Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

This amendment is to provide the questons and answers submitted prior to deadline. No changes have occurred to the original Request for Quote. Please see below for a list of the questions received and... This amendment is to provide the questons and answers submitted prior to deadline. No changes have occurred to the original Request for Quote. Please see below for a list of the questions received and subsequent answers: 1. The solicitation notes that contractors will only be paid for service time rendered, regardless of how long a request was scheduled for. This goes against best practices for Deaf access services, since agencies need to schedule in advance to ensure basic viability of operations. Qualified CART resources will not take an assignment under these conditions, leaving the contract open to inexperienced and unqualified providers. Will DFAS recognize industry standards and allow agencies to bill for all hours requested? We do not pay for time reserved, this could cause an undue burden and reduce resources. If an employee cannot attend training scheduled for multiple days, DFAS will not pay for the time reserved if the request is cancelled in advance and the services are not utilized. We often encounter situations where the request needs to be changed or cancelled one or two business days before the event. 2. In that same vein, the solicitation does not list any certification requirements. This means contractors can bring in anyone to fill assignments, regardless of experience or capability, which poses significant risk to service quality. Can DFAS include NCRA certification requirements, which is the equivalent of RID for sign language interpreting? At this time we do not require the certification, the qualifications, tolerances and requirements are listed in the PWS. A.3.1 Qualifications. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires the provision of qualified CART providers in a variety of settings. To satisfy this requirement, the Contractor shall provide writer(s) possessing the knowledge, skill and ability to produce complete, accurate, simultaneous translation and display of any live-event setting, utilizing computer-aided translation at speeds of 225+ words per minute with an accuracy of 95% or better. Proficiency will be evaluated based on the comments received from the hearing, deaf, and hard of hearing employees. The emphasis being on providing qualified writers, not certified. The employees who use the services are the determining factor in qualifications. 3. Experienced, certified CART writers are highly unlikely to work Onsite with one-hour minimums. While this is acceptable for Remote CART, DFAS will find it difficult if not impossible to get qualified resources for Onsite CART. Many Onsite writers require a half- or full-day rate, or a three-hour minimum. Will DFAS recognize at least a two-hour minimum for Onsite CART assignments? At this time we cannot differentiate minimum requirements for Virtual and Onsite requests. We make every effort to provide a virtual option to CART writers even if the employees are required to be onsite. There are a limited number of times a year when onsite would be a requirement and only when management has made it mandatory and external audio is not permitted. 4. Does the contractor need to provide the computer, etc to/for the deaf/hard of hearing DFAS employee for the CART Services requested in this RFQ? For remote requests: The contractor needs to provide the equipment to stream the captions to the Deaf/HoH employee. The employees will be viewing the captions on their Government issued or personal equipment. This may include laptops running Windows, devices running Android operating systems and/or Apple operating systems. For onsite requests: The contractor can provide a portable monitor that is compatible with their equipment. DFAS cannot connect Government issued equipment to a contractors equipment. If a small portable monitor is not available DFAS can provide an external monitor for the captions to be streamed to a non-connected device. 5. The cancellation policy does not follow industry standards. Cancellation notice is typically 48 hours if not 3 business days and if an assignment is cancelled within this timeframe, the CART writer is paid for the entire assignment time. This is because the CART writer has blocked out the entire assignment time and if cancelled, they have no way of booking additional work during that timeframe. Therefore, can the cancellation policy be changed to reflect the industry standard? At this time we are not able to change the cancelation requirements. DFAS does make every attempt to avoid canceling and will reassign the writer if at all possible. Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) is issuing a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for the services specified in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). Quotation evaluation will be conducted in accordance with FAR Part 13.5, with the intention to award a purchase order to one vendor. Quotations must be received by email to Miranda Amir at miranda.j.amir.civ@mail.mil by 5:59 PM. EST, January 18, 2024. Questions regarding this solicitation are due to miranda.j.amir.civ@mail.mil by 6:00 PM EST, January 09, 2024 Questions will be answered at the discretion of the Contracting Officer. This is a Total Small Business set aside under NAICS code 561492, which has a size standard of $19 million. Place of Performance, Inspection and Acceptance: DFAS Cleveland, OH, 1240 E. 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 44119. Services are requested throughout the facilities occupied by the Agency, as well as other Federal Facilities including but not limited to the Bratenahl Facility located in Bratenahl, Ohio. Though the location specified above will be the primary place of performance, services may also be required for DFAS-sponsored events at offsite locations in the metro Cleveland region. NOTE: Due to the need to coordinate requirements with limited notice and utilizing local CART writers, only service providers with scheduling staff located within the state of Ohio will be considered for award. Period of Performance: This contract will be established for a one (1) year base period with four (4) one-year option periods and will be established at time of award. List of Attachments: Attachment 1: Performance Work Statement (PWS) Attachment 2: Schedule of Items Attachment 3: Full Text Attachment 4: Past Performance Questionnaire. **Please see the attached Schedule of Items Table. Please utilize this schedule when submitting your quote. Failure to use the attached schedule will result in your quote NOT being considered for award. ** SEE attachments for full RFQ.