Single Source Procurement: Statewide Early Intervention Program

Pursuant to New York State Finance Law § 163.10(b), The New York State Department of Health is presenting the following summary of relevant circumstances, and material and substantial reasons why a competitive procurement was not feasible.

The New York State Department of Health (Department) implemented the statewide Early Intervention Program (EIP) as authorized by Part C of the Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). A major Federal requirement for State early intervention programs is the development of a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) to ensure capacity for service delivery to all eligible children and their families. An important component of a successful CSPD is the provision of high quality training by experienced trainers. The statewide CSPD mission is to "ensure that the New York State early intervention system meets the needs of infants, toddlers and their families through access to qualified personnel." The Department receives Federal grant money each year for which a portion of those Federal funds support the required State wide training initiative. Should the Department fail to provide ongoing training through a contract with an experienced and qualified training vendor, we would be out of compliance with Federal requirements. The funds we receive to support this contract could be at risk for repayment.

The Bureau of Early Intervention (BEI) seeks to extend contract #C026786 with CAM-Held Enterprises, Inc. (Just Kids) with additional funding, to maintain a statewide training presence that is required by IDEA, while the Department re-procures a contract for training. The trainings provided under this contract are delivered to Early Intervention (EI) providers, municipal staff, parents, and other professional stakeholders in all regions of the state via the vendor's Early Intervention Learning Network, on approximately 20 EI topics. The purpose of these trainings is to provide essential information and guidance about the Early Intervention Program to ensure that the needs of infants, toddlers, and families are met through access to qualified personnel.

It is evident through the Department's monitoring efforts of early intervention providers and service coordinators that there is a need to provide continuous training that is available statewide to all providers and EI stakeholders. The current situation in early intervention is that providers have assumed more responsibilities based on State statute and regulations that require them to complete work for which they are unfamiliar. Having continuous availability to attend statewide training will assist the providers in delivering higher quality services to EI eligible children and their families.

The current contract extension is in effect until June 30, 2016. The current contract value is $3,445,480 for the term October 1, 2010 through June 30, 2016. An RFP has been drafted and is currently going through the Department's Executive Deputy Clearance process. Plans to develop this RFP were significantly delayed due to a newly established Federal priority from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), which requires that each state implement a systemic improvement plan to better meet identified child/family outcomes. This priority required the Department to develop a plan and engage in significant contracting activities related to development of regional learning collaborative events, as well as establish current training resources and a website. Until the scope of work for the new federal requirement was finalized, BEI was then in a better position to develop the scope of work for a new statewide training contract that would not duplicate the activities of the systemic improvement plan deliverables. Due to this new Federal priority, the Department staff went through extensive work to develop the activities related to the systemic improvement plan. The work included conducting an infrastructure analysis of the EI program within New York State, collecting and analyzing a significant amount of data, collaborating with our Executive Early Intervention Coordinating Council to sign off on the plan and submitting the plan to OSEP and waiting for their approval. This entire process has taken over one year to develop and plan, which delayed ability for planning for other required state wide training that is being sought through this extension and new RFP.

Therefore, BEI seeks to extend this contract for nine months, for the period of July 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017 with additional $410,112 added for the nine month extension while the RFP for Statewide training is being reviewed and approved. A newly developed RFP for Statewide training was developed and has been going through the approval process for several months. Additionally, ITS recommended that the Department utilize the State Learner Management System (SLMS) to implement a portion of the deliverables included in the Statewide Training RFP. However, the SLMS has limitations on access to the training that needs to be available to different Early Intervention Stakeholders (providers, parents, child care workers) during evening hours and weekends. Additionally, the funds to support use of SLMS far surpasses the total funds available to support the entirety of the Statewide Training RFP deliverables.

It would not be practical or in the best interest of the Department to utilize a vendor other than Just Kids to continue to conduct the existing training through an extension, while a new procurement is being approved and issued. Just Kids has presented trainings on EIP topics since 2001, including the trainings under the current contract #C026786 since 2010, and has maintained a successful record of delivering high-quality statewide trainings at a valued price. Just Kids has the basic infrastructure already in place to support the scope of work proposed in this contract extension, including experienced office personnel and a large pool of statewide trainers. Course evaluations collected from past training participants document the extensive knowledge and expertise of all Just Kids trainers, and confirm that they routinely present course material with clarity and accuracy.

It is in the best interest of the Department to utilize Just Kids to continue to conduct the existing training through an extension, while a new procurement is being developed. Just Kids has presented trainings on EIP topics since 2001, including the trainings under the current contract #C026786 since 2010, and has maintained a successful record of delivering high-quality statewide trainings at a valued price. Just Kids has the basic infrastructure already in place to support the scope of work proposed in this contract extension, including experienced office personnel and a large pool of statewide trainers. Course evaluations collected from past training participants document the extensive knowledge and expertise of all Just Kids trainers, and confirm that they routinely present course material with clarity and accuracy.

Procurement / Program Name Statewide Early Intervention Program
Contractor Name(s) CAM–Held Enterprises Inc. dba Just Kids
Contract Period July 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017
Contract Number(s) C026786