1134422 - Visual Communication Services

Montgomery County is committed to the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act and to providing effective communication for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind. The County seeks a primary and secondary entity to provide visual communication services including on-site interpreter services, on-site and remote Computer Assisted Real Time Transcription (CART), and Video Remote Interpreting services (VRI).  The target population to be served under the contract resulting from this RFP consists of two groups: Montgomery County employees and members of the public participating in Montgomery County government programs, activities, and services. The Contractor’s visual communication services will facilitate effective communication to allow County employees who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind to fully participate in staff meetings, training, and other work related activities.  The Contractor’s visual communications services will also facilitate effective communication with members of the public who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind in order to allow full participation in County government meetings, activities, services and programs and to transact business with the County. All communication provided through this contract must be effective, accurate, confidential and impartial.    

In order to ensure effective communication, the Contractor’s visual communication services should match as closely as possible to the interpretative needs of the deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind individual. The Contractor(s) must provide skilled interpreters, transliterators and transcribers who are certified by a nationally recognized professional organization and possess the skills and ability to ensure effective communication. The Contractor must also consider the cultural diversity needs of the residents in Montgomery County, including those who are foreign born and may not communicate using American Sign Language (ASL).    The secondary awarded contract will be to provide for a readily available backup to include times when there is a significant increase in volume, or other factors approved by the County.
This contract(s) will be used by all Montgomery County government departments and agencies. Based on the County’s prior experience providing effective communication and the nature of County programs and services, it is expected that the majority of requests for services will be for in-person interpreters.  The County expects to use approximately 1800 hours of interpreting services yearly; however, this is a requirements contract and there is no guaranteed minimum or maximum. To date, only one department is using VRI services however the County expects to expand that service. CART use to date has been limited however we expect requests for that service to increase. Most, but not all, requests for services will be during weekday daytime and evening hours; however, there will be weekend scheduled assignments for special events and weekend programming.  County is committed to providing effective communication and considers the Contractor’s ability to provide visual communication services for emergencies on a 24/7 basis to be a critical service.