Attachment 2 - Request For Information.pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Program Office: Individual Assistance Division’s Service Delivery Branch

Request for Information (RFI) 70FBTX26I00000001 January 6, 2026

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Individual Assistance Division’s Service Delivery Branch, requires a fully managed and scalable Contact Center that is responsible for the accurate and efficient routing and processing of fluctuating applicant call volume during periods of surge disaster activity including (but not restricted to) performance of data entry for individuals in direct support of disaster effort.

GENERAL INFORMATION: This RFI is issued solely for information gathering purposes to identify sources that can provide support for the Individual Assistance Division’s Service Delivery Branch. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), RFIs may be used when the Government wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, and capabilities for planning purposes. Responses to these RFIs are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. This RFI shall not be construed as a commitment by the Government for any purpose, nor does it restrict the Government to an ultimate acquisition approach. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with their RFI response. Respondents will not receive additional information in response to their submittal to the RFI and will not be notified of the resulting market research. The Government anticipates this requirement may be procured pursuant to Federal Supply Schedule procedures in accordance with FAR 8.4. Only schedule contractors who respond to this Request For Information (RFI) may be considered for any subsequent solicitation.

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS: Respondents shall identify any proprietary information in its RFI response. Information submitted in response to this RFI will be used at the discretion of the Government. Further, the information submitted will remain confidential insofar as permitted by law, including the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts. FEMA reserves the right to utilize any non-proprietary technical information in the anticipated PWS or solicitation.

Although it is not necessary to address in their response, respondents shall be aware of any potential, actual, or perceived organizational conflicts of interests. Any real or potential conflicts must be sufficiently mitigated prior to a contract award. For further guidance, refer to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Part 9.5.

NAICS CODE: (GSA MAS SIN 561422)

PRODUCT SERVICE CODE (PSC): R702 Support- Management: Data Collection

ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 6/21/2026

ATTACHMENT: (Draft PWS - BPA OC3 12.10.2025)

RFI RESPONSE SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS:

Interested contractors shall submit their RFI responses electronically to Felicia Castillo, Contracting Officer, and Demetria Carter, Contracting Officer, at demetria.carter@fema.dhs.gov no later than 3:00PM Eastern Time (ET), January 28, 2026. Questions regarding this RFI are due no later than 3:00PM ET January 14, 2026.

Request for Information (RFI) 70FBTX26I00000001 January 6, 2026

“RFI Response for Individual Assistance SDB OC3” shall be in the subject line of your e-mail. All responses shall be unclassified, with proprietary information clearly marked. The document format shall be either Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) formats. Pages shall be 8.5 by 11 inch and shall use a type pitch that is no smaller than a standard 11-point font type, with the exception of charts, graphs, or tables, which shall use a pitch not smaller than 10-point font. Responses shall not exceed (10) pages in length including images, data displays, charts, graphs, and tables. Page limitation does not include: 1 cover page and requested addendum. Do not include promotional materials.

RFI Responses shall include the following information in the order below:

A. Cover Page with the following information:

1. Company Name

2. Company Address

3. UEI Number

4. Company Point of Contact - Name, Title, Phone, and Email address

5. Statement of current business size status (i.e., HUBZone small business concern, service-disabled veteran-owned small business firm, 8(a) contractor, woman-owned small business, small business, or large business concern). Also, business size in relation to the NAICS code size standards assigned to this acquisition.

6. GSA Schedule Number, Contract Number, and Period of Performance and/or DHS Strategic Sourcing Vehicle Category Name and Contract Number, if applicable

B. Contractor Capability Statement (No more than 4 Pages in length)

1. Summarization of relevant projects showing capabilities

2. Past performance in applicable areas

C. Contractor RFI Responses to questions (No more than 6 Pages in length)

The responses received will assist FEMA with identifying the number and nature of the entities that consider themselves potential technical solution providers. Each respondent, by submitting a response, agrees that any cost incurred in response to this RFI, or in support of activities associated with this RFI, shall be the sole responsibility of the respondent. FEMA shall incur no obligations or liabilities whatsoever, to anyone, for any costs or expenses incurred by the respondent in responding to this RFI.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) QUESTIONS

1. Discuss your capabilities to “ramp up” and staff a contact center quickly (i.e., 100 to 400 staff in less than 7 days, utilizing U.S. citizens only).

2. How many agents can be provided in the first three (3) days?

3. How many agents can be provided in the first seven (7) days?

4. How many agents would be bilingual in English and Spanish?

5. Outline your process to provide “cleared” staff -- Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) or

Department of Defense (DOD) with a Minimum Background Investigation (MBI) or higher.

a. Would previously adjudicated staff (cleared within past 5 years) immediately be available to support a surge effort as call agents? How many of them would be bilingual (English and Spanish)?

6. Outline your process to fingerprinting staff at a customer agency’s location(s), ensuring they complete all required documents and return the secured documents with Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (SPII) to the customer agency within 24 hours.

7. Provide an overview of your contact center facilities (e.g., locations, infrastructure).

a. Do you have contact centers in multiple locations? What are the geographical location(s)?

b. Are you able to recruit and support a teleworking/ work-from-home model?

. What is the turnaround time and process to fully equip teleworking/remote employees?

8. What telecom carrier(s) and long-distance carrier(s) do you currently utilize?

9. What is your capacity of concurrent incoming and outgoing calls?

10. How are calls routed? How soon after activation will a Direct Inward Dialing (DID) numbers for routing calls be provided?

11. Outline your pricing methodology for contact centers.

a. What positions/labor categories would be needed? Are these categorized as full-time equivalent positions?

b. Is there an expected budgetary cost estimate/range for fully burdened hourly and overtime rates?

c. Would there be a cost differential for bilingual agents?

d. Besides labor, would there be any additional costs (e.g., joint call routing, connectivity testing)

12. Discuss your operational metrics and reporting capabilities.

a. Can you provide a real-time view of: agents on calls, agents available, and calls in queue?

b. Can you provide delivery of actual staffing numbers throughout the day?

c. Can you provide call metrics (e.g., Offered, Answered, Abandoned (caller hung up), Deflected, Average Speed of Answer, and Average Handle Time) at 30 min intervals accurately reflecting the interval just completed? Please discuss any latency calls not immediately captured in an interval due to the call crossing multiple intervals.

d. Are lunches and breaks scheduled or intermittent?

e. Are there queue announcements (messaging or wait times)?

f. If all of the agents are on calls, is there a limit of time calls can wait in queue?

g. Would the customer agency be able to monitor live calls for Quality Control compliance?

13. Outline your training approach.

a. Would a customer agency be able to deliver onsite or virtual/online training upon activation of a contact center for surge operations? Please describe.

b. If onsite training is necessary, due to some unforeseen event that prevents virtual training as an option, can you provide a room for training? If so, what is the capacity of your training room(s)?

c. Would a customer agency have the ability to post training job aids and other related documents on your website (vs behind the agency’s firewall) to facilitate viewing?

d. Describe your readiness of instructors available to attend Train the Trainer sessions conducted by the customer’s training staff.

14. Indicate your level of interest in participating in readiness/preparedness events (e.g., pilots, exercises, ongoing planning).

15. Discuss your ideas for providing and maintaining a readiness capability that would facilitate quick ramp up for surge operations.

a. How could the Government best structure acquisitions (e.g., BPA) to allow for rapid fluctuations in call volume?

16. How could pricing be structured to address such requirements? Is your telephony routing system (or supporting software if applicable) FedRamp approved?

17. Submit this information as a separate attachment not to exceed a two-page summary.

a. Please provide a total cost estimate for fulfilling the requirements as described in this

RFI. Include a breakdown of all major cost components and the assumptions used in developing your estimate.