SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- Legal Services Providers
- Notice Date
- 5/12/2015
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541199
— All Other Legal 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
- HHS-PSC-SS-15-264
- Archive Date
- 6/3/2015
- Point of Contact
- Shanelle Jackson, Phone: 3014432367
- E-Mail Address
-
Shanelle.Jackson@psc.hhs.gov
(Shanelle.Jackson@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP). No solicitation is being issued at this time. This notice shall not be constructed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Any information provided to the Government as a result of this Sources Sought notice is voluntary. Responses will not be returned. No entitlement for payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses or the Government's use of such information. This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is to determine the availability of potential small businesses that can: a. Provide direct legal representation and successfully recruit and train pro bono attorneys; b. Facilitate the continuation of legal representation once a UC is released to a sponsor and moves across regions. The information from this market research will help the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) plan their acquisition strategy. Please be sure to indicate if you have a GSA Schedule contract, a contract on GSA 8(a) STARS, or a contract on GSA VETS GWAC. Qualifying small businesses which have the organizational capacity to provide both of the main areas of work are encouraged to respond to this request. This is strictly market research. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) will not entertain questions regarding this market research.   Background On March 1, 2002, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, §462, 6 U.S.C. § 279, transferred the functions under U.S. immigration laws regarding the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children (UC) from the former Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). UC are youth who: (1) have no lawful immigration status in the United States; (2) have not attained 18 years of age; and (3) with respect to whom - (i) there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States; or (ii) no parent or legal guardian in the United States is available to provide care and physical custody. On December 23, 2008, the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) was passed. The law modified and expanded HHS' role in the care of UC. Relevant to this Statement of Work, section 235(c)(5) of the (TVPRA), 8 U.S.C. § 1232(c)(5) states, "[t]he Secretary of Health and Human Services shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable and consistent with section 292 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1362), that all unaccompanied alien children who are or have been in the custody of the Secretary [of HHS] or the Secretary of Homeland Security... have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings... To the greatest extent practicable, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall make every effort to utilize the services of pro bono counsel who agree to provide representation to such children without charge." ORR identifies care options and placements for UC in licensed shelters, group homes, secure facilities, or foster care, according to their specific needs. In making placements, ORR is guided by the principles that all UC should be treated with dignity, respect, and special concern for their particular vulnerability; subject to certain considerations, such as danger to self, danger to others, or risk of flight, all UC must be placed in the least restrictive setting that is in the best interest of the UC; and each UC shall be provided care and services free from discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or political belief. Many UC have faced traumatic situations in their home countries, such as dire poverty, war, forced military or gang recruitment, human trafficking, domestic violence, abuse, familial separation and government neglect. Some are also very young, most have little or no formal education, and are primarily non-English speaking. After apprehension by DHS and transfer to ORR, these children face a complicated legal system. Over 90% of UC were released to the custody of a family member or other sponsor in Fiscal Year 2014 while awaiting their immigration proceedings; most UC immigration cases are not resolved until after the children are released from ORR. Therefore, in addition to the legal services provided while in custody, post-release pro-bono and direct representation are an essential part of the continuity of legal services to be performed by the contractor and their sub-contractors. Professional legal counsel assists in educating the children of their rights, determining if the children qualify for any immigration relief from removal back to their home countries, and applying for identified relief. Continuity of legal representation for UC improves efficiency in ORR facilities and in the immigration court system. It also improves the ability of UC to obtain the relief for which they qualify. Sources Sought The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) provides temporary shelter care and other related services to Unaccompanied Children (UC) in ORR custody, including legal services via Legal Services Providers (LSP). This Sources Sought Notice is to determine the availability of potential small businesses that have the capacity and experience to carry out the work described below. 1. In the following states to provide legal orientation, such as "Know Your Rights" presentations. a. California b. Arizona c. Oregon d. Washington e. Texas f. Michigan g. Illinois h. Massachusetts i. New Jersey j. New York k. Connecticut l. Florida m. Georgia n. Virginia o. Maryland 2. Provide direct representation to UC in the following situations; released to the following cities: a) Post-release representation to UC in the following locations: • Dallas, Texas • Houston, Texas • Baltimore, Maryland • Arlington, Virginia • Los Angeles, California • Miami, Florida • Phoenix, Arizona • Memphis, Tennessee • New Orleans, Louisiana b) For UC in HHS custody without reunification options. c) Children who enter immigration proceedings while in HHS custody. 3. Provide court room assistance or preparation where allowed for UC in HHS custody who are required to attend court while in HHS custody. 4. Assist UC in HHS custody with filing paperwork with DHS or DOJ as required by immigration court practice and procedure. 5. Develop and implement strategies to conduct outreach to legal community surrounding the site to increase the pool of attorneys willing to volunteer their time to represent the children. 6. Coordinate assignment of pro bono attorneys for UC in and formerly in HHS custody, including for children transferred within ORR's network of care. 7. Coordinate with attorneys or child advocates for UC who are operating under another grant or contract from ORR; other Federal department or agency; State or local government; or, other entity including private law firms or non-profit organizations to provide UC with legal services. 8. Track scheduled immigration court dates and immigration judge decisions for UC screened by a regional vendor and LSP. 9. Perform on-site record keeping, maintenance and monitoring of case management system created or used by the Contractor. 10. Conduct training on immigration law and procedures for newly recruited attorneys. 11. Coordinate or hire LSPs and recruit volunteer attorneys to provide legal services to UC. Next Steps Interested sources that are eligible small business Contractors are invited to submit a capability statement that is no more than 10 pages. This capability statement should include: • A cover letter with the offeror's name, company address, a point of contact, phone number, email address, DUNS number, and current GSA schedules appropriate to this work (if any). If you have a government approved accounting system, please identify the agency that approved the system, and the type of company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM). • A clear and concise statement of the offeror's capability and organizational capacity to perform the work as described above. • Bios or resumes for proposed key staff members, including the project manager and lead technical staff. • The offeror's most pertinent previous experience with similar government contracts within the last four years. • Any websites and/or applications with strong social media components that the contractor has had primary responsibility for developing. • A potential quality assurance surveillance plan for measuring the work as described above, especially those that the offeror has used on previous, similar performance-based government contracts. This may include: o Proposed standards, metrics, or acceptable quality levels. o Methods of surveillance and/or inspection. o Evaluation methods and/or procedures. o Proposed incentive structures (positive and/or negative). o Any other procedures used to ensure high quality and cost effective work. The capability statement does not need to describe how the contractor would carry out the proposed tasks, does not need to include any budget proposals, and does not need to provide resumes or other information for non-key staff. 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) and for any other purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Qualifying small businesses which have the organizational capacity to provide either or both of the two main areas of work are encouraged to respond to this request. All teaming arrangements (if any) should also include the above-cited information with certifications for each entity on the proposed team. All offerors must register or be registered on SAM located at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/. Responses must be received by 2:00 EST on May 19, 2015. All submissions should be sent to Shanelle Jackson, via email at Shanelle.Jackson@psc.hhs.gov. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. 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. Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained will be announced to the public in Federal Business Opportunities in accordance with the FAR Part 5. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.
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