P09 - PWS American Sign Language Interpreter Services Final 01.12.22.pdf

Performance Work Statement VHA Office of Community Care (OCC)

American Sign Language Interpreter Services

1. General: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Community Care (OCC) uses on-site American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting services to facilitate communication at events and meetings such as work-related meetings, training sessions, safety talks, discussions on work related procedures, policies and assignments, human resources actions, conferences, team building events and any other events attended by deaf or hard of hearing VHA OCC employees. The assignments may be performed remotely (i.e., due to Covid-19) or in person at the place of performance locations outlined below in this Performance Work Statement (PWS).

1.1 Description of Assignments: This is a non-personal service to provide ASL

Interpreters for our deaf and hard of hearing employees for the VHA OCC locations listed below in the Place of Performance (POP) section. The Government shall not exercise any supervision or control over the contract assignment providers performing the assignments described herein. As employees of the Contractor, such contract assignment providers shall be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn shall be responsible to the Government. These services shall be available upon request 365 days a year, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for the VHA OCC.

2. Place of Performance: The contractor shall provide services at various locations within the country that fall under the VHA Office of Community Care. Below is a listing of the locations where the services are currently needed. The Contractor shall support this effort at locations specified by the Government but not limited to the locations listed.

3773 Cherry Creek Drive North Denver, CO 80209

6900 N. Pecos Road Admin Bldg. 6 Las Vegas, NV 89086

1085 Palms Airport Drive Las Vegas, NV 89119

2200 Commonwealth Blvd.

Ann Arbor, MI 48105

2500 Lakemont, Ave.

Orlando, FL 32814

3. Period of Performance: The period of performance shall consist of one base period of 12 months along with four option year periods.

Base: 03-14-2022 to 03-13-2023 OY1 : 03-14-2023 to 03-12-2024

OY2 : 03-13-2024 to 03-12-2025 OY3 : 03-13-2025 to 03-12-2026 OY 4: 03-13-2026 to 03-12-2027

3.1 National Holidays: The 11 holidays observed by the Federal Government are:

New Year’s Day Martin Luther King’s Birthday Washington’s Birthday Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Juneteenth Columbus Day Veteran’s Day Thanksgiving Christmas

This includes days specifically declared by the President of the Untied States to be a national holiday. For specific days and/or Federal Holidays please refer to the Office of Personnel Management website www.opm.gov.

4. Scope: The contractor shall provide American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing employees on an “as needed” basis for the VHA OCC in accordance with this Performance Work Statement (PWS). The Contractor shall interpret as a team with the staff interpreter or instead of the staff interpreter, where applicable, on an as needed basis.

4.1 Hours of Operation: Normal hours of operation are based on the location and time zone where the event takes place (e.g. the most common hours of operation are 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM) Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays as well as occasional after-hours work.

5. Requirements and Qualifications: The contractor shall be responsible for performing and abiding by all requirements and qualifications listed below.

a. Certifications for all Contractor supplied interpreters must be obtained from a recognized certifying organization. Contractor will ensure all interpreters are certified and must hold at least one or more certifications issued by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), or Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certification. The contractor is responsible for providing the certifications with the quote they submit.

http://www.opm.gov/

b. Sign language interpreter(s) supplied by the contractor shall have the ability to accurately interpret in a variety of settings, have the ability to keep pace with communications in conferences, meetings, seminars, training classes, etc., and have the ability to abstract, select and highlight information within context when dealing with complicated concepts, idioms, etc.

c. Sign language interpreter(s) supplied by the contractor shall have the ability to interpret from English to ASL, ASL to English, English to a contact variety, and oral interpreting as needed accurately, truthfully, and faithfully.

d. The Contractors employees shall abide by all state and local laws, current and future, in regard to certification of all interpreters.

e. The Contractor shall provide quality assignments of Nationally Certified sign language interpreter(s) that practice the knowledge of and adherence to the tenets of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct. The complete version of the NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct may be found at the following web address:

http://www.rid.org/ethics/code-of-professional-conduct/

f. Sign language interpreter(s) supplied by the Contractor shall be professionally dressed. They shall be well groomed and dressed in an acceptable manner that is appropriate to the situation which usually involves business meetings or platform interpreting.

g. Sign language interpreter(s) supplied by the Contractor shall not discuss personal business; distribute personal business cards or promote personal “causes” while on assignment.

h. The Contractor and all contractor employees shall keep all information obtained while on assignment strictly confidential and shall not be used or disclosed to others after completed assignment(s).

6. Government Responsibilities: The appointed Contracting Officer Representative (i.e., Kathy Timme) is the main point of contact and deciding authority for all sign language assignments. If the COR, is not available then the Alternate COR (i.e., Randy Romero) shall act in the COR’s place.

6.1 Interpreter Assignment Scheduling: Primary means for assignment is an email generated by the COR or Alternate COR to the Contractor; however, telephone coordination is also acceptable. All telephone assignment requests made by the COR or Alternate COR will also be followed by an email from the COR or Alternate COR within 2 hours after the phone call was placed. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the COR and the Contractor to effectively coordinate and communicate together to ultimately schedule and assign the appropriate sign language interpreters.

6.1.1 Date and Time of Assignments: Assignments may be scheduled by the

Government for any time or day. Furthermore, all assignments shall begin at the scheduled start time. When possible, all interpreter assignments will be http://www.rid.org/ethics/code-of-professional-conduct/ coordinated a minimum of one (1) business day in advance of the assignment request date and time. In order to allow the Contractor maximum opportunity to fill the assignments, all requested assignments known well in advance will be submitted to the Contractor as soon as the COR or alternate have determined that interpreter services will be required.

6.2 Parking, Building Access: The Government will provide the contractor with proper parking and building access instructions for each location.

6.3 Information and Materials: The COR or representative will research the nature of each request. Then based on the nature the COR will collect and send any supporting documentation (e.g., agenda, speaker’s notes, PowerPoint presentations etc.,) to the Contractor.

7. Mandatory Tasks: The contractor shall follow and abide by all tasks and procedures listed below:

7.1 Contractor Acknowledgement: The Contractor shall respond to the COR’s assignment request for services Monday thru Friday during normal business hours, 7:30AM – 5:00 PM MST, acknowledging receipt of request via email “within 1 hour” after the request was submitted by the COR. A request is considered accepted upon government receipt of contractor’s acknowledgement.

7.2 Transportation, Equipment, Supplies, Etc.: The Contractor is responsible for all transportation, travel, lodging, mileage, parking fees, materials and tools required for their interpreter employees.

7.3 Authorized Contractor Employees for Assignment Requests: The Contractor shall provide a list of their employees who are authorized and designated as the focal points to receive assignment requests for sign language interpretation services from the COR.

7.4 Punctuality of Assignments: The Contractor’s interpreter(s) shall arrive at least 20 minutes before the actual time of the assignment. Tardiness or missed assignments shall not be tolerated except for true emergencies. The Contractor shall notify the COR and representative if this happens. If the interpreter(s) should arrive more than 10 minutes late for an assignment, the on-site Point of Contact (POC) shall determine if services are still required. If it is determined that the service is still needed the government may take a deduction from the agreed upon rate commensurate with the time the interpreter arrives at the service site. However, if it determined that the service is no longer needed, the event will be recorded as a “missed assignment” and the Contractor shall not invoice for any “missed assignments”.

7.5 Confirmation of Assigned Interpreter: Once the Contractor successfully secures and assigns an interpreter, they are required to notify the COR and/or alternate immediately.

This confirmation shall be sent via email which will include the name and current certification card of the sign language interpreter(s) who will be assigned to the request.

The time begins for the assignment at the time requested (i.e., the requests are made in local area time without regard to the time zone where the COR or the Contractor are physically located or conduct their own business).

7.6 Two Hour Minimum: There will be a two-hour minimum paid at the agreed upon rate for all completed assignments. If there are multiple assignments that are concurrent to each other and less than a total of two hours, then the two-hour minimum shall not apply for each assignment. If two or more assignments are two hours apart or more than each assignment shall be subject to the two-hour minimum. Interpreters may be asked to interpret more than one event for more than one Deaf/hard of hearing employee within that two-hour block.

When several assignments are scheduled together within the two-hour minimum time frame using the same sign language interpreter(s) there shall be no separate billing of those assignments. If the assignment(s) goes over the two-hour minimum the sign language interpreter(s) shall be paid the hourly rate with the time to be agreed upon with the Contractor and the COR or alternate. The Contractor shall then invoice the Government for the total time worked, including the two-hour minimum initial assignment, and in fifteen-minute increments after the two-hour minimum. If the Sign Language Interpreter leaves the site prior to being released by the COR or the on-site POC, the two-hour minimum shall not apply.

7.7 Reporting and Completion: The Contractor’s sign language interpreters should stay on the assignment(s) for the indicated time. Sign language interpreter(s) shall report to the contact person at each assignment(s) for notification that the assignment is complete and receive permission to leave. This includes all assignment(s) regardless of length.

7.7.1 Early Dismissal: If the contact person dismisses the sign language interpreter(s) prior to the time originally contracted, the contractor, and/or sign language interpreter(s) shall contact the COR or alternate. The Contractor may invoice for the two-hour minimum rate.

7.8 Availability and Access: The Contractor shall have a working knowledge of and daily access to email and telephones and shall be staffed sufficiently during business hours identified in paragraph 4.1 above to assign interpreters, and handle scheduling issues as they arise by telephone or email during the day.

7.9 Facilitating Short-Notice Request: A short-notice request is any request for interpreter services with less than a four (4) hour notice. The Contractor shall always try to accommodate and fill these short-notice requests to the best of their ability which may include but is not limited to using a Video Remote Interpreter (VRI). Additionally, when the Contractor accepts a short notice request they shall ensure the assigned interpreter(s) dispatched arrive(s) on or before the requested time.

7.9.1 Record of Current Credentials: The Contractor is responsible for ensuring all of their interpreter(s) certification information is up to date and current. Thus, all applicable documents including, but not limited to updated/awarded credentials shall be on file with the Contractor and if needed made available upon request to the Government COR or alternate to become part of the official file. Contractor will ensure all interpreters are certified and must hold at least one or more certifications issued by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), or Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certification.

7.9.2 Constant Sign Language Interpreting: On occasion it may be necessary for the government to submit a request for constant sign language interpreting and processing large quantities of information for two hours or more in length (e.g., workshops, seminars, and training sessions). In the event the government requests and the Contractor provides two sign language interpreters for one assignment that is scheduled for more than the two-hour minimum the Contractor may invoice for the two-hour minimum for each sign language interpreter and in fifteen-minute increments, for the time exceeding two hours, for each sign language interpreter. Most assignments two hours or less in length should require only one interpreter.

7.9.3 Group Sign Language Interpreting: Sometimes it may be necessary for the government to submit a request for a sign language interpreter to be available to work with a small group of employees for longer than two hours. There may be a significant amount of “down time” as there may be times the employees are working independently; however, the interpreter will be needed periodically to interpret employees’ discussion/feedback, checking for understanding, clarifying information, etc. Usually, one interpreter is sufficient in this environment even though the event may exceed two hours in length. The COR/representative will work with the Contractor to determine the number of interpreters required for this type of event.

7.9.4 Assignments Six Hours or Longer: For assignments six (6) hours or longer in length event leader/coordinator will coordinate with the sign language interpreter(s) to schedule break and lunch times. This may include two breaks up to 15 minutes each an one lunch period of 30 minutes for such assignments.

7.9.5 Multiple Interpreters and Multiple Day Assignments: There will also be occasions when two interpreters will be needed for several days for the same event (consecutive or otherwise). The Contractor will work to provide the same two interpreters whenever possible for multiple day assignments for consistency in the interpretation process.

8. Cancellation:

8.1 Government Cancellation of Assignment: On occasion it may be necessary for the government to cancel an assignment request. In the event that a request is cancelled by the government less than 24 hours prior to the agreed upon start time for the accepted request, the Contractor may submit an invoice for the two-hour minimum agreed upon labor charge.

However, in the event that a request is cancelled more than 24 hours prior to the agreed upon start time for the accepted request the contractor shall not invoice for service for the affected assignment request.

8.2 Contractor Cancellation of Assignment: In the event the Contractor cancels an assignment for one of their sign language interpreter(s), the Contractor shall assume responsibility for notifying the COR and representative within a 2-hour time frame and provide a substitute interpreter(s) within a 24-hour time frame or 2-hours prior to the start time of the assignment, whichever comes first. If no interpreter(s) are available, the contractor shall inform the COR and representative. At that point, see section 9:

Subcontracting.

9. Subcontracting: If a sign language interpreter(s), from the Contractor is not available, the contractor shall notify the COR and representative of the situation. This does not relieve the Contractor of the responsibility of providing the personnel necessary to perform the needed service(s). The Contractor shall subcontract with another sign language interpreter(s), and/or sign language interpreter agency for RID/NAD or BEI certified interpreter(s). The current Contractor shall take care of billing (including travel, mileage, and parking fees) directly with the subcontracting agency; the Federal Government shall not be responsible for third party billing but shall only deal directly with the current Contractor.

10. Acceptance or Rejection of Tasks/Deliverables: If the staff interpreter or deaf employee realizes the Contractor interpreter is uncertified or incapable of interpreting the message accurately, truthfully, and faithfully, the interpreter shall be dismissed as a breach of the terms and conditions of the contract. In such an event, another interpreter will be called at the expense of the Contractor.

11. Key Personnel: Certain skilled experienced professional and/or technical personnel are essential for accomplishing the work to be performed. These individuals are defined as “Key Personnel”. Substitutions shall only be accepted if in compliance with “Substitution of Key Personnel” section 11.1 below.

11.1 Substitution of Key Personnel: The Contractor shall provide the name(s) of assigned interpreters in accordance with PWS section 7.5 Confirmation of Assigned Interpreters, above. If a substitution is required due to the fact the VA Deaf Employee or staff member know the assigned interpreter to be unacceptable, the COR or representative will notify the Contractor immediately so the Contractor can “substitute” a replacement interpreter. If the Contractor has to make a substitution, they shall ensure this substitution is done well in advance of the assignment start date/time, and once again provide the name(s) of the assigned substitution interpreter in accordance with PWS section 7.5 Confirmation of Assigned Interpreters.

12. Quality Control: The Contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-reoccurrence of deficient services. The Contractor’s quality control program is how the Contractor ensures their work complies with the requirements of the contract. The Contractor shall be responsible for quality control (QC) for all work accomplished during the performance of this contract. Work and documentation produced by the selected Contractor may be regularly reviewed by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR).

13. Invoicing/Billing: The Contractor shall submit invoices in monthly arrears for services provided the previous month. The Contractor shall ensure the invoice includes date, time, location, event, interpreter assigned, and hours billed for each assignment. The invoice shall also reflect total hours billed, hourly rate, and total amount due. The Contractor shall refer to the contract administration section for further details.

14. Security: The Contractor shall be required to have all of their interpreters check in with the VA security office and call the POC for all situations while entering the VHA OCC complex.

POC’s will vary depending on the department requiring interpreting services. Event locations will vary as there are several deaf and hard of hearing employees in different departments, at different locations, in different states. Thus, the Contractor is responsible for paying close attention to the service locations listed above in PWS section 2: Place of Performance.

Furthermore, it is solely the Contractors responsibility to ensure they have the capacity, and capability of providing interpreters including but not limited to all locations listed.

15. Performance Standards: The Performance Objectives and Performance Thresholds will be verified by Government personnel IAW the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. Each Performance Objective represents a significant task identified in the PWS by the Government at the time of contract award. The Performance Threshold represents the minimum acceptable level of performance. The Performance Objectives and Performance Thresholds represent the most significant tasks of this contract and do not excuse the Contractor from performance of other requirements and responsibilities identified in this PWS.

Performance Objectives PWS Reference Performance Threshold

Contractor Assignment Acknowledgement

Para 7.1 98% acknowledging receipt of request via email “within 1 hour” after the request was submitted by the COR.

Punctuality of Assignments Para 7.4 95% The Contractor’s interpreter(s) shall arrive at least 20 minutes before the actual time of the assignment.

Confirmation of Assigned Interpreter

Para 7.5 98% Once the Contractor successfully secures and assigns an interpreter, they are required to notify the COR and/or alternate immediately.

Reporting and Completion Para 7.7 98% Sign language interpreter(s) shall report to the contact person at each assignment(s) for notification that the assignment is complete and receive permission to leave.

Record of Current Credentials

Para 7.9.1 100% Contractor will ensure all interpreters are certified and must hold at least one or more certifications issued by the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), or Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) certification.

End of Performance Work Statement