LIHEAP Web-Based Performance Managment System (Intent to Sole Source)

Pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.302-1, the Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Acquisition Management Service, Division of Negotiated Acquisition, intends to negotiate a sole source, time-and-material contract with APPRISE, Inc. located at 32 Nassau Street, Suite 200 Princeton, NJ 08542, for implementation of the LIHEAP Web-Based Performance Management System on behalf of the Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Only one award will be made. A time-and-material contract will be awarded. The period of performance for the award will be for a 12 month base period, plus one 12 month option period beginning 28 September 2014. The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers, at the federal level, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The program's purpose is "to assist low-income households, particularly those with the lowest income, that pay a high proportion of household income for home energy, primarily in meeting their immediate home energy needs." In the last several years, OCS has worked to improve LIHEAP program integrity and accountability in light of such issues that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in its 2010 review of the program. Related to these efforts, OCS has sought to increase the accuracy, timeliness, and usefulness of LIHEAP outcome data reported by LIHEAP grantees in administering their programs. The development of outcome-based LIHEAP performance measures has been a joint effort between OCS and the LIHEAP Program Measures Implementation Work Group (PMIWG) which consists of 15 state LIHEAP Directors that represent the LIHEAP grantees perspectives, and several OCS staff. Formed in April 2010, the PMIWG which provides guidance to OCS on LIHEAP performance measures and management issues from the grantees' perspective. The PMIWG engages LIHEAP grantees in a consensus-driven process in order to assess states' current data collection capacity, to begin reporting on LIHEAP performance measures, and to provide on-going consultation regarding data collection and use of performance measures from LIHEAP grantee's perspectives. In addition, the PMIWG has been encouraging states to use Zoho in testing Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III optional LIHEAP performance indicators that states and OCS developed in January 2010. In September 2012, OCS awarded a contract to the Applied Public Policy Research Institute for Study and Evaluation, Inc. (APPRISE). The primary goal of the contract is to develop and implement the LIHEAP Web-Based Data Collection Tool in preparing LIHEAP grantees to collect aggregated performance data for OCS' proposed LIHEAP measures which are pending OMB approval. The Web-Based LIHEAP Collection Tool came online in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2014 when states reported data for OCS' LIHEAP Household Report and Grantee Survey for FFY 2014. In part, this was done through the use of ACF's Online Data Collection (OLDC) tool which was modified to process the LIHEAP Household Report and LIHEAP Grantee Survey, using OCS' specifications for data entry, editing and validating the data. The back-end of the Tool includes the LIHEAP Web-Based Data Warehouse and Information Sharing modules. Currently, 10 consecutive years of state-reported LIHEAP household and grantee survey data have been entered into the Data Warehouse for conducting trend analysis. By the end of the current contract, OCS will have a comprehensive LIHEAP Web-Based Data Collection Tool that will serve as a data repository for state, tribal and territorial data, a tool for automatic analysis, ad-hoc data queries, and dashboard-type reporting for LIHEAP. The Tool provides through OLDC front-end data entry and data checking procedures for collecting grantee-level LIHEAP data from the LIHEAP Household Reports and the Grantee Surveys. The Tool provides back-end data processing, data storage, and reporting. The next step is to expand the Tool into a management system to support grantees in the use of state, tribal, and territorial LIHEAP performance measures for data-driven decision making. Implementation of data collection and reporting functions requires the continuation of joint efforts between OCS and the LIHEAP PMIWG which consists of approximately 14 state LIHEAP agency directors. The implementation of the System will require an extensive amount of individualized training and technical assistance to further build grantees' capacity to report, analyze, and use LIHEAP grantee data. In addition, related technical assistance will be provided to OCS' Division of Energy Assistance (DEA). This contract is to acquire follow-on support services to further enhance and expand the LIHEAP Performance Web Based Data Collection Tool through the feedback provided through user testing under the current contract. This contract will allow OCS to extend accomplishments delivered under the current contract to develop and refine LIHEAP performance data collection, editing, crosschecking, completeness checking, validation, reporting, and analysis capabilities. Completion of the tasks proposed under the new contract will build on the work of the present contract in: - creating and testing validations of OCS' LIHEAP performance measures form and reporting instructions. - merging the variety of LIHEAP and LIHEAP related data for analyses and crosschecking. - providing logistical and technical support services to further work of the Performance Implementation Measurement Group (PMIWG). - providing secured public access to the LIHEAP Performance Measures Website. - promoting the use of LIHEAP performance outcome data in LIHEAP grantees' data-driven decisions. - following up on the results of LIHEAP Grantee Capacity Questionnaire, which assessed each state's need for training & technical assistance (T&TA) regarding performance measurement and information technology (IT) capacity for LIHEAP. - providing outside expertise for inquiries that exceed OCS' in-house capacity for analyzing LIHEAP Performance Measurement data. This acquisition requires the contractor to have the following unique qualifications: - extensive knowledge of the LIHEAP program, LIHEAP administrative data, and the home energy needs of low income households both at the state and national level, - expertise in statistical programming, program evaluation, logic models, data analysis, survey development, technical writing; design and management of low income household surveys, interviews with energy service providers, and information technology. - data access to state and federal LIHEAP and LIHEAP-related data, including the Energy Information Administration's latest Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS), - program evaluation, logic models, and managing for results, - technical experience in data compilation and editing, report production, and use of ACF's Online Data Collection (OLDC) system and LIHEAP Performance Data Warehouse, - extensive involvement in DEA's LIHEAP Performance Measurement implementation Work Group (PWIWG) and managing for results, - professional staff with Ph.D. and Master's level education in economics, public policy and affairs, and program evaluation, - Extensive familiarity with data manipulation and other production that underlie the development of HHS' annual LIHEAP Report to Congress and the annual LIHEAP Home Energy Notebook. - Access, under an agreement with the Department of Energy that the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act, (CIPSEA, 44 U.S.C. 3501) requires, to obtain RECS confidential data upon which OCS depends; - A reputation for political neutrality as the contractor will (1) compile figures that affects LIHEAP funding (2) generate reports that publicize the performance of the LIHEAP program and its grantees APPRISE, Inc., a non-profit research institute, is uniquely qualified through by its successful work, comprehensive understanding and long-term experience on previous and current OCS LIHEAP data collection, reporting and analysis efforts to perform the required services. APPRISE conducts a wide variety of research and evaluation studies on low-income energy issues and evaluation of low-income energy programs. It has more than 25 years of research and evaluation experience working with the LIHEAP program with a comprehensive understanding of program design, operations, and impact. APPRISE has unique knowledge of and years of experience in conducting national LIHEAP studies; working on the RECS, designing the RECS LIHEAP Supplemental Survey; conducting LIHEAP performance measurement studies; and providing home energy related data and analysis on low income and LIHEAP recipient households. The required tasks represent follow-on work that APPRISE has performed under preceding and current OCS contracts for LIHEAP. Through its recent experience in developing and supporting enhancements to OCS' program integrity, APPRISE has acquired detailed information about current IT capabilities of LIHEAP grantees and the grantees' relationship with State IT structures. Because of these relationships and its work in developing the LIHEAP Web-Based Data Collection Tool, APPRISE is uniquely qualified to meet the follow-on requirements of this project. The Government knows of no organization, other than APPRISE, Inc., that has the LIHEAP program knowledge, technical proficiency, confidential data access authority, extensive involvement in DEA's PWIWG and managing for results, program evaluation, and logic models necessary to perform the required services. Other than APPRISE, no other organization has had substantive exchanges with members of the PMIWG. No other organization other than APPRISE has a CIPSEA agreement to access RECS micro data. APPRISE has built over the years, a reputation for political neutrality that OCS requires. This is not a solicitation for competitive proposals. However, parties interested in responding to this notice shall submit technical data, including cost, sufficient to determine capability in providing the same services. All capability statements received by closing of this notification will be considered by the Government. Each response should include the following business information: a. DUNS. b. Company Name. c. Company Address. d. Current GSA Schedules (if appropriate). e. Type of Company (i.e., small business, 8(a), woman owned, veteran owned, etc.) as validated via the System for Award Management (SAM). f. Company Point of Contact, Phone and Email address All responses are due to the Contract Specialist by 12:00 p.m., EST, September 11, 2014. Email statements are preferred. Email responses directly to Linda.Jules-O'Neil@psc.hhs.gov. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this Notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive requirement.