SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to procure professional services for the administration of its nationwide "Child Care Subsidy Program." The applicable NAICS code is 541611, "Administrative Management & General Management.
- Notice Date
- 7/7/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- Contracting Office
- Environmental Protection Agency, Simplified Purchases, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Nw, Washington, DC 20460
- ZIP Code
- 20460
- Solicitation Number
- RFQ-DC-10-00189
- Response Due
- 7/19/2010
- Archive Date
- 8/19/2010
- Point of Contact
- Point of Contact, Tanya Brice, Purchasing Agent, Phone (202) 564-4799
- E-Mail Address
-
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(BRICE.TANYA@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NAICS Code: 541611 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to procure professional services for the administration of its nationwide "Child Care Subsidy Program." The applicable NAICS code is 541611, "Administrative Management & General Management. This procurement is a TotalSmall Business Set-Aside. Contractors must also be registered in the (CCR) Central Contractor Registration to be considered for award of a Federal contract. Registration information can be found at the CCR website at www.ccr.gov, or by calling (888) 227-2423. Proposals will be evaluated based on both price and technical factors, with the successful offeror representing the best value to the government, all factors considered. The specific evaluation criteria for this procurement shall be explained in detail in the solicitation package. The proposed contract award will be a hybrid fixed price/cost reimbursement contract consisting of one year base period with four additional one-year option periods. Attached is a draft copy of the Statement of Work, providing details on the work to be conducted and contractor responsibilities. A response to this pre-solicitation notice is not required in order to submit a quote when the RFQ is made available. This notice serves solely to notify the public of the Government's upcoming requirement. The Request for Quote (RFQ) will be available on or after July 19, 2010, with a 30-day response time at the above-mentioned website location. Contractors are urged to visit the above-mentioned EPA website frequently for any updates or changes to this requirement. Only one update for this requirement will be posted to the FedBizOpps website to notify vendors when the RFQ has been made available. Prospective sources are reminded that an award can only be made to a Contractor who is registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database (http://www.ccr.gov). Contracting Office Address: Environmental Protection Agency, Headquarters Procurement Operations Division, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 Point of Contact(s): Point of Contact, Tanya Brice, Contracting Officer, Phone (202)564-4799 (brice.tanya@epa.gov) Environmental Protection AgencyChild Care Tuition Assistance Program AdministrationPerformance Work Statement Background The contractor will administer the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Child Care Tuition Assistance Program. Congress passed Public Law 107-67, Section 630 on November 12, 2001, which permits federal agencies to assist their lower income federal employees with the costs of child care. Tuition assistance can reduce the amount of tuition parents pay for child care by providing subsidies directly to the child care provider. Section 630 of this law provides permanent legislation authorizing executive agencies to use appropriated funds for child care services for lower income employees. Performance Objective EPA requires a contractor with the ability to receive a specified sum of money from the Agency and distribute it to child care providers as tuition assistance funds. Tuition Assistance Eligibility and Determination of Tuition Assistance Subsidy Amount Application forms will be available on a web site maintained by EPA at the following address: http://intranet.gov. Completed applications will be sent directly to the contractor, who will determine eligibility and the tuition assistance amount based on the formula provided under the ineligibility Criteria'' section in this document. Tuition assistance through the fiscal year will be disbursed by the contractor. Required reports will be furnished by the contractor. The Government shall have the option to extend the program four additional years. Applications will be received on a first-come, first-served basis until funds have been exhausted. Applications received and approved will be effective the Monday following the week of receipt and approval. Funding for Tuition Assistance Payment Within eight weeks of the close of the application deadline, the contractor will provide the Project Officer with an estimate of the funds needed for tuition assistance or providers through September 30 of each year. Performance Standards Process tuition assistance applications and make a determination of eligibility and tuition assistance amount based on family income (see Eligibility Criteria Section) within two weeks after receipt of application forms. Notify the parents and child care providers of the percentage of tuition assistance that each family will receive, and their effective dates no later than two weeks after receipt of application. Notify employees if they have been, or if they have not been accepted into the program within three weeks after receipt of application. Notify the Project Officer of applicants who have been denied and why. Provide the Project Officer with an estimate of the funds needed for tuition assistance payments to providers through September 30 of each year. Provide information on the tuition assistance program in response to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act. Maintain confidential all information contained in tuition assistance applications and ensure that only the contractor, the Project Officer, and child care provider know the identity of the applicant. On an as needed basis, the project Officer may receive a copy of the applications). Ensure that those child care providers that receive federal funds as a result of the Agency's tuition assistance program are licensed and/or regulated by state and/or local authorities. Require child care providers to submit a copy of their latest license and/or statement of compliance from their state and/or local authorities. Require child care providers to submit a completed copy of OPM Form 1644. Ensure that licensed child care providers understand that if a provider, for whatever reason, is no longer licensed and/or regulated by the state and/or local authorities, the provider will immediately notify the contractor, the Project Officer, and the federal employee whose child is enrolled in the child care program. In such cases, the provider will no longer be permitted to receive tuition funds. Upon receipt of invoices and verification of the tuition assistance amounts from the child care providers, vendor should verify that services were provided', and provide payment based on the invoiced amount not later than 14 days from the date the invoice was received. The contractor will pay the tuition assistance directly to the child care provider and not to the federal employee. Ensure the child care provider submits a written invoice o the contractor. Both the child care provider and the parent (or legal guardian) must certify on the invoice that the care was provided. Tuition assistance awards will be quoted as weekly amounts, and invoices must be prepared using full week amounts unless services for the child end during a particular week. Reporting Requirements: By January 3, the contractor will issue a report to the Project Officer which will include: "Number of EPA applications received by each participating location "Number of employees who submitted an application, but were not eligible, and reason for the ineligibility "Number of employees who submitted an application but were denied due to lack of funds; Number of employees accepted for child care subsidy; total family income and grade level of each EPA participant's "Number of children enrolled whose parents received tuition assistance, broken down by location; "Chart showing the weekly tuition assistance; overall totals dispersed for the fiscal year; "Names of participants whose total subsidy exceeds $5,000 for the fiscal year; and "Number of children enrolled whose parents receive tuition assistance, broken down by subcomponent. The contractor will issue a quarterly report to the Project Officer on the status of the Agency's Tuition Assistance Program. Quarterly reports will contain the following information and will be due on the l5 of the month following the end of the quarter. If 15th falls on a weekend, the report will be due on the following Monday. The report will include the following: "The amount of tuition assistance disbursed in the quarter "The remaining balance of Agency funds "Any changes in the basic information provided in the first report, e.g., child no longer receives a subsidy "Names and dates of the participants whose total subsidy exceeds $5,000 during a given month in order that payroll may begin tax withholdings. By January 31, the contractor will provide the Project Officer with financial information for employee tax purposes. This information will be provided in an electronic format on a disk or email and will include: "The name of each employee whose child care provider received tuition assistance Each employee's social security number and the amount of tuition assistance received by that employee's child care provider. By January 31, the contractor will provide a completed Form 1099, as required by law, to child care providers who received tuition assistance under this program. "Contractor will notify employees who are accepted into this program that they must meet certain IRS requirements for tax exemption. "Contractor will provide other reports as requested by the Project Officer. EPA Program Provisions Project Officer for EPA Program and ContractPatricia Midgett, National Program Manager - 202-564-3006 The Environmental Protection Agency's Child Care Tuition Assistance Program is available at all our locations. The Child Care Tuition Assistance Program has been extended agency-wide to all eligible employees under the provisions mentioned in this SOW. Now that Public Law 107-67, Section 630 is permanent (as of November 12. 2001); EPA is exercising the contract to extend the program to all EPA locations and is increasing the total family income criteria level to $75,000 and under. EPA still maintains the right to: Discontinue the program based on limited agency resources or other factors', or make this a permanent program. Application Procedures Applications for the EPA Child Care Tuition Assistance Program can be downloaded from the child care website at: http://intranet.epa.gov/. An applicant may be contacted for clarification on their tuition assistance application. The following documents will be required: 1.Pay statements for the two (2) most recent pay periods for each parent or guardian, 2.A copy of the most recent federal income tax return for each parent or guardian, 3.A completed OPM form 1644 (April 2002), a Child Care Provider Form, signed by the child care provider, and a copy of the child care provider's most recent license or statement of compliance with State and/or local child care regulations. (Note: lf care is provided by more than one child care provider, a completed Form 1644 and accompanying documentation must be submitted for each provider). Approved applications received after the initial deadline will be effective the Monday following the week of receipt. Only one application per employee will be accepted. If both parents/guardians are employed at EPA, only one parent/guardian may submit an application for the same child or children. Applications that are not fully completed or do not contain the requested information will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant. If the applicant does not provide all of the information requested in the application, she/he will not receive tuition assistance. When more than one parent works for the Federal Government, tuition assistance cannot be awarded for the child/children by more than one Federal agency. To determine whether employees meet the requirements for tax exemption, they should refer to IRS Publication 503, which may be downloaded from the IRS web site www.irs.gov or they can order directly from IRS by calling 1-800-829-3676. Employees must use Form 1040, or line 19 of Form 1040A) area and attach a completed Form 2441 or Schedule 2 when they file their tax return in order to claim the exemption. Employees must be notified of this IRS law since it will affect their taxes. Eligibility Criteria The EPA has established the following provisions for determining both eligibility and the amount of the tuition assistance subsidy. The amount of assistance employees can receive depends on their total family income and the amount they pay for child care. The chart below shows the percentage of their total child care costs that EPA will pay based on their total family income. If Employee's Total Family Income Is?.Then EPA Will Pay This Percentage of Employee's Child Care CostsOver $75,000 0%$51,000 - $75,000 25%$36,000 - $51,000 45%Less than $36,000 65% If employees feel their subsidy is taxable and will affect their total tax liability, they may wish to change the amount withheld for taxes from their hi-weekly pay. If a participating employee's total family income changes, the employee must contact the contractor. Eligibility criteria and percentage of child care costs paid may be modified according to Agency requirements. Definition of a Child As provided in the regulations that implement Public Law 107-67, for the purpose of this program, a child is considered to be: a)A biological child who lives with the Federal employee b)An adopted child; A stepchild; A foster childc)A child for whom judicial determination of support has been obtained d)A child to whose support the Federal Employee who is a parent or legal guardian makes regular and substantial contributions The law covers the children of Federal employees, excluding contract employees, from birth through age 13 and disabled through age 18. The employee must: "Be a current full-time or part-time permanent EPA employee, must be the parentis) or legal guardians) of the child or children from birth to age 13, or disabled children through age l8. "Certify that the child or children has been accepted or is currently enrolled with a licensed child care provider; "Certify whether or not they are receiving state/local or federal agency subsidy for child care; "Certify that they are not participating personally and substantially in particular matters involving the financial interests of the Agency or child care facility, as it relates to deciding whether the subsidy should be provided. Employees eligible to receive tuition assistance will not receive assistance from EPA when they are no longer employed by the Agency. Employees who fail to inform EPA of any changes in status (i.e., inflammation provided on their application - family income level, child care provider, ages of children, etc.) may jeopardize their chance of receiving tuition assistance through EPA'S child care tuition assistance program. Contractors are not eligible to participate. Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) for conformance to Performance Standards: Timely completion of Performance Objective, timely completion and delivery of Reporting Requirements to Project Officer for inspection and acceptance, and completed compliance with EPA Program Provisions. Incentive Contractor performance on this project will be reported. Performance that conforms completely to the Performance Standards will be given an outstanding rating in the final Past Performance Evaluation.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/EPA/OAM/HQ/RFQ-DC-10-00189/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02198691-W 20100709/100707235329-a6a7d6f840d2f3e6dd848868a83ab450 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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