Development of Standardized Measure to Assess Disparate Contextual Forms of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Introduction. This is a Research and Development (R & D) Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of all qualified sources to perform a potential R & D requirement. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. The NACIS code for this acquisition is 541720, with a size standard of $20.5M. Background. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a substantial public health problem in the United States; recognition of the importance and prevalence of this problem has fueled research examining the causes, correlates, and outcomes of IPV over the past several decades. Despite the accumulation of this vast literature, results from studies across the various IPV research domains (e.g., etiology, efficacy and effectiveness) are mixed and difficult to reconcile. One potential reason for research discrepancies is likely the field's frequent conceptualization and measurement of IPV as though it is a unitary or singular phenomenon, in which acts of physical, sexual, and psychological aggression (including threats of physical or sexual violence and stalking) are counted and summed without sufficient attention to the context in which violence occurs. The result is that physical violence perpetrated by both members of a couple during the escalation of an argument is labeled as IPV, as is the perpetration of a constellation of physical, sexual, and psychological violence by one partner toward another for the purpose of dominating and controlling that partner. However, it is likely that these two contexts of IPV have vastly different prevalence rates, etiologies, and outcomes, and therefore may warrant different prevention approaches, as well as a measurement scheme that will distinguish between them. The goal of the current work funded under this contract is to assist CDC scientists in the Division of Violence Prevention in developing a standardized measure of disparate contextual forms of IPV. Because IPV occurs in different contexts, each with seemingly distinct etiological pathways, accurate measurement of these contexts is essential for developing and testing effective prevention strategies. Advancing this measurement will allow us to more accurately demonstrate the impact of existing and developing interventions. This measure also will allow us to conduct better etiological research to inform the timing and potential targets for effective prevention strategies. By expanding and supplementing our current behavioral measurement approaches, we can enhance our ability to impact and demonstrate this impact on IPV. Purpose and Objectives. The purpose of this contract is to develop a standardized measure of disparate contextual forms of IPV that may be used for research and ultimately to inform practice. Project Requirements. Briefly explain the methods and approaches for completing each task. The potential requirement will include the following tasks: Project Management & Meetings. The contractor shall organize, participate in, and provide summary notes of regular bi-monthly teleconference meetings with CDC staff. The contractor will also organize, participate in, and provide summary notes of any meetings with site partners that may be relevant to completion of (Data Collection Plan) and (Data Collection). Literature searches. The contractor will conduct two thorough searches of the literature to identify (1) empirical articles providing evidence of the existence of disparate contextual forms of IPV, including articles about measurement of contextual forms of IPV, and (2) empirical articles that may provide evidence of different etiological risk factors for disparate contextual forms of IPV. The contractor will propose a plan covering both searches to be submitted to CDC, submit a brief final report detailing the search so that the search can be replicated easily; identify relevant articles, consulting with CDC when it is uncertain whether or not the article meets inclusion criteria; create an annotated bibliography summary for each article, populate a summary table providing key information from each article, and create an EndNote database of all included articles. Measurement Generation. The contractor will identify pertinent survey items from existing measures of IPV and assist CDC in generating new items for additional content areas where measurement gaps are identified in the literature. Lead Management of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval Process. The contractor will be responsible for managing the development, completion, and submission of the necessary human subjects research package (i.e., all required forms and documents) for CDC Institutional Review Board approval and any other IRBs if relevant, for data collection (data collection will occur in the option year). Lead Management of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Approval Process. The contractor will be responsible for managing the development, completion, and submission of the necessary OMB approval package (i.e., all required forms and documents) to submit to the OMB for data collection (data collection will occur in the option year). Submit Plan for Data Collection. The contractor will submit a detailed list of potential data collection populations, specific accessible samples from those populations, and sites. A range of populations, such as IPV offenders, general high risk groups, general community members, and college samples should be included. The contractor will provide a written plan for collecting data during the Option Period. The plan will include submitting evidence of necessary partnerships (e.g., MOU's) to collect the data. Data Collection. The contractor will collect pilot and validation data of the survey measure created in the base period from the populations identified and according to the procedures outlined in the plan for data collection and the IRB and OMB protocols. The contractor will provide CDC with all data and a data codebook. Anticipated period of performance. The period of performance will be three years. Other Important Considerations. None Capability Statement/Sources Sought. PAGE LIMIT 10 PAGES. Interested offerors should submit a capability statement specifically addressing the criteria listed below ONLY. Capability statements that address requirements other than what is identified below will not be reviewed. a. Your opinion about the difficulty and or feasibility of the potential requirement or proposed acquisition, possible solutions and approaches that may currently exist in the marketplace, and information regarding innovative ideas or concepts; b. Your staff expertise, including your availability, experience, formal training, and any other training; c. Your current in house capability and capacity to perform the work; d. Your prior completed projects of a similar nature; e. Your corporate experience and management capability. Provide any examples of prior completed Government contracts, reference, and other related information. Information Submission Instructions: Please include a cover page with the following business information. The cover page does not count against the page limit for the capability statement. a. DUNS Number: b. Organization Name and Address: c. Do you have a Government-approved accounting system? If so, please identify the agency that approved this system. d. Business Size and Type of Business (e. g., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code 541720, size standards which is $20.5 million. e. Technical point of contact including name, title, address, telephone number, and email address of the individual(s) who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the response. f. Contract's point of contact including name, title, address, telephone number, and email address. g. In your opinion, can this work fit under a GSA Schedule? If so, which GSA Schedule? Please provide the schedule number. h. In your opinion, is NAICS code 541720 the appropriate NAICS code for this project? If not, what NAICS code is most applicable and why? Page Limitation: Capability Statements shall be limited to Ten (10) pages (including references, appendices, charts, illustrations, diagrams, and or resumes) single-spaced pages including cover page. Pages shall be formatted as follows: MS Word, 8 - x 11, 12 pitch, Times New Roman font with one (1) inch margins. Response Due Date: Submit capability statements via email to Dinah K. McGruder, Contract Specialist at contact@example.gov. Should you have any questions concerning this sources sought, please direct your questions in writing to the Contracting Specialist Dinah K. McGruder at contact@example.gov. The government will not respond to oral questions. Responses must be submitted no later than 10:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (EST) by Wednesday, January 07, 2015. Capability statements will NOT be accepted after the due date. No telephonic or facsimile responses will be accepted. The Government will not provide feedback on capability statements and we will not return capability statements received. Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in 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 organization's 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).