State Licensed and Nationally Accredited Secure Care and Heightened Supervision Facility (HSF) Beds for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Unaccompanied Alien Children Bureau (UACB)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, is seeking information from industry on the availability of state-licensed and nationally accredited secure care and heightened supervision facility (HSF) beds for unaccompanied alien children in the contiguous United States. The solicitation, identified as HHS_ACF_SS_26_0002 and posted on June 23, 2026, with a response deadline of June 29, 2026, is a sources-sought notice aimed at identifying qualified providers capable of delivering residential care for up to 150 secure care placements and 100 HSF placements. Contractors must be prepared to deliver full facility capacity within 120 days of award, with admissions processed within 48 hours of referral, and maintain compliance with ORR policy, federal and state licensing standards, and trauma-informed care best practices. The anticipated period of performance includes a base year and four option years, with a possible six-month extension, and an anticipated start date of September 30, 2026. The contract requires daily firm-fixed-unit-price payment structures for bed capacity, key personnel, and facility readiness, with incremental bed increases available through multiple optional CLINs for both secure and HSF placements. All facilities must meet stringent security and environmental standards, including climate-controlled, locked storage for casefiles with two-layer physical protection, adherence to NIST SP 800-53 and 800-171 for controlled unclassified information, and compliance with NARA and Executive Order 13556 for records management and media sanitization. Personnel must undergo Tier 2 or Tier 4 background investigations under HSPD-12 and FIPS 201 standards, submit rosters of key staff within five business days of award, and obtain prior written approval from the Contracting Officer’s Representative for any substitutions. All data generated under the contract is federal property, subject to unlimited rights, with strict prohibitions on retention, exploitation, or proprietary restriction; electronic systems must use FIPS 140-2 validated encryption, open-standard data formats, and secure API access. Submission of a capability statement is mandatory, limited to ten double-spaced pages and submitted via email to Amber Harris at HHS by the deadline, with all respondents required to provide a Unique Entity Identifier and declare size status and socioeconomic certifications. The solicitation does