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3.0PROPOSER’S MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS3.1Interested and qualified proposers that can demonstrate their ability andqualifications to successfully provide the required services outlined inAppendix B, Statement of Work of this RFP are invited to submit aproposal(s), provided they meet the following mandatory requirements:3.1.1 Proposer must have at least three years’ full time experience withinthe last five years, developing, implementing, and providingadult/parent education and training services with a specific focus onchild care, parenting, child welfare, education, child/youthdevelopment or a related field equivalent or similar to the servicesidentified in Appendix B, Statement of Work.3.1.2 Proposer must state their willingness to establish an administrativeoffice or branch office in Los Angeles County by the effective date ofthe Contract.3.1.3 Proposer must be registered to do business with the office of theCalifornia Secretary of State. A certified original copy of theStatement of Information shall be included in the submission of theproposal.3.1.4 Proposer and its principals must not be currently debarred,suspended, proposed for debarment, or declared ineligible for theaward of the contract by any Federal, State or County agency.Proposer must be found clear from County, State and Federalcontractor’s debarred listings unless an exception has beenauthorized by State and Federal regulations.3.24.0If proposer’s compliance with a County contract has been reviewed by theDepartment of the Auditor-Controller within the last 10 years, proposer mustnot have unresolved questioned costs identified by the Auditor-Controller,in an amount over 100,000, that are confirmed to be disallowed costs bythe contracting County department, and remain unpaid for six months ormore from the date of disallowance, unless such disallowed costs are thesubject of current good faith negotiations to resolve the disallowed costs, inthe opinion of the county.COUNTY’S RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES4.1Representations Made Prior to Contract Execution4.1.1 The County is not responsible for representations made by any of itsofficers or employees prior to the execution of the Contract unlesssuch understanding or representation is included in the Contract.Resource Family Approval RFPPage 3

4.2Final Contract Award by the Board of Supervisors4.2.1 Notwithstanding a recommendation of a Department, agency,individual, or other, the Board of Supervisors retains the right toexercise its judgment concerning the selection of a proposal and theterms of any resultant agreement, and to determine which proposalbest serves the interests of the County. The Board is the ultimatedecision making body and makes the final determinations necessaryto arrive at a decision to award, or not award, a contract.4.3County Option to Reject Proposals4.3.1 Proposers are hereby advised that this RFP is a solicitation forproposals only, and is not intended, and is not to be construed as,an offer to enter into a contract or as a promise to engage in anyformal competitive bidding or negotiations pursuant to any statute,ordinance, rule, or regulation. The County may, at its sole discretion,reject any or all proposals submitted in response to this RFP or may,in its sole discretion, reject all proposals and cancel this RFP in itsentirety. The County shall not be liable for any costs incurred by theproposer in connection with the preparation and submission of anyproposal. The County reserves the right to waive inconsequentialdisparities in a submitted proposal.4.4County’s Right to Amend Request for Proposals4.4.1 The County has the right to amend the RFP by written addendum.The County is responsible only for that which is expressly stated inthe solicitation document and any authorized written addendathereto. Such addendum shall be made available to each person ororganization which County records indicate has received this RFP.Should such addendum require additional information not previouslyrequested, failure to address the requirements of such addendummay result in the proposal being found non-responsive and not beingconsidered, as determined in the sole discretion of the County. TheCounty is not responsible for and shall not be bound by anyrepresentations otherwise made by any individual acting orpurporting to act on its behalf.4.5Background and Security Investigations4.5.1 Contractor shall ensure that criminal clearances with subsequentarrest notification and background checks have been conducted forall Contractor’s staff and volunteers, prior to beginning andcontinuing work under any resulting Contract (see Appendix A,Sample Contract, Section 7.5, Background and SecurityInvestigations).The cost of such criminal clearances andbackground checks is the responsibility of the Contractor whether orResource Family Approval RFPPage 4

not the Contractor’s staff passes or fails the background and criminalclearance investigations.4.6County’s Quality Assurance Plan4.6.1 After contract award, the County or its agent will monitor theContractor’s performance under the contract on a periodic basis.Such monitoring will include assessing Contractor’s compliance withall terms and conditions in the Contract and performance standardsidentified in Appendix B (Statement of Work).Contractor’sdeficiencies which the County determines are significant orcontinuing and that may jeopardize performance of the Contract willbe reported to the County’s Board of Supervisors. The report willinclude improvement/corrective action measures taken by theCounty and Contractor. If improvement does not occur consistentwith the corrective action measures, the County may terminate theContract in whole or in part, or impose other penalties as specified inthe Contract.5.0PROPOSER’S REQUIREMENTS AND CERTIFICATIONS5.1Notice to Proposers Concerning the Public Records Act5.1.1 Responses to this solicitation shall become the exclusive property ofthe County. Absent extraordinary circumstances, the recommendedproposer's proposal will become a matter of public record when (1)contract negotiations are complete; (2) DCFS receives a letter fromthe recommended proposer's authorized officer that the negotiatedcontract is the firm offer of the recommended proposer; and (3)DCFS releases a copy of the recommended proposer's proposal inresponse to a Notice of Intent to Request a Proposed ContractorSelection Review under Board Policy No. 5.055 (Services ContractSolicitation Protest).Notwithstanding the above, absent extraordinary circumstances, allproposals will become a matter of public record when theDepartment's proposer recommendation appears on the Boardagenda.Exceptions to disclosure are those parts or portions of all proposalsthat are justifiably defined as business or trade secrets, and plainlymarked by the proposer as "Trade Secret," "Confidential," or"Proprietary."5.1.2 The County shall not, in any way, be liable or responsible for thedisclosure of any such record or any parts thereof, if disclosure isrequired or permitted under the California Public Records Act orotherwise by law. A blanket statement of confidentiality or themarking of each page of the proposal as confidential shall not beResource Family Approval RFPPage 5

deemed sufficient notice of exception.The proposers mustspecifically label only those provisions of their respective proposalwhich are "Trade Secret," "Confidential," or "Proprietary" in nature.5.1.3 In the event the County is required to defend an action on a PublicRecords Act request for any of the aforementioned documents,information, books, records, and/or contents of a proposal marked"Confidential," "Trade Secret," or "Proprietary," proposer agrees todefend and indemnify County from all costs and expenses, includingreasonable attorneys' fees, incurred in connection with any action,proceedings, or liability arising in connection with the Public RecordsAct request.5.2Contact with County Personnel5.2.1 All contact regarding this RFP or any matter relating thereto must bein writing and may be mailed, e-mailed or faxed as follows:Department of Children and Family ServicesContracts Administration Division425 Shatto Place, Room 400Los Angeles, CA 90020Attention: Thanh Nguyen, Assistant ManagerE-mail address: [email protected] #: (213) 637-2554If it is discovered that proposer contacted and received informationfrom any County personnel, other than the person specified above,regarding this solicitation, County, in its sole determination, maydisqualify their proposal from further consideration.5.3Mandatory Requirement to Register on County’s WebVen5.3.1 Prior to a contract award, all potential contractors must register in theCounty’s WebVen. The WebVen contains the Vendor’s businessprofile and identifies the goods/services the business provides.Registration can be accomplished online via the Internet co.la.ca.us/webven/.5.4Protest Policy Review Process5.4.1 Under Board Policy No. 5.055 (Services Contract SolicitationProtest), any prospective proposer may request a review of therequirements under a solicitation for a Board-approved servicescontract, as described in Section 5.4.3 (Grounds for Review) below.Additionally, any actual proposer may request a review of adisqualification or of a proposed contract award under such asolicitation, as described respectively in the sections below. It is theResource Family Approval RFPPage 6

responsibility of the proposer challenging the decision of a CountyDepartment to demonstrate that the Department committed asufficiently material error in the solicitation process to justifyinvalidation of a proposed contract award.5.4.2 Throughout the review process, the County has no obligation todelay or otherwise postpone an award of contract based on aproposer protest. In all cases, the County reserves the right to makean award when it is determined to be in the best interest of theCounty of Los Angeles to do so.5.4.3 Grounds for ReviewUnless state or federal statutes or regulations otherwise provide, thegrounds for review of a solicitation for a Board-approved servicescontract provided for under Board Policy No. 5.055 (ServicesContract Solicitation Protest) are limited to the following:5.55.4.3.1Review of Solicitation Requirements (reference Section7.4, Proposal Submission Requirements Section)5.4.3.2Review of a Disqualified Proposal (reference Section 8.3,Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria Section)5.4.3.3Review of Proposed Contractor Selection (referenceSection 8.7, Selection Process and Evaluation CriteriaSection)Injury and Illness Prevention Program5.5.1 Contractor shall be required to comply with the State of California’sCal OSHA’s regulations. California Code of Regulations Title 8,Section 3203 requires all California employers to have a written,effective Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) that addresseshazards pertaining to the particular workplace covered by theprogram.5.6Confidentiality and Independent Contractor Status5.6.1 As appropriate, Contractor shall be required to comply with Section7.6 (Confidentiality) and Section 8.28 (Independent ContractorStatus), contained in Appendix A (Sample Contract).5.7Conflict of Interest5.7.1 No County employee whose position in the County enables him/herto influence the selection of a Contractor for this RFP, or anycompeting RFP, nor any spouse of economic dependent of suchemployees, shall be employed in any capacity by a proposer or haveany other direct or indirect financial interest in the selection of aResource Family Approval RFPPage 7

contractor. Proposer shall certify that he/she is aware of and hasread Section 2.180.010 of the Los Angeles County Code as statedin Exhibit 5 (Certification of No Conflict of Interest) of Appendix D(Required Forms).5.8Determination of Proposer Responsibility5.8.1 A responsible proposer is a proposer who has demonstrated theattribute of trustworthiness, as well as quality, fitness, capacity andexperience to satisfactorily perform the contract. It is the County’spolicy to conduct business only with responsible proposers.5.8.2 Proposers are hereby notified that, in accordance with Chapter 2.202of the County Code, the County may determine whether the proposeris responsible based on a review of the proposer’s performance onany contracts, including but not limited to County contracts.Particular attention will be given to violations of labor laws related toemployee compensation and benefits, and evidence of false claimsmade by the proposer against public entities. Labor law violationswhich are the fault of the subcontractors and of which the proposerhad no knowledge shall not be the basis of a determination that theproposer is not responsible.5.8.3 The County may declare a proposer to be non-responsible forpurposes of this contract if the Board of Supervisors, in its discretion,finds that the proposer has done any of the following: 1) violated aterm of a contract with the County or a nonprofit corporation createdby the County; 2) committed an act or omission which negativelyreflects on the proposer’s quality, fitness or capacity to perform acontract with the County, any other public entity, or a nonprofitcorporation created by the County, or engaged in a pattern orpractice which negatively reflects on same; 3) committed an act oromission which indicates a lack of business integrity or businesshonesty; or 4) made or submitted a false claim against the County orany other public entity.5.8.4 If there is evidence that the apparent highest ranked proposer maynot be responsible, the Department shall notify the proposer inwriting of the evidence relating to the proposer’s responsibility, andits intention to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that theproposer be found not responsible. The Department shall providethe proposer and/or the proposer’s representative with anopportunity to present evidence as to why the proposer should befound to be responsible and to rebut evidence which is the basis forthe Department’s recommendation.5.8.5 If the proposer presents evidence in rebuttal to the Department, theDepartment shall evaluate the merits of such evidence, and basedResource Family Approval RFPPage 8

on that evaluation, make a recommendation to the Board ofSupervisors. The final decision concerning the responsibility of theproposer shall reside with the Board of Supervisors.5.8.6 These terms shall also apply to proposed subcontractors ofproposers on County contracts.5.9Proposer Debarment5.9.1 The proposer is hereby notified that, in accordance with Chapter2.202 of the County Code, the County may debar the proposer frombidding or proposing on, or being awarded, and/or performing workon other County contracts for a specified period of time, whichgenerally will not exceed five (5) years but may exceed five (5) yearsor be permanent if warranted by the circumstances, and the Countymay terminate any or all of the proposer’s existing contracts withCounty, if the Board of Supervisors finds, in its discretion, that theproposer has done any of the following: 1) violated a term of acontract with the County or a nonprofit corporation created by theCounty; 2) committed an act or omission which negatively reflects onthe proposer’s quality, fitness or capacity to perform a contract withthe County, any other public entity, or a nonprofit corporation createdby the County, or engaged in a pattern or practice which negativelyreflects on same; 3) committed an act or offense which indicates alack of business integrity or business honesty; or 4) made orsubmitted a false claim against the County or any other public entity.5.9.2 If there is evidence that the apparent highest ranked proposer maybe subject to debarment, the Department shall notify the proposer inwriting of the evidence which is the basis for the proposeddebarment, and shall advise the proposer of the scheduled date fora debarment hearing before the Contractor Hearing Board.5.9.3 The Contractor Hearing Board shall conduct a hearing whereevidence on the proposed debarment is presented. The proposerand/or proposer’s representative shall be given an opportunity tosubmit evidence at that hearing. After the hearing, the ContractorHearing Board shall prepare a tentative proposed decision, whichshall contain a recommendation regarding whether the proposershould be debarred, and, if so, the appropriate length of time of thedebarment. The proposer and the Department shall be provided anopportunity to object to the tentative proposed decision prior to itspresentation to the Board of Supervisors.5.9.4 After consideration of any objections, or if no objections are received,a record of the hearing, the proposed decision and any otherrecommendation of the Contractor Hearing Board shall be presentedto the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors shall haveResource Family Approval R

2.2 Sample Contract: County Terms and Conditions 2.2.1 Contractor shall be expected to implement the requirements outlined in Appendix A (Sample Contract) of this RFP. 2.2.2 Anticipated Contract Term The Contract term is anticipated to be for a period of one year. The Contract is anticipated to commence on April 1, 2022, or the date of