Alabama Law Enforcement Agency

Office of the Secretary

Request for Proposal

Alabama Victims Notification System

Proposal Release Date: February 17, 2017

Proposal Due Date and Time: March 3, 2017, 4:00 PM CST.

2 of 37

Table of Contents 1. PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................................... 4

2. BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................................... 4

3. CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY AUTHORITY ................................................................................. 5

4. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 5

4.1 System description ........................................................................................................................ 6

5. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND FORMAT ................................................................................................ 7

5.1 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL FORMAT AND LAYOUT ..................................................................... 8

5.2 LOCATION FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL ............................................................................... 10

5.3 RFP WEBSITE ............................................................................................................................... 10

5.4 VENDOR LICENSURE .................................................................................................................... 11

5.5 COMPLIANCE WITH BEASON-HAMMON ACT (ACT 2012-491) ................................................... 11

5.6 PROPOSAL COSTS ........................................................................................................................ 11

5.7 INCIDENTAL COSTS ...................................................................................................................... 11

5.8 REVISIONS TO THE RFP................................................................................................................ 11

5.9 SOURCES FOR PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS................................................................................. 12

5.10 PROPOSAL VALIDITY .................................................................................................................... 12

5.11 ORAL PRESENTATIONS ................................................................................................................ 12

6 EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS AND SELECTION OF AWARD WINNER ................................................. 12

6.1 CRITERIA FOR SELECTION ............................................................................................................ 12

6.2 RESERVATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 13

6.3 RESCISSION OF AWARD .............................................................................................................. 13

6.4 FALSE OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS ......................................................................................... 13

6.5 COMPLETENESS OF PROPOSAL ................................................................................................... 13

6.6 CONTRACT AWARD TERMS ......................................................................................................... 13

6.7 NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO AWARD ....................................................................................... 14

6.8 CONTRACT LAWS ........................................................................................................................ 14

7 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................................ 14

7.1 RESPONDENT INFORMATION ..................................................................................................... 14

7.1.1 Respondent’s Organizational Information and Leadership ................................................ 14

7.1.2 Respondent’s Organizational Background .......................................................................... 14

7.1.3 Respondent’s Statement on Employees ............................................................................. 15

7.1.4 Respondent’s References and Related Experiences ........................................................... 15

3 of 37

7.1.5 Respondent’s State Business and Relationships ................................................................. 15

7.1.6 Respondent’s Subcontractors ............................................................................................. 15

7.2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESPONDENT ....................................................................... 16

7.2.1 Acknowledgement Statement ............................................................................................ 16

7.2.2 General Statements ............................................................................................................ 16

7.3 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESPONDENT ........................................................................ 16

7.4 RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................................................ 23

7.5 REQUIRED VENDOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS ................ 23

8 EXHIBITS .............................................................................................................................................. 25

8.1 List of local agencies in Alabama ................................................................................................ 25

8.2 Cover Sheet Example .................................................................................................................. 25

8.3 State of Alabama Vendor Disclosure Statement ........................................................................ 25

8.4 Immigration Compliance Certificate ........................................................................................... 25

8.5 IRS Form W-9 .............................................................................................................................. 25

Exhibit 8.1 ............................................................................................................................................... 26

List of local agencies in Alabama ............................................................................................................ 26

Exhibit 8.2 ............................................................................................................................................... 27

Cover Sheet Example .............................................................................................................................. 27

Exhibit 8.3 ............................................................................................................................................... 28

State of Alabama Vendor Disclosure Statement .................................................................................... 28

http://ago.state.al.us/Page-Vendor-Disclosure-Statement-Information-and-Instructions ................... 28

................................................................................................................................................................ 29

................................................................................................................................................................ 30

Exhibit 8.4 ............................................................................................................................................... 31

Immigration Compliance Certificate ....................................................................................................... 31

................................................................................................................................................................ 32

Exhibit 8.5 ............................................................................................................................................... 33

IRS Form W-9 .......................................................................................................................................... 33

4 of 37

1. PURPOSE

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (hereinafter referred to as “ALEA”) is initiating this Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals from responsible and qualified vendors or service providers interested in contracting with ALEA to provide a comprehensive solution for the Alabama Victim Notification System (VNS). The successful Respondent will provide victims of Alabama with a statewide automated victim notification system.

2. BACKGROUND

The Alabama Victim Notification System program’s goal is to help protect Alabama crime victims and survivors of crime on a statewide basis from further victimization, ensure their safety, uphold their rights, and provide them with critical information about the custody status of the criminal offenders who victimized them. This program involves creating a comprehensive, one-stop place for crime victims to register for timely notifications for status changes as a criminal offender progresses through the criminal justice system. Once registered, victims will be provided timely and accurate information about specific changes in the status of selected offenders through a method of notification (or multiple methods) of their choosing—automated voice recording, text messaging, e-mailing, or letter. For example, if a victim chooses, notices may be provided for important upcoming dates and developments relating to the criminal proceedings at issue in their case (i.e., hearing and trial dates, times, schedule changes; sentencing events; probation proceedings; custody changes within the Department of Corrections, including release to the community through work release, the Supervised Release or SIR Program, medical furlough or other temporary leave, and Community Corrections Program institutional diversions; parole hearings and parole decisions by the Parole Board; Mandatory Release; revocation proceedings; completion of sentence; and pardon hearings and pardon decisions). Also provided through the notification system will be comprehensive information concerning resources for crime victims across Alabama and contact information for live assistance by a knowledgeable person to support their registration or to address issues that may arise. Through this project, victims and survivors of violent crime will be able to discretely and securely access and receive important information that can help them make informed decisions about their level of participation in the legal process, have peace of mind by knowing what is happening with their case, and take necessary precautionary steps to plan for their safety as needed. This project requires multiagency support from both local and statewide representatives who already compose membership of Alabama’s Victim Notification System Task Force. See Ala. Code § 15-22-36.2. The Task Force is charged with ensuring that the state uses a notification system that meets statutory requirements and the goals of equipping victims with the information they need while protecting their safety and other established rights under Alabama law. Additional Task Force responsibilities include ensuring that victims across Alabama are

5 of 37

aware of the notification service offered by the state by conducting a public education campaign and educating system stakeholders who interact with crime victims at different levels of the justice process.

3. CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY AUTHORITY

During the 2015 Regular Legislative Session, Alabama policymakers passed comprehensive justice reinvestment or “prison reform” legislation (Act 2015-185), which incorporates important revisions and expansions to Alabama’s victim notification law. The law specifically sought to close significant gaps that existed in the state’s long-running requirements in certain areas, i.e. parole and pardon consideration, to keep victims informed of the status change of the offenders that harmed them or their loved one(s) by ensuring that identified critical notification events within the justice process now produce a right to important and timely and notifications for interested victims who register. These new specific notification rights build upon those rights included in Alabama’s “Victim Bill of Rights,” which generally provides the right to be informed, to be present, and, to be heard at authorized times at various critical stages of criminal proceedings to the extent that these rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the defendant. Ala. Const. (1901), amend. 557; § 15-23-60 et seq. Act 2011-681 first established the Victim Notification Implementation Task Force that is responsible for the overseeing the development of the automated victim notification system, originally created for producing parole and pardon hearing notifications to victims and officials identified in statute. See Ala. Code §§ 15-22-23, 36, 36.2. Act 2015-185 expanded the state’s notification responsibilities primarily to the Alabama Department of Corrections and added membership to the Task Force. The Act also made several important other changes to provide structure and guidance to the notification system project by formally housing the system at the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), minimally funding the project for the first time, and better defining the immediate and long term functions of the Task Force. See id. The Task Force is also charged pursuant to this Act with identifying additional notifications to those identified in statute based on the best interest of Alabama crime victims and public safety.

4. INTRODUCTION

The goal of the Alabama Victim Notification System program is to provide the victims of Alabama with a statewide automated victim notification system. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) intends to implement a victim notification system to integrate to the 67 county jails (Exhibit 8.1), Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles (ABPP), the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) and the Alabama Office of Courts (AOC). In addition, the solution must provide ALEA with a web service to the state’s incarceration records, which can be integrated with Alabama’s criminal justice portal.

6 of 37

4.1 System description

The automated victim notification system will use data feeds from participating Alabama agencies. The selected vendor will provide the transport method and transmission of the booking data. Key data elements for the matching process include, but not limited to: first name, last name, middle name, alternate IDs, DOB, and SSN.

The system will allow ALEA administrators with the ability to review the automated matching results report via a secure web portal. Results must show: the date matched, subject type (offender), subject ID, subject name, agency, status (custody), and status date.

ALEA will have options on how notification scripting is configured.

The vendor will also provide ALEA with a web service mechanism through which authorized users are able to access Alabama incarceration data collected by the victim notification system. This web service access will return information to include, but not limited to: incarceration records, historical data, links to photos (where available), watch capability, currently incarcerated report, recent bookings report, and accessible data report.

As changes occur in an offender’s status, notifications will be made to all registered individuals. Depending on the agency booking and records management system and booking practices, the system must make available notifications as listed below. The list below is not an exhaustive list and will need to be modified and customized to meet the needs of ALEA and participating agencies. Notification examples include:

Release o Release to parole supervision o Release to Immigrant and Customs Enforcement o Release to other law enforcement agency o Release to custody of another state agency o Release to Supervised Reentry Program o Release to SIR program o Release – Error (inmate released from custody as the person was admitted in

error) o Expiration of sentence o Release by court order discharge o Release unknown o Institutional Diversion to CCP o Work release o Furlough o Released to Parole o Released to Probation

Transfer o Transfer to another state agency o Transfer from work release program o Transfer from Jail to Prison

7 of 37

o Transfer to Community Corrections o Unsupervised out-custody status o Condition Transfers

ABPP o Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing o Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing- Waived o Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing- Cancelled o Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing- Delayed o Revocation of Parole or Probation o Imposition of sanction to jail/prison – Records concerning the status of

supervised offenders including information on whether and how supervision was terminated.

o P&P Change of Office o P&P Parole Board Results – Post hearing notice for parole or pardons o Warrant issued for parole or probation violation

Death

Escape

Arrest

Advanced Release, including 30-day notice

Court Hearing Notices

Return to custody of an inmate The system will provide delivery notifications via phone, email, text, or TTY (text telephone).

Phone: Telephone notifications will need to be delivered to any direct dial number (e.g. home, work, and/or cell)

Email: Email notifications to be initiated at the time of the event change.

Short Message Service (text): SMS notifications are initiated at the time of an event change. SMS messages are restricted to 160 characters but designed to provide the most pertinent information to the registrant surrounding the custody change of an offender.

TTY (Text Telephone): TTY, for the hearing impaired, can be initiated at the time of an event change.

Printing Notifications: The system must have the capability to generate notifications as a PDF document and allow authorized users to print notifications that need to be mailed. The mandatory requirements are provided in detail is Section 7.3 of this RFP

5. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND FORMAT

This RFP is issued in accordance with the requirements of Code of Alabama 1975, § 41-16 as well as any other applicable state laws. This RFP is not an offer to contract but seeks the submission of proposals from interested service providers that may form the basis for

8 of 37

negotiation of a contract. Proposals must be prepared in compliance with all instructions, conditions and requirements included in this RFP. Respondents are responsible for examining all documentation, schedules and requirements relevant to this RFP, and failure to observe all terms and conditions may cause any submitted proposal to be invalid. Information submitted by respondents must be sufficiently detailed to verify that products and services offered meet or exceed required specifications. Unless otherwise stated, the requirements outlined in this RFP are mandatory, and the State of Alabama, through ALEA, reserves the right to use information available from any source in addition to respondents in the process of evaluating and selecting a suitable proposal. ALEA reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to solicit additional proposals if that is determined to be in the best interests of ALEA or the state. Respondents must insert a signed and notarized statement on letterhead behind the coversheet example (provided below) stating that the proposal is official. Respondent will submit three (3) additional and identical proposal printed copies. In addition, a digital copy on a CD/DVD or USB flash drive that is properly labeled, and containing ALL TECHNICAL AND PRICING DATA, must be submitted. No proposals will be accepted via email. Any proposals submitted, that do not adhere to the instructions for submission, may not be accepted. Whether mailed or hand delivered, proposals must be received in office of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, located at 201 S. Union St., Suite 300, Montgomery, Alabama 36130, no later than 4:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT), March 3, 2017. The proposal and documentation become the property of the State and will not be returned. It is the responsibility of each provider to ensure that the proposal is delivered at the proper time and place. It is the intent of ALEA to evaluate all proposals in a standardized and objective manner. For this reason, proposals that do not conform to the format specified in this RFP and which are not delivered as specified in this RFP may not be considered.

5.1 SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL FORMAT AND LAYOUT

The following requirements should be followed in order for the respondent’s RFP to be valid:

Font Type: Times New Roman

Font Size: 12pt

Font Style: Regular (no italic font)

Bullets and Numbering: Respondent may use as needed

Line and Paragraph Spacing: Single or 1.0

Margins: 1” on all sides

Color: Black and White

The printed documents for submission must be 3-hole punched and placed in a 3- ringbinder large enough to hold the entire submission in one binder

Cover Sheet (template at Exhibit 8.6; should be placed in the front of the binder):o Title of this RFPo Date Submittedo Name of Respondento Single Point of Contact for the Respondento Contact Information for the Respondent’s Single Point of Contact

9 of 37

The printed documents for submission should be tabbed as follows with the required information following the correlating tab as outlined in Section 7 of this RFP:

o Part A: Respondent Information Organizational Information and Leadership Organizational Background Statement on Full Time Employees References and Related Experiences State Business Relationships Subcontractors Vendor Disclosure Statement Immigration Compliance Certificate IRS Form W-9

o Part B: General Requirements Acknowledgements Statement (Other related tabs may be added by the respondent in Part B as needed)

o Part C: Specific Requirements Web-based Public Registration Portal Administrative Portal Notifications

Four-digit Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)

Scripts

Automated tool Data Monitoring Multi-jurisdiction and multi-agency collaboration and data exchanges Data collection: Centralized Offender Related Data Repository Data Security Analytical Tools Usage Reports Disaster Recovery Emergency Override Line (EOL) Technology Enhancements Statewide Dedicated Toll-free Line 24x7x365

Live Operator Assistance

Booking System Change Support

System and Data Monitoring Technologies

Technical Assistance and Training

Maintenance and Support Scalability

Marketing and Education Hardware for Local Agencies Hardware and Software Support Survey Tool

10 of 37

Mobile Application Data Transmission Methodology Technical Guidelines

o The respondent’s submission may not contain any general images or photos unless they are necessary to the substance of the proposal.

o The respondent’s submission may include company logos, coverage maps and/or technical diagrams.

o The respondent’s RFP Document Submission in full may not exceed 100 pages. o All pages in the submission, other than the cover sheet and required forms found

in the Exhibit Section of this RFP, should be numbered. o The respondent must also provide one (1) printed, redacted copy to be used for

public release, should it be requested and appropriate under state law. The respondent may only redact proprietary information or trade secret information specific to the respondent. The respondent is responsible for determining what information should be redacted. Redaction should be accomplished by completely blacking out the information that the respondent deems proprietary or trade secret.

5.2 LOCATION FOR SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

Proposals must be received at the location below by the date and time specified above. TO

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA)

ATTN: Kelvin Williams

ADDRESS: 201 South Union Street, Suite 300, Montgomery, Alabama 36130

(via Courier or UPS/FedEx)

It is the respondent’s sole responsibility to assure delivery at the designated location by the designated time. A RFP received after the deadline may not be accepted and may be disqualified from further consideration.

5.3 RFP WEBSITE

This RFP, and all notices, amendments, and public communication regarding this RFP will be posted at the following website: http://www.purchasing.alabama.gov/ http://rfp.alabama.gov/ http://rfp.alabama.gov/publicView.aspx Reasonable effort will be made to maintain reliable and efficient access to this site and its associated content. However, ALEA is not liable for any respondent's problems or errors

11 of 37

(including but not limited to missed deadlines) that may arise due to temporary technical failures related to this website.

5.4 VENDOR LICENSURE

Before an agreement pursuant to this RFP can be executed, the respondent must hold all applicable business and professional licenses as well as registered to transact business in the State of Alabama. ALEA may require respondents to submit proof of licensure accordingly.

5.5 COMPLIANCE WITH BEASON-HAMMON ACT (ACT 2012-491)

Act 2012-491 of the Alabama Legislature, codified as Code of Alabama 1975, §§ 31-13-1 et seq., regulates Illegal immigration in the State of Alabama. Effective April 1, 2012, all contracts with the State or a political subdivision thereof must comply with the provisions of that law whether or not the respondent has a presence in Alabama or the work will be performed outside of the State. Information regarding Act 2012-491 can be found at the following website: http://immigration.alabama.gov/ Compliance with Act 2012-491 is due upon contract award and not part of the RFP process.

5.6 PROPOSAL COSTS

Respondents are solely responsible for the cost of preparing their proposals. Neither ALEA nor the State has any liability for any costs incurred by a prospective respondent, responding to this RFP for the preparation, production, demonstration, presentation or any other work performed prior to the issuance of a contract. If this RFP is cancelled at any time in the proposal process, respondents may not collect any costs incurred in preparation of their proposals.

5.7 INCIDENTAL COSTS

All costs associated with travel by the respondent for the project, as well as associated costs for lodging and per diem, must be inclusive as part of the respondent's Cost Proposal. The respondent is expected to cover their own travel and related costs for the project and will not be reimbursed by the State of Alabama.

5.8 REVISIONS TO THE RFP

In the event it becomes necessary to revise any part of this RFP, addenda will be posted on the RFP website as listed in this RFP. Vendors have a duty to monitor the website. If the changes are of major concern, ALEA may, at its sole discretion, withdraw this RFP and may/may not issue a replacement RFP. Failure to incorporate addenda in submitted responses may result in the Respondent’s proposal being categorized Non-Responsive and may result in disqualification.

12 of 37

5.9 SOURCES FOR PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Proposals must be based solely on this RFP. ALEA is not bound by oral explanations or instructions given during the procurement process, unless specifically included in this RFP, or subsequent addenda issued prior to the closing date.

5.10 PROPOSAL VALIDITY

Submitted proposals must be valid for at least thirty (30) days.

5.11 ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Oral presentations may be requested, if deemed necessary by ALEA. ALEA will not be liable for any costs associated with requested oral presentations.

6 EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS AND SELECTION OF AWARD WINNER

After receipt of the proposals, ALEA will evaluate all proposals to determine those respondents that are qualified, and then based solely on its own judgment, will further determine which vendor has offered the best proposal to meet requirements.

6.1 CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

Proposals will be evaluated upon the contents of the proposal, information received from other sources, and public knowledge. Selection will be based on all factors listed below and others implicit within this RFP. The presentation sequence of the criteria below does not indicate their precedence but the respondent must satisfy ALEA's requirements in Part A and Part B of this section listed below to be considered for the price competition within Part C.

1) Basic Qualifying Requirements – The respondent’s proposal must meet all format requirements as presented in Section 5 of the RFP. The respondent must provide a response for all portions of the RFP.

2) Evaluation Criteria – All qualified respondents’ proposals will be evaluated and winning

respondent will be selected based on the following criteria. A. Respondent Qualifications

Respondent’s past experience with professional services of this type and scope;

Ability and willingness of the respondent to perform the services required and meet the terms of the RFP;

Quality and relevancy of the services being proposed. B. Support for Performance

13 of 37

The specific information found in the respondent’s proposal will be evaluated to determine the overall support for the respondent’s ability to perform the items proposed, including an evaluation of any and all documentation provided by the respondent to meet the requirements listed in Section 7.

C. Cost

ALEA awards contracts based on the best value to the state from those qualified respondents that in ALEA's opinion meets or exceeds the criteria specified for selection as defined by Alabama Laws.

Upon review and evaluation of all proposals, the State of Alabama, through ALEA, may select the respondent determined to best meet the needs of the state. Upon selection of a respondent, the state may initiate negotiations for specific contractual terms and conditions.

6.2 RESERVATIONS

ALEA reserves the right to award or reject any of the proposals, or any parts thereof, received in response to this RFP, if it is considered to be in the best interest of ALEA and they reserve the right to solicit additional proposals if they so desire.

6.3 RESCISSION OF AWARD

If an award is made by the State of Alabama, through ALEA and prior to execution of a contract, subsequent information indicates that the award was not in the best interests of the state, or that all parties are unable to come to agreement on terms, the awarding party reserves the right to rescind the award and either award the contract to another respondent or reject all proposals.

6.4 FALSE OR MISLEADING STATEMENTS

Proposals containing false or misleading statements, or which provide references not supporting attributes or conditions claimed by a respondent may be rejected solely at the awarding parties’ discretion.

6.5 COMPLETENESS OF PROPOSAL

A proposal may be rejected if it is conditional, incomplete, contains any alterations of form or other irregularities, or is judged to constitute a deviation from the RFP requirements.

6.6 CONTRACT AWARD TERMS

The State plans to execute a contract as a result of this RFP. The award shall be based upon criteria and standards identified in this RFP. The State also reserves the right, at its discretion, to award a Contract by item, group of items, or total Proposal. The respondent(s) selected to provide the services specified in this RFP may enter into a written contractual agreement with

14 of 37

the state of Alabama. The terms and conditions of such an agreement will be subject to review and approval by ALEA, the Office of the Governor of Alabama, the Alabama Department of Finance and the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee. The state reserves the right alter the contract terms and/or conditions until the contract is signed by all parties.

6.7 NOTIFICATION OF INTENT TO AWARD

ALEA will issue and publicize a Notification of Intent to Award to the respondent whom the State has the intent to award a contract to under this RFP, pending all contingencies and successful negotiations, no later than 90 days after the closing date of this RFP.

6.8 CONTRACT LAWS

In order for the State of Alabama to execute a Request for Proposal, receive information, and award a contract, a respondent must be aware of and follow the Code of Alabama 1975 sections dealing with state bid laws and contracts. This information is available at:

Alabama Department of Finance, Division of Purchasing: State Bid Laws-http://purchasing.alabama.gov/pages/code_alabama.aspx

Alabama Department of Finance, Division of Purchasing: Rules and Regulations-http://purchasing.alabama.gov/pages/rules_regs.aspx

Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama 1975-http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/alison_lcc/CoA.aspx

7 PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

7.1 RESPONDENT INFORMATION

7.1.1 Respondent’s Organizational Information and Leadership

The respondent must specify the name, title, physical office and mailing address, resume and business telephone number of those individuals responsible for the performance under the anticipated contract resulting from this RFP, including those individuals with primary day-to-day responsibility for the services contemplated herein, and specifying their relevant industry experience and location. Please identify a single point of contact for this RFP on the Cover Sheet as shown in Exhibit 8.2. 7.1.2 Respondent’s Organizational Background

Provide a full and complete background description of the organization, including:

Full company or corporate name, physical address of the headquarters office and the office to serve ALEA;

15 of 37

How the business is organized (proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC), parent or subsidiary corporations;

The year in which the respondent was first organized to do business;

Documentation that the respondent is qualified to transact business within the State of Alabama in accordance with the Code of Alabama 1975 §§ Section 10-2B-15.01 and 10A-9-9.02 and possesses a Certificate of Authority issued by the Secretary of State at the time a professional services contract is executed. For the entire term that the contract is in effect the selected provider must continuously be in good standing with the State of Alabama and with any political subdivisions thereof which have jurisdiction over the provider's operations;

The organization's experience in providing services comparable to the type presented in this RFP;

Other types of services the respondent provides.

7.1.3 Respondent’s Statement on Employees

The respondent must specify the anticipated number of full or part time employees and the role of each in performing the services required in this RFP. The respondent must provide the position description and resumes of existing personnel.

7.1.4 Respondent’s References and Related Experiences

Provide a history of the provider's experience in providing services identified as required in this RFP, including a list of at last three (3) references of similar organizations, with complete point of contact information, currently using the professional services which are the same or substantially similar to those specified in this RFP. ALEA reserves the right to contact each organization listed in the proposal.

7.1.5 Respondent’s State Business and Relationships

The respondent must state clearly any current or past relationships with the State of Alabama and provide the name and address of the person to contact to verify the relationship. The proposal must include a completed Disclosure Statement using the form described in Exhibit 8.3 of this RFP, signed by a duly authorized officer of the provider organization.

7.1.6 Respondent’s Subcontractors

Any subcontractor employed by the respondent in the course of this project must be clearly documented with organizational information.

16 of 37

7.2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESPONDENT

7.2.1 Acknowledgement Statement

The respondent must submit a statement, signed and dated, with the following:

The representatives or designees for (name of respondent) have read, understand, acknowledge, accept and agree to all parts, terms, and conditions of this RFP. [Signed name, printed name of signee, position with the respondent organization, and date]

7.2.2 General Statements

Respondents to this RFP must have clear and convincing expertise, experience, and qualifications as principals in general accounting principles, working with federal funds, working with state governments, and with state funds. The Respondent must explicitly and fully state their expertise, experience, and qualifications in these areas.

7.3 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESPONDENT

The Alabama Victim Notification System program’s goal is to help protect Alabama crime victims and survivors of crime on a statewide basis from further victimization, ensure their safety, uphold their rights, and provide them with critical information about the custody status of the criminal offenders who victimized them. To accomplish this goal, we are soliciting for a comprehensive solution that will achieve the following objectives: 1. Web-based Public Registration Portal: Provide a secure web application in English and

Spanish language that will serve as a comprehensive information resource for registrants such as crime victims across Alabama, law enforcement, victim service officers and interested parties to register in a secure manner and be discretely notified of change in offender’s status. The website must have at a minimum the following capabilities

a. Allow a user to register and create an account and log in to the website is a secure manner and have the ability to recover a forgotten password.

b. Provide information on assistance to crime victims, parole information, prison and inmate information, and various resources to the victims.

c. The website must be available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year.

d. Once a user logs in, they must have the ability to: i. Update and modify their contact information and the information on who

can receive notifications. ii. When contact information is modified a historical record of the information

must be recorded and displayed. iii. Do a full or a partial search.

17 of 37

iv. Search by multiple criteria such as first name, middle name, last name, date of birth, an identifying number and other data elements.

v. Search for an offender and select the offender to receive notifications of change in status.

vi. Select the options they can receive notification such as regular mail, certified mail, email, phone call, text message, or any combination thereof.

e. When a search is done on an offender, the result must display at the minimum i. Any available images

ii. Offender information iii. Current location of the offender iv. Current status of the offender v. Historical information of the offenders’ movement from one facility to

another vi. The source of the data.

2. Administrative Portal: Provide a secure administrative web portal. It should be designed to

allow a user to access and modify information associated only with their agency. Functions

will be activated based upon specific users’ needs. User IDs shall be issued with the

appropriate functionality assigned.

The administrative portal must have the ability to log every contact made with a victim,

print notification letters, update and delete phone numbers and PINs, stop and cancel

notification calls, look-up victims registered within the system, provide emergency override

reporting, view notification content of delivered victim notification and obtain system usage

reports.

3. Notifications: Provide for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year multiple methods of notification of change in offender status to victims and other interested parties. Methods of notifications include but are not limited to regular mail, certified mail, email, phone call, TTY (Text Telephone) text message, or any combination thereof. Notifications must include, but are not limited to:

1. Release a. Release to parole supervision b. Release to Immigrant and Customs Enforcement c. Release to other law enforcement agency d. Release to custody of another state agency e. Release to Supervised Reentry Program f. Release to SIR program g. Release – Error (inmate released from custody as the person was admitted in

error) h. Expiration of sentence i. Release by court order discharge

18 of 37

j. Release unknown k. Institutional Diversion to CCP l. Work release m. Furlough n. Released to Parole o. Released to Probation

2. Transfer a. Transfer to another state agency b. Transfer from work release program c. Transfer from Jail to Prison d. Transfer to Community Corrections e. Unsupervised out-custody status f. Condition Transfers

3. ABPP a. Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing b. Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing- Waived c. Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing- Cancelled d. Advanced Parole or Pardon Hearing- Delayed e. Revocation of Parole or Probation f. Imposition of sanction to jail/prison – Records concerning the status of

supervised offenders including information on whether and how supervision was terminated.

g. P&P Change of Office h. P&P Parole Board Results – Post hearing notice for parole or pardons

i. Warrant issued for parole or probation violation 4. Death 5. Escape 6. Arrest 7. Advanced Release, including 30-day notice 8. Court Hearing Notices 9. Return to custody of an inmate

Printing Notifications: The system must have the capability to generate notifications as a PDF document and allow authorized users to print notifications that need to be mailed.

10. Four-digit Personal Identification Numbers (PINs): Registrants must be able to self-select a four-digit PIN to conform receipt of telephone notifications. The respondent must offer call notifications continuously until a PIN is entered and also configurable calling patterns. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

11. Scripts: Provide for the ability to create, edit and modify scripts for phone, email and text in English and Spanish.

19 of 37

12. Automated tool: Provide an automated tool, with additional manual control, that uses its logic to match and automatically map and identify offenders, transfer registrations, and then reports on the outcome. As offenders move throughout the criminal justice system their location often changes. It is critical to ensure that anyone who has registered against an offender, whether they be in a county jail and transfer to another county jail or the ADOC, or are in the ADOC and transfer to a county jail, that all of the victim registrations stay with that offender. This automated tool should solve this problem and provide adequate reporting

13. Data Monitoring: Provide for systems and agencies data monitoring through operational business intelligence and remote monitoring by evaluating for events, warnings, alarms. It should be capable of assigning action based upon configurable business rules and the event or alarm type received. Provide for creating support tickets and perform automatic data reconciliation.

14. Multi-jurisdiction and multi-agency collaboration and data exchanges Provide for interagency sharing of data that includes update of offender data. This effort will address the below areas:

a. Alabama Department of Corrections: Interface with the Alabama Department of Corrections to provide information on change in custody status.

b. Alabama Pardons and Parole Notification Functionality: i. Interface with the Alabama Board of Pardon and Parole (ABPP) to provide

pardon and parole pre and post hearing notifications to victims and officials. It must have the ability for parole or pardon event notification, making available offender information while an offender is still under supervision and removing offender information when they are removed from supervision.

ii. Must allow for notice of parole or pardon hearings to be made available to officials. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

iii. Must allow for ABPP (or specified ABPP users) to verify that a victim qualifies as a statutory victim case, entitled to paper notice. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

c. Alabama Office of Courts: Interface with AOC so that when a victim is registered by a ABPP Officer, the system must provide the ability to export the information via a web service to an AOC web service to be included in the case action summaries. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

d. Alabama Driver License System Interface with the Alabama driver license system at ALEA in order to get victims most recent address that is useful for the agencies to contact and communicate with victims.

e. Other Systems: Interface with other state systems to verify and validate a welfare or other benefit claim based on incarceration status. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

20 of 37

15. Data collection: a. Provide mechanism to get offender data from third party vendor jail management

systems that currently do not provide data from multiple jurisdictions. b. Provide a mechanism to collect data from multiple local jurisdictions, which do not

all have an existing jail management software. c. Provide ALEA a copy of the offender data received from all stakeholders, including

but not limited to third party vendor systems, existing jail management systems, respondent systems, state level systems and other applicable systems.

16. Centralized Offender Related Data Repository: Create a centralized repository of

offender information that can be accessed by authorized stakeholders and victims who register to be notified. This effort will involve creating a repository that will allow for data and information to be gathered through multi-jurisdiction and multi-agency collaboration, and stored and accessed from one location by all stakeholders. A copy of the centralized data repository must be provided to ALEA electronically as a web service and in real time to be located in ALEA data warehouse.

17. Data Security: Respondent must adhere to the guidelines of the FBI CJIS Security

Policies and CJIS encryption requirements. Respondent solution must offer a comprehensive authorization and access control mechanism based on GFIPM. Respondent will not mine data or use data for private purposes not expressly authorized by ALEA and user agencies. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement and other security measures in place.

18. Analytical Tools: Provide analytical tools to make changes to the system with minimal, if

any, software development, reducing time to develop, test and deploy changes to the system.

19. Usage Reports: Respondent must describe all available reports of system usage that will be available to the State of Alabama.

20. Disaster Recovery: Respondent must ensure that there is a backup procedure in the

event of a disaster or failure. Respondent shall describe their current disaster recovery process.

21. Emergency Override Line (EOL): Provide for a mechanism to track if there is data

outage from a local agency as data is not being received and inform the local agency as well as ALEA of the data outage. During an outage period, respondent must have an EOL process for ensuring that notifications are made in a timely and accurate manner for offenders in custody. Respondent must describe their EOL process in detail.

22. Technology Enhancements: As technology is constantly evolving and improving, system upgrades and service improvements are required. Respondent must describe its policy on routine enhancements.

21 of 37

23. Statewide Dedicated Toll-free Line 24x7x365:

a. The proposed solution must provide a toll-free number available 24 hours per day, 7

days per week, and 365 days per year, manned by trained operators, which allows

victims, surviving immediate family members, witness(es), and/or other concerned

citizens to search for an offender, obtain information, and/or register for

notifications. The system shall support DTMF, TTS, and multi-lingual technology.

The system shall provide inbound automated information calls and outbound

automated notifications with programmable calling patterns. Respondent shall have

the capability to support high volumes of inbound and outbound calls. A rate of 99.9

percent of the calls must be answered and not forwarded to a queue or placed on

hold is required. All calls need to be attended by a Live Operator who shall be able to

assist in English and Spanish. Respondent must describe in detail its ability to meet

this requirement.

b. Respondent must provide a back-up Call Center at a separate location that provides

the ability to restore services within a short period of time in the event of a natural

disaster.

24. Live Operator Assistance: Provide live operator assistance through the toll-free phone

numbers, providing callers with the option of speaking to a live operate that can assist in

locating an offender, registering for an automated notification, and/or referrals.

Translation services must also be available. Respondent must describe their ability to

meet this requirement.

25. Booking System Change Support: Respondent must be capable and experienced in the

area of providing support services needed to interface with jail management systems in

the county jails. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

26. System and Data Monitoring Technologies: The ability to monitor the victim

notification system and data flow is essential for the successful operation of the

program. Respondent must offer monitoring technologies for systems and agency data.

Respondent must have capability to quickly diagnose issues and resolve interface

problems with minimal interruption to the victim notification system. Respondent must

describe their ability to meet this requirement, as well as:

a. Monitor frequency and accuracy of data

b. Provide customer notification of alarms

c. Provide for alarm resolution

d. Provide customer access to system reports of metrics and alarms

e. Track incidents to resolve problems within the victim notification system

22 of 37

27. Technical Assistance and Training: Provide technical assistance on a 24x7x365 basis to

include research, troubleshooting, and/or escalation. Respondent must describe their

ability to meet this requirement as well as the incident escalation process. Training shall

be provided via the Internet or on-site when such training is indicated or otherwise

requested by ALEA. Training material shall include user manuals to be approved by the

ALEA training videos, brochures, posters, registration materials, and any other relevant

training resources to all participating entities.

28. Maintenance and Support: System maintenance must be provided by respondent and

shall also include updates to the public registration portal, administration portal and the centralized data store. Ongoing support of web accessible User Interfaces, system scripts or normal programming changes for English and Spanish languages will be provided.

29. Scalability: Respondent must describe their ability to accommodate more than 10,000

simultaneous web users.

30. Marketing and education: Provide adequate marketing and education awareness

support about the system by designating a client relationship manager who will coordinate and assist in developing marketing material such as brochures, posters, tear pads.

31. Hardware for local agencies: Procure and deploy necessary hardware to implement the

victim notification system at the local agencies. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

32. Hardware and Software Support: Provide monitoring of all hardware and software

supporting the service at each jail 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year within appropriate time-frames based on county agency size.

33. Survey Tool: Provide a survey tool to gather information about users’ satisfaction with

the service to enable the agency make improvements. 34. Mobile Application: Provide users with the ability to access information via a mobile

application to include: up-to-date offender status, offender search, registration for notifications, and victim resources. The mobile application should display photos where available. Respondent must describe their ability to meet this requirement.

35. Data Transmission Methodology: Respondent must provide jails, the ABPP, the ADOC, AOC and other state agencies with more than one integration model alternatives to include, at a minimum: a web service and direct transfer through Secure File Transfer

23 of 37

Protocol (SFTP). Respondents shall describe available standard integration models offered to agencies for data transmission.

36. Criminal Justice Information Compliance: The solution, services, any offsite infrastructure or hosting solution and all contractor’s representative will comply with Criminal Justice Information (CJIS) requirements. At the time of execution of the contract with ALEA, the contractor will also need to execute a Standard Contract Addendum for Criminal Justice Information Services Compliance. (See Attachment A)

37. Technical Guidelines: Proposed solution must comply with the technical guidelines and standards for the operation of a statewide automated victim notification system as given by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA):

https://it.ojp.gov/documents/ijis_savin_guidelines_standards.pdf

7.4 RESPONSE REQUIREMENTS

Respondents must indicate whether or not they can complete the task as written in the entirety of Section 7. The response to each separate task should indicate if the respondent anticipates any issues in completing tasks as described. The respondent should describe how each task will be completed. Respondents must also provide details of the below listed plans.

Implementation Plan: Respondent shall include an implementation plan and timeline for the project.

Project Management Plan: Respondent shall include a description of the project management plan to be applied to the project.

Budget Plan: A detailed itemized budget plan will include a breakdown of all costs to be covered for product and services provided with all costs included must be broken down and itemized with explanation.

Organization Chart: Provide a project organization chart that clearly illustrates each dedicated staff member.

Key Personnel: Provide a list of key personnel and associated resumes.

7.5 REQUIRED VENDOR DISCLOSURE STATEMENT INFORMATION AND

INSTRUCTIONS

Section 41-16-82, Code of Alabama 1975 requires the disclosure statement to be completed and filed with all proposals, bids, contracts, or grant proposals to the State of Alabama in excess of $5,000. The disclosure statement is not required for contracts for gas, water, and electric services where no competition exists, or where rates are fixed by law or ordinance. In circumstances where a contract is awarded by competitive bid, the disclosure statement shall be required only from the person receiving the contract and shall be submitted within ten (10) days of the award.

24 of 37

A copy of the disclosure statement shall be filed with the awarding entity and the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, and if it pertains to a state contract, a copy shall be submitted to the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee. The address for the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts is as follows: 50N. Ripley Street, Room 3201, Montgomery, Alabama 36130-2101. If the disclosure statement is filed with a contract, the awarding entity should include a copy with the contract when it is presented to the Contract Review Permanent Legislative Oversight Committee.

Pursuant to Section 41-16-84 (b), Code of Alabama 1975 the State of Alabama shall not enter into any contract or appropriate any public funds with any person who refuses to provide information as required.

Pursuant to Section 41-16-86, Code of Alabama 1975, any person who knowingly provides misleading or incorrect information on the disclosure statement shall be subject to a civil penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of the transaction, not to exceed $10,000.00. Also, the contract or grant shall be voidable by the awarding entity. Definitions as Provided in Section 41-16-81, Code of Alabama 1975

1. Family Member of a Public Employee – The spouse or a dependent of the public employee.

2. Family Member of a Public Official – The spouse, a dependent, an adult child and his or her spouse, a parent, a spouse’s parents, or a sibling and his or her spouse, of the public official.

3. Family Relationship – A person has a family relationship with a public official or public

employee if the person is a family member of the public official or public employee.

4. Person – An individual, firm, partnership, association, joint venture, cooperative, or corporation, or any other group or combination acting in concert.

5. Public Official and Public Employee - These terms shall have the same meanings ascribed to

them in Sections 36-25-1(23) and 36-25-1(24), Code of Alabama 1975, (see below) except for the purposes of the disclosure requirements of this article, the terms shall only include persons in a position to influence the awarding of a grant or contract who are affiliated with the awarding entity. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these terms shall also include the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, members of the cabinet of the Governor, and members of the Legislature. (Note: The definitions for public official and public employee are now denoted as Sections 36-25-1 (25) and 3625-1 (26), Code of Alabama 1975. However, Section 41-16-86 (5), Code of Alabama 1975 has not been codified to reflect such updates.)

Section 36-25-1(25), Code of Alabama 1975, defines a public employee as any person employed at the state, county or municipal level of government or their instrumentalities, including governmental corporations and authorities, but excluding employees of hospitals or other health care corporations including contract employees of those hospitals or other health care

25 of 37

corporations, who is paid in whole or in part from state, county, or municipal funds. For purposes of this chapter, a public employee does not include a person employed on a part-time basis whose employment is limited to providing professional services other than lobbying, the compensation for which constitutes less than 50 percent of the part-time employee’s income.

Section 36-25-1(26), Code of Alabama 1975, defines a public official as any person elected to public office, whether or not that person has taken office, by the vote of the people at state, county, or municipal level of government or their instrumentalities, including governmental corporations, and any person appointed to a position at the state, county, or municipal level of government or their instrumentalities, including governmental corporations. For purposes of this chapter, a public official includes the chairs and vice-chairs or the equivalent offices of each state political party as defined in Section 17-13-40, Code of Alabama 1975. Complete all lines as indicated. If an item does not apply, denote N/A (not applicable). If you cannot include required information in the space provided, attach additional sheets as necessary.

THE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT MUST BE SIGNED, DATED, AND NOTARIZED PRIOR TO SUBMISSION.

8 EXHIBITS 8.1 List of local agencies in Alabama

8.2 Cover Sheet Example

8.3 State of Alabama Vendor Disclosure Statement

8.4 Immigration Compliance Certificate

8.5 IRS Form W-9

26 of 37

Exhibit 8.1

List of local agencies in Alabama

Autauga County Jail Houston County Jail Baldwin County Jail Jackson County Jail Barbour County Jail Jefferson County Jail Bibb County Jail Lamar County Jail Blount County Jail Lauderdale County Jail Bullock County Jail Lawrence County Jail Butler County Jail Lee County Jail Calhoun County Jail Limestone County Jail Chambers County Jail Lowndes County Jail Cherokee County Jail Macon County Jail Chilton County Jail Madison County Jail Choctaw County Jail Marengo County Jail Clarke County Jail Marion County Jail Clay County Jail Marshall County Jail Cleburne County Jail Mobile County Jail Coffee County Jail Monroe County Jail Colbert County Jail Montgomery County Jail Conecuh County Jail Morgan County Jail Coosa County Jail Perry County Jail Covington County Jail Pickens County Jail Crenshaw County Jail Pike County Jail Cullman County Jail Randolph County Jail Dale County Jail Russell County Jail Dallas County Jail Shelby County Jail De Kalb County Jail St. Clair County Jail Elmore County Jail Sumter County Jail Escambia County Jail Talladega County Jail Etowah County Jail Tallapoosa County Jail Fayette County Jail Tuscaloosa County Jail Franklin County Jail Walker County Jail Geneva County Jail Washington County Jail Greene County Jail Wilcox County Jail Hale County Jail Winston County Jail Henry County Jail Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles

Alabama Office of Courts Alabama Department of Corrections DOC

27 of 37

Exhibit 8.2

Cover Sheet Example

RFP NAME

Alabama Victims Notification System

DATE SUBMITTED

Insert [Month Day, Year]

NAME OF RESPONDENT

Insert [Name of Respondent]

SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT (SPOC) FOR RESPONDENT

Insert the following:

[Name of Individual who will serve as the SPOC]

[Title of Individual]

[Physical Address for Respondent]

[Mailing Address for Respondent]

[Business Telephone Number for Respondent]

[Alternate Telephone Number for Respondent]

28 of 37

Exhibit 8.3

State of Alabama Vendor Disclosure Statement

Information is available at:

http://ago.state.al.us/Page-Vendor-Disclosure-Statement-Information-and-Instructions

29 of 37

30 of 37

31 of 37

Exhibit 8.4

Immigration Compliance Certificate

32 of 37

33 of 37

Exhibit 8.5

IRS Form W-9

34 of 37

35 of 37

36 of 37

37 of 37