R -- NATIONAL CHILD CARE INFORMATION AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER

The proposed acquisition listed herein is unrestricted. The Request for Proposal (RFP) number is 06Y008851. The NAICS code is 519190. The anticipated period of performance is one 12-month base period plus four 12-month option periods. The RFP will be made available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website approximately 15 days after publication of this notice. Additionally, all amendments and responses to questions will be posted on the FedBizOpps website. No telephone, fax or email requests for the solicitation will be accepted. The Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management intends to issue RFP number 06Y008851 on behalf of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Child Care Bureau (CCB) for the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC). The purpose of the resultant contract is to further develop, expand and enhance the NCCIC, a national resource center on child care that provides information and technical assistance to Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) grantees. Users of the NCCIC include CCDF grantees (States, Territories, Tribes and tribal organizations), ACF Regional Offices, the CCB staff and other Federal agencies, local governments, child care resource and referral agencies, child care organizations, child care providers, colleges and universities, parents, and members of the general public. Minimum Contractor requirements are: (1) Expert level knowledge of the CCDF legislation and regulations. (2) Expert and operational knowledge and experience with administration of the CCDF at the State level, including knowledge and experience with key CCDF components such as setting reimbursement rates (including methodologies for market rate surveys), setting and assessing parent co-payments and tradeoffs associated with eligibility priorities. At a minimum, the State technical assistance staff needs to include staff that have direct experience at the State level with setting and administering these State CCDF policies. (3) Strong operational knowledge of and expertise in the full range of issues, services, and new directions within the child care field, including: subsidy administration, child care market dynamics, child care licensing, work force pressures, assessment and evaluation challenges, professional development issues, quality improvement, and school readiness. (4) Strong operational knowledge of system-wide child care quality improvement initiatives including, but not limited to, quality rating systems, child care training registries, compensation and benefits initiatives, and the development of Statewide early learning guidelines and professional development systems. (5) Strong knowledge base and demonstrated experience in the area of community organization and partnership building, including partnerships among Federal agencies, State agencies, community organizations and other key groups. (6) Extensive and comprehensive knowledge and skills, and nationally recognized expertise in the following areas: (a) Current research and best practices regarding the developmental, care, and support needs of infants, toddlers, children ages 3 to 13 and families; (b) Child development, including infant/toddler and early childhood physical and mental health, as well as social emotional, cognitive, and language development; (c) Children with disabilities; (d) Screening, assessment, and desired outcomes; (e) Child care environments; (f) Early childhood program options and eligibility requirement variations; (g) A wide variety of early childhood funding streams and options for using them in a coordinated manner at the State and local level; (h) Community and State partnerships with Head Start, Early Head Start, the Early Intervention program under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), pre-kindergarten programs, TANF, and health and nutrition organizations serving young children; (i) Knowledge of service issues related to diverse cultures, special needs children, and families living in poverty; (j) Multi-cultural practices; and (k) Capacity to help States form relationships with institutions of higher learning across the nation, leading to expanded professional development opportunities for the child care workforce. (7) Ability to hire, retain, manage and supervise a highly trained and experienced multi-disciplinary staff, including librarians and information management specialists, technology experts, researchers, writers, editors, child care Information Specialists, and technical assistance field staff located in each of the ten ACF Regions. (8) Expert knowledge, expertise, and capability to support the maximum use of technology and distance learning for ongoing communication, knowledge gathering, knowledge sharing, including demonstrated experience in establishing and maintaining very large, comprehensive web sites with a variety of databases, including an on-line library. (9) Demonstrated experience in producing publications related to the early care and education field, with adequate editorial and graphics support. (10) Demonstrated experience with knowledge management, technical assistance tracking, and communication systems, including the capacity to develop and maintain a comprehensive national communication and knowledge sharing system among the Federal staff, technical assistance consultants, and CCB programs and stakeholders, using a variety of state-of-the-art channels, modalities and methods.