Loren Data's SAM Daily™

SAMDAILY.US - ISSUE OF NOVEMBER 11, 2020 SAM #6922
SOURCES SOUGHT

R -- VR&E Assessment

Notice Date

11/9/2020 10:10:28 AM
 

Notice Type

Sources Sought
 

NAICS

541611 — Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
 

Contracting Office

VETERANS BENEFITS ADMIN (36C10D) WASHINGTON DC 20006 USA
 

ZIP Code

20006
 

Solicitation Number

36C10D21Q0003
 

Response Due

11/17/2020 9:00:00 AM
 

Archive Date

01/16/2021
 

Point of Contact

shellie.murphy@va.gov, Shellie Murphy
 

E-Mail Address

Shellie.Murphy@va.gov
(Shellie.Murphy@va.gov)
 

Awardee

null
 

Description

ANSWERT TO SUBMITTED QUESTIONS How does VA want to deliver the comprehensive report? via email, secure messaging, government-provided folder, file, or only online through access as an admin to the system? The report should be provided online through an access portal with the capability to be downloaded as a PDF. How many admin users will you need? How many users are estimated on the sub portals? 50K what about admin users? VA users? VA has approximately 56 Regional Offices that will require admin access. At minimum 2 or 3 admin users will be needed per Regional Office. VA has over 1,000 counselors that will require access to the system. How many versions of assessments is the VA expecting? Is one basic assessment sufficient for all user types? Can the VA explain the basic categories expected software to cover? One assessment is sufficient as long as it measures interests and aptitudes. Multiple assessments are more beneficial as each Veteran is unique. Can we add more information to respond to the third segment of these questions? Can the vendor provide more clarification on Can the VA explain the basic categories expected software to cover? . Will VA require any IT, or Staff training? if so, how many trainings for how many people? VA will require recorded training and training materials on how to access and interpret the assessments to meet the needs of the more than 1000 counselors. How will issues with the platform be communicated with us? Will VA end users submit a trouble ticket to us? Issues will be communicated either by a trouble ticket system or by the Project Manager to the vendor. Will there be any government-furnished hardware, software, equipment for us to use or consider? Government furnished hardware, software, and equipment is not required for this project. What network will we be on? VA or Guest Network? The portal and assessments will not be on a VA network as some Veterans may need to complete the assessment at home using their own computer and network. Will patient identification be loaded into our platform/software? Patient information will not be loaded into the platform/software. What if assignment, distribution is automated in software? There will be no need to physically return incomplete assessments if you only pay for ones actually submitted. Assignment distribution can be automated. All assessments should be completed online. How long are VA patients expected to complete assessment if not completed in the 90 min. When should incomplete assessment accounts be deactivated? 7 days, 15, 30, 60 days after portal activation? Incomplete assessments should be deactivated after 45 days. Is there any current portal or portals that the VA is using for assessments? VA is currently using CareerScope. What will be the technical compatibility requirements for the portals, if any, with any VA system? The portal shall be compatible with the following browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 Google Chrome Microsoft Edge Apple Safari Based on Task 1 The initial assessment quantity shall be 50,000 assessments of varying types. How often will assessments need to be added to the portals? The bulk of the 50,000 assessments shall be distributed to each Regional Office. Assessments will need to be added to the portals once a Regional Office reaches below 20% of their allotment of assessment. What is the estimated FTE for this effort, if any? There is no estimate at this time for FTE. With regards to the National Portal, does the VA have preferred browser requirements or recommendations that should be considered for accessing and utilizing the National Portal and Sub-portals? The portal shall be compatible with the following browsers: Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 Google Chrome Microsoft Edge Apple Safari Does the VA intend for the National Portal and its contents to be mobile accessible or accessible via a mobile application? The VA does not intend for the contents to be accessible via mobile application. Will the online portal be integrated with VA for Vets and/or VA.gov? The online portal will not be integrated with VA for Vets and/or VA.gov. The RFI states that the contractor shall maintain the National Portal and Sub-portals . Is the contractor also responsible for hosting the portals in a cloud environment that is not on-premise with VA? To be more specific, does the portal (National/Regional) have to be hosted on a VA website? The portal is not required to be hosted on a VA website. The RFI states the portal must be VA-branded . Does the portal have to be a VA website or can it be a unique link to an assessment link? The portal is not required to be on a VA website. The online portal must contain the VA and VR&E logos. With regard to the assessments, can the vendor partner with another firm who owns or has access to the intellectual property (i.e. the various assessments) to distribute the assessment? The vendor can partner with another firm. With regard to the assessment results, is the contractor expected to help the assessment taker understand their results and provide additional coaching/counseling outside of what is available in the score report/narrative? Or, is the main deliverable the score report? Should the contractor provide a portal of companion/optional resources that can be used along with the assessment? The vendor is not expected to help the assessment taker understand the results. The vendor shall provide training to VA s Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors to understand the assessment and interpret the results. The vendor should provide companion and optional resources to be used along with the assessment. Does the system need to allow new assessment types(s) to be added for use by counselors, or are they just adding new licenses of the assessment(s) that have been selected at the start of the program? The system will need to add new licenses of the assessments that have been selected at the start of the program/contract. Will the government or the contractor be responsible for identifying and selecting new assessment types or decommissioning old assessment types? The vendor will need to identify and select assessments as part of their contract proposal. Out of the available assessment provided by the vendor, the VA s Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors will select the most appropriate assessment for each Veteran to evaluate their aptitude and interests. How quickly will assessments need to be added or removed? Bulk assessments will initially be distributed to each Regional Office for usage. Once a certain amount of assessments are used, additional assessments should be added to the Regional Office within 1-2 business days. Has the government contemplated a feedback loop to solicit feedback from Veterans or VR&E counselors regarding the effectiveness of assessments? The VA solicits feedback from VR&E counselors through townhalls and field advisory groups. What is the desired average cost per Veteran for all assessments? The desired average cost is what is determined to be the best value within the industry? If there is a set of assessments that can be taken individually or collectively to build on each other (e.g. CareerLeader has a set of 3 assessments), does the whole set need to be completed in 90 mins or just each individual assessment? Each individual assessment should be untimed to allow for accommodations for testing. Each assessment should be no longer than 90 minutes. How regularly does the math, reading, and writing assessment need to be completed? Each time a new assessment is taken? Or can that be done once and included in the follow up reports for COT assessments? The math, reading, and writing assessment will vary as each Veteran is unique. Potentially each Veteran would need to take each component, but it will depend on their education background and available documentation of their aptitude. Typically retesting is not required if the assessment is less than one year old. If using multiple COT career assessments, does the report on career fields and field growth need to be standardized across assessments, or can it leverage the career categories that a given assessment uses (which may vary from assessment to assessment)? If multiple assessments are taken, the results should be standardized in some way to build off on each other and not contradict each other. It would be beneficial for the career categories to be standardized to allow for simpler interpretation. For Deliverable 3 under Task 3: Will the contractor provide training directly to counselors? Will they do train-the-trainer? Or is that up to the contractor s discretion? The contractor will provide training to the counselors through a recorded training. Training resources such as guides and walk throughs should also be available to assist the counselor with understanding the portal and interpreting the assessment results. What national reporting metrics on Career Assessments does VR&E leadership currently report on CareerScope? Are there additional metrics/insights they hope to get from the new assessment(s)? VR&E leadership does not currently report any metrics on CareerScope other than the number of assessments utilized. There are no additional metrics at this time that the VA hopes to gain from new assessments. page 2 The RFI states that ""The assessment must have the ability to be administered in multiple languages, including English and Spanish.""   Is it essential that the assessments be available in Spanish at the time of award? Yes, the assessments should be available in Spanish at the time of award. page 3 The RFI states that ""The result must delineate whether the participant would be most suited in a developmental, skilled mid-level, or professional management level within identified career clusters.""  Is it essential that the career level be reported in exactly this manner? The career level does not have to be reported in exactly this manner. Does the government have preferred vehicles or other methods of procurement for this opportunity? If so, please list these methods. The government does not have preferred methods of procurement for this opportunity. With regards to the National Portal, does the VA have preferred browser requirements or recommendations that should be considered for accessing and utilizing the National Portal and Sub-portals? The portal shall be compatible with the following browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 Google Chrome Microsoft Edge Apple Safari
 

Web Link

SAM.gov Permalink
(https://beta.sam.gov/opp/0a7d55dd30a44e91b09f9f260148554d/view)
 

Place of Performance

Address: Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration Acquisition Division 1800 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20006, USA

Zip Code: 20006

Country: USA
 

Record

SN05849731-F 20201111/201109230142 (samdaily.us)
 

Source

SAM.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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