SOUTHCENTRAL MISSISSIPPI WORKS
PROGRAM YEAR 2013
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS –
WIN JOB CENTER STAFF TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Under the
WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT OF 1998
PROPOSAL DUE DATE
Noon Friday, April 19, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
introduction, STATEMENT OF NEED, Services description 3
SECTION I BACKGROUND 4
A. organization 4
B. administration of this rfp 4
1. Issuing Office 4
2. Technical Assistance 4
3. RFP Response Deadline 4
SECTION II CONDITIONS OF SOLICITATION 5
A. General Conditions 5
B. Programs and Components 6
C. Solicitation Schedule 6
D. Conduct of Meetings 6
SECTION III TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONS 7
A. Fund Sources 7
B. period of performance and contract instrument 7
SECTION IV PROPOSAL EVALUATION 8
A. Requirements to Qualify the Proposing Agency as an Eligible Service Provider 8
B. Requirements to Qualify as an Eligible Proposal 8
C. Selection of Service Providers 8
D. criteria for rating proposals 9
SECTION V 11
A. General Format 11
B. Transmittal Form 11
C. schedule of deliverables 11
D. technical information….. …………………………………………………………………...…...11
1. Demonstrated Effectiveness 11
2. Implementation Plan: 12
3. Product: 12
4. Costs: 12
5. Budget Summary/Cost Allocation Plan: 13
E. audit report and References 13
F. Debarment Certification 13
SECTION VI FORMS AND DOCUMENTS……………………………………………….………...14
Southcentral Mississippi Works Page 18
PY 2013 Request For Proposal (WIN Job Center Staff Training)
introduction
INTRODUCTION
Under the Workforce Investment Act, Southcentral Mississippi Works Workforce Investment Area (SMW) serves 17 counties in southwest Mississippi through nine WIN Job Centers (one-stop centers) located in Brookhaven, Canton, Hazlehurst, Jackson, McComb, Natchez, Pearl, Vicksburg, and Yazoo City, Mississippi. SMW serves the following 17 counties: Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Hinds, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lawrence, Madison, Pike, Rankin, Simpson, Walthall, Warren, Wilkinson, Yazoo.
The WIN Job Centers located in Brookhaven, Canton, Hazlehurst, McComb, Natchez, and Yazoo City are managed and operated by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security and the WIN Job Centers located in Jackson, Pearl, and Vicksburg, are operated by Hinds Community College through contract with the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD), serving as Workforce Investment Act (WIA) fiscal agent for the Southcentral Mississippi Works Workforce Investment Area. A range of WIA services, all designed to assist individuals in locating employment and employers in securing qualified employees, are available through these facilities. The ultimate goal of WIA funded programs is to match qualified individuals with quality jobs which provide a self-sufficient level of income.
CMPDD, on behalf of the SMW LWIA, is soliciting companies, individuals or organizations to respond to the terms of this Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide training to specific WIN Job Center staff members that will enhance their efficiency and ability to relate to their customers - individuals in need of employment and workforce training services in the WIN Job Centers. The proposal must describe the vendor’s expertise, implementation plan, and cost for the training as outlined in this RFP. Upon receipt of the proposals, CMPDD will evaluate the offers and identify those most advantageous to the local workforce program. Upon approval by the Local Workforce Investment Board and Board of Commissioners, a cost reimbursement contract(s) may be executed with the selected vendor(s) to provide specified training.
STATEMENT OF NEED
CMPDD is soliciting proposals for staff training and technical assistance that will augment and enhance the abilities of WIN Job Center staff to work with and relate to the varying and diverse needs of the adults, youth and dislocated workers who seek workforce training and employment services in the WIN Job Centers of the Southcentral Mississippi Works Local Workforce Investment Area.
SERVICES DESCRIPTION
The reference to “staff training”, as used in this RFP, is defined as a skills-building methodology designed for professional staff who currently work full time to assist a diverse group of individuals in need of employment services. The training is intended to be short-term and flexible and may use a wide array of training models including traditional training methods, virtual or distance learning, or other innovative training strategies. The training will be designed to result in increased individual staff members’ efficiency in delivering needed services and enhanced abilities of individual staff members to relate to customers in a one-on-one environment.
Training subject areas may include but are not limited to career counseling, evaluation of customers’ needs and capabilities, identifying and helping develop customers’ aptitudes and skills, job coaching, customer service, identifying with modern youth, and any other area useful for serving job seekers. Training may also include topics such as job development, employer interaction, and identifying and meeting employer needs. Vendors may also include on-going technical assistance activities.
The vendor will be responsible for working with SMW in identifying individuals to participate in training and will cooperate with the WIN Job Center managers and the MDES/SMW Customer Operations Supervisor to ensure that interruptions to work flow are minimized. In most cases training should be conducted on-site at the WIN Job Centers.
SECTION I
BACKGROUND
A. OFFERING ORGANIZATION
Southcentral Mississippi Works (SMW)
Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD), WIA Fiscal Agent
B. ADMINISTRATION OF THIS RFP
1. Issuing Office
Issuance of this RFP is coordinated by:
F. Clarke Holmes, Chief Executive Officer
Central Mississippi Planning and Development District
Post Office Box 4935
1170 Lakeland Drive
Jackson, Mississippi 39296-4935
2. Technical Assistance
Technical assistance relating to this RFP will be provided as follows:
All questions regarding this RFP shall be submitted in writing by letter or email, no later than Noon Friday, April 5, 2013, to:
CMPDD CMPDD
PO Box 4935 OR 1170 Lakeland Drive
Jackson, MS 39296-4935 Jackson, MS 39216
Attn: WIA WIN Job Center Staff Training RFP
OR
Responses will be posted in the Workforce Section of the CMPDD website: http://www.cmpdd.org/workforce/
3. RFP Response Deadline
All references, proposals and modifications thereto, must be received by the issuing office no later than Noon, Friday, April 19, 2013 at the issuing office shown in B(1) above. Proposals and/or associated references received after this deadline will be removed from consideration as non-responsive to the RFP.
SECTION II
CONDITIONS OF SOLICITATION
A. General Conditions
The release of this RFP does not constitute an acceptance of any offer, nor does such release in any way obligate the Southcentral Mississippi Works (SMW) to execute a contract with any offeror. The SMW reserves the right to accept, reject or negotiate any or all offers on the basis of the evaluation factors contained in this document. The final decision to execute a contract with any offeror rests solely with the SMW Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB) and the SMW Board of Commissioners (chief elected officials).
1. Before preparing proposals, offerors should note that....
a. The SMW will not be liable for any costs associated with the preparation of proposals or negotiation of contracts incurred by any offeror;
b. All proposals, in their entirety, will become the property of the SMW upon submission;
c. The award of a contract for any proposed service(s) is contingent upon the following:
1) Favorable evaluation of the proposal;
2) Recommendation of the proposal to the Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB);
3) Approval of the proposal by the SMW Board of Commissioners (BOC); and
4) Successful negotiation of any changes to the proposal required by the LWIB or BOC.
d. Provision of services specified in the RFP requires knowledge and understanding of:
1) The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the WIA Final Regulations (Available via the Internet at http://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce)
2) State WIA policies, procedures, and directives (available via the internet at http://www.mdes.ms.gov)
e. This solicitation is for the training of all WIA-funded staff in the 9 SMW WIN Job Centers. Proposals for fewer than all 9 SMW WIN Job Centers will not be accepted.
2. The SMW reserves the right to negotiate the final terms of all contracts with successful offerors. Items that may be negotiated include, but are not limited to, type and scope of services and activities, costs, target groups, and service levels.
3. Likewise, the SMW also reserves the right to accept any proposal as submitted for award, without substantive negotiation of offered terms, services or costs. Therefore, offerors are advised to propose their most favorable terms initially.
4. Contractors will be required to assume full responsibility for all specified services, and may subcontract services only with the expressed written approval of the SMW.
5. In submitting a proposal, the offeror certifies as to its legally constituted organization, and that in connection with this proposal the following code of conduct shall apply:
a. The offeror is prohibited from making payments of gratuities to agency staff, Youth Council members, LWIB members or BOC members;
b. The offeror is prohibited from receiving or soliciting kickbacks from other offerors/proposers;
c. The offeror is prohibited from obtaining confidential procurement information not available to all offerors;
d. The offeror is prohibited from improperly communicating with agency staff, Youth Council members, LWIB members or BOC members to influence procurement decisions; and
e. The offeror is prohibited from collusion and price fixing among offerors.
6. Person(s) signing the proposal certifies that:
Person(s) in the offeror's organization who are legally responsible within that organization for the decision as to the price being offered in the proposal have not participated, and will not participate in any action listed or implied by Section II.A.5.a – e of this solicitation.
7. Proposals will be received and maintained consistent with the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983, being Chapter 424 of the General Laws of the State of Mississippi. In general, proposals will be exempt from disclosure until the evaluation and selection process has been completed. If a proposal contains any information that the offeror considers proprietary and does not want disclosed to the public or used for any purpose other than evaluation of the offer, all such information must be indicated with the following statement:
"The information contained on pages , , , shall not be duplicated, used in whole or part for any purpose other than to evaluate the proposal, provided that if a contract is awarded to this office as a result of or in connection with the submission of such information, the SMW has the right to duplicate, use or disclose this information to the extent provided in the contract. This restriction does not limit the agency's right to use information contained therein if obtained from another source."
Each page of the proposal that is considered proprietary should be marked "PROPRIETARY" at the top margin.
B. Programs and Components
Offerors should submit a description of their experience in operating similar programs, proposed recruitment strategies and tactics, planned service levels, and proposed costs for operating the solicited activities for the time period running from July 1 2013 through June 30, 2014. All submissions must be consistent with WIA goals and requirements.
C. Solicitation Schedule
DATE /ACTION / TIME LINE (DAYS)
3-22-13 / Release RFP / 0
4-5-13 / Due Date for RFP-related questions / 14
4-19-13 / Due Date for Proposals and References / 28
5-23-13 / LWIB/BOC Meetings to finalize program selection / 62
5-31-13 / Award Notices / 70
6-28-13 / Contracts signed / 98
D. Conduct of Meetings
The SMW LWIB and BOC will review responses to this solicitation during open meetings. The LWIB and BOC have adopted a policy for the conduct of its meetings which does not allow verbal presentations or other forms of addressing the LWIB or BOC by or on the behalf of proposing organizations without prior approval.
SECTION III
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONS
A. Fund Sources and limitations
The funds available for services solicited by this RFP are appropriated under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act.
Total funding availability for this solicitation is estimated at $120,000 to serve approximately 80 professional staff members for the period from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. This is an estimated planning figure and is subject to change. Each line item of proposed cost will be evaluated by comparisons with other offers and with market prices. In all cases, the vendor is advised to make the most cost-effective offer because all proposals will be evaluated to determine the most cost-efficient budget.
B. Period of Performance and Contract Instrument
The period of performance for service provider contracts resulting from this solicitation will be the WIA program year beginning July 1, 2013 and ending June 30, 2014. The SMW LWIB reserves the right to extend the contract for one additional program year depending upon need, performance and availability of funds. Any ensuing contract, as authorized by the SMW Boards, will be negotiated as directed by the SMW Boards.
The Southcentral Mississippi Works (SMW) will award only a cost reimbursement contract from this solicitation. Such contracts conform to the definitional requirements of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and have the following general characteristics:
1. The SMW will reimburse the contractor the lesser of:
a. The actual cost of operating the approved program, in accordance with the contract statement of work and budget; or
b. The obligated amount of the contract.
2. Reimbursements will be made on the basis of monthly-accrued expenditure reports provided by the contractor;
3. Contract funds must be segregated in books of account and tracked by the cost categories of administration and program services for WIA contracts.
4. Contract funds will be subject to detailed financial and compliance audits.
5. In general, funds and activities are subject to the restrictions contained in and referred to by the contract boilerplate.
6. The SMW's cost reimbursable contracts consist of the Signature Page, Statement of Work, the Program Budget, The Schedule of Deliverables, the Audit Plan and the "Boilerplate".
SECTION IV
PROPOSAL EVALUATION
The Southcentral Mississippi Works will evaluate all proposals according to the guidelines outlined below.
A. Requirements to Qualify the Proposing Agency as an Eligible Service Provider
1. The proposing agency must be qualified to do business in the State of Mississippi. The Southcentral Mississippi Works (SMW) prefers that service providers be incorporated; however, a service provider may be a sole proprietorship, a commission, or other type of organization when in the best interest of the project proposed. In order to document eligibility under this section, offerors must attach to all copies of their proposals a copy of the organization’s registration with the Mississippi Secretary of State, or a copy of the cover page and signature page from the proposing organization’s charter, articles of incorporation or similar document.