Social Security Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1710 Gwynn Oak Avenue, Baltimore, Md. 21207-0696

R -- OTHER DISABILITY PROGRAMS RESEARCH SOL SSA-RFP-97-2971 DUE 061097 POC Jane M. Quinn Tel: (410) 965-9495 WEB: Social Security Administration, http://www.ssa.gov/oag/oag1.htm. The Social Security Administration (SSA) requires the services of a contractor to perform a comprehensive, worldwide review of the literature and other sources pertaining to public and private disability benefit programs and other similar programs that use a structured approach to applicant screening and prescribe a specific disability evaluation process. This review will include published material and unpublished material. The review will also include direct contact with persons knowledgeable about the various public, private, and other similar programs. In conducting the in-depth analysis, the contractor will assess whether and how the methods, instrumentation, criteria, or features of other public and private programs have applicability or relevance to SSA's development of a new disability decision process and the goals of the disability process redesign. This assessment must address how these methods, instrumentations, criteria, or other features may be used alone or in combination to develop a newdisability decision methodology. Features of these programs that are of interest to SSA include, but are not limited to: methods used by others to easily identify individuals who are obviously disabled. These methods may include, but are not limited to, lists, indexes or inventories of severely disabling impairments; methods to easily identify individuals who are obviously not disabled; the role of functional assessment in the disability decision process including, but not limited to, information regarding the specific methodology used and weighing systems or decisionmaking algorithms for utilizing functional information; the role of age, education, and/or past work in the decision process; methods of evaluating the physical and mental (cognitive and psychosocial) requirements of work and, based on these requirements, establishing a universal baseline or other measure of the demands of work that may function as a threshold; and methods used to assess multiple impairments, including combinations of physical and mental impairments. The primary products of this project are: a comprehensive survey of other public and private programs; an in-depth analysis of selected other programs in terms of the potential applicability of features of those programs to SSA's development of a new disability decision process; and conclusions and recommendations with regard to whether and how the methods, instrumentations, criteria, or other features of those programs might be used in developing the new disability decision process. The final report must provide the contractor's in-depth analysis of each selected program. The analysis must include a detailed description of each program's evaluation process, including the methodology, criteria, and instruments employed, as well as an assessment of program features that are of interest. The final report must also provide an analysis of the survey findings and specific recommendations regarding features of other programs that are of interest to SSA in its development of a new decision methodology. These recommendations will offer both general considerations for developing this new methodology and identify and recommend specific programs and features of those programs worthy of consideration. Recommendations must be fully supported by appropriate documentation and rationale for incorporating these features into a new disability decision methodology. Solicitation No. SSA-RFP-97-2971 will be available on or about June 10, 1997 with proposals due 30 days later. The RFP will be available for download in electronic form on SSA's Internet Home Page at URL "http://www.ssa.gov/oag/oag1.htm" and also on the SSA Acquisition Data and Information Exchange (SADIE) Bulletin Board Systems. Dial (410) 966-4889 within the Baltimore, MD area, or 1-800-SSA-SELL for access. Set your modem to 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8-N-1), full duplex, and VT-100 or ANSI terminal emulation. Further instructions are available online. For technical assistance, call the Sysop at (410) 965-9506. Interested parties may also receive the RFP by mail if unable to download from either the Internet or SADIE. Requests for the RFP may be sent via telefax on (410) 966-9310. No telephone requests will be honored. Notice is given that SF 33 Solicitation, Offer and Award and the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form will not be available by electronic download. Persons intending to submit a quote should contact the Contract Specialist to obtain these documents. (0147)

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