Technical Assistance Coordinating Center

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE to determine the availability and capability of small businesses (including certified 8(a), Small Disadvantaged, and HUBZone firms; veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and women-owned small businesses) to provide technical assistance to support the efforts of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program and its grantees. This requirement is to maintain a Technical Assistance Coordinating Center (TACC) that will support grantees with the development of home visiting programs within comprehensive early childhood systems. Contractor will be required to: 1. Submit the following reports: technical assistance closeout report; monthly reports; Monthly Earned Value Management Reports, and; a final report; 2. Submit a logic model; 3. Submit a plan for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI); 4. Develop and submit a plan to collect, maintain, analyze, and synthesize technical assistance data for reports; 5. Provide technical assistance to the MIECHV program grantees to address the following: operational support; data collection and benchmarking; cross-site communication, and; research and evaluation; 6. Work with home visiting model developers to (1) coordinate the centralized delivery of technical assistance for the MIECHV program and (2) coordinate all related activities and technical assistance to support state efforts to implement home visiting with fidelity; 7. Identify and provide technical support to the model developers in need of additional support to help states maintain fidelity to the models; 8. Coordinate technical assistance resources and services with existing contractor(s) and other relevant entities to identify and respond to related technical assistance requests; 9. Coordinate meetings of the MIECHV Interagency Technical Assistance Committee (ITAC) to foster collaboration and coordination across multiple federal agencies; 10. Coordinate meetings of the Secretary's Advisory Committee (SAC) on Technical Assistance; 11. Identify and disseminate best practices and lessons learned to improve services and outcomes for families with young children, ages 0-5 years; and 12. Develop and submit a transition plan no later than 90 days prior to the end of the final performance period, should a new contractor be selected. Qualified contractors must satisfy the following minimum requirements. Provide a detailed description of your company's experience and demonstrated abilities to deliver each and every one (address each separately) of the following requirements: 1. Develop and apply rigorous research methods in home visiting, maternal and child health, related early childhood services, implementation science, quantitative evaluation impacts; 2. Deliver technical assistance to all 56 grantees (states and jurisdictions) on topics such as home visiting planning, implementation fidelity and scale-up; data collection and data systems; infrastructure development; operational support; and, research and evaluation; 3. Deliver technical assistance using one or more of the following delivery methods: universal technical assistance (e.g., national webinars, conference calls); learning forums (e.g., regional webinars, conference calls, meetings); targeted technical assistance (e.g., one-on-one technical assistance via conference call); and, intensive technical assistance (e.g., on-site technical assistance); 4. Facilitate and support peer learning networks across various organizations at the federal, state, and local levels; 5. Promote productive working relationships and foster collaboration among the federal government, model developers, and all related contractors; 6. Develop a plan to collect, maintain, analyze, and synthesize technical assistance data for reports. The plan should support the process evaluation of the technical assistance delivered, as well as the outcome and impact of the technical assistance provided; 7. Plan, coordinate, and provide logistical support for in-person meetings or conference calls for various partners and groups; AND 8. Disseminate information, best practices, and lessons learned from the MIECHV grants to improve services and outcomes for participating families. In addition, contractor must possess the following: - Expertise in social science field, public health, health management, health policy and planning, or other health and human services-related specialty; - Significant contributions to the field in evidence-based home visiting programming, child maltreatment prevention, implementation, and evaluation issues; - Experience in directing projects of comparable technical and management complexity; - Experience in supervising the workflow and managing contract activities; - Experience with federal and state health and human services agencies; - Awareness of public health policy from a federal and state perspective; and - Expertise in qualitative research and evaluation methods, and qualitative data analysis. The Offeror shall provide evidence of the availability of adequate facilities, space, and equipment necessary to accomplish project goals and objectives. Equipment shall include relevant computer hardware and software to develop the cross-site evaluation data collection and management information system, and to schedule, conduct, and track technical assistance; and to coordinate and track work of subcontractors, partners and expert consultants as needed. A firm fixed price contract is anticipated. The period of performance is 12 months plus three (3) 12-month option periods. This is a new requirement. The NAICS code is 541611 with a small business size standard of $6M. Interested small business potential offerors are encouraged to respond to this notice. However, be advised that generic capability statements are not sufficient for effective evaluation of respondents' capacity and capability to perform the specific work as required. Responses must directly demonstrate the company's capability, experience, and/or ability to marshal resources to effectively and efficiently perform each of the tasks described above at a sufficient level of detail to allow definitive numerical evaluation; and evidence that the contractor can satisfy the minimum requirements listed above while in compliance with FAR 52.219-14 ("Limitations on Subcontracting"). Failure to definitively address each of these factors will result in a finding that respondent lacks capability to perform the work. Responses to this notice shall be limited to 15 pages, and must include: 1. Company name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone and FAX numbers, website address (if available), and the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a point of contact having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with Government representatives. 2. Name, title, telephone number, and e-mail addresses of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 3. Business size for NAICS 541611 (size standard $ or number of employees) and status, if qualified as an 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA), Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA), Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA), and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Vendor Information Pages). 4. DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number, and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Companies also must be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR, at www.ccr.gov) to be considered as potential sources. 5. Identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and contract number and SINs that are applicable to this potential requirement are also requested. 6. If the company has a Government approved accounting system, please identify the agency that approved the system. Please submit copies of any documentation such as letters or certificates to indicate the firm's status (see item #3, above). Teaming arrangements are acceptable, and the information required above on the company responding to this announcement, should also be provided for each entity expected to be teamates of the respondent for performance of this work. To the maximum extent possible, please submit non-proprietary information. Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be properly protected from disclosure. This notice is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, a Request for Proposals, a Solicitation, a Request for Quotes, or an indication the Government will contract for the items contained in this announcement. This request is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with submission of the information being requested or reimburse expenses incurred to interested parties for responses to this announcement. Responses to this notice must be received by the Contract Specialist named below no later than 4:00 PM Eastern Standard time on June 13, 2011 for consideration via email to contact@example.gov. Responses to this announcement will not be returned, nor will there be any ensuing discussions or debriefings of any responses. However, information obtained as a result of this announcement may be reflected in the subsequent solicitation, and HRSA may contact one or more respondents for clarifications and to enhance the Government's understanding. This announcement is Government market research, and may result in revisions in both its requirements and its acquisition strategy based on industry responses. POINTS OF CONTACT Kevin McGowan contact@example.gov PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Contractor's Facility