PWS - Nursing Workforce r11.2.2023.docx

Performance Work Statement

VHA NURSING WORKFORCE STRATEGIC PLAN

ELEVATING VHA NURSING AS A LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE NATION

26 OCTOBER 2023

1.0 Project Background

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has four (4) statutory missions involving health, benefits, cemeteries, and national preparedness. VA’s “Fourth Mission” is to improve the Nation’s preparedness for response to war, terrorism, national emergencies, and natural disasters by developing plans and taking actions to ensure continued service to Veterans, as well as to support national, state, and local emergency management, public health, safety, and homeland security efforts. The Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) has an unparalleled mission to deliver care to our Nation’s Veterans and provide a public health backstop as needed for the United States.

VHA is the provider of healthcare services to Veterans and is the largest integrated healthcare network in the United States, with 1,255 healthcare facilities serving nine million enrolled Veterans each year. Within VHA, nurses comprise the largest number of personnel providing care enterprise-wide. While VHA delivers excellent care and leads the industry in many ways, e.g., low RN turnover, there is opportunity to elevate nursing even further. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, VHA’s workforce has been tested multiple times. VHA’s rapid and flexible approach not only optimized the pandemic response, but also revealed new opportunities to strengthen the workforce broadly. Market trends of increased turnover and competitive wages following the pandemic will continue to put pressure on VHA and opportunity exists to ‘future-proof’ the workforce going forward. An immediate focus on nursing could elevate VHA to an industry-leading position and establish a blueprint for a broader organization-wide transformation.

VHA is proactively positioning its nursing workforce to support all VA’s statutory missions. VHA’s Office of Nursing Services (ONS) vision is to Honor the Veteran through excellence in health care delivery. ONS Mission is Advancing Nursing and Transforming Health Care. ONS Guiding Principles are to:

· Optimize Nursing Practice

· Build Partnerships

· Utilize Data and Make Evidence-Based Decisions

· Design Metrics That Matter

· Succeed as a Highly Reliable Organization

ONS must develop proactive strategies and a sustainable framework across four (4) pillars*:

A. Optimizing Nursing Practice B. Strengthen the Nursing Workforce C. Reimagining Lifelong Learning and Career Development D. Inspiring an Industry-Leading Culture

Recruiting and retaining the best professional talent requires strategies and programs that will attract nurses to VA and retain them for their full career. A formal program supporting nurses to achieve their professional aspirations in the areas of clinical practice, education, research, and leadership will be essential to recruit and retain the best talent, compete with the private sector, and provide world-class services to Veterans.

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK

The contractor shall provide all aspects of project management, administrative support and related technical services to the VHA Office of Nursing Services (ONS) to support continued operationalization of ONS projects and the Veteran Health Administration’s (VHA) Nursing Workforce Strategic Plan planning and implementation efforts. It is expected that the contractor manages this project as their own and are fully engaged in all aspects. Operations (unless specified) will be expected to be managed by the contractor without Government or Program Management Office (PMO) involvement.

Contracted support will work with the PMO, Workstream and sub workstreams.

The contractor shall be able to attend meetings and be active members who actively participate and take ownership in the outcomes. This would include actively listen, participate and ask for clarification as needed. The contractor shall be able to synthesize subject matter expert (SME) conversations into working drafts of products for SME review.

3.0 TASK REQUIREMENTS

TASK ONE: Contract Management 1.a. Contract Management The contractor shall assign a Project Manager (PM) to provide oversight of all contracted efforts. The PM shall communicate with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) on all issues related to project outcomes and with the Office of Nursing PMO Program Manager on day-to-day operations. The PM shall attend the kickoff meeting in person/virtually to discuss the project approach, schedule, milestones, and points of contact. Government expects assignment of an overall PM, but also specific PM support to each of the twelve workstreams. The Government anticipates the level of effort to be one PM per three workstreams (12 total workstreams).

· All deliverables outlined below shall be submitted to the designated Office of Nursing PMO Program Manager and/or COR unless specified otherwise.

· The contactor shall apply Project Management Institute (PMI) — https://www.pmi.org – best practices to all project tasks so that activities are traceable against contract requirements and meet each objective.

· All efforts worked on by contractors shall apply and demonstrate human factors engineering (HFE) and Human centered design (HCD) principles, methodologies, and technologies. This includes addressing complex system problems at the PMO and workstream level for all deliverables.

· The contractor shall demonstrate extensive knowledge in applying the PROSCI ADKAR methodology and apply them to all nursing workforce improvement efforts.

· Ensure best practices and project awareness are spread across entire project.

· Ensure no duplication is occurring by cross referencing across the entire project.

· Ensure version control is utilized of all documents for the complete lifecycle of the product (development, working drafts, final/stamped, review status, redevelopment)

· The contractor shall provide comprehensive knowledge management and knowledge transfer to VA personnel and partners for all contract requirements. The contractor shall employ methods such as presentations, papers, meetings, and virtual workspace content management.

1.b. Kickoff Meeting At the kickoff meeting, the contractor shall present the details of its proposed workplan and project schedule for review and approval by ONS. The kickoff meeting will also serve to better acclimate the contractor team with ONS’s current and upcoming strategic challenges.

· The contractor shall develop and agenda and presentation for the kickoff meeting which establishes a baseline of understanding after the award or as directed by the Contracting Officer (CO) at a location to be determined by the VA. Participants will include ONS Staff, CO, COR, VA Program Manager, and all key contractor personnel.

· Schedule kickoff meeting within 10 days of award, or at a time and date that that is mutually agreed upon.

1.c. Project Management Plan The contractor shall deliver a Project Management Plan (PMP) that lays out the contractor’s approach, timeline, and deliverables to be used in execution of the contract. The contractor shall employ a project management approach in compliance with ONS guidelines and best practices.

· The PMP should be developed and maintained utilizing a project management software/system that is accessible to the PMO at any time (this may or may not be a VA project management software).

· An overall Project Plan shall be developed, updated as needed and maintained. In addition to the overall project plan, workstream specific project plans shall be developed, updated, and managed on VHA templates when provided or by contractor templates if VHA does not provide a template; and shall include the following:

1. Work Breakdown Structure with dependencies and dates down to task level required to accomplish each Workstream Milestone

2. Schedule that includes a Gantt chart

3. Change Management Plan using PROSCI ADKAR methodology

4. Communications Plan

5. Training Plan

6. Operations Plan

7. Roles and Responsibility Matrix

8. Transition Plan

9. Closeout Plan 1.d. Progress Meetings The contractor shall hold weekly and as requested meetings with the ONS Project Management Office (PMO) and appropriate stakeholders as requested by ONS to provide updates on progress, critical issues, next steps, and plan for ongoing success.

· These meetings will be virtual, and the meeting day/time shall be determined by the PM.

· The contractor is responsible for scheduling, preparing the agenda with supporting documentation or presentations, and after each meeting, the contractor shall submit a Meeting Status Report (minutes) that includes a summary of meeting outcomes as well as items for action with identified owners and due dates, information on staffing, identified risks, barriers, opportunities, and mitigation strategies.

1.e. Weekly Status Report The contractor shall provide an aggregate status report for each calendar week during the performance period.

At a minimum, the report shall include the items listed below:

· All program deliverables

· Summary of work performed during the week

· Summary of work planned for the upcoming week

· Outstanding deliverables

· Deliverables due for the next reporting period

· Staff changes (Notification of Key Personnel changes)

· Summary report of barriers, risks, issues, opportunities, and mitigation strategies

· All issues and problems encountered and status that require PMO intervention

· Recommendations to support ONS's achievement of goals

TASK TWO: Project Management Support The contractor shall provide comprehensive support services to ONS’s Project Management Office (PMO) and related project level activities (not attributed to specific workgroups). The contractor shall assist the Government in implementing disciplined, comprehensive, and flexible program and project management processes, including monitoring of project metrics, rigorous risk management, and prompt reporting on Government-approved cost, schedule, performance, and risk baseline.

2.a. Project and PMO Support

· Conduct an initial Maturity Assessment of the overall project, using the ONS provided template, then reconduct the assessment every six (6) months. From this assessment, develop and implement a growth plan that includes recommendations for addressing opportunities for standardizations (process maps, templates, etc.)

· Maintain (or re-develop if appropriate) existing roadmap and update monthly

· Maintain and update Key Performance Indicator (KPI) dashboard and identify new metrics as applicable

· Conduct up to four (4) VISN/Field level surveys at the request of the PMO. Contractor will develop surveys for PMO distribution. Once survey is completed, perform an analysis of results

· Develop and create up to five (5) standardized workflows as identified by the PMO to include process maps, standard templates, and standard operating procedures.

· Identify opportunities and propose solutions for automation of standardized workflows to include creating advanced technology solutions such as use of Power Bi, Power Apps, SharePoint, Artificial Intelligence etc.

· Assist the PMO in identifying training needs to allow PMO to apply instructional design solutions, tools, and methodologies to create state-of-the-art products that can meet the training needs of the PMO and/or workstreams.

· Maintain file management system (KMS) for the PMO, projects and workstreams as needed and as requested. KMS includes management of document repositories, creation and management of file management systems, creation and ongoing management of nomenclature and develop and maintain PMO and project specific glossaries of terms and definitions.

· Implement and manage a newly formed monthly PMO steering committee to include, committee membership, organizing and facilitating meetings, preparing agendas and materials for review, tracking decisions and outcomes, management workflows, votes and approvals, taking minutes and providing any follow-up communications back to project leads/staff.

· Assist with meeting coordination and development by identifying the best platform for meeting needs like intention and size of audience; developing content, creation of presentations on strategic plan with speaker notes and supplemental materials; scheduling, managing invites and attendees; gathering input, creating agendas, preparing speakers including management of preparation meetings and cadence; and close out activities such as follow-up communications, recording management, minutes, and incorporating changes from meetings into documents.

*Do not require new presentation materials for each...Same materials are used/shared per given month

· Bi-Monthly (2x per month) Nursing Service Call*

· Monthly Office Hours*

· Monthly National Nurse Leadership Council*

· Monthly Community of Practice Calls

· Monthly ONS VISN Call

· Monthly Workforce Management and Consulting/ONS Call

· Monthly Briefing to Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Patient Care Services

· Nine (9) Yearly VISN CNO/ADPCS calls

· Assist PMO with up to four (4) ad-hoc meetings per month from external offices or entities. This includes development of slide decks (presentations), development of agendas, invites, minutes, and scheduling and management of presenters.

· Assist PMO with presentations (slide decks) for up to four (4) ad-hoc meetings per month from external offices or entities

2.b. Technical Writing and Quality Control

· Provide technical writing and quality control check to all deliverables. This includes ensuring all deliverables are in a single voice, spell checked, edited for grammar/syntax/voice, ensuring content is in logical order, editing for target audience, and any copy editing

· Develop in collaboration with workstream members and then copyedit content for:

· White papers (2)

· Journal articles (2)

· Nurses' month content

· Guide/Playbooks (6)

· VISN CNO playbook: ~100ish pages

· Example from Chief Medical Officers: VISN CMO Playbook

· New Employee Orientation for Nursing Guidebook: ~25 pages

· Four additional from workstreams to be identified: ~25-50 pages

· Provide 508 compliance on any applicable deliverable that is to be posted online in accordance with VHA 508 guidelines.

· All deliverables shall apply and demonstrate human factors engineering (HFE) and Human centered design (HCD) principles, methodologies, and technologies.

2.c. Event Management

· Provide administrative and event management for project face to face meetings, or virtual events that support the ONS PMO, projects and workstreams. Can include, managing calendars, sending invites, managing recordings, facilitation of meetings, scheduling speakers, organizing, and sharing materials etc. Comment by Mruk, Sandra L. (VHACLE): What is (4)?

2.d. Microsoft Project Support

· Support build out of Integrated Healthcare Portfolio Management (IHPM) system. This is a government product that will be implemented by award. Contractor will assist in populating and maintaining of system. Comment by Mruk, Sandra L. (VHACLE): Populating and maintaining the IHPM?

· Manage and facilitate weekly meetings with workstreams to discuss IHPM content and ensure compliance (1-2 per week)

2.e. SharePoint and Power BI support

· Provide public and private SharePoint support to ensure an appealing and functional product. This may require knowledge of HTML and CSS, experience with design software (e.g., Photoshop), understanding of UX/UI (user experience/user interface) design, knowledge of SEO (search engine optimization) and good visual design sense. Web design may include:

· Creating a suitable color scheme or incorporating the client’s color scheme into the design

· Coding the site’s navigation

· Designing buttons and other controls for the site

· Fixing any functionality issues, including the removal of “dead links” or old content

· Updating and maintaining the site and website layouts

· Monitor user needs and feedback

· Writing copy for homepages, individual pages, and/or apps

· Create and maintain up to three (3) Power apps (Power Apps, PowerApps Model Driven / Dynamics 365, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agent, Power BI) as requested by the PMO.

· Maintain a list of all projects and workstream meetings to include date, time, occurrence, purpose, owner, attendees – on private SP

· Develop and maintain centralized lists of frequented links for the PMO and workstreams – On private SP

TASK THREE: Workstream Support The contractor shall provide project and administrative management support to the twelve (12) individual workstreams and up to twenty (20) sub workgroups as identified in the Nursing Workforce Strategic Plan This project management support includes management of all aspects of the operations of the workgroups. Government expects contractor to manage the day-to-day operations with PMO updated at weekly status report meetings with the Contractor. Government anticipates workstream management to be a moderate level of effort with at least four full time project managers (3 workstreams each) plus applicable support to achieve tasks below. The contractor support of these workstreams shall include:

3.a. Workstream Project Management

· Project and day-to-day management all twelve (12) workstreams and up to twenty (20) subgroups to include developing and maintaining individual project management plans on behalf of the workstream to include updating milestones, assigning accountable owners, identifying due dates, and gathering risks and mitigation strategies Comment by Moore, Austin R.: @Mcdonald, Kim S. (ONS) (she/her/hers) , Is there any deliverables here other than just the running of the workstreams?

Do the contractor workstream support give PMO/Govt anything in particular?

· Provide oversight to each workstream to include directing the planning, coordination, and execution of each workstream’s assigned milestones and actions as detailed in the Nursing Workforce Strategic Plan

· Support workstreams in creating and developing products to include drafting of materials, managing additions and edits to draft documents and ensuring all supporting materials are included, and completing quality control and technical edits

· Manage all aspects of administrative support for the twelve workstreams and up to twenty sub workgroups to include updating the project schedule, coordinating, and facilitating meetings, sending invites, developing agendas, producing, and sharing of minutes, developing/editing presentations, and manage membership. Meetings occur weekly

· Serve as the liaison between the PMO and the workstream members to enable bidirectional communication to include raising concerns on behalf of the workstream and passing along overarching guidance to its members

· Coordinate workstream change requests using ONS approved process

· Coordinate communications for the workstreams such as getting scheduled on agendas, drafting presentations, submitting documents for concurrence, and socialization of final documents

· Ensure process maps are being carried out in accordance with PMO processes

3.b. Workstream Training ONS & PMO has identified training gaps for new workstream members as many have never been part of a national level workgroup before. Due to this gap, the contractor shall:

· Identify training gaps at the workstream level

· Develop, conduct, and record training via PowerPoint presentation for new workstream members which acclimates them to working on a national level strategic plan workgroup – Quarterly for first year, every 6mo after

· Training shall include HFE, HCD, and Change Management concepts

· Training shall include project overview, navigation of sites and apps, introductions to other members, ensuring calendar invites and access rights are granted etc.

· Conduct post training survey and analyze end-user feedback about the usability and content of training and provide reports on recommendations and improvements to ONS

· Perform continuous improvement to training materials based on feedback

4.0 Deliverable table

4.1 VHA Nursing Strategic Plan Deliverable Table, Base Year

Kick off meeting within 10 calendar days of award.

Minutes to be provided within two (2) business days of progress meeting.

Agenda and Presentations are due seven (7) days prior to meeting, Minutes provided within two (2) business days after meeting

4.2 VHA Nursing Strategic Plan Deliverable Table, Option Year One

Option year one deliverables are very similar to base year. Option year one eliminates lines 2, 3, 23, 24, 27, 32, 34, and 37 which are mostly items that were one-time deliverables in base year and would just need to be maintained in option year one/two. Also, there is a quantity reduction in deliverables or effort on lines 20, 21, 26 & 30. Comment by Mruk, Sandra L. (VHACLE): Quantity reduction

Minutes to be provided within two (2) business days of progress meeting.

4.3 VHA Nursing Strategic Plan Deliverable Table, Option Year Two

Option year two is like option year one with further quantity reductions in line 26 & 30. Comment by Mruk, Sandra L. (VHACLE): Quantity reductions

Minutes to be provided within two (2) business days of progress meeting.

Agenda and Presentations are due seven (7) days prior to meeting, Minutes provided within two (2) business days after meeting

4.4 Optional Nursing Strategic Plan Deliverable Table, Base, OY1, OY2

To be exercised at the discretion of the government IAW FAR 52.217-9

5.0 Performance Details

The Contractor shall provide and/or acquire the services, hardware, and software required by the contract pursuant to the general requirements specified below.

5.1 Changes to the PWS

Any changes to this PWS shall be authorized and approved only through written correspondence from the Contracting Officer (CO). A copy of each change shall be kept in a project folder along with all other products of the project. Costs incurred by the Contractor through the actions or authorizations of parties other than the CO shall be borne by the Contractor.

5.2 Formal Acceptance or Rejection of Deliverables

The Government shall review and accept deliverables/corrections within thirty (30) business days of receipt. Contractor shall re-accomplish products found to be unacceptable or not meeting the intent of the task and the work within ten (10) business days. Contractor shall receive payment once deliverable is accepted by the Government

Significant errors or omissions are defined as deliverables not meeting the intent of the task and the work. Continued repetitive errors may result in an unacceptable rating on the performance report used as part of the evaluation criteria on future order competitions.

5.3 Contract Type

This contract shall be issued on a performance-based Firm Fixed Price (FFP) basis.

5.4 Period of Performance

The period of performance for this contract shall be for 12-months base with two (2) additional option years.

5.5 Place of Performance

Tasks under this PWS shall be performed primarily at Contractor facilities

5.6 Travel

Travel is minimal under this contract however travel may be required for the kick-off meeting and up to two (4) face to face meetings per year (location unknown). When deemed necessary by the Government, the Contractor shall mobilize necessary support personnel for travel

The Government shall reimburse the cost of travel required in conjunction with performance of tasks under this contract. Specific Government direction to attend meetings or gather information shall be reimbursed on a cost-reimbursable basis only. Local travel or the relocation of Contractor personnel from other geographic areas for the purpose of staffing are not subject to reimbursement. The Government shall not pay for travel to and from the contract holder employee's home and the office or to and from one company building to another (either within a company or to and from a prime to a sub company). Travel costs subject to reimbursement are limited to travel occurring at the direction of the Government, performed in conjunction with an authorized trip for a specific requirement.

The VA Program Manager (PM) and CO’s Representative (COR) shall approve all travel requirements/requests before travel begins. Travel that occurs without pre-approval by the VA PM and COR will not be reimbursed. The Contractor shall submit a Travel Request Form (see Attachment) no later than five (5) business days prior to the commencement of travel. Travel and per diem expenses shall be reimbursed on an actual expenditures’ basis in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 31.205-46. To be reimbursed for travel, the Contractor shall submit supporting documentation as required by FTR with invoices. FTR requires receipts for travel expenditures of $75.00 or more. Expenses for subsistence and lodging will be reimbursed to the Contractor only to the extent where an overnight stay is necessary and authorized by FTR in effect at the time of the stay for the specific location. Additional information can be found at: Federal Travel Regulation | GSA.

To the extent practicable, the Contractor shall price all travel on a fixed-price basis. When it is not practicable to price travel on a fixed priced basis (i.e., travel is anticipated, but firm dates and/or locations are not known at the time the contract is awarded), the Contractor shall estimate travel costs, which will be reflected on the contract as a separate, cost-reimbursable line item with a Not-to-Exceed (NTE) expenditure limit.

Potential Travel

Kick-Off Location TBD

5.7 Government Furnished Property

Government Furnished Property (GFP) which includes Government Furnished Material (GFM), Government Furnished Information (GFI), and Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) may be provided to key personnel if determined it is required to effectively complete tasks.

VA may provide VA specific software as appropriate and required for completion of the effort required in this contract. The Contractor shall comply with VA security policies and procedures with respect to protecting sensitive data. All work should be saved on VA property, including all working documents and supplements and shall be always available to VA staff, including in real time. In addition, contractors are required to use VA furnished email address for all contract related conversations.

The Government may provide the Contractor the following, provided the Contractor completes all required training and documentation:

· Access rights to the VA Network

· Access to VA Email

· VPN access to VA Network

· Access rights to any applications and data stores requisite in performing the work outlined in the PWS In the instance that specific software required by the Government cannot be sufficiently accessed via the VA Citrix Gateway, the Government shall provide GFE to ensure work can be accomplished and delivered in accordance with contractual requirements.

Based on the Government assessment of remote access solutions and the requirements of this contract, the Government estimates that the following GFE may be required by this contract:

The Government shall not provide IT accessories including but not limited to Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots/wireless access points, additional or specialized keyboards or mice, laptop bags, extra charging cables, extra PIV readers, peripheral devices, additional RAM, etc. The Contractor is responsible for providing these types of IT accessories in support of the contract as necessary. Any VA permission or installation required for use of these types of IT accessories shall be coordinated with the COR.

5.8 Non-Disclosure Agreements and Conflicts of Interest

Contractors (both at the prime and sub-contractor level at all tiers) shall be required to execute Non-disclosure/Conflict of Interest Agreements. Pursuant to Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) 852.209-70, Organizational Conflicts of Interest, the Contractor shall also provide an additional statement with its offer(s) which describes, in a concise manner, all relevant facts concerning any past, present, or currently planned interest (financial, contractual, organizational, or otherwise) or actual or potential organizational conflicts of interest relating to the services to be provided under this solicitation and any subsequent contract. The Contractor shall also provide statements with its offer(s) containing the same information for any consultants and sub-contractors identified in its proposal and which shall provide services under the solicitation. The Contractor may also provide the CO relevant facts which show how the Contractor’s organizational and/or management system or other actions would avoid or mitigate any actual or potential organizational conflicts of interest. The presentation of any such information intended to reflect the Contractor’s attempts and/or plans to mitigate any actual or potential organizational conflicts of interest does not in and of itself, however, guarantee that the CO shall approve any such mitigation attempts/plans. Nondisclosure or misrepresentation of actual or potential organizational conflicts of interest at the time of the offer or arising during performance, may result in the termination of the contract at no expense to the Government.

6.0 Key Personnel

Key personnel are those skilled, experienced professionals, and/or technical personnel that are essential for accomplishing the work to be performed. These individuals are defined as “Key Personnel” and shall not be removed, diverted, or replaced from work without prior notification to the Contracting Officer (CO).

All Contractor requests for approval of substitutions of Key Personnel shall be submitted in writing to the CO at least 15 calendar days in advance of the effective date and shall provide a detailed explanation of the circumstances necessitating the proposed substitution, a complete résumé for the proposed substitute, and any other information requested by the CO necessary to approve or disapprove the proposed substitution.

New personnel shall not commence work until all necessary security requirements have been fulfilled and résumés provided and accepted. The CO will evaluate such requests and promptly notify the Contractor of approval or disapproval in writing. Any substituted personnel shall have the equivalent or better education, experience, and credentials than the personnel they may replace, subject to VA review and approval.

The Key Personnel required by this contract are as follows:

Program/Project Manager of entire contract – master’s degree, PMP certification, 10+ years of Project Management experience supporting a large corporation or government agency. In addition, 2+ years' experience in clinical operations, preferably in the nursing field.

Technical Writer - bachelor’s degree in English, communications or related field, 4 years of experience in similar scope focusing in support or communication efforts with support of government agency preferred.

Project/Program Manager x4 to manage three workstreams each – bachelor’s degree, PMP certification is preferred, but not required. 3 years of experience similar to the scope of this requirement.

7.0 Contract Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

The Government will evaluate the Contractor's performance in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP). This plan is primarily focused on what the Government.

must do to ensure the Contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards.

It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable defect rates.

The Contractor’s performance on this contract may be reported to the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) on an annual basis. The CO, COR, and PM will make use of any knowledge and information available to them with respect to the Contractor’s performance, to complete the CPARS.

Quality of service and deliverables

and PM

Project Management

8.0 Contractor Personnel Security Requirements

or Low Risk positions.

supervisor, co-workers; court records, law enforcement check, and a verification of the educational degree.

The position sensitivity and the level of background investigation commensurate with the required level of access for all tasks within the PWS are:

8.1 Contractor Responsibilities:

a. The Contractor shall prescreen all personnel requiring access to the computer systems to ensure they maintain the appropriate Background Investigation, and are able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language.

b. The Contractor shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations.

c. Within 3 business days after award, the Contractor shall provide a roster of Contractor and Subcontractor employees to the COR to begin their background investigations. The Contractor Staff Roster shall contain the Contractor’s Full Name, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, individual background investigation level requirement (based upon Section 6.2 Tasks), etc. The Contractor shall submit full Social Security Numbers either within the Contractor Staff Roster or under separate cover to the COR. The Contractor Staff Roster shall be updated and provided to VA within 1 day of any changes in employee status, training certification completion status, Background Investigation level status, additions/removal of employees, etc. throughout the Period of Performance. The Contractor Staff Roster shall remain a historical document indicating all past information and the Contractor shall indicate in the Comment field, employees no longer supporting this contract. The preferred method to send the Contractor Staff Roster or Social Security Number is by encrypted e-mail. If unable to send encrypted e-mail, other methods which comply with FIPS 140-2 are to encrypt the file, use a secure fax, or use a traceable mail service.

d. The Contractor should coordinate the location of the nearest VA fingerprinting office through the COR. Only electronic fingerprints are authorized.

e. The Contractor shall ensure the following required forms are submitted to the COR within 5 days after contract award:

1) Optional Form 306

2) Self-Certification of Continuous Service

3) VA Form 0710

4) Completed background investigation form

f. The Contractor personnel shall submit all required information related to their background investigations (completion of the investigation documents (SF85, SF85P, or SF 86) utilizing the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) after receiving an email notification from the Security…