Career Testing SOW .docx

Winston-Salem Regional Office 251 N. Main Street Winston-Salem, NC 27155

STATEMENT OF WORK

Winston-Salem Regional Office Online Career Assessment and Portal

1 Introduction The Winston-Salem Regional Office (WSRO), Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) Division requires the continued use of an online career assessment system. Currently, the WSRO is using the Career Occupational Preference System (COPSystem) career assessment to assist VR&E counselors with the assessment of a Veteran’s abilities, interests and work values. The online assessment is a managed service and runs on any computer with Internet access. The assessment requires no software installation or IT support. Edits, Inc, is the sole provider of the COPSystem assessment. For efficiency and high customer satisfaction, the WSRO would prefer to continue the use of the COPSystem rather than use and learn a new system.

1.1 Scope

The scope of services includes The online career assessment software provides a tailored path of career and education options for veterans. COPS software quickly measures both interest, abilities and work values through reliable assessment tasks. The Edits, Inc. is the sole publisher and sole source of the following products, all of which are proprietary, patented, and copyrighted.

1.2 Period of Performance

The period of performance is for one base year from the date of award with four option years.

2 General Requirements This section describes the general requirements for this effort. The career testing should be a commercially available “off-the-shelf” online subscription service. The career assessment should assess a Veteran’s vocational abilities/aptitudes, interests and work values. The career assessment should have an online portal that is accessible by both Veteran and VR&E staff via the internet. The contract should allow the purchase of additional assessments during the contract year if the need exists to serve VR&E Veterans. The following sub-sections provide further details of various considerations on this effort.

2.1 Online portal information

The contractor shall provide a specific portal for Veterans at the specified Regional Office to take the assessment and a separate management portal for the Regional Office to set testing parameters, pull assessment reports, and oversee the general management and use of the portal. The Regional Office will specify the portal names.

The Contractor shall obtain an agreement electronically signed by the Veteran approving the use of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) prior to taking the assessment.

2.2 Annual Subscription

· 24-hours access to the online assessment portal by both Veterans and VR&E staff

· Unlimited toll-free support (Monday through Friday, 0900 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time)

· Any online updates that area released during the subscription period

· Return unused and/or partially used tests to the pool of available tests for use by future Veterans upon request of VR&E leadership.

The assessment must have the ability to be administered in multiple languages, including English and Spanish. Time parameters must be able to be adjusted to fit the needs of the Veteran.

2.3 System Requirements

· Windows, Macintosh or Chrome operating system

· Browser: Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox 61, Apple Safari 11, Google Chrome 67

· High speed internet connection

· Minimum monitor resolution: 1024 X 768

2.4 Maintenance

Maintenance shall include, but not limited to assessment distributing, returning incomplete assessments languishing over a time established by the VA for each portal, to a new usable status, balance monitoring, and troubleshooting issues with the portals and assessments. The contractor shall resolve any portal and assessment issues that may prevent the user from entering the portal, completing the assessment, and reviewing/printing the assessment results.

2.5 Training Documentation

Contractor will provide training resources such as guides and walk throughs to assist the counselor with understanding the portal and interpreting the assessment results. Additional training requirements such as individual training sessions shall be procured separately.

2.5 Location and Hours of Work

The work shall be performed at the contractor’s place of business.

3 Special Requirements This section describes the special requirements for this effort. The following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

3.1 Security

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security as delineated in this contract.

3.2 Access to VA Information and VA Information Systems

a. A contractor/subcontrator shall request logical (technical) or physical access to VA information and VA information systems for their employees, subcontractors, and affiliates only to the extent necessary to perform the services specified in the contract, agreement, or task order.

b. All contractors, subcontractors, and third-party servicers and associates working with VA information are subject to the same investigative requirements as those of VA appointees or employees who have access to the same types of information. The level and process of background security investigations for contractors must be in accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 0710, Personnel Suitability and Security Program. The Office for Operations, Security, and Preparedness is responsible for these policies and procedures.

c. Contract personnel who require access to national security programs must have a valid security clearance. National Industrial Security Program (NISP) was established by Executive Order 12829 to ensure that cleared U.S. defense industry contract personnel safeguard the classified information in their possession while performing work on contracts, programs, bids, or research and development efforts. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a Memorandum of Agreement with Defense Security Service (DSS). Verification of a Security Clearance must be processed through the Special Security Officer located in the Planning and National Security Service within the Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness.

d. Custom software development and outsourced operations must be located in the U.S. to the maximum extent practical. If such services are proposed to be performed abroad and are not disallowed by other VA policy or mandates, the contractor/subcontractor must state where all non-U.S. services are provided and detail a security plan, deemed to be acceptable by VA, specifically to address mitigation of the resulting problems of communication, control, data protection, and so forth. Location within the U.S. may be an evaluation factor.

e. The contractor or subcontractor must notify the Contracting Officer immediately when an employee working on a VA system or with access to VA information is reassigned or leaves the contractor or subcontractor’s employ. The Contracting Officer must also be notified immediately by the contractor or subcontractor prior to an unfriendly termination.

3.2 VA Information Custodial Language

a. Information made available to the contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the contractor/subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/subcontractor’s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA’s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with VA’s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with VA directive requirements.

c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook 6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.

d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract.

e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

3.3 Information System Hosting, Operation, Maintenance, or Use

a. For information systems that are hosted, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA at non-VA facilities, contractors/subcontractors are fully responsible and accountable for ensuring compliance with all HIPAA, Privacy Act, FISMA, NIST, FIPS, and VA security and privacy directives and handbooks. This includes conducting compliant risk assessments, routine vulnerability scanning, system patching and change management procedures, and the completion of an acceptable contingency plan for each system. The contractor’s security control procedures must be equivalent to those procedures used to secure VA systems. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) must also be provided to the COTR and approved by VA Privacy Service prior to operational approval. All external Internet connections to VA’s network involving VA information must be reviewed and approved by VA prior to implementation.

b. Adequate security controls for collecting, processing, transmitting, and storing of Personally Identifiable Information (PII), as determined by the VA Privacy Service, must be in place, tested, and approved by VA prior to hosting, operation, maintenance, or use of the information system, or systems by or on behalf of VA. These security controls are to be assessed and stated within the PIA and if these controls are determined not to be in place, or inadequate, a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) must be submitted and approved prior to the collection of PII.

c. Outsourcing (contractor facility, contractor equipment or contractor staff) of systems or network operations, telecommunications services, or other managed services requires certification and accreditation (authorization) (C&A) of the contractor’s systems in accordance with VA Handbook 6500.3, Certification and Accreditation and/or the VA OCS Certification Program Office. Government-owned (government facility or government equipment) contractor-operated systems, third party or business partner networks require memorandums of understanding and interconnection agreements (MOU-ISA) which detail what data types are shared, who has access, and the appropriate level of security controls for all systems connected to VA networks.

d. The contractor/subcontractor’s system must adhere to all FISMA, FIPS, and NIST standards related to the annual FISMA security controls assessment and review and update the PIA. Any deficiencies noted during this assessment must be provided to the VA contracting officer and the ISO for entry into VA’s POA&M management process. The contractor/subcontractor must use VA’s POA&M process to document planned remedial actions to address any deficiencies in information security policies, procedures, and practices, and the completion of those activities. Security deficiencies must be corrected within the timeframes approved by the government. Contractor/subcontractor procedures are subject to periodic, unannounced assessments by VA officials, including the VA Office of Inspector General. The physical security aspects associated with contractor/subcontractor activities must also be subject to such assessments. If major changes to the system occur that may affect the privacy or security of the data or the system, the C&A of the system may need to be reviewed, retested and re-authorized per VA Handbook 6500.3. This may require reviewing and updating all of the documentation (PIA, System Security Plan, Contingency Plan). The Certification Program Office can provide guidance on whether a new C&A would be necessary.

e. The contractor/subcontractor must conduct an annual self-assessment on all systems and outsourced services as required. Both hard copy and electronic copies of the assessment must be provided to the COTR. The government reserves the right to conduct such an assessment using government personnel or another contractor/subcontractor. The contractor/subcontractor must take appropriate and timely action (this can be specified in the contract) to correct or mitigate any weaknesses discovered during such testing, generally at no additional cost.

3.4 Security Incident Investigation

a. The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/subcontractor shall immediately notify the COTR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access.

b. To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor’s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/subcontractor considers relevant.

c. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement.

d. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident.

3.5 Liquidated Damages for Data Breach

a. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a “security incident” as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach. The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination.

c. Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:

(1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);

(2) Description of the event, including:

(a) date of occurrence;

(b) data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code;

(3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected;

(4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected;

(5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;

(6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control;

(7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised (made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);

(8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any;

(9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals;

(10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and

(11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised.

d. Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $ 37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

(1) Notification;

(2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

(3) Data breach analysis;

(4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

(5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and

(6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs.

3.5 Security Controls Compliance Testing

On a periodic basis, VA, including the Office of Inspector General, reserves the right to evaluate any or all of the security controls and privacy practices implemented by the contractor under the clauses contained within the contract. With 10 working-day’s notice, at the request of the government, the contractor must fully cooperate and assist in a government-sponsored security controls assessment at each location wherein VA information is processed or stored, or information systems are developed, operated, maintained, or used on behalf of VA, including those initiated by the Office of Inspector General. The government may conduct a security control assessment on shorter notice (to include unannounced assessments) as determined by VA in the event of a security incident or at any other time

3.6 Training

a. All contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and its systems:

(1) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix E relating to access to VA information and information systems;

(2) Successfully complete the VA Cyber Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior training and annually complete required security training;

(3) Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and

(4) Successfully complete any additional cyber security or privacy training, as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access [to be defined by the VA program official and provided to the contracting officer for inclusion in the solicitation document – e.g., any role-based information security training required in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-16, Information Technology Security Training Requirements.]

b. The contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COTR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Contractor Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required.

c. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete.

CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL SECURITY

All contract employees who require access to the VA site(s) and/or access to VA local area network (LAN) systems shall be the subject of a background investigation and must receive a favorable adjudication from the VA Security and Investigations Center (SIC). These requirements are applicable to all subcontractor personnel requiring the same NACI Background Investigation.

The level of background security investigation will be in accordance with VA Directive 0710 dated October 11, 2018 and is available at: http://www1.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub_ID=85&Ftype=2.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION

The contract employee level of background investigation and clearance required for this effort is NACI. Work may not commence until the appropriate background investigation has commenced.

1. CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES

a) The Contractor shall bear the expense of obtaining background investigations. The cost of background investigations are based on the current rates established by VA Personnel Security Adjudication Center (VA PSAC) for FY2021. VA will pay for investigations processed through the VA SIC and conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in advance; however, the Contractor shall reimburse the full cost of background investigations to VA within 30 days of Bill of Collections from VA. VA shall send up to three plus one final delinquent notice to the Contractor. If the Contractor does not adhere to the Bill of Collections, future invoices may be subject to be offset by VA to recoup background investigation costs.

b) Immediately after contract or task order award, the Contractor must submit a completed Attachment C form (VBA Contractor Background Investigation Request Worksheet) for all contract employees working the contract, who have access to VA facilities, VA systems, or privacy data, to the COR.

c) The Contractor and Contractor point of contact (POC) will receive an email notification from SIC identifying the website link that includes detailed instructions regarding completion of the background clearance application process and what level of background was requested. Reminder notifications will be sent if the complete package is not submitted by the due date.

d) The Contractor shall prescreen all personnel who require access to VA site(s) and/or access to VA LAN systems to ensure they maintain a U.S. citizenship or Alien Registration that authorizes them to work in the U.S. and are able to read, write, speak, and understand the English language.

e) Contractors who have current favorable background investigation conducted by OPM or Defense Security Service (DSS) may be accepted through reciprocation. However, it does not preclude the Contractor from submitting a completed Attachment C form immediately after contract or task order award for all contract employees working the contract to the COR.

f) Contract performance shall not commence before SIC confirmation that it received the investigative documents, that they are complete, and that the background investigation has begun. Once the Contractor’s background investigation has been initiated, contract performance may commence. The COR will notify and forward the Contractor a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility (form 4236) to the Contractor when the investigation has been favorably completed and adjudicated. The Contractor, if notified of an unfavorable adjudication by the Government, shall withdraw the employee from consideration from working under the contract. Failure to comply with the Contractor personnel security requirements may result in termination of the contract for default.

g) If the security clearance investigation is not completed prior to the start date of the contract, the contract employee may work on the contract with an initiated status while the security clearance is being processed. However, the Contractor will be responsible for the actions of those contract and subcontract employees they provide to perform work for VA. In the event damage arises from work performed by Contractor personnel, under the auspices of the contract, the Contractor will be responsible for resources necessary to remedy the incident.

h) Should the Contractor use a vendor other than OPM or DSS to conduct investigations, the investigative company must be certified by OPM/DSS to conduct Contractor investigations. The Vendor Cage Code number must be provided to the VA SIC, which will verify the information and conclude whether access to the Government’s site(s) and/or VA LAN systems can be.

i) The investigative history for Contractor personnel working under this contract must be maintained in the databases of either OPM or the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Organization (DISCO).

2. GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

a) After the COR has received Attachment C form(s) from the Contractor, SIC will send an email notification to the Contractor and their POC identifying the website link that includes detailed instructions regarding completion of the background clearance application process and what level of background was requested. SIC will also send reminder notifications to the Contractor and their POC if the complete package is not submitted by the due date.

b) Upon receipt of required investigative documents, SIC will review the investigative documents for completion and initiate the background investigation by forwarding the investigative documents to OPM to conduct the background investigation. If the investigative documents are not complete, SIC will return the package to the Contractor with corrective instructions.

c) VA will pay for investigations processed through the VA SIC and conducted by OPM in advance; however, the Contractor shall reimburse the full cost of background investigations to VA within 30 days of Bill of Collections from VA. VA shall send up to three plus one final delinquent notice to the Contractor. If the Contractor does not adhere to the Bill of Collections, future invoices may be subject to be offset by VA to recoup background investigation costs and may be considered grounds for default.

d) The COR will notify and forward the Contractor a copy of the Certificate of Eligibility (form 4236) when the investigation has been favorably completed and adjudicated. The COR will also notify the Contractor of an unfavorable adjudication by the Government.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND NONDISCLOSURE

It is agreed that:

1. The preliminary and final deliverables and all associated working papers, application source code, and other material deemed relevant by the VA which have been generated by the contractor in the performance of this task order are the exclusive property of the U.S. Government and shall be submitted to the COR at the conclusion of the task order.

2. The CO will be the sole authorized official to release verbally or in writing, any data, the draft deliverables, the final deliverables, or any other written or printed materials pertaining to this task order. No information shall be released by the contractor. Any request for information relating to this task order presented to the contractor shall be submitted to the CO for response.

3. Press releases, marketing material or any other printed or electronic documentation related to this project, shall not be publicized without the written approval of the CO.