Request for Proposals (RFP) for Evaluation Services for LRADAC’s Community Services Department

March 9, 2021

Submission Deadline: 5 pm EST, Friday, March 26, 2021

Click here to download RFP.

Request for Proposals

Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council (LRADAC) is seeking proposals from qualified firms to conduct a needs assessment centering on workforce and collaborative efforts to address opioid misuse in Lexington County, South Carolina.

Proposals are to be delivered by email to scooper@lradac.org. Proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, March 26, 2021, to be considered a responsive proposal. LRADAC reserves the right to extend this deadline by providing a written addendum to the Request for Proposal. The Request for Proposal (RFP) can be downloaded from LRADAC’s employment website.

Background

LRADAC is the designated alcohol and drug abuse authority for Lexington and Richland Counties. The public, not-for-profit agency offers a wide array of prevention, intervention and treatment programs in locations convenient to residents of both counties.

Description of Need

The Community Services Department is seeking to hire an independent contractor/evaluator to conduct the data collection methods needed to determine current issues and resources that impact the local opioid epidemic and community response in Lexington County.

Services include meeting with key LRADAC staff to discuss project deliverables, timeline, and progression of deliverables, development of relevant assessment tools, administration of assessment tools, analysis of assessment data, and final reporting of data.

Project Goal

Conduct data assessment methods to determine issues and resources to help drive improved service delivery and a coordinated community response to opioid misuse in Lexington County.

Project Objective

By September 17, 2021, LRADAC in collaboration with key stakeholders representing at least 60% of the 12 community sectors will complete an environmental scan survey and conduct a situational analysis to provide baseline information about the state of the organization (i.e. LRADAC) to include services, staffing, outcomes, etc., and the community in addressing the local opioid epidemic.

Proposed Project Activities

  1. Meet with key staff of LRADAC and key stakeholders to discuss current and unmet needs to address opioid misuse in Lexington County.
  2. Understand the perspectives of internal and external stakeholders about our work.
  3. Develop, finalize, and administer the web-based environmental scan survey to community sectors involved in the education, prevention, and treatment of opioid misuse.
  4. Conduct a SWOT analysis to help determine the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of education, prevention, and treatment of opioid misuse.
  5. Present findings via the suggested reporting systems (e.g. electronic and virtual meetings). This information will be used to help inform programming, services, and workforce training needs.

Project Requirements

The independent contractor/evaluator shall:

  • Demonstrate prior professional experience in field of substance use and in conducting similar evaluations;
  • Demonstrate expertise in both qualitative and quantitative data analysis;
  • In cooperation with LRADAC and it designated partners, design benchmarks and targets with respect to short-term project outcomes
  • Submit required findings and reports with respect to the project timeline.

Proposal Content

Proposals shall include the information outlined in this section. Our ability to interpret and apply your proposal to these questions will factor into our decisions.

  1. Name of principal contact, voice telephone and e-mail address;
  2. A brief description of the firm including capacity, qualifications and relevant experience delivering the specified services outlined above in the “Project Requirements” section;
  3. Short biographies and resumes of each identified team member for this project;
  4. A brief description of content knowledge in the field of substance use and qualitative and quantitative evaluation
  5. Project description, approach and timeline, including any value added services offered, to providing the specified services outlined above in the “Project Requirements” section;
  6. Three (3) references for similarly contracted services within the last (10) ten years including name, address, phone number, email address, scope of services provided and length of service;
  7. Two (2) sample work products of similarly conducted evaluation reports; and

Budget

Please complete Attachment A: Budget Template and submit with your proposal. Pricing shall be inclusive of all costs.

Timeline

The contract will begin April 2, 2021 and end September 30, 2021.

The following timeline outlines key events related to the RFP process and evaluation activities

Date Event
03/10/21 RFP issued
03/26/21 Proposal Due
04/02/21 Awardee Notified
4/16/21 Contract Benchmarks and Targets Developed
4/19/21 – 9/17/21 Evaluation Activities
6/15/21 Interim Report Due
9/17/21 Final Report Due

Selection Criteria

To be considered for further evaluation, a proposal must meet the minimum criteria of including all items listed in the “Proposal Content” and “Budget” sections above. The evaluation selection committee will use the following criteria as a guideline when reviewing proposals which meet the minimum criteria. These will include, but not be limited to, the following:

  • Qualifications and experience of the entity, including capability and experience of key personnel and experience with other public or private agencies to provide these services and meet any required timelines and other requirements;
  • Adequate staff and resources to perform the specified tasks required to meet the services as outlined;
  • Demonstrated expertise in both qualitative and quantitative data analysis of similar projects;
  • Proposed approach, including demonstrated understanding of work to be performed and a realistic timeline;
  • Reasonability of pricing for the services described by this RFP;
  • Claims and violations against you or your organization; and,
  • Other value added services to be performed.

Process

Bids are due on the date specified above. All bids will be reviewed to make sure they meet all requirements and are responsive. Top bidders may be contacted for a phone or in-person interview as deemed appropriate by LRADAC. When selection is complete, the evaluation committee will award the partnership opportunity for evaluation services to the firm who submits the most advantageous proposal. The winning bidder, if any, will be selected solely by the judgment of LRADAC.

Right to No Award

LRADAC reserves the right to reject all proposals, reject portions of any proposal, or accept the proposal deemed most advantageous to LRADAC.

Preparation Costs

All costs incurred in the preparation and presentation of the RFP shall be wholly absorbed by the applicant. All documents submitted will become the property of LRADAC.

Attachment A: Budget Template

Expenditures Description-Please list expenditures for each budget category.

Personnel Services

Includes a breakdown of salaries for each of the people whose time is spent working directly on this project should be listed here; include fulltime and part-time staff, consultants and trainers. Fulltime equivalency (FTE) may be defined according to the agency’s policy (i.e. 37-40 hours). Indicate the formula used to determine payroll-related expenses (use percentages currently used by the agency).

 

Explanation: Total Amount
Requested:

Service/Program Materials and Supplies

Includes a breakdown of materials and supplies which are directly related to carrying out this project.

 

Explanation: Total Amount
Requested:
Travel
Includes travel relevant to the project being proposed.
Explanation: Total Amount
Requested:
Other
Includes a description of indirect costs or administrative fees.
Explanation: Total Amount
Requested:

 

Budget Summary

Please list the total amount requested from each category above.

Category Total Amount
Requested
1. Personnel Services
2. Service/Program Materials and Supplies
3. Travel
4. Other
Total Budget

Click here to download RFP.

LRADAC is the designated alcohol abuse and drug abuse authority for Lexington and Richland Counties of South Carolina. The public, not-for-profit agency offers a wide array of prevention, intervention and treatment programs in locations convenient to residents of both counties. The agency has a budget of approximately $10 million and serves more than 5,000 clients per year.