Submission of Proposal a) Proposals should provide straightforward and concise descriptions of the proposer’s ability to satisfy the requirements of this RFP, including three (3) references, including, but not limited to, companies and specific work performed that demonstrates the ability to provide the services sought by DDS as described in Section A., Purpose and Description of Services, within the last five (5) years. b) The Proposer must provide resumés for each professional staff member/sub-proposer. c) The Proposer must include each item listed on ATTACHMENT 1, Additional Required Attachments Checklist (page 15), including the Checklist, itself. d) The proposal must be complete and accurate. Omissions, inaccuracies, or misstatements will be cause for rejection of a proposal. e) The proposer shall develop a work plan/plan of action to include, but not limited to: • Objectives • Minimum required activities to achieve the objectives • Outcome/Deliverables • Timeline Which identifies each major task, necessary subtask, and/or specific milestones by which progress can be measured and payments made. See Purpose and Description of Services (page 5). The Plan must address 1) Project Personnel (List all personnel who will be working on the project and their titles and job descriptions) and 2) All aspects of the Purpose and Description of Services section (page 5) f) All proposals must be mailed under sealed cover and sent to the Department of Developmental Services by dates and times shown in Section C, Proposal Requirements and Information, Item 1) Key Action Dates (page 7). Proposals received after this date and time will not be considered. g) A minimum of one (1) hard copies of the proposal must be submitted. One (1) additional electronic copy of all portions of the proposal MUST also be submitted on a USB thumb drive. Where possible, all documents shall be in Microsoft Word or PDF, with the exception of the cost portion, which shall be in Microsoft Excel or PDF. h) The original proposal must be marked “ORIGINAL”. All documents contained in the original proposal package must have original signatures and must be signed by a person who is authorized to bind the proposing firm. All additional proposal sets may contain photocopies of the original package. i) All proposal envelopes must be plainly marked with the RFP number and title, the region RFP being submitted for, your firm name and address, and must be marked, as shown in the following example: Your Organization 123 Your Street, Room 100 Your City, Your State 90000 HD229064 DDS Implicit Bias Training (region XX) The cost portion of the proposals must be in a separate envelope, marked as above, and also be marked “COST PROPOSAL: DO NOT OPEN.” Cost portion should be saved as a separate file on the USB drive. Proposals not submitted under sealed cover and marked as indicated will be rejected. If the proposal is made under a fictitious name or business title, the actual legal name of proposer must be provided. j) All proposals shall include the documents identified in Section E, Additional Required Attachments (page 15). Proposals not including the proper “required attachments” shall be deemed nonresponsive. A non-responsive proposal is one that does not meet the basic proposal requirements and will not be evaluated for consideration of award of this contract. k) Mail to the following address: Department of Developmental Services Attention: Roberta Kline 1215 O Street, MS 10-10 Sacramento, CA 95814 l) Proposals must be submitted for the performance of all the services described herein. Any deviation from the work specifications will not be considered and will cause a proposal to be rejected. m) A proposal will be rejected if it is conditional or incomplete, or if it contains any alterations of form or other irregularities of any kind. The State may reject any or all proposals and may waive an immaterial deviation in a proposal. The State’s waiver of an immaterial deviation shall in no way modify the RFP document or excuse the proposer from full compliance with all requirements if awarded the agreement. n) Costs incurred for developing proposals and in anticipation of award of the agreement, including any travel expenses incurred during the RFP process, are entirely the responsibility of the proposer and shall not be charged to the State of California. o) An individual who is authorized to bind the proposing firm contractually must sign the Attachment 2, Proposal/Proposer Certification Sheet (page 16). The signature must indicate the title or position that the individual holds in the firm. An unsigned proposal will be rejected. Proposers will be required to provide DDS evidence of their authorization to sign the contract. p) A proposer may modify a proposal after its submission by withdrawing its original proposal and resubmitting a new proposal prior to the proposal submission deadline as set forth in the Key Action Dates. Proposal modifications offered in any other manner, oral or written, will not be considered. q) A proposer may withdraw its proposal by submitting a written withdrawal request to the State, signed by the proposer or an authorized agent in accordance with n) above. A proposer may thereafter submit a new proposal prior to the proposal submission deadline. r) The awarding agency may modify the RFP prior to the date fixed for submission of proposals by the issuance of an addendum to all parties who received a proposal package. s) The awarding agency may reject all proposals. In such instance, the agency is not required to award any agreement. t) Before submitting a response to this solicitation, proposers should review the response, correct all errors and confirm compliance with the RFP requirements. u) Where applicable, a proposer should carefully examine work sites and specifications. No increases to the cost bid submitted by any proposer will be allowed due to a proposer’s lack of careful examination of work sites and specifications. v) DDS will not accept more than one proposal for the same region from a single individual, firm, partnership, corporation or association whether submitted under the same or different names. w) DDS will not accept single bids submitted by a joint proposer. Additionally, if a bid is submitted by a subsidiary of another entity, the main entity must sign and be responsible for the contract. x) The State does not accept alternate contract language from any proposer. A proposal with such language will be considered a counter proposal and will be rejected. The State’s General Terms and Conditions (GTC 04/2017) are not negotiable. y) No oral understanding or agreement shall be binding on either party