SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Management Analysis/Review Assistance
- Notice Date
- 8/27/2006
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 561990
— All Other Support Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, Office of Administration, 6011 Executive Blvd, Rm 538, Rockville, MD, 20892-7663
- ZIP Code
- 20892-7663
- Solicitation Number
- 263-2006-Q-DT-0210
- Response Due
- 9/6/2006
- Archive Date
- 9/21/2006
- Description
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Mr. William C. Meredith 10758 Evening Wind Ct. Columbia, MD 21044 a continuation of services being provided for OMA (Office Of Management Assessment). Mr. Meredith is the only known source capable of providing the required services because of his involvement in this project over the past months. Further, inherent duplication of cost to the Government would be time and cost prohibiting. PURPOSE To provide program analysis and management support to the Division of Program Integrity in the Office of Management Assessment, National Institutes of Health (OMA/NIH). A. BACKGROUND The Office of Management Assessment (1) provides broad management oversight and advice to the Deputy Director for Management and NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) on management reviews, corrective actions, and NIH-wide management of activities related to regulations, delegations of authority, Privacy Act requirements, records and forms management, organizational and functional analysis, and manual issuances; (2) conducts management assessments to improve component-specific or NIH-wide management effectiveness and efficiency of administrative management functions and systems, as well as broad-based management assessments of program areas; (3) provides a centralized management review capability to promote program integrity; (4) assumes the lead responsibility on cases referred to the NIH for action by the OIG Hotline; (5) serves as the central NIH liaison on matters related to management controls and audits involving the OIG, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or Congress; and (6) has overall responsibility for all matters-including the development and implementation of policy and the Annual Management Control Plan-related to management controls to prevent fraud, waste, abuse, and conflict of interest, and develops a planned management oversight activity that focuses on early identification and prevention of such occurrences. OMA also (1) provides a centralized management review capability to promote program integrity; (2) conducts reviews of allegations of misuse of NIH grant and contract funds; NIH grantee and contractor conflict of interest, improper employee conduct, violations of grant or contract regulations or policy that are not directly tied to misuse of funds, and issues, referred by OIG when prosecutive or civil action has been declined and/or OIG plans no further investigation; and (3) assumes the lead responsibility on cases referred to NIH for action by the OIG Hotline. Note: All information pertaining to OMA reviews (e.g., the status of a review or the nature of evidence) is considered administratively confidential. The Privacy Act requires this information to be maintained in a secure manner (preferably in a locked filing cabinet). Further disclosure to NIH or non-NIH staff is permitted only on a "need-toknow" basis. Appropriate steps must be taken to prevent the release of administratively confidential information in any form (oral, electronic, or hard copy). The contractor must adhere to these requirements. OMA's Authority to Conduct Reviews General authority for OMA to review improper conduct is provided by the Public Health Services Act, 42 U.S.C. 282(b)(1) section 402(b)(1), which authorizes the Director, NIH, to establish and implement general policies for management and operation of program and activities within NIH. See also 42 U.S.C. Sec. 282(b)(11). OMA's authority to conduct reviews of NIH grantees is set in 45 C.F.R. Section 74.53(e), which provides that HHS awarding agencies, the HHS Inspector General, ?the U.S. Comptroller General, or any of the duly authorized representatives "have the right of timely unrestricted access to any books, documents, papers, or other records of recipients there are pertinent to the awards, in order to make audits, examinations, excerpts, transcripts, and copies of such documents." This right also includes "timely and reasonable access to a recipient's staff for the purpose of interview and discussion related to such documents." OMA's authority to conduct reviews of NIH contractors is set forth in 48 C.F.R. section 15.106-1, 52.215-2 (and/or the terms of the contract), which provides that contractors working under contracts that are cost-reimbursement, incentive, time-and materials, labor-hour, or price redeterminable contracts, or any combination of these, are required to maintain-and the Contracting Officer, or an authorized representative, has the right to examine and audit-all records and other evidence "sufficient to reflect properly all costs claimed to have been incurred or anticipated to be incurred directly or indirectly in performance of this contract." This right of examination includes "inspection at all reasonable times of the Contractor's plants, or parts of them, engaged in performing the contract. B. OBJECTIVE DQM will obtain consulting, advisory, auditing, review, analysis, and reporting support services that would include financial, regulatory, and policy analyses and reviews. Reviews vary in scope and complexity and may encompass any or all or the following: Allegations of misuse of NIU grant or contract funds. Reviews may include assessments of accounting practices and grant/contract management systems (e.g., analyses of transactions, accounts, and financial reports to evaluate compliance with applicable laws and regulations). NIH grantee and contractor conflicts of interest. Improper employee conduct. Management control systems of NIH grantees, contractors, and internal NIH components. Reviews may include statistical sampling that can be projected to the population under study. The objectives of the reviews are to determine compliance with laws, regulations, policies, and procedures by NIH employees, as well as by employees of NIH's grantees and contractors; determine whether employee misconduct has occurred or NIH funds have been misapplied or misused; and identify the management weaknesses that permitted the problem to occur. C. SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY Reviews will be performed in accordance with GAO Generally Accepted Government Auditing (Yellow Book) Standards, as well as all other relevant fieldwork and reporting' standards issued by the U.S. Comptroller General and the following related references. Federal Accounting Standards OMB Circular A-127, Federal Financial Management Systems OMB Circulars related to grants (e.g., A-21, A-110, A-133) Federal Acquisition Regulation In performing reviews, the contractor must also adhere to NIH/OMA procedures for conducting reviews (these procedures will be provided to the contractor at the entrance, conference). The contractor must exercise due professional care and sound professional judgment in the assessment of risk and the selection of appropriate procedures. Performance under this Statement of Work will be closely coordinated with and monitored by the Project Officer (PO) or designee. II. DELIVERABLES The contractor shall contact the Project Officer/Designee within five working days after receipt of award to discuss details of assignments, obtain further information and documents as needed, and ensure a common understanding by all parties. A. REVIEW PLANS Within ten working days of receiving assignments from the PO or designee, the contractor will provide review plans for each assignment in accordance with OMA planning procedures and standard formats, using the GAO Yellow Book standards as guidelines. Review plans will be provided in hard copy and on a Word disk file. The PO or designee will either approve the review plan or return it for modifications within five working days of receipt. B. WORKING PAPERS At a date to be determined by the PO or designee, the contractor will submit working papers that contain sufficient information to enable an experienced auditor with no previous connection to the review to identify the evidence that supports the auditor's findings and conclusions. Working papers must be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act and Records Management Requirements and the NIH Records Schedule, Sections 1700-A-2 (working papers) and 1700-A-4 (investigative/audit case files). At the conclusion of the review, all work papers become the property of OMA. At the discretion of the contractor, the contractor may retain a copy of all working papers in accordance with the confidentiality requirements discussed in this Statement of Work. In accordance with the Privacy Act, all parties must maintain the confidentiality of these matters. C. REPORTS At the completion of each review, or when requested by the PO or designee, the contractor will prepare and submit reports within the time frames established by the PO or designee. These reports must comply with OMA reporting procedures, standards, and formats and must be provided in hard copy and in Word disk file format. The PO or designee will provide either written or oral comments that will be for the contractor's consideration and will not compromise the contractor's professional responsibilities or judgment. The PO or designee will provide guidance regarding any additional steps needed to complete the review. These reports may represent the results of reviews performed wholly within an NIH Institute or Center (IC), in more than one such organization, or on-site at the location of NIH contractors or grantees. Reports will include, as appropriate, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and any additional comments and information that may be necessary to describe the activity under review and support recommended corrective actions. The reports may include recommendations to improve program operations. The contractor may also be required to provide oral reports and to develop special reports that identify program deficiencies requiring immediate corrective action. OMA uses a two-stage report process that includes a Draft Report and a Final Advisory Report. The contractor may be required to prepare any or all of the following reports: 1. The Draft Report, which OMA sends to the subject of the review and to the NIH IC Director for review and comment. 2. The Final Advisory Report, which may incorporate comments made by the subject of the review and the IC, and which is a pre-decisional advisory document for NIH management officials. It is sent to the Director of the involved IC, who may or may not concur with any recommendations. All reports should clearly describe issues (including management control issues), applicable criteria, findings, conclusions, and recommendations; include sufficient detail to convince a general audience of the validity and significance of the facts, conclusions, and recommendations; and contain an index linking each major issue to supporting working papers. OMA also uses Management Advisory Reports to notify IC Directors that it has conducted a review and found no merit to the allegations. These will include findings and conclusions and any additional comments and information necessary to describe the work performed. III. PROGRESS REPORTS The contractor shall furnish monthly progress reports to the PO or designee. Once a month, the contractor will meet with the PO or designee and other OMA representatives, as appropriate, to discuss progress and any potential problems. These meetings will be informal and will provide the opportunity for interaction among all parties. At the PO's discretion, the contractor will also provide verbal briefings to OMA representatives. IV. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The contractor must possess a minimum of ten years of analytical experience at the senior level and should also have experience in program analysis and evaluation, cost accounting, financial accounting, statistics, corporate finance, budgeting, acquisitions, contracting, and operations management. The contractor must have extensive working knowledge of the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards issued by the U.S. Comptroller General; management theories and practices, such as auditing and accounting principles and practices; and methods and techniques for planning and conducting evaluations of NIH intramural and extramural activities. The contractor will be required to develop or modify methods and techniques to resolve a variety of review problems. The contractor will be required to possess comprehensive knowledge of developing review approaches and techniques for the planning, execution, and reporting phases, including preparing review plans, selecting or modifying review techniques, and preparing reports. The contractor will exercise due professional care in establishing the scope, selecting the methodology, and choosing tests and procedures for the reviews. The contractor should also possess the following: Demonstrated experience in working with HHS and federal regulations, policies, and guidelines applicable to federal employees, grantees, and contractors. Working knowledge of statistical sampling techniques and financial analyses. Knowledge and skills in identifying instances of legislative or regulatory noncompliance and the ability to articulate findings in a concise, logical, and convincing manner. Ability to prepare clear and concise written materials, conduct interviews for the purpose of giving or receiving information, lead conferences/briefings, and make presentations. Extensive working knowledge of the use of computer software, including spreadsheets, TeamMate, and DPI databases, word processing, electronic mail, and the Internet. V. LOCATION OF WORK The contractor will perform the work in the OMA offices. Some work will be performed at NIH grantees' and contractors' facilities, or at other NIH office locations. VI. LEVEL OF EFFORT OMA is requesting 847 hours of service from the contractor. Unless otherwise authorized by the PO or designee, the contractor is expected to work eight hours each working day, or close to full-time between the hours of 8:00 am and 6:00 p.m. VII. CONTRACTOR TRAVEL The contractor shall travel under the same rules and regulations as federal employees. The one exception is that "contract airlines" are not required to honor contract airfares for non-federal personnel, even those who travel on official Government business. The delivery order under this Statement of Work will not provide funds for commuting to the Rockville work site, including travel for relocation to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area; for interviews conducted by OMA to select the contractor; or for return trips home for any contractor who lives outside normal commuting range. If the contractor needs to conduct site visits to NIH grantees or contractors outside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, he/she must obtain prior approval from the PO, and OMA will provide funding under a separate purchase agreement. This proposed action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement or submit proposals. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotations. However, all quotes received within ten days after the date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government . A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed simplified acquisition requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive acquisition. Concerns that respond to this synopsis shall furnish concise responses directed specifically to the requirements mentioned above and are invited to submit proposal and/or capability statements in an Original Plus Two (2) no later than ten (10) business days from the date of this announcement, August 28, 2006, due in COB Sept. 06, 2006. Written responses shall include complete description of services to be provided, containing sufficient technical information to permit agency analysis to establish bona fide capability to meet the stated requirements as listed above. Proposals And/Or Capabilty Statements Shall BE Sent To: (a) If mailing your capabilities through the U.S. Postal Service use the following address: National Institutes of Health, Office of Logistics and Acquisition Operations, OA, 6011 Executive Blvd. Rm. 529V, ATTN: Lloyd Garnes, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone: 301-402-3341; fax: 301-480-3476. (b) If hand delivering, or using a courier service such as: UPS, FeDex, etc., use the following City, State and Zip Code: Rockville, MD 20852. Respondents will not be notified of the evaluation results. (c) Questions may be emailed to Lloyd Garnes at garnesl@od.nih.gov no later than Sept. 05, 2006.
- Place of Performance
- Address: Bethesda, MD
- Zip Code: 20892
- Country: UNITED STATES
- Zip Code: 20892
- Record
- SN01127134-W 20060829/060827220139 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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