Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration and Evaluation Project

Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration and Evaluation Project Contracting Office Address: Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Park lawn Building Room 5-101 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, 20857, UNITED STATES Description: THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP), INVITATION FOR BID (IFB), REQUEST FOR QUOTES (RFQ), OR AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF A SOLICITATION AND DOES NOT ASSUME THE GOVERNMENT WILL AWARD A CONTRACT OR PROCEED WITH ANY OF THE ABOVE SOLICITATIONS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THIS NOTICE IS ONLY FOR MARKET RESEARCH PURPOSES. This is a sources sought notice to determine the availability of potential small businesses (e.g., 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business) that can manage and administer a large-scale, multi-site random assignment evaluation of promising subsidized and transitional employment approaches for critical low-income populations funded by the Administration for Children and Families.. The demonstration would target a variety of populations including: TANF recipients and those at-risk of long-term TANF receipt, low-income non-custodial parents, re-entering prisoners, low-income youth transitioning to the labor force, and low-income, at-risk individuals with disabilities. The project will examine strategies aimed at successfully transitioning individuals in the aforementioned target populations from short-term subsidized employment to unsubsidized employment in the regular labor market. These strategies will build on lessons learned from previous evaluations in order to develop and test new and innovative interventions designed to identify promising programs, and adapt to current policy environments at the federal, state, and local levels. Approaches of particular interest include employment programs that offer opportunities for substantive, productive work, strategies that couple work experience with wrap-around support services (e.g., child care assistance, skills training, job search assistance, career advancement services), those that result in physical improvements to the community, strategies that incorporate pre-employment activities, and strategies that target individuals with barriers to employment, such as little or no work experience, limited education, history of substance abuse, criminal background, a lack of - hard or - soft skills'occupational or job-readiness skills - as well as jobs in high-growth industries, such as the health care or energy industries. Additional approaches may also be considered. The goal of this demonstration and evaluation is to increase our knowledge about the efficacy of programs aimed at helping target populations secure and maintain unsubsidized employment. Core tasks of the contract include: (1) establishing program/site selection criteria; (2) identifying and assessing potential demonstration programs based on the criteria; (3) marketing the study to a broad range of potential intervention sites; (4) obtaining agreement from up to eight of those promising programs to participate in the evaluation study; (5) providing technical guidance to help demonstration programs meet evaluation requirements; (6) developing a plan for collecting and securing multiple rounds of survey and administrative data across sites; (7) conducting a state-of-the-art implementation evaluation; (8) developing, field testing, and obtaining OMB clearance for research-based, valid and reliable measures and data collection instruments including: survey instruments for the baseline and follow-up surveys a as well as protocols for the assessment of program implementation; (9) obtaining IRB approval of the study protocols; (10) collecting baseline and follow-up data, obtaining at least an 80 percent response rate at each site; (11) conducting an impact analysis based on survey and administrative data; (12) development of implementation and impact reports and briefs; (13) developing and conducting a cost-benefit analysis; (14) developing special topic reports; (15) producing and securing data files and documentation including public use or restricted use files; (16) conducting project briefings; (17) managing the project and ensuring that all work is of highest quality, on time and within budget. The minimum contractor requirements are: 1) Demonstrate the capacity, capability and relevant prior experience to conduct a multi-site, large-scale experimental evaluation involving different populations in a variety of settings. 2) Demonstrate prior experience and success in obtaining agreement of programs to participate in a randomized evaluation study. 3) Demonstrate capacity, capability and relevant experience to carry out critical tasks working simultaneously with geographically dispersed programs and providing technical guidance and managing large volumes of data for up to eight evaluation sites at the same time. 4) Demonstrate corporate and staff capability, capacity and relevant experience in: a) managing the random assignment of individuals b) providing random assignment status to evaluation sites within one or two days c) providing on-site monitoring and technical guidance with site-level evaluation support activities for up to eight geographically dispersed sites d) designing information collection instruments for baseline and follow-up data using state-of-the art measures of employment, income, behaviors and related outcomes relevant to the types of programs to be evaluated e) obtaining OMB approval of data collection instruments and IRB approval of research plans f) conducting large-scale surveys on income, employment and other related topics and achieving 80 percent or greater response rate g) obtaining and managing relevant administrative data at the individual level h) conducting complex analyses utilizing state-of-the-art statistical techniques to assess net impacts across programs and among sub-groups. In addition, firms must demonstrate availability of adequate computer/statistical resources and the institutional capability to process and analyze a large volume of data, including capacity to input data, clean data and conduct quality control checks. Interested parties having the capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements may submit capability statements via email to pscacquisitions@psc.hhs.gov; Attention Anita Nearhoof. CAPABILITY STATEMENTS MUST DEMONSTRATE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED ABOVE, INCLUDING ANY TEAMING ARRANGEMENTS AND SHOULD NOT EXCEED 50 PAGES. Capability statements must also include the following information: Company name, address, DUNS, Point of Contact, Phone and Email address of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses, and business size and status (e.g., small business, 8(a), veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran owned small business, HUB Zone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women owned small business). Teaming Arrangements are encouraged. All teaming arrangements shall also include the above-cited information and certifications for each entity on the proposed team. Responses are requested by 1:00 pm EST March 17, 2010. Capability statements will not be accepted after the due date. Point of Contact Anita Nearhoof, Contracting Officer, Phone 301-443-2475, Fax 301-443-3238, Email: anita.nearhoof@psc.hhs.gov