March 3, 2003

STATE OF VERMONT

Department of Health

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs

Request for Proposal

(RFP)

For

MULTI-USE RESIDENTIAL

TREATMENT PROGRAM

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR THE PROSPECTIVE BIDDING

AGENCY

March 3, 2003
GENERAL PROVISIONS

INTRODUCTION

The Vermont Department of Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs is the single state agency responsible for the oversight of substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery programs in Vermont.

This document outlines the process for submitting a proposal and for agency selection.

The Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (ADAP) is part of the Department of Health and is currently developing a comprehensive response to child, adolescent and family substance use and abuse. The adult and adolescent treatment system includes a continuum of care that ranges from prevention to residential services. At present, services are offered statewide through a preferred provider system.

This RFP seeks agencies, experienced in substance abuse treatment, to develop a statewide intensive residential treatment program for adolescents and adults whose substance abuse treatment and behavioral issues cannot be met in a less intensive or community based setting.

This program is funded with a combination of state general fund, Medicaid, and Department of Education special education dollars administered by DOE and ADAP. More information will be available about costs, possible federal funding, and responsible payers at the Bidders Conference.

This document outlines the process for submitting a proposal and for agency selection.

SCHEDULE

March 3, 2003Public Notice of Bid

March 17, 2003RFP Mailed to identified agencies providing

substance abuse residential treatment

March 25, 2003Bidders Conference (10:00 – 12:00)

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs Department of Health

108 Cherry St.,

Burlington, VT

April 7, 2003Deadline for Letter of Intent

April 28, 2003Deadline for Receipt of Written Proposals

Public Bid Opening – Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs Department of Health

108 Cherry St.,

Burlington, VT

May 12, 2003 Presentations by selected bidding agencies

May 19, 2003Apparently Successful Bidder Notified

June 30, 2003Contract Executed

SECTION 1

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

The Proposal Packet

A proposal packet is the entire package of information sent by one agency in response to this RFP. Each agency may participate in only one proposal packet. Multiple agencies may participate with one agency designated as the lead agency.

Your proposal packet must contain:

  • One Letter of Submittal, signed by a person authorized to bind your organization to a contract.

The Letter of Submittal must include:

  • Identifying information about your organization and any subcontractors. Name of the organization, names, addresses, telephone numbers, and address of principal officers and an identified project/program leader to respond to questions about the proposal.
  • A detailed list of all materials and enclosures being sent in the proposal packet.
  • Any other statements you wish to convey to ADAP.
  • Any alternative contract language you wish to propose.
  • One copy of the signed Certifications and Assurances, found in Appendix B, signed by a person authorized to bind your agency to a contract.
  • Five copies of the program proposal (described in Appendix A)
  • One copy of completed Financial Forms (see Schedules A-D in Appendix C)
  • One copy of the most recent audited financial statement for your agency.

Proposal Format

  • Use standard 8.5” X 11” white paper. Documents must be single-spaced and use not less than a twelve-point font. Pages must be numbered. (It is requested that agencies include a floppy disk with this information to facilitate proposal reviews and final contract development with the apparently successful bidder.)
  • The program proposal should not exceed 50 pages, excluding Attachments, Required Schedules or Forms
  • State your organization’s name on each page of your program proposal and on any other information you are submitting.
  • Write the program proposal in the order given in Appendix A. Organize the technical proposal in a manner that clearly identifies the required components of the program (e.g., title each item in the same way it appears in the specifications, to the extent possible).
  • Each bidder may submit only one proposal per program.

Delivery Of Proposals

  • Send the proposal packet to:

Department of Health

Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs

108 Cherry St.,

Burlington, VT 05402-0070

RE: Response to RFP – Residential Treatment

ATTN: Peter W. Lee

  • Your proposal, whether mailed or hand delivered must arrive at ADAP not later than 3:00 PM, local time by April 28, 2003. Late responses shall not be accepted and shall automatically be disqualified from further consideration.
  • The method of delivery shall be at your discretion, and shall be at your sole risk to assure delivery at the designed office.
  • ADAP does not take responsibility for any problems in mail or delivery, either within or outside ADAP. Receipt by any other office or mailroom is not equivalent to receipt by ADAP.

Bidder’s Conferences

There will be a formal bidder conference for this RFP on March 25, 2003 from 10:00 – 12:00,Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs, Department of Health, 108 Cherry St., Burlington, VT. (Telephone 802-651-1550)

Letter Of Intent – Pre-Requisite

In order to ensure all necessary communications with the appropriate bidders and to prepare for the review of proposals, one letter of intent to bid must be submitted per bidding agency.

Letters of Intent must be submitted by April 7, 2003 by 4:30 P.M. to:

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs

Department of Health

108 Cherry St.,

Burlington, VT 05402-0070

RE: Residential Treatment Program

ATTN: Peter W. Lee

Facsimile Communication

You may use facsimile communication (FAX) for any communication required in this RFP – EXCEPT for your proposal and protest, if any. You may not send your proposal or protest by facsimile communication.

Public Disclosure

  • All proposals shall become the property of ADAP.
  • All public records of ADAP are available for disclosure, except for RFPs prior to the release to potential bidders; and proposals and bids received in response to the RFP, until the Contractor and the Department have executed the contract.
  • ADAP will not disclose RFP records until execution of the contract(s). At that time, all information about the competitive procurement is disclosed except those portions specifically marked by the bidder as falling within one of the exceptions of 1 VSA Sec. 317.

Costs Of Proposal Preparation

ADAP will not pay any bidder costs associated with preparing or presenting any proposal in response to this RFP.

Receipt Of Insufficient Competitive Proposals

If ADAP receives one or fewer responsive proposals as a result of this RFP, ADAP reserves the right to select a Contractor, which best meets ADAP's needs. The Contractor selected need not be the sole bidder but will be required to document their ability to meet the requirements identified in this RFP.

Non-Responsive Proposals/Waiver Of Minor Irregularities

Read all instructions carefully. If you do not comply with any part of this RFP, ADAP may, at its sole option, reject your proposal as non-responsive.

ADAP reserves the right to waive minor irregularities contained in any proposal or to seek clarification from bidding agency.

RFP Amendments

ADAP reserves the right to amend this RFP. ADAP will mail any RFP amendments to all bidders who were sent the RFP.

Right To Reject All Proposals

ADAP may, at any time and at its sole discretion and without penalty, reject any and all proposals and issue no contract as a result of this RFP.

Authority To Bind ADAP

The Commissioner is the only person(s) who may legally commit the Department of Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs to personal services, client service, and information service contracts. The Contractor shall not incur, and ADAP shall not pay, any costs incurred before a contract is fully executed.

Section II

PROPOSAL REVIEW

PROPOSAL REVIEW

Members of the ADAP staff and employees from other state agencies will review proposals for compliance with RFP procedural requirements. If the procedural instructions are not followed, the proposal shall be considered non-responsive. Non-responsive proposals will be eliminated from further evaluation or returned to bidding agency to address minor irregularities.

Proposals will be reviewed for content by a team of individuals from ADAP and other Agency of Human Services /Departments with relevant technical, managerial and financial backgrounds.

SCORING

Proposals will be scored by individual team members. The sum of the scores of the members will become the proposal’s preliminary score.

The following weight is assigned to each component of the RFP:

(1)TECHNICAL PROPOSAL 25

(2)AGENCY QUALIFICATIONS 20

(3)AGENCY CAPACITY 25

(4)PROGRAM COST 30

(5)FACILITY DESIGN AND LOCATION15

Total Maximum Individual Scores 115

SELECTION OF THE PRELIMINARY SUCCESSFUL BIDDING AGENCIES

The Review Team will complete the scores and determine the rank order of the proposals. The Team will identify the number of proposals to invite back for presentation and will select the highest ranked proposals equal to that number. Agencies will be notified in writing of their proposal’s status, either unsuccessful or finalists.

PROPOSAL PRESENTATIONS

A limited number of agencies will be invited to present their proposal to an expanded review team. This process will allow the State to assess more comprehensively the selected proposals as well as the qualifications and capacity of the finalists. Agencies invited to present their proposals will receive additional information at that time, regarding dates, time allowed and highlighted areas to address.

FINAL SELECTION OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDING AGENCY

The expanded review team will present a summary and recommendation to the Director of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs. This summary will include the final score and a narrative for each finalist, indicating the reasons for recommending one Apparently Successful Bidding Agency.

NOTIFICATION OF AWARD

ADAP will notify all bidders of selection of the Apparently Successful Bidding Agency. ADAP will notify all bidding agencies when the contract resulting from this RFP is signed. Both notices will be made in writing.

APPEAL PROCEDURES

Any unsuccessful bidder may appeal the contract award made under this RFP by following the procedures described below. ADAP will not consider any appeal that does not follow these procedures. No additional recourse is available within ADAP.

ADAP shall consider only those appeals concerning a matter of bias, discrimination or conflict of interest, errors in tabulation, or failure to follow procedures stated in the RFP or agency policy.

ADAP shall not accept any appeal before unsuccessful bidders have been notified of the selection of the Apparently Successful Bidding Agency. The Commissioner of Health must receive an appeal within ten (10) business days of the mailing of the notice of the selection of the Apparently Successful Bidding Agency, or within ten (10) business days of the mailing of information to the unsuccessful bidder as stated below. The Commissioner will then consider all the information available to her and render a written decision within ten (10) business days of receipt of the appeal, unless additional time is required. ADAP shall notify the appealing party in writing.

Any bidder may request copies of RFP documents or may inspect RFP documents to obtain information on which to base a protest. Such a request must be in writing and must be received within ten (10) business days of the mailing of the notice of selection of the Apparently Successful Bidding Agency. The information, if disclosable, will be sent to the requesting party within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request by ADAP (see public disclosure section).

Upon receipt of a valid appeal, the Department of Health will conduct an appeal review. The purpose of the review is to assure agency policy and procedures were followed, all requirements were met and all bidders were treated equally and fairly. The appeal review will not contain a review of bids or scores assigned.

A appeal must be written, signed by the protesting bidder or an authorized representative, and mailed or hand delivered. Telegrams, facsimiles or similar transmittals will not be considered. The appeal must state all facts and arguments on which the appealing party is relying.

Address Appeal to:

Thomas E. Perras, Director

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs

108 Cherry St.

Burlington, VT 05402-0070

ADAP will notify any bidder(s) whose interests may be affected by appeal. ADAP will give any such bidders an opportunity to submit facts and opinions about the appeal to the Commissioner.

CONTRACT DEVELOPMENT

  • The projected contract period as a result of this RFP is July 1, 2003 through June 30, 2004. ADAP expects to renew this contract with the successful bidder pursuant to this RFP for an additional two years. See sample contract in Appendix D.
  • Either party may propose additional contract terms and conditions during negotiation of the final contract.
  • If two or more organizations’ joint proposal is apparently successful, one organization must be designated as the Lead Agency. Lead Agency will be ADAP's sole point of contact and will bear sole responsibility for performance under any resulting agreement.
  • The State reserves the right to request additional information to assist in contract finalization and contract renewal.

If the Successful Bidder(s) refuses to sign the agreement within ten (10) business days of delivery, ADAP may cancel the selection and award to the next highest-ranked bidder(s).

Section III

PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS

MULTI-USE RESIDENTIAL FACILITY

Program Specifications

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The goal of this RFP is to develop an additional Vermont residential treatment facility. This program will provide ASAM Level III-7-D detoxification services, will serve adolescents ages 14 to 18, and men and women over the age of 18,(Level III residential programming) whose substance abuse behaviors have a significantly detrimental impact on their safety, permanence, well-being and judgement. Persons referred to this program will be authorized by a licensed Medical Doctor, a licensed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor, or a Licensed Psychologist (with a Rider granted by APA) for this level of care (Level III or Level III-7-D of the criteria established by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)), most likely a clinically managed medium/high intensity residential treatment setting, or medically monitored detox setting. The majority clients served in these settings will have dependency diagnoses and co-occurring issues. The majority of persons served in this program may have also experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse, school problems, emotional difficulties, relationship problems, running away or juvenile detention.

The length of stay for women in this program is expected to vary depending on their needs and social situation from short term (5 days of detoxification services) to longer term (up to 90 days). The length of stay for men is expected to average 30 days, after detox is complete. While length of stay for youth will vary depending on individual need, the program will be designed to serve youth for up to 90 days.

This program will offer a safe and therapeutic setting that provides effective substance abuse treatment designed to address the specific abuse challenges and other special needs of all residents. This treatment will be integrated into other clinical interventions designed to address the full range of emotional, behavioral, and family issues. Clear expectations, positive role models, and appropriate supervision will be essential components of a successful program. The ongoing use of ASAM criteria for progress delineation and movement between levels of care ie detox (Level III-7-D) to residential (Level III) is an additional expectation for the program

Please be advised that Methadone Maintenance Treatment will not be offered at this facility.

PROACTIVE AFTERCARE COMPONENT

ADAP considers aftercare for this group of people to be an absolutely essential and critical component of the application. Many of the persons served will be poly-substance abusers with opiate use and dependence as a primary addiction. In addition, many of the persons served, especially the female population will have Department of Corrections involvement. It is essential that your application detail how your program will interface, beginning at the time of the client's entry into the program, with Department of Corrections, SRS, and community aftercare providers to insure that the necessary community follow-up is achieved.

SPECIFIC GOALS FOR YOUTH COMPLETING THE PROGRAM

The primary goal for youth completing this program is sustained abstinence. In addition, reduction or elimination of behaviors associated with co-occurring issues is expected. While at the program, youth should improve their skills and independence in daily living functions. It is also expected that the program will provide education that earns academic credit toward high school graduation. Discharge planning begins at the time of intake so that no adolescent will be discharged without a comprehensive continuing care plan.

SPECIFIC GOALS FOR ADULTS COMPLETING THE PROGRAM

  • Detox Level of Care (Level III-7-D): The primary goal for adults being admitted to the program for detoxification is medical stabilization which includes a comprehensive evaluation with recommendations made for continuing care that supports their continued abstinence.
  • Residential Level of Care (Level-III): The primary goal for adults being admitted to the program is sustained abstinence from mind altering substances and improved mastery of life coping skills as well as management of any co-occurring disorders. Discharge planning begins at the time of intake so no woman will be discharged without a comprehensive continuing care plan.

Please see Appendix A for more detail that should help applicants fully describe their programs.

CATCHMENT AREA

This program will serve the entire state of Vermont. The contractor shall not be prohibited from accepting clients from outside Vermont.

FACILITY AND GROUNDS

Agency will place the facility in a Vermont location affording residents reasonable access statewide to enhance family involvement. Capacity for single and double rooms is preferred.
The facility and grounds should be designed with safety and supervision as paramount and should also consider the following:
Indoor and outdoor space and materials for sports, arts, hobbies, crafts, and to enable residents to participate in recreation and leisure activities.
A common living room area for residents to relax which offers materials like books, magazines, stereos, plants and flowers to create a homelike atmosphere.
  • A common dining area (The dining area would be used at different times for different populations)
Bedrooms which afford the resident access to privacy and quiet time away from other residents,
Common room for private and group therapeutic space, family visitations, and
  • Sufficient classroom and other educational space.
  • Different populations, such as adolescents, must be segregated from the adult population at all times.

It is expected that this will be a smoke-free environment.