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Model Program for Comprehensive Family Centered Reunification for ACF-CB


Maryland, United States
Government : Federal
RFP
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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.

NAICS Code: 541611 - Administrative Management Consulting Services


Title: Model Program for Comprehensive Family-Centered Reunifications for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)/Administration for Children and Families (ACF)/Children's Bureau (CB)



Description:


The Children's Bureau (CB) in the Administration for Children and Families seeking interested capable small businesses to develop a model program, based on research and review of existing reunification programs, strategies and interventions, to comprehensively assess and address the needs of birth families in order to increase timely, stable and lasting family reunification for children in foster care, to include input from subject matter experts, families, foster parents and alumni from foster care. The Contractor will be required to develop a readiness criteria and a solicitation plan in order to identify and submit to CB for review and approval a list of 4-6 potential local implementation sites comprising of State, county or tribal child welfare agencies. To identify sites for recommendation, the Contractor shall consider factors including, but not limited to: foster care population demographics; agency capacity and readiness in supporting shared parenting between foster and biological families; capacity to use existing administrative data systems and to modify or develop data in order to efficiently collect, analyze and report on critical data elements (to be determined with approval by CB) in order to evaluate the implementation of the model program within and across the local sites; geographic location of sites; on-going input from families, foster parents, alumni from care, service providers and other key partners; and support and collaboration of courts, community service providers and the communities at large where children in foster care are removed from and placed in. The Contractor will be required to conduct formal evaluability assessments of each local site prior to initial implementation. The Contractor will be required to provide programmatic and evaluation technical assistance in all aspects of program model implementation to the local sites, individually and collectively. The Contractor will be required to create a replication manual providing detailed information of the model program, its interventions and strategies, implementation components, evaluation, and applicability across sites based on site-specific demographics, strengths and challenges. The Contractor will also submit a comprehensive final report to include but not limited to: replicability manual; program implementation an outcome data; detailed barriers and challenges in implementation; detailed technical assistance provided and results; final modifications to the model program; evaluation of replicability possibility and key elements of consideration in such efforts; and sustainability efforts and achievements.


Background:


The Children's Bureau's programs promote strengthening of the family unit in order to help prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families and encourage reunifying families, when possible, if separation has occurred. State and Tribal child welfare systems are designed to deliver direct services that protect children who have suffered maltreatment, who are at risk for maltreatment, or who are under the care and placement responsibility of the State and/or Tribe because their families are unable to care for them. These systems also focus on securing permanent legal placement with families, such as reunification, guardianship, and adoption for children and youth who are unable to return home. (For more information about CB's programs, visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb)


CB is implementing this model program contract for the first time as a new strategy to support CB's vision for a re-imagined child welfare system including a foster care system that supports entire families, in contrast to one that acts as substitutes for parents. This is based on an understanding that most families can be helped to care for their children in safe and healthy ways, and that even when foster care is necessary, foster families can support parents in their efforts to regain custody of their children. The creation of this model program aimed at supporting reunification efforts is in response to the overall need in child welfare systems to prioritize the importance of families, keeping children in their communities and schools, providing foster families the skills and services needed to become resources to birth families, developing interventions that support the well-being of parents/caregivers as well as children, and building the capacity of communities to support their children and families through locally based resources and services.


Foster families can play a major role in the support and reunification of families who are temporarily separated in order to strengthen the protective capacities of parents. The role of foster families is to support and mentor the birth family, whenever possible and appropriate, in addition to ensuring that children have a safe and nurturing place to live. Among the skills needed for this role are coaching and mentoring, the ability to support flexible and frequent family visitation, joint foster and birth family support of children's extracurricular activities, participation in and support to birth families in case plan development and goal achievement, prudent parenting and trauma-focused care, and more. At the same time, recruiting foster families within the same communities that children come from is a necessary strategy to normalizing a child's temporary placement in foster care and minimizing or preventing additional trauma.


Local communities also have an important role in supporting reunification. In addition to recruiting foster families in the communities that children come from, developing services and supports in those same communities allow for increased stability, lessen trauma, and maintaining important connections. Remaining in their community of origin allows children to visit with family more frequently, remain in their existing schools and even remain connected with friends and activities they enjoyed prior to the foster care episode. This also allows the parents to receive services by providers who understand the community they come from, more easily access needed services, have more frequent and meaningful visits, increase opportunities to participate in family-centered services and overall remain more involved in their children's lives.


Objectives:


CB expects the Contractor to develop a model program that will:
1. Create systemic change through intentional policy, practice and culture shifts of agency and service provider staff, that promote comprehensive, holistic family- centered reunification services and supports;
2. Align with the premise that foster care and foster families should serve as a support, not a substitute for parents and biological families;
3. Implement strategies and interventions that promote foster family and birth family engagement, mentoring and support;
4. Support child welfare agencies to maintain children's important family connections to establish children and youth's normalcy while in foster care; and
5. Engage local communities in developing a comprehensive array of services and localized family supports that allow families to build protective factors and thrive within their communities of origin.



Scope of Work


No more than 10 FTEs, including 5 part-time technical expert consultants, are anticipated to be necessary to achieve the following program objectives in first year of the contract:


Task 1: Design and develop a model program with subject matter experts, birth parents, foster parents and alumni of foster families serving as technical expert consultants, based on a comprehensive service array framework that addresses the holistic family- centered and individual needs of families with a goal of reunification within foster care.


Task 2: Identify and engage national and local technical experts and stakeholders with research, practice, service and lived experience to: provide technical assistance (TA) and support to the Contractor and to the local sites related to model program development, implementation and evaluation of the model program.


Task 3: Develop a readiness criteria and a solicitation plan in order to identify and submit to CB for review and approval a list of 4-6 potential local implementation sites comprising of State, county or tribal child welfare agencies. The Contractor should expect to process approximately 30 applications from local sites. To identify sites for recommendation, the Contractor shall consider factors including, but not limited to: foster care population demographics; agency capacity and readiness in supporting shared parenting between foster and biological families; capacity to use existing administrative data systems and to modify or develop data in order to efficiently collect, analyze and report on critical data elements (to be determined with approval by CB) in order to evaluate the implementation of the model program within and across the local sites; geographic location of sites; on-going input from families, foster parents, alumni from care, service providers and other key partners; and support and collaboration of courts, community service providers and the communities at large where children in foster care are removed from and placed in. Local sites may be considered for payments to offset agency/site costs (e.g., computer costs, data collection costs, service component installation, designated staff time, etc.) related to ensuring full implementation of the model program.


Task 4: Conduct formal evaluability assessments of each local site to ensure local site readiness for implementation of program strategies and summative evaluation activities.


Task 5: Provide programmatic technical assistance to ensure Local Site Implementation of the model program shall be completed in accordance with the Local site implementation and evaluation plans.


Task 6: Develop a Learning Collaborative (in-person and virtual) to provide collective programmatic, implementation, evaluation and sustainability TA. The contractor shall choose an approach that is efficient, effective, and promotes a learning community across the local sites and use feedback to propose model adjustments to CB.


Task 7: The contractor shall deliver a Dissemination plan to communicate information about the model program's implementation and evaluation.


Task 8: The Contractor will be required to create a replication manual providing detailed information of the model program, its interventions and strategies, implementation components, evaluation, and applicability across sites based on site-specific demographics, strengths and challenges.


Task 9: The contractor shall deliver a comprehensive final report to include but not limited to: program implementation and outcome data; detailed barriers and challenges in implementation; detailed technical assistance provided and results; final modifications to the model program; evaluation of replicability possibility and key elements of consideration in such efforts; and sustainability efforts and achievements.


Requirements:


A prospective source must possess, or be able to obtain (in-house or through subcontracting/ consulting arrangements), the staff and other resources needed to expeditiously carry out the different types of activities listed above. Any other specific and pertinent information related to this particular area of procurement that would enhance our consideration and evaluation of the information submitted should be provided. Interested organizations must demonstrate and document, in any capability statements submitted, extensive experience with and the ability to perform the above tasks.



Capability statements:
Interested, qualified small business organizations should submit a tailored capability statement for this requirement, not to exceed 25 pages (including all attachments, resumes, charts, etc.), presented in double-space format and using a 12 point font size minimum, that clearly details the ability to perform the aspects of the notice described above. Statements should include information regarding respondents': (a) Staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references and other related information i.e., names, titles, telephone numbers and any other information which would serve to document the organizations capability, e.g., awards, commendations, etc.


Statements should also include an indication of current certified small business status; this indication should be clearly marked on the first page of your capability statement, as well the eligible small business concern's name, point of contact, address and DUNs number.


Inquiries/Submission Instructions:


This notice is strictly for market research and questions and comments are not being accepted at this time.


All Capability Statement responses must be submitted electronically (via email) to ginger.lease@psc.hhs.gov in Microsoft Word (MS) OR Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), by 10:00am EDT on Friday, 05/31/2019. All responses must be received by the specified due date and time to be considered. ANY RESPONSES RECEIVED AFTER THAT DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.


1. The Capability Statement Cover Letter should include the following Business Information:


Cover Letter: Vendor Information


a. Company Name;
b. Company Address;
c. Company Point of Contact, Phone, and Email address;
d. DUNS Number
e. Current Strategic Sourcing Contract Number appropriate to the work described in this Notice;
f. Business Type (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.)


2. Provide a Capability Statement that demonstrates the ability to perform the requirements listed in this Sources Sought Notice and to assume these responsibilities without significant disruption to services.


3. Demonstrate past experience on at least two (2) similar projects consistent in scope, size and complexity and were performed within the last ten years showing current or previous contractual experience with a similar project. Past experience should reflect an understanding of: creating systemic change through intentional policy, practice and culture shifts of agency and service provider staff that promote comprehensive, holistic family-centered reunification services and supports; implementing strategies and interventions that promote foster family and birth family engagement, mentoring and support; assessing and providing for children's normalcy activities, including maintaining important connections; and engaging local communities in developing a comprehensive array of services and localized family supports that allow families to build protective factors and thrive within their communities of origin. Also, provide the specifics below:


a. Contract number
b. Contract title
c. Period of performance
d. Point of Contact (name, phone number and email address)
e. Brief Description of work performed
f. Overall Value of contract


4. Furnish documentation that demonstrate staff knowledge, skills, and experience to meet and perform the requirements.


Disclaimer and Important Notes:
This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the 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 organizations 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).


Primary Point of Contact.:
Ginger R. Lease
Contract Specialist
Email: Ginger.lease@psc.hhs.gov
Phone: (301) 492-4645


Contracting Office Address:
7700 Wisconsin Ave., Mail Stop 10230B
Bethesda, Maryland 20857
United States


Place of Contract Performance:


At the contractor's site.


Ginger R. Lease, Contract Specialist, Phone 3014924645, Email ginger.lease@psc.hhs.gov

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