RFSQ - DNA Laboratory Services

Public opportunity summary

INTRODUCTION The Los Angeles County (County) Sheriff’s Department (Department) is seeking qualified companies (Vendors) to enter into Master Agreements with the County to provide as-needed DNA Laboratory Services (Services) for the Department’s Scientific Services Bureau. VENDOR’S MINIMUM MANDATORY QUALIFICATIONS Interested and qualified Vendors who can demonstrate their ability to successfully provide the required Services outlined in Attachment 1 (Statement of Work) of this Request for Statement of Qualifications (RFSQ) are invited to submit a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ), provided they meet the following Minimum Mandatory Qualifications: 1. Vendor’s DNA testing laboratory must be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017–“General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories”, and accompanying Forensic Science supplemental accreditation requirements. The organization providing the accreditation must be either the American National Standards Institute-National Accreditation Board (ANAB) or American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). Vendor’s scope of accreditation shall cover the capabilities requested below. Vendor shall submit a copy of their most recent accreditation documentation and a copy of their most recent annual inspection. 2. Vendor must have a DNA testing laboratory that complies with the current standards for a quality assurance program for DNA analysis, issued by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to the DNA Identification Act of 1994, entitled Quality Assurance Standards for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories. Vendor shall submit copies of their most recent annual audit documentation. 3. Vendor must affirm that Vendor’s DNA testing laboratory has the capability to: a. Perform DNA testing using Short Tandem Repeat (STR) kits, including a male-specific STR (Y-STR) kit, with Applied Biosystems™ GeneMapper™ ID-X (GMID-X), on a capillary electrophoresis (CE) instrument platform and kit specified by the County Project Manager at the time of case submission. Acceptable CE platforms include the Applied Biosystems™ Genetic Analyzers 3130 and 3500, or variations thereof. The required autosomal DNA kit is Promega PowerPlex® Fusion 6C STR amplification kit. The Y-STR kit may be Promega PowerPlex® Y23 or Applied Biosystems™ Yfiler™ Plus. The ability to perform mitochondrial DNA testing is also desirable. b. Use a binary mixture interpretation/deconvolution protocol validated up to at least four-person mixtures with the use of analytical and stochastic thresholds as defined by the Scientific Working Group for DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM). Statistical approaches can include Random Match Probability (RMP), Modified RMP, Combined Probability of Inclusion (CPI), or Likelihood ratios. The utilization of stochastic thresholds should allow the use of loci that may have potential alleles that are below the analytical threshold or have dropped out. c. Use STRmixTM probabilistic genotyping software to analyze data generated from Promega PowerPlex® Fusion 6C STR amplification kit with Applied Biosystems™GeneMapper™ ID-X (GMID-X) software and validated up to at least four (4) person mixture samples. Vendor shall include an affirmation for all of the above listed requirements in Vendor’s SOQ, Section A, Vendor’s Qualifications. 4. Vendor’s DNA testing laboratory shall have performed forensic criminal DNA testing for the past three (3) consecutive years including the successful completion of at least 120 post-accreditation forensic criminal DNA cases. Vendor shall provide at least three (3) references from government law enforcement crime laboratories to verify this qualification using Appendix A (Required Forms), Exhibit 6 (Prospective Contractor References) of this RFSQ. 5. If Vendor’s compliance with a County contract has been reviewed by the Department of the Auditor-Controller within the last ten years, Vendor must not have unresolved questioned costs identified by the Auditor-Controller, in an amount over $100,000, that are confirmed to be disallowed costs by the contracting County department, and remain unpaid for six months or more from the date of disallowance, unless such disallowed costs are the subject of current good faith negotiations to resolve the disallowed costs, in the opinion of the County. CALIFORNIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ PENSION REFORM ACT (PEPRA) The State of California Legislature has enacted Senate Bill 13 (Beall) regarding the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (the Act). Section 7522.56(b) of the Act (as amended) reads in part, as follows: (b) A retired person shall not serve, be employed by, or be employed through a contract directly by, a public employer in the same public retirement system from which the retiree receives the benefit without reinstatement from retirement. As a result of the Act, the County is prohibited from contracting with a retired County employee under this RFSQ. RFSQ RELEASE The RFSQ will be released and accessible via the Sheriff’s Department website at: http://shq.lasdnews.net/shq/contracts/info.html. All potential Contractors are encouraged to monitor the above solicitation website for Bulletins, as they are posted, during the entire solicitation process. RFSQ TIMETABLE The timetable for this RFSQ is as follows: Release of RFSQ 11/9/2021 Request for a Solicitation Requirements Review Due 11/24/2021 Written Questions Due 12/3/2021 Questions and Answers Released 12/10/2021 SOQ due by 3:00 PM (Pacific Time) 12/17/2021 The submittal due date above is an initial due date. SOQs not received by that date may not be reviewed initially; however, they may be reviewed at a later date to determine if they meet the qualifications listed. The solicitation will remain open until the needs of the Department are met. In the event the Department’s needs are met and the solicitation is closed, the solicitation may be reopened any time during the term of the Master Agreement, at the Department’s discretion, in order to meet any additional Department needs. In the event the solicitation is reopened, it will be publicized on the County’s website. For SOQ submission and more information, go to the RFSQ on the Sheriff’s Department website at: http://shq.lasdnews.net/shq/contracts/info.html.