ID Verification Tool

This Notice of Intent is not a solicitation or a request for competitive proposals. No solicitation package is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) intends to award a sole-source contract to the Center for Employment Security Education and Research (CESER) for securing and providing an Identity Verification (IDV) technology solution through the UI Integrity Center of Excellence (Integrity Center) for use by states administering the UI program. This work will directly benefit the Federal government by supporting ETA in its oversight of the UI program and its compliance with improper payment laws and by reducing overpayments of Federally-funded UI benefits. This action is conducted under the authority of FAR 6.302-1 - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. CESER will subsequently procure the IDV technology solution through a full and open competition. The Integrity Center is a state-driven source of innovative program integrity strategies to prevent and detect improper payments, reduce fraud, and bring the UI program into compliance with the requirements of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act (IPERA) of 2010. The Integrity Center is operated by CESER through a cooperative agreement with DOL. CESER, a 501(c)(3) entity, was incorporated in August 1994 as the education and research arm of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). NASWA is the national organization of state administrators of the publicly-funded state workforce system and supports the collective interests of its members, the state workforce agencies. As a subsidiary of NASWA, CESER serves as a trusted resource to state UI agencies for research, identification of best practices, technical support, information technology initiatives, professional development and training. DOL wishes to implement an IDV solution using dataset(s) available through financial institutions such as credit reporting agencies, and leveraging the Integrity Center's existing Integrity Data Hub (IDH) to provide the necessary infrastructure to connect the UI agency in each state with the IDV solution. In September 2017, the Integrity Center implemented the IDH, a centralized, multi-state hub that allows participating states to cross-match UI claims against various data sources. The IDV solution will provide states with access to: (1) real-time claimant identity authentication and risk assessments, and (2) risk attributes associated with the identity analysis. Providing access to this data will enable states to immediately screen out ineligible applicants and prevent fraudulent improper payments. CESER is uniquely qualified to secure and provide an IDV technology solution through the Integrity Center for use by state UI agencies for the following reasons: - The UI Integrity Center, which is operated by CESER, has a cadre of uniquely qualified UI program and technology experts who are available to manage and monitor the procurement and implementation of the IDV solution; - Only CESER staff possess the full-range of knowledge, skills, and resources needed for this project. Through the work already done by the Integrity Center in working with the states, CESER staff have gained an in-depth understanding of the state integrity-related systems, and of the business and technical requirements necessary to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) for procuring an IDV vendor; o In the course of operating the IDH, CESER staff have acquired detailed expert knowledge of the workings of the IDH which will be essential to effectively assisting and monitoring the vendor activities during implementation of the IDV solution through the IDH. CESER staff have an in-depth understanding of the IDH's network topology and configuration, performance parameters, and security framework which makes CESER uniquely qualified to efficiently and effectively assist and monitor the implementation of the IDV solution on the IDH; o CESER has the necessary expertise and resources to coordinate and conduct functionality and performance testing to ensure that the IDV solution meets business and technical requirements outlined in the RFP. CESER's staff are already familiar with the IDH and experienced with established performance benchmarks from prior implementation of the Suspicious Actor Repository data source on the IDH for the performance testing of the IDV data source implementation on the IDH; and o Through prior work assisting states with related UI program integrity and IT modernization efforts, CESER has appropriate skilled and knowledgeable staff resources who are familiar with the IT platforms and systems in each of the states. These staff are also experienced in the provision of technical assistance for states, which can be leveraged to more efficiently assist states in the implementation and use of the IDV solution through the IDH. - CESER already has in place the relationships and IDH usage agreements with many states that provide for the use of the data sources available from the UI Integrity Center through the IDH. As of December, 2018, CESER has usage agreements with: 13 states that are regularly using the currently available data sources on the IDH, and with 14 additional states that are ready to begin using the IDH. In addition, there are another 13 states in the process of entering into the IDH usage agreement. In sum, the Integrity Center is working towards having a total of 40 states using the data sources currently available on the IDH in FY 2019. Upon implementation of the IDV services, those states that have entered into IDH usage agreements will be able to initiate testing and implementation of the IDV services. Parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement by August 19, 2019 at 2:00 pm. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Federal government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination not to compete this proposed award upon response to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Federal government. No reimbursement for any cost connected with providing capability information will be provided.