Help Massachusetts create our first ‘digitally native’ constituent service!

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is getting ready to build our first ‘digitally native’ constituent service. Beginning in 2021, Massachusetts will provide the best Paid Family and Medical Leave (for example, paid maternity and paternity leave) program in the country. This is also the first constituent-facing government service that has been created in Massachusetts since the Internet. This is an incredible opportunity to rethink how people interact with government and how government does its work.

Vendors, we need your help! Please check out our RFR and consider bidding on this project.

We’re trying to make it easier for cutting edge technology vendors to submit proposals for government work. We know throwing your hat in the ring for a government contract can be time-consuming, burdensome, and have a slow ROI. Here are a few notes to help you evaluate this opportunity:

This RFR includes four different categories of work. You can bid on one or more categories. And you can partner with other vendors to put together a joint proposal. The categories are:

• Category A: Claims Processing System — The claims processing system is the core of the government’s backend workflows and processes. It’s the system of record for all claims, eligibility determination, benefit calculation, etc.
• Category B: Claimant Portal — The claimant portal is the website where constituents (e.g. expectant parents or people who need to take time off work to care for a sick loved one) submit claims and use self-service functionality to manage their benefits.
• Category C: API Development and Integrations — To support integration across relevant systems, we envision a modern, web services-based API that conforms to REST principles, exchanges data in JSON format, and utilizes modern authentication and authorization. This API will mediate interactions between the commonwealth’s systems and the new claims processing system.
• Category D: Contact Center Services — A scalable, multi-channel contact center to support Paid Family and Medical Leave customers through three primary channels: online (email and web), phone, and mail.

The full RFR is posted on COMMBUYS here: https://www.commbuys.com/bso/external/bidDetail.sdo?docId=BD-19-1043-DAO01-32500-40977&external=true&parentUrl=bid

Important dates and deadlines:

• Questions & Answers webinar #1 with interested bidders (7/31, 12pm)
• Questions & Answers webinar #2 with interested bidders (8/1, 3pm)
• Bidders submit questions about the RFR to DFMLBenefitsRFR@mass.gov (by 8/6)
• Government posts answers to questions on COMMBUYS (by 8/12 estimated)
• Responses due from bidders (by 8/26)
• Evaluation committee reviews responses and selects finalists (by 9/13 estimated)

Any date changes and updates related the procurement will be posted on COMMBUYS.

Additional background about the new Department of Family and Medical Leave (DFML) and its work can be found here: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-family-and-medical-leave.