DSS Market Research for conducting Background Investigations

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. 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. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Quote (RFQ), or a promise to issue an RFP or RFQ. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback with regards to its submission; other than acknowledgement of receipt - IF a request for an acknowledgement is requested by the submitter. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. The Defense Security Service (DSS) is not at this time seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP or RFQ. It is the responsibility of the potential Offerors to monitor the website for any information that may pertain to this RFI. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned. Contact Information: Contracting Office Address: Defense Security Service (DSS), Office of Acquisitions 27130 Telegraph Road, Quantico, VA 22134. The Points of Contact for this RFI are Stephen Heath who can be reached at Stephen.M.Heath2.civ@mail.mil and Tara Petersen who can be reached at Tara.L.Petersen.civ@mail.mil. Purpose of this RFI: The DSS is currently conducting market research to gather data for the purpose of developing requirements to contract for investigative service providers to conduct background investigations on Department of Defense (DoD)-affiliated personnel, consistent with the mandate contained in Section 951 of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): (1) PERSONNEL BACKGROUND AND SECURITY PLAN REQUIRED. The Secretary of Defense shall develop an implementation plan for the DSS to conduct, after October 1, 2017, background investigations for personnel of the DoD whose investigations are adjudicated by the consolidated Adjudication Facility of the Department. (2) PLAN FOR POTENTIAL TRANSFER OF INVESTIGATIVE PERSONNEL TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Not later than October 1, 2017, the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall develop a plan to transfer Government investigative personnel and contracted resources to the Department in proportion to the background and security investigative workload that would be assumed by the Department if the plan required by paragraph (1) were implemented. On August 25, 2017, the Secretary of Defense approved the implementation plan required by Section 951. The plan describes a phased migration of an enhanced vetting mission that allows DSS to assume responsibility for BIs of DoD-affiliated (civilian, military and contractor) individuals in three phases over a 36-month period. Questions: Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to Stephen.M.Heath2.civ@mail.mil and Tara.L.Petersen.civ@mail.mil no later than October 1, 2017 by 12:00PM ET. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. DSS will respond to any question at its discretion. Any questions shall be sent via email to the above addresses and shall NOT contain proprietary information. Any responses provided by the DSS will be returned to the e-mail address the question was received from. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after the aforementioned date will be acknowledged or answered. Information Requested: The DSS is specifically seeking information related to personnel background investigations conducted by commercial companies: 1. Provide the company name; company address; point of contact name, phone and email; CAGE code; DUNS; business size (large or small) and socio-economic status for all North American Industry Classification Standard (NAICS) codes the company operates under. 2. Provide a capability statement that demonstrates your company's ability to conduct personnel background investigations. a. Provide a detailed description of relevant projects that your company has completed (or ongoing) in the past three years that supported all areas of personnel background investigations. b. Provide the name of the commercial firm or Government agency where the work was performed. c. Provide the contract number, total dollar value and the start and end dates. d. Indicate if your company performed the work as the prime or subcontractor. 3. Provide a response to the following questions: a. How do you conduct background investigations? b. How is caseload managed? c. What technology or systems do you use in conducting background investigations? d. How are your investigators trained? e. How is your staff organized to conduct a geographically dispersed global mission, involving the completion of as many as 1.5 million contract investigations annually of varying levels of complexity (Tiers 1, 2, 3, 3R, 4, 5, and 5R)? f. How would you approach the DoD background investigations differently than how it is completed right now? What changes would you suggest? g. What challenges or obstacles do you currently face and what is their impact on your operations? h. What suggestions would you make regarding how best to distribute and manage workload between contractor investigators and government investigators? i. What suggestions would you make regarding partnership and teaming between companies to address investigations spanning multiple geographic areas? j. How would you address investigator capacity challenges without recruiting investigators from other providers? k. What suggestions would you make to improve processing of background investigations? l. What changes or enhancements to the Federal Investigative Standards would you make to improve the quality of background investigations? m. How could the Government decrease barriers for other companies to enter the background investigations market? n. What impact would centrally managed training provided by the government have on your company in providing background investigations? o. Does your company typically provide this type of service on-site at the client's facility or off-site at your facility(s), or both? Please elaborate regarding how your support services are provided within each setting (on/off site). p. What transition time would your company expect? q. What contract type would you suggest to best meet the capability of providing personnel background investigations? r. What type of labor categories would you suggest to conduct personnel background investigations and associated support services? Also identify those positions that you believe should be considered key personnel. s. Is there any other information that DSS should consider that hasn't already been addressed above? 4. Please provide your interest in participating in a one-on-one meeting with the Government to discuss the above questions to be schedule in October 2017. Your company's knowledge and insight is expected to greatly benefit DSS's efforts to address the NDAA mandate and develop investigative capability and capacity at DoD. Your time and participation would be greatly appreciated. RFI Submission Instructions: Responses to the RFI should be in the form of a .pdf file with type face no smaller than 12 point and include the name of the firm which the respondent represents. Each respondent shall provide their North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes and identify its business size for each NAICS code provided. The e-mail subject line must contain this RFI number. RFI submissions shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to Stephen.M.Heath2.civ@mail.mil and Tara.L.Petersen.civ@mail.mil no later than October 6, 2017 by 12:00PM ET. All responses should be unclassified and reviewed to ensure consideration of operational sensitivities. Proprietary information will be accepted and handled appropriately. Responders should indicate which portions of their response are proprietary and should mark them accordingly.