SOURCES SOUGHT
R -- RFI: Census Field Assessment Services
- Notice Date
- 2/9/2016
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, U. S. Census Bureau, Suitland, Acquisition Division, Room 3J438, Washington, District of Columbia, 20233
- ZIP Code
- 20233
- Solicitation Number
- RFI-DEC-16-053
- Archive Date
- 3/2/2016
- Point of Contact
- Lisa R Safewright,
- E-Mail Address
-
lisa.r.safewright@census.gov
(lisa.r.safewright@census.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Request for Information: The Census Bureau is conducting market research to identify available sources for the proposed services below. Description of Services: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Census Bureau's Decennial Directorate is responsible for planning and execution of the 2020 decennial census, the largest peacetime operation of the Federal government. The Census Bureau is researching modern and cost efficient methods to conduct the 2020 census. The 2020 census is being completely reengineered to take better advantage of technology, management systems, administrative records and other changes to significantly improve the quality of operations, and to save costs to the taxpayers. OBJECTIVE/SCOPE OF WORK The contractor shall assess effectiveness of the training for enumerators and local supervisors of operations in the newly designed field enumeration operation in each of the test sites. In addition, the contractor shall assess the effectiveness of the technology, as it is enhanced and improved each year and the effectiveness of the remote census field management during each test from the local census office and the regional census center. The contractor shall provide for guidance and advice to senior leadership at the Census Bureau on census field tests, field operations, the staffing span of control in operations, the partnership program, field geography operations and evaluation of other special field and office operations as required by Census Bureau leadership. SPECIFIC TASKS Activity 1: Evaluation of Field Operations (managing and in-field operations) and their continued improvement. Through observing and assessing the performance of remote management of and in-field operations in selected locations during each of the planned census tests, the contractor shall recommend methods for improving performance during the next scheduled test throughout the testing life cycle. Specifically, the contractor shall: Observe and assess the performance of census enumerators and supervisors in selected locations during the 2016 Census test, the 2017 Census test, and the 2018 End-to-end test. The contractor shall evaluate the reengineered census field and office operations flows and processes to identify areas of weakness, areas that need to be improved, areas that cause issues/problems for the field enumerators and field supervisors, and other areas that need to be enhanced/improved. The contractor shall provide a written report containing the collected observations and recommendations to the Census Bureau management. Observe and assess office staff in the selected Regional Office/Regional Census Center who will conduct remote management of the 2016 Census test, the 2017 Census test, and the 2018 End-to-end test. The contractor shall evaluate the reengineered census office operations flow and processes to identify areas of improvement before the 2020 census occurs. The contractor shall provide a written report containing the collected observations and recommendations to the Census Bureau management. Additionally, throughout all tests, the contractor shall assess the effects of the changes in the reengineered census operations in the field and office operations within the current organizational culture that operates in the Census Bureau's Field Division, and in the Regional Offices. The contractor shall provide a written report containing the collected observations and recommendations to the Census Bureau management. The contractor shall attend and participate in meetings and debriefings about the 2016 Census test, the 2017 Census test, and the 2018 End-to-end test as requested. The contractor shall provide Census Bureau management with necessary documentation for use during these meetings. This documentation may include formal reports on findings and recommendations, planning and scheduling documents, and specific research reports as determined by the Census Bureau management. Activity 2: Evaluation of the 2016 Address Canvassing Test The 2016 Address Canvassing Test is unique from other tests with its emphasis on geographic and address listing considerations. The contractor shall observe and assess census field staff performance conducting the Address Canvassing test in the fall of 2016. The contractor shall evaluate geographic field canvassing training sessions, procedures, the ease of field listing, ease of using the technology to list housing units, ease of adding new units, deleting units and making changes to unit addresses and/or descriptions. The contractor shall provide a written report containing the collected observations and recommendations to the Census Bureau management. The contractor shall attend and participate in meetings and debriefings about the 2016 Address Canvassing test as requested. The contractor shall provide Census Bureau management with necessary documentation for use during these meetings. This documentation may include formal reports on findings and recommendations, planning and scheduling documents, and specific research reports as determined by the Census Bureau management. Activity 3: Evaluate Decennial Census Readiness of each of the Six Regional Offices The contractor shall visit each of the six Regional Offices in early 2018 and early 2019 and assess decennial census readiness of each Regional Office. The contractor shall evaluate the management staff on board, the plans to staff key positions, outreach efforts planned in the region for the next two plus years, and recruiting and staffing plans for enumerators. The contractor shall also evaluate the space/leasing concerns for office space for all Local Census Offices, and plans to target difficult (hard to count) areas in the region for enumeration (i.e., American Indian Reservations, Island areas, linguistically isolated areas, Colonia's, etc.) and identify any issues/concerns/challenges moving toward the 2020 census. The contractor shall provide a written report containing the collected observations, concerns and recommendations to the Census Bureau management. The contractor shall attend meeting with 2020 leadership to present findings and discuss concerns and recommendations going forward. Activity 4: Provide Executive Guidance and Advice to the 2020 Leadership Team The contractor shall provide guidance and advice to the Census Bureau management. Guidance shall be specifically relating to different aspects about the planning of census field operations: regional census center operations, staffing needs in field operations at Census Bureau headquarters and in the six regions, space leasing of regional and local office space, field recruiting operations, regional and headquarters partnership programs, regional decennial geographic operations, special place operations, enumeration of special and difficult population groups, field safety issues, field administrative issues (onboarding, payroll, personnel, EEO operations, etc.) as well as other activities encompassed in the field operations management structure. The contractor shall attend/ participate in scheduled conference calls, email communications and prepare reports as requested by the Census The contractor shall assess the 2016, 2017 and 2018 field operations planning efforts. The contractor shall evaluate the reengineered census field operations to identify areas of improvement before 2020 Decennial census activities occur. The contractor shall provide a written report containing the collected observations and recommendations to the Census Bureau management. The contractor will attend and participate in scheduled meetings with 2020 census leadership, including monthly briefings. Attend and participate in meetings as requested by Census Bureau management with internal stakeholders and external stakeholders and advisors (i.e. National Academy of Science, Government Accountability Office, etc.), to describe field observations from the different census tests. The contractor shall provide to the Census Bureau management necessary documentation as requested by the Census Bureau for use during the meetings. This documentation may include formal reports on findings and recommendations, planning and scheduling documents, and specific research reports as determined by the Census Bureau management. The contractor will provide ad hoc guidance and assessment of census operations through oral reporting, documentation and written analysis of tasks identified by senior leadership. This documentation may include formal reports on findings and recommendations, planning and scheduling documents, staffing documents, and other specific research reports as determined by the Census Bureau management. ESSENTIAL SKILLS Principal Consultant- The contractor shall provide a part-time, off-site, Principal Consultant. The Principal Consultant shall be responsible for the overall operation and management of the required services and shall act as a central point of contact with the Government. The Principal Consultant shall possess the following set of skills: -Knowledge and depth of experience (as evidenced through past positions) in: •Decennial census field operations o field enumeration oAddress listing operations o special place operations o non-response follow-up oGeographic operations oRegional Census Center Operations • partnership activities • Decennial communications activities •Media relations •Decennial recruiting and staffing How to respond: Interested parties must submit capabilities statements that demonstrate the services and skills as described through this notice, and identify any GWAC contract vehicles, via email to lisa.r.safewright@census.gov. The submission shall include company name, address, business size, and DUNS number, as well as a contact person and their email address and telephone number. Any questions regarding this request may be directed to the provided email address. No phone calls will be honored. DISCLAIMER: This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review.
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