RFI-UAC_Transportation_12_20_2018.pdf

Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought

Unarmed Transportation Services for Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) and Family Units

All Responses to this RFI/Sources Sought Synopsis must be sent to the following email address:

UACTransportation@ice.dhs.gov

Due Date for Responses from Interested Parties: 5pm EST, Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Introduction

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has a continuing and mission-critical responsibility for transporting apprehended aliens from U.S.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other agencies. Among the groups of aliens transferred from CBP to ICE are unaccompanied alien children (UAC) and family units. Under current law and regulation, ICE does not have authority nor is responsible to detain unaccompanied children over 72 hours, rather ICE is responsible for transporting these juveniles to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) shelters located throughout the continental United States.

The purpose of this RFI is to obtain market information for planning purposes and to determine appropriate strategies to meet the Agency's requirements. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment for an RFP in the future. Responses to this notice are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

Responders are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this announcement and information submitted in response to this RFI will not be returned.

Interested parties are instructed to submit the following information: (Note: Please do not exceed 5 pages per RFI submission)

• POC information (name, title, phone number, address, email address, etc.)

• Socio-economic status

• Brief company capability statement addressing this requirement

Requirement

ICE is seeking the services of a responsible vendor that shares the philosophy of treating all UAC with dignity and respect, while adhering to standard operating procedures and policies that allow for an effective, efficient, and incident free transport. The Contractor shall provide unarmed escort staff, including management, mailto:UACTransportation@ice.dhs.gov supervision, manpower, training, certifications, licenses, drug testing, equipment, and supplies necessary to provide on-demand escort services for non-criminal/non-delinquent unaccompanied alien children ages infant to 17 years of age and family units, seven (7) days a week, 365 days a year.

ICE estimates that approximately 42,000 UAC per year will be transported: 98.8% local ground transport, 1.2% air transportation. ICE estimates that approximately 15,000 family units will be transported per year: 92.20% local ground transportation and 7.8% via air transport. Escort services include, but are not limited to, assisting with: transferring physical custody of UAC from DHS to Health and Human Services (HHS) care via ground or air methods of transportation (charter or commercial carrier), property inventory, providing juveniles with meals, drafting reports, generating transport documents, maintaining/stocking daily supplies, providing and issuing clothing as needed, coordinating with DHS and HHS staff, travel coordination, limited stationary guard services to accommodate for trip disruptions due to inclement weather, faulty equipment, or other exigent circumstances.

In some situations, such as flight delays, cancellations, etc.; the time the contractor maintains custody of the UAC or family unit may be extended. In limited cases, overnight housing may be required. Use of the contractor’s staging/satellite office space will be limited to 12 hours or less, and allow for ready access to food, water, clean clothes, hygiene products, and comfortable furniture. Staging/satellite space is only intended to house minors for short periods of time and to assist with avoiding long waits in public areas such as airports, when possible.

The contractor shall provide for a hotel room whenever minors will remain in the contractor’s custody over 12 hours due to HHS placement, flight cancellations, or any other delay. In addition, the Contractor shall have personnel who are able to communicate with juveniles in their own designated language(s). While this may not require each employee to be fluent in all the encountered languages, personnel should have access to and knowledge of translation services.

The contractor is required to perform in accordance with the ICE Performance Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS 2011, as amended in 2016), all ICE policies related to the transportation of juveniles (see the ICE Family Residential Standards at http://www.ice.gov/detention-standards/family-residential/) as well as the Flores Settlement Agreement, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. In cases where other standards conflict with DHS/ICE Policy or Standards, DHS/ICE Policy and Standards will prevail. ICE Inspectors will conduct periodic inspections to assure compliance of the standards.

Personnel shall have the knowledge and experience to transport individual children with special needs.

Children with special needs may require a transportation method that is time saving and direct, i.e., by commercial airline. Contractor shall also provide for accompanying medical care. Additionally, due to exigent circumstances, the Contractor shall be required to transport juveniles via ground to HUB airports or other staging areas that are not located within the area of initial apprehension.

The Contractor shall follow a fully developed training curriculum and transporting staff shall have the highest level of competency possible. Areas of training shall include, but are not limited to, the following: Airport rules and regulations for travelers, crisis intervention, child development, working with and transporting youth with special needs, transporting youth with behavioral problems, CPR & First Aid training, non-secured UAC policy and procedures and the implementation of contingency plans in the event of a crisis during transport, which include de-escalation techniques.

Background Investigations and Suitability Screenings will be conducted on all Contract Employees by the Office of Professional Responsibility and Personnel Security Unit (OPR-OSU). The Contractor shall agree that each employee working on this contract will successfully pass the DHS Employment Eligibility (E-Verify) http://www.ice.gov/detention-standards/family-residential/ program operated by USCIS to establish work authorization and U.S. Citizenship. Employees must reside in the United States.

The Government contemplates awarding a five (5)-year Firm-Fixed-Price Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle consisting of a one-year base period, and four (4) one-year options.

The Service Contract Labor Standards Act is applicable to this acquisition. All required clauses, provisions shall be included in the solicitation and resulting contractual instrument.

The anticipated release date of the solicitation is second quarter FY19.

All business sizes and categories are encouraged to participate. All information received in response to this notice will be used to determine the appropriateness of set-asides for this requirement.

Place of Performance

Nationwide

Submissions and Point of Contact Information

Submit responses via email only to UACTransportation@ice.dhs.gov by 5:00pm EST on Tuesday, January 8, 2019.

[End of RFI] mailto:UACTransportation@ice.dhs.gov