Attachment 1 - EAP - Statement of Work.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

FOR

EMPLOYEE ASSSITANCE PROGRAM (EAP) SERVICES

A. GENERAL: The VA Office of Integrated Veteran Care (IVC), Denver, CO has a requirement to provide appropriate programs and services, related to treatment and rehabilitation of alcohol, drug, mental, emotional, family, financial or other personal problems which adversely impact job performance and/or the work unit, to be provided by an independent, local counseling service with costs paid by IVC. Costs of additional counseling services will be paid by employees or their health insurance providers. Referrals of employees and/or eligible family members may be self-referral or by any IVC supervisor. This program should also provide guidance and training for supervisors to effectively address performance/conduct problems.

B. BACKGROUND: The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has been made available for all current IVC employees and their immediate family members at no additional cost. This program serves employees who are experiencing personal problems that may be affecting their job performance, attendance, or conduct. EAP counselors provide assessment, referral, and short-term counseling services to employees with family or marital difficulties, alcohol or drug dependency, financial, mental, emotional, or other problems.

C. Objective of the Employee Assistance Program: The contractor shall independently provide support services to satisfy the overall operational objectives of IVC. The contractor shall provide access to appropriate prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programs and services for employees of IVC, with alcohol, drug, mental, emotional, family, or other personal problems which adversely affect job performance, and to provide guidance for supervisors to effectively handle problems of employees, which adversely affect job performance.

Employee locations see Appendix A.

D. Policies: IVC, as an employer, recognizes mental and emotional disorders, alcoholism, and drug abuse as treatable health conditions.

1. The program will be available to all employees and immediate family members who choose to subscribe to the program.

2. All records and discussions of personal problems will be kept confidential and will not jeopardize an employee’s job security, promotional opportunities, or reputation. All individual records will be kept by the contractor and will not be forwarded to the participating agency without the written consent of the employee. Statistical data provided to the Office of Community Care (OCC) will be compiled in such a way that the identity of individual employees cannot be ascertained. If it is impossible to provide statistical data and still protect the identity of an employee; protection of the employee’s identity shall take precedence.

3. Since problems at home may affect job performance, coverage will be extended to members of the employee’s families when appropriate. Coverage of family members is appropriate when the family member has a problem that relates to the employee’s alcohol or drug abuse, or when the employee has a personal problem that may be helped by seeing the family member, or when the personal problems of the family member is affecting the employee’s ability to function on the job.

4. Supervisors may use the program to refer employees to the program or to obtain guidance when personal problems of subordinate staff cause unsatisfactory job performance. It is the intent of the program to provide for intervention only when problems affect job performance or reflect discredit to the participating agency.

These policies do not alter nor replace any existing administrative policies or contractual agreement of IVC but are intended merely to assist the Agency in carrying out existing policies.

E. Program Requirements: The contract is expected to provide, at a minimum, the following:

1. Diagnostics Services, to include up to 6 visits per presenting problem for evaluation, assessment and initial counseling directed toward identifying and assessing the complexity of personal problems, which may affect job performance.

1a. Counselors will be located no more than 15 miles from the employee’s primary work site. The contractor shall provide services of the type herein described to employees and their immediate families during regular work hours.

1b. The contractor shall provide a 24-hour toll-free line where callers speak immediately to a counselor.

2. Referral services, to include motivational counseling and referral to competent care and follow up directed toward appropriate community resources, within the employee’s means, for employees and dependents whose problems warrant additional treatment.

Ongoing contractor-employee conferences will be held during the treatment program to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment, problems encountered, and changes considered necessary. At a minimum, the contractor is required to follow-up with the employee 30 and 90 days after initial entry into the program.

3. Management consultation services, to include telephone consultation for the purpose of assisting supervisors to determine and implement a course of action for dealing with an employee with performance problems that may relate to mental, emotional, drug, alcohol, or personal problems within the scope of this contract. When management requests a consultation, the contractor must respond to the manager within a 24-hour period.

4. Training, orientation, and promotional material to include the following.

4a. Introductory, and quarterly thereafter, informational brochures highlighting EAP topics of employee interest. The brochures shall include, but not be limited to, how to obtain EAP services, what services are available, and who are covered under the program. Material shall emphasize the confidential nature of the EAP program.

4b. An EAP website that can be accessed at home or work so employees have another avenue to be educated and seek topics of interest.

4c. A supervisory training DVD, approximately 30 minutes long, shall be provided. Copyrights to the DVD must be released to the Agency for uploading onto facility websites. The DVD shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics: availability of advice and consultation for supervisors, basic distinction between supervision and counseling, general principals of crisis management need for supervisors to emphasize privacy and confidentiality, voluntary vs. involuntary referral (alternative to administrative adverse action), methods of reporting breakdown or adequacy or continuity of treatment, basic concepts of mental health, illness, alcoholism and substance abuse, treatment methods and prognosis. DVD shall be submitted for approval within 60 days and in final form within 90- days after the date of contract.

4d. An employee orientation DVD, approximately 15 minutes long, shall be provided. The DVD shall include, but not be limited to, how to obtain EAP services, what services are available and for whom. The DVD shall emphasize the confidential nature of the EAP program. DVD shall be submitted for approval within 60 days and in final form within 90- days after the date of contract.

4e. Orientation sessions for employees shall be held at in person or virtually for the IVC, which shall include, but not be limited to, how to obtain EAP services, what services are available and for whom. The orientation shall emphasize the confidential nature of the EAP program. The contractor is expected to have orientation sessions for employees annually. Contractor representatives will report to building reception for sign in and sign out of the facility. The representative will be escorted at all times while in the facility by the COR or a designated VA employee. No IT equipment will be used by the contractor for the training sessions. Materials for training sessions will be provided to the COR in advance of scheduled training sessions.

4f. Training sessions for supervisors shall be held at OCC, which shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics: availability of advice and consultation for supervisors, basic distinction between supervision and counseling, general principles of crisis management, need for supervisors to emphasize privacy and confidentiality, voluntary vs. involuntary referral (alternative to administrative adverse action), methods of reporting breakdown or adequacy or continuity of treatment, basic concepts of mental health, illness, alcoholism and substance abuse, treatment methods and prognosis. The Government reserves the right of final review and approval of all informational materials to be distributed to employees and supervisors. The contractor is expected to have orientation sessions for managers annually at IVC. Contractor representatives will report to building reception for sign in and sign out of the facility. The representative will be escorted at all times while in the facility by the COR or a designated VA employee. No IT equipment will be used by the contractor for the training sessions. Materials for training sessions will be provided to the COR in advance of scheduled training sessions.

The contractor will be notified by the COR at least 30 days in advance of orientation and training sessions for both employees and supervisors.

5. Statistical Reporting Required:

5a. Quarterly, within 30 days after the end of the quarter, the contractor shall provide a summary status report and individual status reports on all active cases, cases dropped, and cases resolved. For each of the categories, alcohol, other drugs and emotional/other (which shall be further sub-classified into emotional/psychological/psychiatric, marital, other family, financial, legal, smoking, weight and other, or such other categories approved by the Government).

5b. To reduce the possibility (or perception by employees of the possibility) that information extracted from statistical data could be used to identify employees, data provided by the contractor will be limited to the above data elements.

F. Additional Services:

1. The following additional services will be provided as requested by the Government on a fee for service basis.

A. Critical incident (trauma) intervention for groups or counseling for groups or individuals after a critical incident.

B. Training/orientation not otherwise provided under this contract, such as additional sessions.

Cost to be shown for each on cost sheet. (Listed as trauma intervention and additional training.)

G. Program Assessment:

1. The contractor shall provide an assessment plan to assess employees’ and supervisors’ perception of the Employee Assistance Program. The plan shall be provided to the Government for approval before implementation and implemented not later than 6 months after contract award. The plan can be implemented earlier if approved by the Government. At a minimum the assessment shall include:

a. A method of surveying program users, including employees, family members and supervisors about their experiences and overall satisfaction with the services provided (survey shall preserve the anonymity of the users from the Government).

b. A balance summary of employee and supervisor comments (without identifying employees) about experience with the program.

c. A summary of activities, including statistics of program utilization and the education and outreach activities carried out by the contractor.

d. Major problems and/or obstacles encountered and how these were resolved or dealt with.

e. Major success of the program.

f. An executive summary of the findings, of not more than 3 pages.

g. The contractor should review and update the program assessment plan with the COR every 6 months for the first year and annually thereafter.

H. Administrative Capability:

1. The contractor shall administer/manage program staff, respond to and maintain compliance with applicable regulations, rules, and policies; provide efficient and effective liaison with the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative, and assess established health insurer’s programs or services of other social service agencies for referral potential.

I. Licenses and Qualifications:

1. All personnel under this contract shall be employees or assignees of the contractor who shall be responsible for validation of their qualifications to perform the services herein described.

2. The EAP staff shall have demonstrated ability to work in an industrial/business setting, and to advise supervisors and managers on dealing with troubled employees and, at a minimum, shall possess the following qualifications:

a. He/she shall be a professional trained psychologist, social worker, psychiatric nurse, psychiatrist, or physician.

b. The individual shall meet applicable state requirements as to licensure and/or qualifications which are necessary to practice within the applicable state.

c. He/she shall have at least 2 years of experience in the field of alcoholism and drug abuse counseling.

3. Any personnel proposed as EAP counselors shall be:

a. Graduate Mental Health Professionals (master’s degree) with at least 2 years of experience in the field of alcoholism and/or drug abuse.

The contractor shall certify that all employees or assignees have the required qualifications and credentials and are registered/licensed in the applicable state of performance by submitting copies of the licenses.

J. Maintaining Individual Case Files

The contractor shall be responsible for maintaining complete, individual case files for every employee referred for assistance. Such case records shall be maintained in accordance with the confidentiality requirements of Public Law 92-282 and the implementing Federal Regulations.

K. Confidentiality of Records and Referrals:

The contractor agrees to comply with requirements to the confidential nature of patient records in accordance with Section 333 of Public Lab 91-616 (as amended by PL 92-282), Section 408 of PL 92-255, and Federal Regulations of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (21 CFR Part 1401). The Government agrees to provide the contractor with a copy or website address of these requirements upon written request. The contractor will ensure the physical security of records and prevention of disclosure of the records, reports, or other private information of employees, except with the employee’s informed written consent.

Privacy Act Notification

This procurement action requires the contractor to do one or more of the following: design, develop, or operate a system of records on individuals to accomplish an agency function in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, Public Law 93-579, December 31, 1974 (5 U.S.C.552) and applicable agency regulations. Violations of the Act may involve the imposition of criminal penalties.

L. Exclusions:

Medications and physical examinations are not to be considered a part of the independent counseling services for the EAP and shall not be provided under this contract. Employees shall be advised that the Government will not reimburse through this program for physical examinations, drugs, or other medical treatments.

M. Invoicing

1. The contractor is specifically prohibited from invoicing for anything not covered under this contract, i.e., physical examinations, medication, other medical treatment. All telephone calls with employees or significant others, consultations between contract counselor and other individuals, contractor employee travel, employees not keeping appointments (no shows), or services not specifically authorized in contract costs are fixed monthly costs.

2. Invoices are to be submitted monthly in arrears, citing the contract number and purchase order number for IVC to:

N. Security Requirements

All training and orientation sessions will be coordinated with the COR. The COR will arrange for use of an IVC training/meeting room for training and orientation sessions. Upon arrival, contractor personnel will sign in with Logistics front office and will be escorted by the COR while on site. All training materials will be provided to the COR in advance. Any IT equipment (laptop, flash drive, etc.) used by the contractor will not be connected to the VA network at any time. Comment by Thurber, Aaron: Address?

Training and Orientation locations:

3773 Cherry Creek Dr. N

STE 470

Denver CO 80209

Building 53 West 6th Avenue and Kipling Street Lakewood, CO 80225

Appendix A