MODIFICATION
R -- Sign Language Interpreting Services
- Notice Date
- 9/14/2006
- Notice Type
- Modification
- NAICS
- 812199
— Other Personal Care Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary of Tranportation (OST) Procurement Operations, OST Acquisition Services Division, 400 7th Street SW, Room 5106, Washington, DC, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- DTOS59-07-R-INT
- Response Due
- 9/19/2006
- Archive Date
- 10/4/2006
- Description
- The purpose of this modification is to post replies to questions received and to extend the response date. Q: Can you confirm that the metro Washington, DC area was removed from the SOW? A: The Washington, DC area is not being competed. Q: Will the core interpreter be asked to work longer than an 8 hour day? A: No, the core interpreters' working hours are at the discretion of the vendor. Q: How many core interpreters is the government requesting each day? A: The number is unknown and would be the discretion of the vendor. Q: Will a core interpreter/s be needed in each of the 7 offices listed in the Scope of Work? A: No Q: Are we able to set different rates in each of the areas? A: Yes, the government does not direct pricing Q: Because of regional differences in cancellation policies, is there any flexibility to the stated policy? A: To lesson the administrative burden for the government and vendor one standard policy across the board was selected. DOT employees and managers are educated on the importance of both providing adequate notice to vendors to order and when needed, cancel services. Excessive late requests and cancellations will not be tolerated by the COTR and frequent abusers will be addressed. Section VI. Reporting Requirements: The paragraph indicated a sample form is attached. Q. There was no form attached in the SOW, please send a sample form. A: The form should have been attached at it is the last page of the SOW. Please resend if necessary. Section VII. Invoice Requirements: The contractor shall submit with each invoice the attached verification of services form attached for payment. Q: Clarification needed. Is the interpreter expected to have the attached sample ?Interpreting Service Receipt/Job Verification? with them to have signed at the completion of each assignment Is that needed for when the core interpreter is working an 8 hour day? A: The Job verification sheet proves that the services were actually rendered. It must accompany the vendor's invoice to DOT. It is purely the vendor's discretion as to when this is signed by DOT personnel. Q: number of interpreters needed for the SOW A: That would be determined by the vendor based on the daily and weekly request trends Q: number of workers who are deaf in the SOW A: Approximately 22 known Deaf and hard of hearing in the Regions and 40 in metro Washington, DC. Q: The SOW states that one interpreter may be sufficient for most assignments of two hour or less. Is there a way that this can be modified to 1.5 hours or less. A: most cases means that there will be inherent exceptions. Two-hours is the minimum requirement for services A: Each assignment will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The One interpreter model is based on simple meetings where the meeting may only be an hour long (even though the vendor's minimum will be 2 hours) and the Deaf employee is not a presenter but merely an attendee. The COTR and Vendor will recommend two interpreters when the requirement for two interpreters becomes known. Q: If the working/core hours for interpreters are 7-5pm,and an interpreter works 10 hours days, are we able to charge/bill for the overtime hours for that day? A: We have not in the past needed to provision for overtime. Most services are structured so there is no unexpected or expected overtime. Q: Will the government provide TTY or equivalent communication system or should we include the cost of such equipment in our proposal? We would be contracting for this requirement at our corporate office in Oklahoma City, Ok. However, the personnel to support the various locations would be provided by our local offices in the various locations. Should the local offices have the TTY system or would having the equipment in our corporate office suffice? Following this procedure we see no or little travel requirements. A: The government will provide communication devices to its own Deaf and Hard of hearing staff. The contractor shall be responsible for its own telecommunication devices. Q; With regard to interpreting services offered for the most recent fiscal year, how many hours of oncall interpreting services were provided for the metro Washington, DC area employees? A: Zero (0) we only cover scheduled events and do not provide "on-call" services. Q: What is the level of US Government Security Clearance that is needed or anticipated to be needed for assignments at DOT (eg, TS/SCI, etc)? A: Standard and Sensitive Q: After reading through the statement of work, I noticed a potential issue with one of the requirements and would like to ask for clarification. All of the modes of communication that are mentioned (PSE, ASL, SEE) are based solely on the grammar and struction of American Sign Language or American Sign Language and English with one exception. Cued Speech is not a true language and is not based in any way on ASL, but rather a completely different system of handshapes. I feel certain that the amount of interpreters certified through RID and NAD who are also qualified to interpret Cued Speech are extremely few. I am an ASL interpreter who holds dual national certification and have been working in the DC market for many years and have never met and ASL interpreter who can do both. Further, it is highly unusual to find an Deaf or hard of hearing individual who uses both systems. Based on this, can you tell me the following. Q: Is DOT looking for one person, company or entity to provide both services A: DOT is looking for one or more companies that can provide the level of service as outlined in the SOW. Q: How many hours of Cued Speech interpreting was procured in the previous fiscal year in the metro Washington, DC area? A: Washington, DC is not a region being competed Q: Will DOT sponsor the clearance process for suitable interpreters in order for them to obtain security clearance if they commit to regular ongoing work for DOT? A: DOT will meet and cover any badging requirements that supports DOT security requirements outside of fees for personal contractor requirements such as government driver's licenses, interpreting certification fees, etc. Q: Does DOT currently use any online request submittion process for interpreting services? A: Yes Q: Please define LATE requests as cited in 3G of the SOW. A: a request made with less than twenty-four (24) hours notice to vendor. Q: Please define LATE cancellations as cited in 3G of the SOW. A: a cancellation of requested services that is requested of the vendor with less than forty-eight (48) hours notice - Counting business days only. Q: What is the justification for the 24 hour cancellation fee policy in the DC metro area as apposed to the 48 hour cancellation fee policy int he other seven region as this is atypical for the Washington, DC interpreting market and not consistent with any of the major vendors or independent contract/direct hire service providers in that area? A: It meets DOT business needs in said regions. For example regions that may have multiple vendors when one vendor versus another is contacted for services it's usually because the first vendor is unable to fulfill the need so there may only be proper notice allocated for the first vendor and not the second or third. Q: How much in dollars, did DOT pay in cancellation fees in the previous fiscal year? A: Information is currently not available for all FY05 regions. Q: Will monthly reports, invoices and other official communications between the awardee and DOT be accepted through email rather than regular post? A: Yes, if the mode of delivery meets the reporting requirements at the end of the day. Q: Are oncall interpreters used regularly and if so, how are oncall hours reimbursed as compared to actual number of hours of interpreting as stated in section 7B of the SOW? A: N/A Q: How does DOT reconcile the confidentiality agreement requirement with the reporting and maintenance of statistical information by deaf/hard of hearing consumers based on their identity and other request details? A: Our records are kept confidential and on a need to know basis.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Department of Transportation, Office of the Secretary of Tranportation (OST) Procurement Operations, OST Acquisition Services Division, 400 7th Street SW, Room 5106, Washington, DC
- Zip Code: 20590
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 20590
- Record
- SN01143457-W 20060916/060914220557 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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