MODIFICATION
R -- Completion of Probate Case Preparation Packages for the BIA NW Regional Office
- Notice Date
- 12/20/2010
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- Contracting Office
- BIA - OCFO-Western Division of Acquisition2600 N. Central Avenue, Suite 450 Phoenix AZ 85004
- ZIP Code
- 85004
- Solicitation Number
- RBH00110002
- Response Due
- 12/21/2010
- Archive Date
- 12/20/2011
- Point of Contact
- Paul Robinson Contract Specialist 6023794482 paul.robinson@bia.gov;
- E-Mail Address
-
Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- 2nd SET OF QUESTIONS received regarding Request for Quote (RFQ) SOLICITATION DOCUMENT NO. RBH00110002, which is a Buy Indian Act Set-Aside for only Native American Indian / Native Alaskan business entities. QUESTION 1 "The Northwest Region has four reservations that have Inheritance Acts. The Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Warm Springs, these Acts, all the tribes option to purchase any trust interests that may be inherited by a non member of their tribe. The tribes must purchase those interests at the fair market value, as of the date of death of the decedent. Appraisals must be completed in those instances. Over a period of many years, the need for appraisals has delayed the probate process and created significant backlogs of cases for the Northwest Region." Question: Are the probate packages for these tribes only? Will there be travel to agencies within the NW Region? RESPONSE: The majority of the cases are for one of these tribes, however not all of the cases are subject to purchase by the tribe. Travel will not be necessary to complete the case preparation for these cases. QUESTION 2 "1.2.3.3 Contractor personnel, when in the context of performing duties under this Service Contract, will have interaction with the service public at large, attend meetings, answer incoming phone calls, and disseminate appropriate information, etc. in order to effectively provide services in situations that require them to serve as a contact person representing the Probate Office." Question: Are these charges outside the probate package preparation? RESPONSE: No they are not outside the package preparation. QUESTION 3 "1.2.5.1 When an offer of employment has been accepted by a new contractor employee, the Contractor will provide the required background investigation forms to each contractor contract employee for their immediate completion." Question: Who will provide forms required for screening to contractor? RESPONSE: The required forms will be provided by the COR. QUESTION 4 What if some of contractor employees retain BIA security clearance will they be required to fill out screening forms? RESPONSE: Contract employees that have already passed security clearance, AND are still working on a contract for the department, do not have to submit new screening forms. For those contract employees who have a break in service from employment, the BIA Security Office will determine which employees must re-submit the required forms. QUESTION 5 "When the COR forwards the security package to the Security Program Office, the COR will courtesy copy the Contractor's Personnel Office. The contractor will establish a start date at that time. The official start date will be contingent upon the potential employee successfully clearing all security clearances, and the Contractor receiving all security clearances from the COR." Question: If security clearances do not come at the same time will the start dates be different for each employee? RESPONSE: Start dates could be different based on the security clearances. QUESTION 6 "1.2.6 Training: Qualified/Experienced Contractor staff may provide training to new Contractor personnel in those instances where on-site BIA personnel have notified the COR that the Agency has exhausted all means to provide training. Possibly, on occasion, the contractor's staff may attend BIA conferences and/or training." Question: Will contractor be compensated by government for this training and travel provided by contractor and attendance at BIA Conferences and training? RESPONSE: If the contractor has Qualified/experienced staff, the contractor can provide training to new contractor staff. However case preparation training will be provided by BIA at the initiation of this contract, to the contract employees. Conferences or trainings will be provided on site when necessary, travel will not be necessary. QUESTION 7 "a. A completed Case Prep probate package, with a Bureau case file checklist, contains: 1. A certified copy of the death certificate, if one exists, or some other reliable evidence of death as required by CFR 15.103-104-105, 15.202, and 15.204 2. A completed OHA-7 3. Certificate of Search (Memorandum dated 2/24/2006) 4. Affidavit - Sworn Statement of Probate Package is True and Complete for submittal to OHA." Question: BIA will sign this part? RESPONSE: YES QUESTION 8 "b. Documents required to that particular probate package, if applicable: 1. A certified inventory of trust or restricted real property (BIA/INV) 2. A statement describing all income generating activity (Pg. 5 of INV/Histrans) 3. A copy of the decedent's IIM account ledger showing: a. The balance of the account at the date of death; and b. The balance of the account at the date of probate package submission; 4. All original or certified copies of wills, codicils and any revocations of wills or codicils; 5. Any statements renouncing interest that have been submitted to the agency; 6. Claims of creditors against the estate;" Does contractor have to solicit claims notification? RESPONSE: NO QUESTION 9 " 7. All documentation of payment of claims paid prior to probate proceeding; 8. All other documents required in CFR 15.105. a. Social Security number of the decedent b. The birth certificate or other record of birth of the decedent c. All death records including those listed in 15.103. d. A list of known creditors against the estate and their addresses" Question - Is this the same as Item 6? RESPONSE: Yes QUESTION 10 " e. Current names and addresses of potential heirs and beneficiaries & ID#'s f. Any statements renouncing an interest in the estate; g. Documents from a court of competent jurisdiction, including but not limited to: 1. All marriage licenses of the decedent 2. All divorce decrees of the decedent 3. Adoption and guardianship records relevant to the decedent 4. Any sworn statements regarding the decedent's family, including any statements of paternity or maternity 5. Any names changes; and 6. Order requiring payment of child support; h. All original or certified copies of wills and codicils, and any revocations; and i. Any additional documents provided or that we request. j. Appraisal Requests, following the established format, the contractor will research and prepare all appraisal requests for the probate case file assigned, and record that these efforts have been completed in the system of record. 9. Affidavit that all efforts to locate the probable heirs and beneficiaries have been exhausted; and 10. Any other documentation that may be required at the time of probate proceedings. 5.3.1 Certificate of Search - The contractor will complete a certificate of search for each probate file. The certificate indicates that the probate staff has followed all regulatory guidelines, policies and handbook procedures. It identifies all sources of information that were used to complete a probate package and will contain the information identified in the "Probate Case Preparation Policy for Documenting the Search for Family and Vital Information" dated February 24, 2006." Question: Where is a copy of this policy? RESPONSE: Available from the COR QUESTION 11 "5.4. Partial Payments. Payment for partial case completion will be based on case work completed as reflected in ProTrac. The contractor is responsible to enter appropriate ProTrac docket codes reflecting the physical case file. A percentage will be applied to the unit cost of the case to determine the compensation due to the Contractor. The COR will make the final determination of the percentage level of completion, by the Contractor and by approving or rejecting the case for payment purposes. The contractor will provide all analysis of data to POC/SCOR before submission to the COR." Question: What about costs incurred by the contractor requested by BIA outside the case work completed as reflected in Pro Trac? RESPONSE: This clause was added, to assure partial payment of work completed by a contractor, should all cases not be accepted by BIA, by the end of the performance period, but research work had been completed and documented by the contractor. QUESTION 12 "5.5 Rework. Any case completed and accepted by the Government which contains an error on the Contractor's part will be reworked. Rework will be done at no cost to the government, regardless of when the need for rework is identified." Question: What are some examples of rework and who determines the rework BIA or OHA? RESPONSE: BIA or OHA could determine rework. Either could determine upon review that: (a) additional interested parties required; (b) additional supporting documents; (c) or clarification of information provided in the case file. QUESTION 13 5.5.1 Pending Appraisals - case work accepted by the COR that is pending appraisals only for submission to the deciding official, and is within the applicable performance period, will be returned to the contractor for final scanning and paperwork to be completed, at no extra charge to the Government. Question: Please clarify, why would the contractor perform this at no cost to the government? RESPONSE: The contractor and the case file may still be on-site when the appraisals are received, if this were to occur, it would be a simple task for the preparer, to update Protrac and add the appraisals to the case file, date the correspondence and provide case file to the COR. QUESTION 14 "5.6 COR Assignment of Cases. The COR will assign cases to the contractor. The COR will send the list of cases to the Project Manager." Question: Will the contractor receive the 200 cases at the same time or be staggered pending security clearance of employees? RESPONSE: The contractor will receive all case files. QUESTION 15 "The Project Manager will inform the Contractor personnel at the agency location and report back to the COR how the caseload was distributed. Only the COR has the authority to reassign cases to the contractor based on the needs of the contract. Any subsequent reassignments of the same case back to the Contractor will require COR approval. Any changes in Contractor personnel at a given site may result in a reassignment of cases." Question: Will contractor hire staff located at an agency location or at the NW Region office? RESPONSE: At the NW Regional Office. QUESTION 16 "The base price shall include all costs, except for all Government provided items. A. Fixed unit price shall include: Cost per Probate Package" Question: Is there a clearer description of "Cost per Probate Package?" "Personnel CostsAdministrative Costsb.1. The average time for completing a Probate Case is averages an approximate 55 hours for the BIA Northwest Region.b.2. Base Award: 200 Cases x 55 Hrs. = approximately 11,000 hours. The contractor should propose adequate staff to complete the Base Year requirement within a 12 month performance period, beginning after the background screening period (see PWS 1.2).b.3. Option 1: 50 Cases x 55 Hrs. = approximately 2,750 hours.b.4. Option 2: 50 Cases x 55 Hrs. = approximately 2,750 hours.b.5. Historically, each employee's workload was 25 cases at any given time.b.6. It is expected that the Contractor's personnel will be comparable to General Clerk I through Clerk III under the SCA Wage Determination." Question? How many employees were in the population the average time was calculated on? Were they Federal or contract employees? What percentage is the hours and caseload based on? RESPONSE: Case preparation hours were established using past performance, and the national caseload of federal employees. The number of national employees usually ranges from 120-130 employees, and the national caseload usually ranges from 6000-8000 active cases. These metrics are still used for establishing the workload and measuring the performance for each region and agency each fiscal year. QUESTION 17: Will contractor employees be eligible for Group Life and Health Benefits through the Federal Government? RESPONSE: Contract employees are not eligible for government Health Benefits.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOI/BIA/RestonVA/RBH00110002/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Portland, OR 97232
- Zip Code: 97232
- Zip Code: 97232
- Record
- SN02347278-W 20101222/101220233847-062dfdf63f89bb76f2ee5011e6f0f51a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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