RFI - Disaster Human Services Case Management (DHSCM) Program

Request for Information (RFI):

This is a Request for Information (RFI). This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this RFI is to obtain knowledge and information for project planning purposes.

This Request for Information (RFI) is to conduct market research for the requirements of the Disaster Human Services Case Management (DHSCM) Program.

Background:

The Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR) is the emergency management lead for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). OHSEPR’s mission is to lead, strengthen, and unify human services to prepare, respond, and recover from emergencies and crises. DHSCM is maintained and implemented by OHSEPR, which leads coordination and collaboration for human service preparedness, response, and recovery in emergencies and natural disasters.

Disaster human services encompass coordinated efforts to:

• Prevent additional destabilization of the individuals, children, and families who relied on human services programs, systems, and networks pre-disaster,
• Assist the individuals and families that need assistance navigating human services programs because of the disaster,
• Promote the continuity and restoration of human services providers and delivery systems in disaster-impacted communities, and
• Enhance the capability of human services providers in host communities to support displaced disaster survivors during their transition to recovery.

Through the DHSCM Program, ACF:

• Develops and sustains a system of policies, guidance, and plans to support individuals and families across ACF human and social service programs after a disaster. These activities are evaluated and enhanced through ongoing training and exercises. Collectively, these actions build ACF capability and capacity to provide case management services or other direct support to disaster survivors in affected states, tribes, or territories when activated as a result of a Public Health Emergency from the HHS Secretary, by the Assistant Secretary of ACF for an emergency or crisis, or by a FEMA Mission Assignment Task Order (MATO);
• Deploys a cadre of responders who provide psychosocial case management services to survivors on a one-to-one basis by conducting intake assessments, triaging unmet needs, and providing information and referrals, short-term planning, and/or referrals to resources consistent with social work standards of care;
• Administers the Electronic Case Management Record System database, which provides the DHSCM Program with an efficient, secure, and cost-effective method of managing disaster survivor data when the program is activated;
• Supports effective information sharing and exchange across human and social service providers, creating a community of practice across jurisdictions nationally; and
• Develops quality improvement and key performance indicator measurement processes that demonstrate the DHSCM Program’s social and financial return on investment through research and evaluation.

OHSEPR Activation and Response

OHSEPR uses National Incident Management Systems and Incident Command System principles to lead and manage its incident operations. This includes the implementation and activation of command-and-control structures that facility unity of effort and unified command.

OHSEPR utilizes its headquarters-based Emergency Response Team (ERT) to lead and coordinate ACF’s field responses to emergencies and disasters. Based on incident complexity, OHSEPR establishes and activates Incident Management Teams (IMT), as needed, to execute operational objectives in the field. OHSEPR’s ERT provides the IMT(s) with operational, logistical, planning, analytical, and administrative/finance direction and support.

Purpose of this RFI:

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input regarding industry capability as it relates to the intended scope of the project. OHSEPR’s disaster human services response generally entails two components:

1) Disaster Human Services Case Management

2) Disaster Human Services Needs or Damage Assessments.

Specifically, this RFI addresses the following:

1. Assess the feasibility of industry partners’ capabilities in connecting disaster survivors with resources to meet their needs via disaster case management, and
2. Assess industry partners’ capabilities to provide skilled civil engineers to conduct targeted damage assessments to identify disaster impacts to ACF-funded human services providers facilities, operations, as well as community access to those services. Obtaining this capability is essential to supporting disaster survivors, strengthening states in disaster human services, ensure safety conditions in damaged facilities and ensuring the continuity of essential human services.

Successful execution of these two field mission sets requires a contractor with capability to secure trained and vetted disaster case managers and resource coordinators to identify available resources and connect disaster survivors to services; as well as educated, skilled civil engineers with assessing service provider facilities after disasters and emergencies to identify disaster damages and structural impacts that may impede the delivery of human services in disaster impacted communities.

The Contractor must be able to source case managers with professional spoken fluency in the 10 non-English languages most spoken in the United States, as identified by the U.S. Census Bureau: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, Korean, Russian, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole. At least 25 percent of each case management team deployed to a disaster-impacted jurisdiction must possess professional spoken fluency in the top three most spoken non-English language(s) in the impacted communities, to be determined at the Task Order level at the time of the requirement (e.g., 25 percent of DHSCM case managers supporting a response mission in Louisiana’s Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany parishes are fluent in Vietnamese) . The Contractor must be able to secure case managers fluent in American Sign Language.

Information Sought:

ACF/OHSEPR intends to seek input regarding industry capabilities and experience related to Disaster Human Services Case Management, Disaster Human Services Impact Assessment, and Program Management and Readiness Support.

See the attached document entitled, “HHS ACF RFI Survey Response Disaster Human Services Case Management (DHSCM) Program” to provide your response to this RFI. A draft Performance Work Statement (PWS) is attached for your reference.

Responses shall be submitted via email to the Contract Specialist identified in this notice and shall be submitted no later than the specified due date in this notice.

Disclaimer and Important Information:

Please note that this is a Request for Information (RFI) only. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or promise to issue an RFP.

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. Information provided will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for the potential requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. 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. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned.

Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP/solicitation. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.

Any solicitation resulting from the analysis of information obtained may be announced to the public in SAM.gov or GSA eBuy. 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).