SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- BIAS Next Generation Project
- Notice Date
- 2/19/2015
- 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, 12501 Ardennes Avenue, Suite 400, Rockville, Maryland, 20857, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- 15-ACF-OPRE-095
- Point of Contact
- Rosalind R. Humphries,
- E-Mail Address
-
rosalind.humphries@psc.hhs.gov
(rosalind.humphries@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Next Generation Project Description: This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. Background: The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to conduct a large-scale, multi-site, rigorous random assignment evaluation of promising interventions informed by insights from behavioral science and intended to improve outcomes for ACF programs and the target populations of ACF. This evaluation will build on lessons learned from the ACF/OPRE Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project, which was the first major opportunity to apply a behavioral science lens to programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the United States. BIAS applies insights from behavioral science to design and test behaviorally-informed interventions intended to improve program processes and outcomes in a number of ACF program areas including TANF, Child Care, and Child Support Enforcement. More information about the BIAS project is available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/research/project/behavioral-interventions-to-advance-self-sufficiency. Under this new project, OPRE intends to build on and add to the knowledge generated in the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Project Purpose and Objectives: The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency Next Generation project will design and test behaviorally-informed solutions to ACF program challenges using insights from behavioral science, using the behavioral diagnosis and design framework developed for BIAS. This next generation project is intended to build on activities and lessons of BIAS and to also go beyond BIAS in ways including: • Exploring opportunities to apply behavioral insights to programs that were not the focus of experiments in BIAS such as programs in ACF's Administration for Children Youth and Families and ACF's Office of Community Services. • Obtaining OMB PRA Clearance and conducting more formal information collection in order to better understand the experience of program users and staff who are touched by behavioral interventions. • Prioritizing tests of interventions that go beyond changing communications and explore changing the choice architecture of program and policy design. • Prioritizing tests that offer the ability to "get inside the black box" of interventions and understand the effectiveness of specific intervention components. • Creating technical assistance materials to help ACF programs understand how to apply behavioral insights and conduct their own experiments. Project Requirements: Specifically, under this project OPRE intends to complete the following key tasks: (1) consulting with federal staff and other stakeholders on policy and programmatic priorities for behaviorally-informed tests; (2) engaging behavioral science experts in an ongoing way and incorporating their expertise into the project; (3) recruiting up to 16 sites interested in and capable of participating in designing, implementing, and testing behaviorally-informed interventions; (4) obtaining agreement from up to 16 sites to participate in a random control trial evaluation; (5) engaging in a process of behavioral diagnosis and design with up to 16 sites to diagnose behavioral bottlenecks and design behaviorally-informed interventions; (6) providing technical guidance to help up to 16 sites meet evaluation requirements; (7) experimentally testing behaviorally-informed interventions in up to 16 sites using a variety of state-of-the-art experimental and analytic methods including rapid cycle evaluations and factorial design; (8) collecting data that will allow rigorous analysis of the implementation of these interventions; (9) developing, field testing, and obtaining OMB clearance for research-based, valid and reliable measures and data collection instruments; (10) obtaining IRB approval of the study protocols; (11) producing and securing data files and documentation including public use or restricted use files; (12) ensuring data security and protection of any and all personally identifiable information collected as part of the study; (13) producing written reports on experimental findings; (14) developing a sophisticated and integrated dissemination strategy to document, communicate, and present information from the study and carrying out ongoing dissemination activities (15) producing technical assistance documents for human services practitioners on applying behavioral insights to human services programs; (16) coordinating with other federal behavioral science initiatives; (17) managing the project and ensuring that all work is of highest quality, on time and within budget. Contractors should have the organizational capacity, capability, and relevant prior experience to conduct a multi-site, large-scale experimental evaluation involving different populations in a variety of settings. Contractors should have the capacity, capability and relevant experience to work simultaneously with up to 16 geographically dispersed programs and provide technical guidance and manage data for multiple evaluation sites at the same time. In addition, this project will require the availability of adequate computer/statistical resources and the institutional capability to process and analyze data, including capacity to input data, clean data, and conduct quality control checks. Staff managing and involved in the project should have the technical qualifications and academic, professional, and technical experience to successfully complete the requirements of the project and ensure that all work is of highest quality, on time and within budget. Staff should have the relevant experience in: 1) Relevant topical areas - successful completion of this project requires both expertise in human services programs and policies and also expertise in behavioral science. 2) Innovative and rigorous evaluation design for complex human service programs. 3) Assessing the suitability of demonstration programs for different types of evaluation. 4) Conducting complex analyses utilizing state-of-the-art statistical techniques. 5) Managing projects of similar scope and complexity. 6) Working collaboratively and successfully with other research teams, program administrators and staff, representing diverse fields and programs, and other stakeholders in carrying out the kinds of tasks as required for this project. Anticipated Period of Performance: It is anticipated that this project would start by September 30, 2015. Taking options into account, this project will likely extend through September 29, 2021 Capability Statement/Information Sought: In order to successfully complete the key tasks outlined above, the requisite skills, expertise, and corporate and staff capacity to engage in and successfully complete these tasks and deliverables are required. Capability statements must include the following information: 1) Demonstrate relevant prior experience and success in working with federal staff on identifying human services programs for possible inclusion in pilot tests. 2) Demonstrate the capacity and relevant prior experience in recruiting sites for pilot tests. 3) Demonstrate prior experience and success in developing and proposing plans for pilot tests with clear logic models. 4) Demonstrate familiarity with key concepts in behavioral economics and the application of behavioral economics to human services. 5) Demonstrate prior experience and success in obtaining agreement of state and local human services agencies to participate in a randomized evaluation study. 6) Demonstrate the capacity and relevant prior experience to conduct state-of-the-art process/implementation evaluations studies at multiple pilot sites. 7) Demonstrate capacity, capability and relevant experience to carry out critical tasks working simultaneously with geographically dispersed programs and providing technical guidance and managing complex data for several evaluation sites at the same time. 8) Demonstrate corporate and staff capability, capacity, and relevant prior experience to conduct a multi-site, large-scale experimental evaluation involving different populations in a variety of settings including in relation to: a. managing the random assignment of individuals b. providing on-site monitoring and technical guidance with site-level evaluation support activities for up to sixteen geographically dispersed sites c. employing innovative state-of-the-art experimental research designs and techniques like rapid cycle evaluations or factorial design d. obtaining OMB approval of data collection instruments and IRB approval of research plans e. obtaining and managing relevant administrative data at the individual level 9) Demonstrate availability of adequate computer/statistical resources and the institutional capability to process and analyze a large volume of data, including capacity to input data, clean data and conduct quality control checks. 10) Demonstrate corporate and staff capability, capacity, and relevant prior experience to develop and implement a sophisticated and integrated dissemination strategy to document, communicate, and present information from the study. 11) Describe relevant staff expertise, experience, and availability; please provide resumes for any key personnel cited in the capability statement. 12) Describe current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work. 13) Describe prior completed projects of a similar scope including examples of prior completed Government contracts that are similar to in scope to this effort. 14) Describe corporate experience and management capability. 15) Include company name, address, DUNS, Point of Contact, Phone and Email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses, and business size and status (e.g., small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUB Zone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women owned small business). Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements electronically via email to: Rosalind R. Humphries Contract Specialist, Acquisition Management Services Program Support Center U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 12501 Ardennes Avenue Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20857 The capability statement should be in MS Word format and is limited to 40 double‐spaced pages (exclusive of any cover letter, title page, table of contents, and resumes). It should have standard 1" margins all‐around and font size no smaller than 12 pt. Only one copy of the capability statement should be submitted. Capability statements must be received at the email address indicated above by 12pm EST, February 27, 2015. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/15-ACF-OPRE-095/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Contractor Site, United States
- Record
- SN03646172-W 20150221/150219235230-37872230fe4d010582b8e0406c52186b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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