Persistent Drunk Driver Issues Media Services RFP

The Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health is soliciting proposals from organizations to provide PDD media services for the State of Colorado.  Media and advertising services includes, public relations, creative services, and purchasing of media content relating to alcohol and/or drug related prevention and education.

Background:

Drunk and impaired driving is a pervasive problem that affects all citizens of Colorado because it impacts public safety by increasing traffic accident injuries and deaths, and also impacts the cost of health care and insurance.

The Persistent Drunk Driver (PDD) Act was enacted in 1998 to address the problems of persistent drunk drivers. Persistent drunk drivers are considered to be those persons who drive with very high blood alcohol content (BAC), refuse to take a chemical test, or repeatedly drink/drug and drive- committing multiple alcohol/drug related driving offenses. The persistent drunk driver accounts for 72% of the total number of impaired driving incidents in the Alcohol and Drug-Driving Safety Coordinated Data System (ADDSCODS) and thus such drivers pose a very serious safety hazard to the public. The PDD Act resulted in creation of the PDD fund that is generated from a surcharge assessed on convicted Driving Under the Influence/Driving While Ability Impaired (DUI/DWAI) offenders. The enabling statute (C.R.S. 42-3-303) stipulates that the money in the fund be used to support programs that are intended to deter persistent drunk driving or intended to educate the public, with particular emphasis on the education of young drivers, regarding the dangers of persistent drunk driving.

The state departments of transportation, revenue, and human services and the judicial branch coordinate programs intended to accomplish the goals of the fund. The Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) of the Colorado Department of Human Services is the lead state agency in the administration of the PDD fund.  OBH administers the state mental health institutes, purchases services to prevent and treat mental health and substance use disorders, regulates the public behavioral health system, and provides training, technical assistance, evaluation, data analysis, prevention services and administrative support to behavioral health providers and relevant stakeholders.

One of the funded projects of the PDD fund is the PDD media campaign, which began in 2003. The initial goals of the PDD media campaign were to identify and communicate messaging that would reduce impaired driving behavior.

The initial media campaign focused on a DUI education campaign that emphasized the true personal, professional, and financial costs and consequences associated with a DUI conviction. Targeting areas of the state that data showed had a higher percentage of persistent drunk drivers compared to the state average, key elements of the campaign in all markets included paid media that emphasized the costs of a DUI, as well as strategic distribution of posters and brochures at businesses around the community. Direct outreach to the community involved worksite education presentations, delivered by past DUI offenders. This particular campaign demonstrated success in increasing awareness and generating positive changes in attitude and knowledge of DUIs.

In 2009 the strategy for influencing and educating potential persistent drunk drivers shifted to a target audience of college-aged students. Research has proven that social norms campaigns are highly influential with college-aged students. The objective in this shift was to influence substance using behaviors with college students before their behavior becomes a bigger problem post college and to begin creating positive change with regards to alcohol and other drug consumption attitudes, and drinking/drugging and driving behaviors. With an increased prevalence of marijuana use in the last few years, drugged driving and marijuana use became more embedded in the PDD media campaign.

As an outgrowth of campaign specific websites, the decision was made to create a state wide, informative website related to impaired driving.  In 2011, the No DUI Colorado website (www.NoDUIColorado.org) was launched as a state resource for impaired driving and substance abuse behaviors. The website is intended for those dealing with alcohol and drug prevention, policymakers, individuals at-risk, and family members and friends, and aims to provide a wealth of resources to all of these target audiences. The website takes a three-step approach to addressing DUIs, discussing what can happen before a DUI, what happens after receiving a DUI, and what resources are available to individuals statewide and nationally. Initiatives related to the NoDUIColorado website have included qualitative research, discussion/focus groups, media outreach and a variety of social networking and in-person messaging to educate the public as well as to promote the website. The goal is to continue to make the website a highly used and referenced website for DUI impairment related information.

In 2017 the overall strategy included working with PDD prevention grantees by providing technical assistance and support regarding informational material and communication strategies. And in 2018 the website strategy included several enhancements that include resources for agencies and interactive forums for providers of specialized DUI treatment services.

Scope of Work:

1. DEMONSTRATED EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES

OBH has determined that it desires specific experience and skills for an Offeror to possess in order for the Offeror to be able to complete the Work efficiently while meeting the demands and deadlines of OBH.  The Offeror should ensure that their proposal includes evidence that it has the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience in the areas identified in this section.  The Offeror should provide full and complete response to each numbered requirement and address each requirement separately with the details that demonstrate how the Offeror meets that specific requirement.

1. Organizational Experience

The Offeror should provide a detailed description of Offeror’s organizational experience related to the Work.  Specifically address the following experiences:

1. Indicate the number of years the Offeror has been performing work similar to the work described in this RFP and why the organization is the most qualified to perform the work solicited in this RFP.
2. What is the size of your organization? How many individuals in your organization will work on this project?  Indicate key personnel*, including employees and contractors, who will be assigned to the project and describe their experience and knowledge in the areas described in this RFP.  Describe key personnel roles and responsibilities and percentage of time allocated to this project.
3. Explain how Offeror will ensure that equally qualified persons are assigned to the project if key personnel* leave the project.
4. If the Offeror intends to use a Subcontractor, the Offeror should provide a description of how the Offeror will use Subcontractors and the portion of the Work that will be completed by each Subcontractor.  This description should also include the anticipated positions provided by the Subcontractor and the roles of those positions, as well as a plan for how the Offeror will manage the Subcontractor and all Subcontractor personnel to ensure that the portions of the Work assigned to the Subcontractor will be completed accurately and in a timely manner.
5. Project Management

The Offeror should provide a detailed explanation and complete response to each numbered section specifically addressing each of the following:

1. Experience with managing alcohol/drug related prevention and education campaigns that emphasize highway safety or similar projects.
2. Provide three (3) examples of similar projects within the past 5 years.  The Offeror’s examples of past projects should not exceed more than ten (10) pages.  These examples will not count toward page maximum.
3. Describe how the Offeror will update, maintain and develop the existing website content to include renewing the existing website’s Universal Resource Locator (URL); fix broken links; and any updates to the webpages.

Due Date:

March 28, 2018

Address:

Colorado Department of Human Services

Attn: Brian Hancock
North/Central Procurement Office
1575 Sherman Street, 6th Floor
Denver, CO  80203

Healthcare PR agencies include Makovsky PR and Shift Communications