Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Amendment for Solicitation 36C24E24Q0069 Survey Services Page 6 of 6 Questions and Answers Due date for submissions is extended to Wednesday, July 3, 2024, NLT 11:59 AM EST. Page No. 3 What is the bud... Amendment for Solicitation 36C24E24Q0069 Survey Services Page 6 of 6 Questions and Answers Due date for submissions is extended to Wednesday, July 3, 2024, NLT 11:59 AM EST. Page No. 3 What is the budget allocation for the project? Is there any specific format for submitting the price quote? Budget information cannot be provided. Offeror shall provide the best offer based on information within the solicitation. See Item Information example at end of Q & A for format. Page No. 4 If there are 8 Strata consisting of 750 respondents each the total list should be 6,000. However, it is mentioned that for a total of 3,000 Veteran records . Kindly clarify. Thank you for pointing out this inconsistency! It should read 375 respondent records in each stratum a total of 3,000 Veteran records. That allows for a response rate as low as 20% while still achieving our desired sample size. Page No. 4 In case we exhaust for a stratum and are yet not able to achieve the minimum number of responses, can you provide additional lists? Yes, we could provide additional lists if they were needed; however, we would expect that a 20% response rate should be achievable within each stratum. age No. 5 What languages are the surveys expected to be conducted in? Only English. Page No. 5 Is there any specific time frame for conducting the first survey? The survey can be completed once the contract and a formalized/signed Data Use Agreement between the contractor and the VA are in place. The timeline for the DUA approval is hard to predict; however, it would need to be within the 1-year contract period. Page No. 5 It is usual for several respondents to be available for telephonic interviews beyond normal working hours, or on the weekends. Can we schedule telephonic interviews during such times? We can t speak to how usual that is; however, we have no requirement that surveys be completed over the telephone with an interviewer (i.e., online completion of surveys by survey respondents themselves is acceptable). If/when telephone-based survey methods are used, ability to complete surveys during evenings and weekends is beneficial. Page No. 6 Our Head Office is in Stamford, CT. What are the time zones in which our staff is expected to be available for support? Would availability in Eastern Time be acceptable? This will be a national sample of Veterans. Again, while surveys need not all be completed via telephone, in the case of telephonic interviews we would expect availability during time zones convenient to Veterans across the continental U.S. Page No. 6 We have 30 years of experience conducting multi model surveys for several of our clients in the USA. However, we have never worked with VA in the past. We would like our past Non-VA experience to be considered instead. One of our requirements is that the vendor has experience working with the VA population thus we cannot accept substitute experience. Page No. 7 Our staff are typically people who have been conducting surveys with us for several years. Is any specific training or additional certification expected for the survey personnel? All staff accessing VA data or conducting surveys would need to complete a number of online trainings required by the VA to be approved to access VA data. Staff would also need to be trained to provide warm handoffs to the VA crisis line in cases Veterans express psychological distress or suicidality. Reporting Requirement We did not see a requirement to provide you with a report. Can you confirm whether providing you with the raw response data is adequate? If so, in what format would you like the response data? We would expect to receive regular updates from the contractor throughout the contract period, including having regular meetings between the contractor and the study team. In addition, we would expect regular reports from the contractor on progress, including response rates by strata. We do not require a detailed results report at the end of survey data collection. The raw survey data must be accompanied with a detailed data dictionary, including labels for each variable. We would prefer the data be provided to us in a .csv file format. Other general questions: survey design Will respondents have the option to opt out (i.e., unsubscribe from a survey ) Yes Veterans must be given the option of opting-out of the survey/not receiving any further contact when contacted for recruitment purposes. ITEM INFORMATION ITEM NUMBER DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT 0001 Program two surveys for web and telephone options Programming and data review for both pre and post interviews 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0002 Training of Staff 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0003 Print, prepare and mail packets 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0004 Text Messaging & E-mails 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0005 Setting up 800# for incoming interviews and opt outs 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0006 Mailing, confirmation, and follow-up 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0007 Conduct surveys with respondents via telephone 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ 0008 Provide data files, disposition reports and marginals 1.00 JB __________________ __________________ GRAND TOTAL __________________