SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Child Welfare Privatization Initiatives
- Notice Date
- 6/13/2006
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- Reference-Number-144632
- Response Due
- 6/23/2006
- Archive Date
- 7/8/2006
- Description
- SOURCES SOUGHT ONLY Corporate Capabilities for MOBIS: SIN 874-1, Consulting Services. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) Office of Human Services Policy Title: Child Welfare Privatization Initiatives: Assessing Their Implications for the Child Welfare Field and for Federal Child Welfare Programs Purpose The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) will have a requirement to develop written materials about state and local child welfare privatization initiatives, drawing from existing research findings and the experiences of state and local program administrators. This project will (1) identify key issues and challenges surrounding the privatization of a child welfare services system; (2) develop issue papers intended to assist state and local child welfare agencies considering privatization initiatives as well as support those officials already moving forward with privatization efforts but facing challenges; and (3) develop options for future research that will better inform future child welfare privatization efforts. The contractor will gather and synthesize information on existing privatization models and research findings in the child welfare field, as well as lessons offered by privatization efforts in other social services arenas, in order to produce a series of papers on key topics. One paper would concentrate on research gaps and identify potential opportunities to address them. Others would lay out key choices and decision points in shifting from a public to a private system, and the implications and effects on clients as well as on both public and private agency roles and operations. Implications for federal child welfare programs will also be explored. This project will involve approximately one person-year of labor, across labor categories, spread over approximately 18 months. Background Public child welfare agencies have long histories of working with private partners to provide services. Such efforts have expanded in the past decade or so as child welfare programs have adapted ideas and technologies from other fields including health and welfare programs. Several states have created large-scale system reform initiatives that have replaced public child welfare services with contracted services from private providers. A great deal has been written about particular initiatives, especially state-level efforts in Kansas and Florida. However, there are limited resources available to program administrators and policy makers about the key decision points and options that must be considered when designing or expanding child welfare privatization initiatives. For the purposes of this project, ASPE is most interested in learning from initiatives in which key, core functions and decision making authority for child welfare cases are delegated to private agencies that operate on behalf of the state or county child welfare agency. We are less interested in more traditional outsourcing arrangements in which private service providers perform specific, limited roles, although aspects of such efforts may inform some of the documents developed through this contract. As part of the effort to learn more about the privatization of child welfare services, in 2005 the Children?s Bureau within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services? (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) awarded a cooperative agreement to the University of Kentucky to establish a Quality Improvement Center (QIC) on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services. ASPE?s project is intended to complement the current and future activities of the QIC and is being developed in consultation with ACF staff. The intent of this project is to focus on several activities that are not central to the QIC?s current operations, but that will facilitate the QIC?s ability to inform the field regarding the possibilities and challenges of privatization initiatives. More information about the activities of the QIC is available at its web site: http://www.uky.edu/SocialWork/qicpcw/. Qualifications Sought ASPE is seeking statements of corporate interest and capabilities with respect to this project. Interested firms are encouraged to describe their: Thorough understanding of child welfare services and programs, with particular emphasis on the varied roles of private providers in public child welfare systems and how privatization initiatives may fit within child welfare agencies? reform agendas. Knowledge of the existing literature and research underway regarding the privatization of child welfare and related social services. Experience designing research and evaluation of systemic reform initiatives in the social services, preferably in the child welfare field, and in considering research design alternatives for such initiatives. Demonstrated skill drawing out themes and lessons pertinent to social services program administrators from diverse information sources, including direct contacts with program staff at the state and local levels. Experience with the child welfare system specifically is preferred. Experience synthesizing research findings, as well as lessons learned from less formally studied program implementation experiences, for audiences of policy makers and social services program managers. Demonstrated ability to produce user-friendly written materials for policy makers and social services program managers, preferably specific to the child welfare field. Offerors are encouraged to identify key staff available for this effort. The purpose of this is to determine whether there are sources with the requisite qualifications to perform the work described above. Any organization capable of performing the work should submit a statement of capabilities with documentation supporting its ability to meet the Governments requirement as described above by 3:00 pm EST, June 23, 2006. No solicitation document is available at this time For further information, contact Chris Ganey in Room 5-101, DHHS/PSC/SAS/DAM Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, or on 301-443-2475. Please send capability statements by e-mail to: Christopher.Ganey@psc.hhs.gov
- Record
- SN01068406-W 20060615/060613220342 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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