PWS.doc

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense

(Personnel and Readiness)

Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of

Defense (Plans)

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response

Office (SAPRO)

Department of Defense (DoD)

Sexual Assault Victims

Hotlines and Training Resources Performance Work Statement (PWS)

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

FOR

Sexual Assault Victims On-Line and Telephone Hotlines and Training Resources

1.0 BACKGROUND

1.1 In February of 2004, the Secretary of Defense directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, to review of the way the Department of Defense (DoD) handles the treatment and care for victims of sexual assault in the Military Services. Of particular concern, was how the military Services provided such care in the combat theaters.

1.2

The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) serves as the single point of accountability and oversight for sexual assault policy, provides guidance to the DoD components, and facilitates the resolution of issues common to all military services and joint commands. SAPRO has a requirement to provide assistance to Service member victims of sexual assault through telephone and online hotlines. The goal of these hotlines is to provide Service members additional channels where they can seek resources and crisis support securely and anonymously.

2.0

SCOPE

2.1 The Contractor shall provide all personnel, equipment, tools, materials, supervision, and any other items necessary to provide a live, secure and anonymous crisis support online hotline, telephone hotline, and referral service as detailed within this PWS.

2.2 SAPRO intends to award a single contract for a one year base period plus four one year option periods.

3.0 REQUIREMENTS: The Contractor shall:

3.1 Provide a live, secure and anonymous crisis support online hotline, telephone hotline, and referral service. These services shall:

3.1.1 Include a referral service to a toll free telephone hotline within 24 hours of a request. The referral service will connect callers to the closest local crisis center, Military Service Sexual Assault Response Coordinators, and/or a Victim Advocate.

3.1.2 Operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7) except for:

3.1.2.1 New Year’s Day

3.1.2.2 Thanksgiving Day

3.1.2.3 Christmas Day, and

3.1.2.4 Occasional scheduled maintenance/outages by internet service/hosting providers. The contractor shall notify the COR when downtime will occur.

3.1.3 Include creation of:

3.1.3.1 A dedicated URL which Service Members will use to access the hotline services.

3.1.3.2 Specialized policies and protocols for servicing sexual assault victims in the Services.

3.1.4 Follow applicable state regulations for mandatory reporting requirements. In accordance with the applicable state requirements, the contractor shall:

3.1.4.1 Report any reasonable suspicion of child abuse, elder abuse, or abuse of a vulnerable or disabled person that arises during the course of an Online Hotline session.

3.1.4.2 File any mandatory state reports within one business day to the proper authorities, or per state requirements.

3.1.5 Comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act for any personally identifying data it maintains in a name-indexed database.

3.1.6 Ensure confidentiality and anonymity between hotline workers and Service members receiving services from the hotlines. Communications between hotline workers and Service Members receiving services from the Online Hotline are considered confidential and will not be shared with SAPRO, except for aggregate reports of non-personally identifying information as described above.

3.1.7 Provide staff based on general usage patterns and demand in areas with high military populations. It is estimated that a minimum of 250 people per month from the eligible populations will visit the Online Hotline. Since this is a new project and not previously promoted to Service Members, it is estimated that at least 60% of these visitors will require an Online Hotline support session. This goal is based on an estimate of session volume that will result from promotion of the targeted military member URL by SAPRO to all active duty and reserve service members worldwide. The estimate was determined by interviewing current Online Hotline support staff and reviewing Online Hotline session volume from areas with a significant population of service members. Until such time as service is fully promoted to military members, the session volume may be lower.

3.2 Provide resources which include:

3.2.1 Creation of a specialized safety planning guide for Service members that will assist hotline staff in explaining the measures hotline users can take to address their short- and long-term safety concerns.

3.2.2 Creation of a database of online resources specifically for victims of sexual assault by a Service member containing approximately 15 pages of military-oriented resources as approved by SAPRO.

3.2.3 A hotline worker support site that will provide hotline workers access to technical support and training materials. The support site will:

3.2.3.1 Include a statistics section which has customized demographic categories reflective of the military populations to facilitate reporting, online training modules, and military language and definitions of abbreviations.

3.2.3.2 Ensure that resources on the site are maintained and updated daily. Add newly created resources to the site once approved by SAPRO.

3.2.4 A hotline handbook specifically for staff members which includes approved resource content.

3.2.5 Creation of a hotline session survey to be approved by SAPRO. The survey shall:

3.2.5.1 Be optional to hotline users and be administered by hotline staff at the end of each session.

3.3

Provide specialized training for Online Hotline administrative staff, supervisors, volunteers, and new incoming staff. An initial training shall be provided for all current staff and then training shall occur for all new employees. The training shall include:

3.3.1 Creation of a 90 minute interactive training module on providing online crisis hotline services to Service Members who are victims of sexual assault and to victims of sexual assault committed by a Service member. The online training module can be delivered online or used for in-person training.

3.3.2 Creation of a 90 minute interactive training module on supervising the provision of online crises hotline services for victims of sexual assault committed by a Service member. The online training module can be delivered online or used for in person training

3.3.3 Personnel that is trained to deal with users at risk of suicide or self-harm. If a user provides their current physical location during a session and provides information that self-harm is imminent, the appropriate authorities will be notified immediately.

3.3.4 A follow-up training and sustainability training to previously trained staff, supervisors, and volunteers geared towards military situations.

3.4 Provide SAPRO with monthly reports which include the following non-personally indentifying information:

3.4.1 Number of telephone and online sessions

3.4.2 Type of help or resources provided during sessions including medical resources, legal resources, counseling resources, resources on or off base, and other types of resources.

3.4.3 The number of sessions by category during which a hotline worker indicated that they communicated with an active duty service member, a member of the reserves, a member of the national guard, a veteran and/or other categories.

3.4.4 Service designation for each contact/session, if known.

3.4.5 In addition, the report shall include feedback scores from optional post-session surveys.

3.5 Provide an Online hotline worker end-of-shift report that includes the categories of information requested regarding military sessions.

3.6 Create mandatory reporting protocol including contacts.

3.7 Create privacy policies regarding report generation.

4.0 QUALITY CONTROL

The contractor shall develop and maintain an effective Quality Control Plan (QCP) to ensure services are performed in accordance with the PWS. The contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, correct, and ensure no-recurrence of defective services. After acceptance of the quality control plan the contractor shall receive the contracting officer’s acceptance in writing of any proposed change to his QC program.

5.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE

5.1

The Government shall use various methods of surveillance to evaluate the Contractor’s performance in meeting the PWS. The Government reserves the right to perform inspections and surveillance to evaluate the Contractor’s compliance with the contract terms at any time. The Government will make every effort to ensure that the surveillance methods described below are conducted in an objective, fair, and consistent manner. The contractor will be notified in writing of any discrepancies or customer complaints and will be afforded the opportunity to provide comments.

5.1.1 Periodic Surveillance. When the COR or other Government official observes a deficiency, the COR observes contractual procedures not being followed, he/she has an obligation to document and report the deficiency to the Contracting Officer.

5.1.2 Customer Complaint Surveillance. This action is instituted when the COR receives a complaint regarding contractor performance. The COR will obtain the complaint in writing and then conduct an investigation to determine its validity. If the complaint is deemed valid, the COR will immediately notify the Contracting Officer for action. The COR will notify both the Contract Manager and the complainant of the Government’s response to their complaint.

5.1.3 Contract Discrepancy Report (CDR). In the event of unsatisfactory contractor performance, the COR or CO will issue a CDR. The CDR will explain the circumstances and findings concerning the incomplete or unsatisfactory service. The Government will use any completed CDR as part of an overall evaluation of Contractor performance when determining present or future contractual actions.

5.1.4 The Government shall evaluate the contract’s performance under this contract at a minimum against the requirements stated below:

Any user complaints regarding hotline service investigated and addressed if merited. Refer complaints regarding SARCs or military services to SAPRO.

Review 90 days after implementing SAPRO promotions to reassess call volume and make necessary revisions. Thereafter, subject to periodic inspection

Collaborate with SAPRO to develop a survey instrument to measure customer satisfaction with services referred

6.0

DELIVERABLES: The Contractor(s) shall:

6.1 Participate in a Post-Award Conference, a one-day meeting at the SAPRO office in Rosslyn, VA. At that meeting, SAPRO staff and the Contractor will review the contract, coordinate details associated with the hotline implementation, discuss staff training and reporting requirements, and a program manager.

6.2 Provide written the monthly reports outlined in section 3.4 to the COR.

6.3 Provide the final QCP to the COR.

7.0

PERFORMANCE AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE

7.1 The Contractor shall furnish all services to be performed and all items to be delivered in accordance with the following delivery schedule:

Final Quality Control Plan

Within 5 days of Post-Award Conference

Option

1-4 Online and Telephone Hotlines and Training Resources

At the exercise of each Option

8.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, MATERIALS, AND SERVICES: OSD SAPRO will link hotlines via SAPR website and inform service members through awareness campaigns to the Military Services’ for world-wide distribution to Service Members. OSD SAPRO will provide the contractor a copy of the promotional material drafted for use on the SAPRO website and to the Military Services’. This will be for use as specified in section 3.1.7.

9.0 TRAVEL: If travel is required, all travel shall be in accordance with FAR 31.205-46 and applicable travel regulations (Joint, Federal or Standardized). Contractor payment claims shall include applicable documentation to support actual costs incurred (e.g., airfare and hotel/lodging receipts) as well as any receipts valued at or above $75.00. Failure to provide appropriate documentation may result in loss of reimbursement of travel expenses.