RFP Virtual Town Hall Powerpoint
RFP Virtual Town Hall Recording
Q: Who is eligible to submit a RFP?
The RFP is open to any organization that provides direct services to the Medicaid population or to individuals below 310% of the federal poverty level within CPAA’s 7-county region: Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, and Wahkiakum. This includes, but is not limited to, both non-profit and for-profit organizations that provide clinical and behavioral health services, Public Health Departments, Educational Service Districts, and community-based organizations that assist with care coordination, housing, transportation, food, and recovery supports.
Q: I am working with partners on a MTP project. Do we each have to submit a RFP?
We ask that each partner organization apply separately. Funding awards will be made to individual organizations as defined by their EIN number, not groups of organizations that come together for a specific project. Please do list your MTP project partners in your response to the RFP.
Q: In reading through the RFP, it is not clear what the ask should be. Should we be asking for an FTE for each project? Can we ask for moneys for other uses?
It is entirely up to the applicant to determine what is needed in order to make the project/s work. CPAA will provide money to chosen implementation partners based on the needs that are articulated by our partners and available funding as determined by the available base compensation, the number of project areas pursued by the partner, eligibility for bonus pools (rural, equity, and Medicaid lives served), and the total number of awards made.
Q: If I am selected as one of CPAA’s MTP partners, are the funds I receive taxable?
It depends on the type of organization receiving payment. The WA State legislature approved a Business & Occupation (B&O) tax exemption for ACHS and public hospitals receiving MTP funds. If your organization is not an ACH or a public hospital, you are not eligible for the exception, and thus required to pay taxes on MTP funding.
Q: Where do I put my project budget in the RFP?
Budgets can be added to corresponding questions or documented by attaching an excel spreadsheet when prompted the end of the RFP.
Q: Why do I need to send a Letter of Intent? Do I have to send one even if I’ve been regularly attending CPAA meetings and completed a RFQ?
CPAA recognizes the time it takes to complete the RFP, but yes, if you are submitting a response to the RFP, please send a BRIEF Letter of Intent, due June 14. CPAA will use the LOIs to monitor interest in the MTP and to ensure participation in all six project areas. We have a very short timeline between partner selection and submitting the Implementation Plan to Health Care Authority, so the LOIs will also help inform the Implementation Plan.
Q: Is there an opportunity for RFP early review or a preliminary review, just to make sure I’m on the right track?
Unfortunately, CPAA does not have the capacity to conduct preliminary reviews on all RFPs. CPAA is happy to answer specific questions that are submitted to rfp@cpaawa.org. In the interest of fairness and transparency, all questions will be anonymized, and the answers posted here: https://www.cpaawa.org/2018/05/30/answers-to-rfp-frequently-asked-questions/. An independent assessor will review and score all responses to the RFPs.
Q: Is there a specific format preferred for a Letter of Interest (LOI) for entities who are interested in the project but are not eligible for the current RFP?
The LOI does not have to be in a specific format. Please include your organization’s name, your qualifications, and in what capacity you would like to participate in the MTP (i.e. workforce training, etc.) Please submit your LOI to rfp@cpaawa.org.
Q: What is meant by “MTP implementation must be evidence-based”? Are we limited to those evidence-based models listed in the RFP?
Evidence-based approaches were outlined by Health Care Authority in the MTP toolkit and can be reviewed in the supplemental document by clicking here. Providers are strongly encouraged to use the evidence-based approaches outlined in the toolkit; alternative evidence-based approaches must be approved by Health Care Authority.
Q: To what extent are you expecting a detailed work plan for each project?
Please go through each of the questions included in the Request for Proposal. There is a skip logic that will determine how many and what kind of questions you will need to answer. The detail is relatively high level at this time. When we have established a network of Implementation partners, we will go much more deeply into planning, which will be referred to as a Change Plan. This is an action plan that will detail activities our partners are planning to engage in, in what sequence, and any major milestones. The level of specificity will increase as time goes by. We anticipate that the Change Plans will need to be completed by the end of the calendar year. RFP responses will feed into an Implementation Plan, which is due to the Health Care Authority by October 1. Responses that come from the RFP will fuel the information needed for the Implementation Plan.
Q: Our program is a CBO outreach program, but we are housed within a community mental health agency. Should the questions be answered just for the program in question, or for the overall organization?
You would want to answer this for your program, primarily, and make reference to the organization you are housed within. This is really about providing information for the project(s) you are planning to work in.
Q: If we are partnering with another agency and only one of us needs to receive the funds, do both partners still need to complete separate proposals?
No. If there is one agency that is receiving the funds, the other agency would not need to complete a RFP. The partner who is applying should still reference the partner that is not receiving funds.
Q: Many of our strategies cross project areas. Do we need to go into the same level of detail in every open-ended question if we think it has been addressed previously in the application?
Please repeat the information. We want to ensure that no information is left off in case a reviewer only looks at one section of the RFP. The suggestion would be to copy and paste information when it is duplicative. We urge you to keep your answers as concise as possible since our reviewers will have to critique a lot of information.
Q: Can you speak a little more about the Capacity Development funding?
The intent is to look for project partners and projects that are scoring high, but perhaps not high enough to make the cut. We want to have the ability to support said projects. We are aware of the likelihood that not all of the partners who have worthy projects are going to be among the 35-45 organizations that will ultimately be selected as Implementation partners. The specifics on how these funds will be awarded will be shared at a later time once details are established. It’s really dependent on how many organizations apply, and what the responses are.
Q: At this point in time, we have not collected data on Medicaid status, or whether our participants fall below the federal poverty line or not. What would be the best way to answer the questions for which we have not gathered data previously?
Unfortunately, we have to rely on some data to make a determination for eligibility in this particular bonus pool. We can only do that based on data that is available to us. If the organization does not have that data in one of the two formats, they would not qualify for the bonus pool. However, it does not affect how high or low a project scores in the RFP.
Q: Is the RFP the appropriate stage to include letters of support/intent to partner/MOUs?
We have an opportunity available at the end of the RFP to make attachments. If you have strong partnerships, please also address it in the narrative.
Q: Can an organization that does not provide direct services apply for the RFP to provide workforce development and training?
Unfortunately, no. The eligibility criteria requires applicants to provide direct services. However, please still submit a Letter of Interest, so we are aware that your organization does provide these types of services. Doing this could make your organization eligible for Domain 1 funds that are set aside specifically for workforce and infrastructure support.
Q: Our Community Based Organization provides peripheral services, i.e. Community Health Worker training and houses. Would we need to submit two separate RFPs?
No, you do not. No matter how many projects you engage in, it is going to be one Request for Proposal response. In the RFP, there will be check boxes for the project(s) you intend to work in. The questions that populate are dependent on which projects you select.
Q: In the “Medicaid Individuals Served” section at the beginning of the RFP, do the questions about counties (i.e. full-time facilities and residence of Medicaid individuals) relate to the organization as a whole or just to the specific program for which we are seeking support through this RFP?
For the facilities, we are referencing the physical sites that will implement projects within MTP.
Q: My intervention impacts multiple project areas. Do I select them all when I fill out the RFP?
No. CPAA recognizes that many projects will share target populations and contribute to positive health outcomes, but to participate in a MTP project area, your organization must implement an evidence-based practice(s) from the RFP and report on deliverables based on that evidence-based practice(s). If your organization provides any non-clinical direct supports (i.e. housing, transportation, food, etc.), please select “other” on the RFP and describe the work you’re implementing.
Q: How are you defining “rural” for the bonus payment pools?
CPAA asked for zip codes of individuals served by the organization in the RFP. Those zip codes will be used to determine “rural.” CPAA is currently considering utilizing either the Dept. of Education rural codes classification or the Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes, a Census tract-based classification.