects?
Varies. This is contingent on the funding stream and the requirements of the program design.
What are the terms and conditions under which SDWP will permit a fee for profit? What is SDWP’s acceptable methodology a bidder should use to calculate profit (if any)?
See section 4.2 of the RFP for information regarding profit.