Background The New York State Office of Children & Family Services (OCFS) announces a Discretionary Opportunity Announcement (DISC) for qualified organizations that provide web-based technology training and specialized developmental writing seminar (course) for high school students who are blind and are attending the Pre-College Program. The Pre-College Program is for students who are legally blind and entering their senior year of high school. The Pre-College Program is designed to prepare participants for college life and emphasizes independence and self-advocacy in a supportive but structured environment. This program assists participants in refining their academic, social, and independent living skills before commencing their full-time college studies, through a four (4) week on-campus experience. The proposed course must incorporate instruction on the use of both assistive technologies for legally blind individuals, and mainstream technologies, as they are applied to a traditional college writing course. Students must receive individual and group writing instruction remotely, as they are guided in the use of the tools of the online learning environment, such as the use of an IOS access device (i.e., iPad), the electronic course management system, web conferencing, and discussion forums. Please see the Eligibility Criteria section of this procurement for additional information. OCFS intends to select one organization based on the criteria outlined in this announcement.The purpose of this solicitation is to invite any eligible and interested organizations that believe they can satisfy this program’s needs to inform OCFS by a Letter of Interest (LOI). To be considered responsive, your organization’s LOI should be received no later than the deadline specified on the first page of this announcement. This opportunity is authorized under Section 163 of State Finance Law as a discretionary purchase. OCFS intends to contract pursuant to its discretionary purchasing authority under State Finance Law Section 163(6), which authorizes purchases without a formal competitive process in certain circumstances. This funding opportunity is limited to purchases up to the discretionary buying threshold from respondent organizations qualified as: NYS certified Minority-and/or Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) NYS certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) NYS Small Business Enterprise (SBE) NYS-certified MWBE and SDVOB are qualified pursuant to Article 15-A of State Executive Law and Article 3 of Veterans’ Services Law. In accordance with Section 160(8) of State Finance Law and Article 4-B of Economic Development Law, a NYS small business is resident in New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employs 100 or less persons. Primary respondents that are certified and/or qualify as a small business, MWBE or SDVOB should complete, sign, and submit the Attachment 3 – Affirmation of Business Status provided with this solicitation. Please refer to the DISC document's How to Respond section for additional information and submission requirements. Scope of Work The funded organization will: Provide the non-credit course “Developmental Writing/Technology Seminar.” This course will be a web-based technology training and developmental writing course to legally blind participants enrolled in the NYSCB Pre-College Program at the Manhattanville University campus in Purchase, NY. The following summarizes the services sought for this project. Curriculum Development/updating, Train-the-Trainers, and One-on-One with Trainers Participant Administration and Program Delivery Evaluations/post-program Assessments and Reports Please refer to the DISC document's Scope of Work section for additional information and submission requirements.Eligibility Criteria Interested parties who meet the following criteria are eligible to respond: Agree to provide the services outlined in the Scope of Work section. Licensed to do business in the state of New York or agree to become licensed in the state of New York if selected for award. Be a NYS Certified MWBE, SDVOB, and/or SBE. Submit a completed Budget Template/Cost Proposal (Attachment 4) which proposes a cost for each of the following three (3) deliverables, for each year of the five (5) years of the contract: Curriculum development/updating, Train the Trainer and One-on-One with trainers Participant Administration and Program Delivery Evaluations/post-program Assessments and Reports A detailed resume must be provided for the applicant’s proposed program supervisor. It must demonstrate that the proposed program supervisor has a minimum of four (4) years of experience teaching developmental writing courses in a distance learning format, including accessible content management systems, developing and facilitating coursework for legally blind college students. The applicant’s proposed program supervisor must have a master’s degree in education.Note: the proposed costs for the deliverables above combined cannot exceed $350,000 for the entire five-year term of the contract. Should any alternative activities/work, extraneous terms, added conditions, qualifications or exceptions be submitted within the Letter of Interest, such proposed alternate activities/work, extraneous terms, added conditions, qualifications or exceptions will not be reviewed or considered by the OCFS/NYSCB. Please see the DISC document located on the "Documents" tab for additional information and submission requirements. Business enterprises awarded an identical or substantially similar procurement contract within the past five years: The current contract to provide pre-college developmental writing/technology seminar is C029423 Echoes Instructitonal Design Inc. Contract Term is 05/01/2022 - 04/30/2027. Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) SDVOB Goal: 0.00% Minority / Women Business Enterprise contracting goals (MWBE) MBE Goal: 0.00% WBE Goal: 0.00% Disadvantaged Business Enterprise contracting goals (DBE) DBE Goal: 0.00%
