HCO Sources Sought RFI.pdf

Notification of Sources Sought and Request for Information

Agency: Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, Department of Homeland Security Requiring Office: Mission and Readiness Support Directorate – Human Capital Office (HCO) RFI Number: 70LGLY22-RFIHCO Project Title: Barrier Analysis for Female Employment in GS-1801 Law Enforcement Specialist (Instructor) Positions Date of Issuance: July 17, 2022 Response Due Date: August 1, 2022

Purpose of the Notice:

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) is conducting market research for a prospective activity. The FLETC Human Capital Office is soliciting information from all interested organizations/firms on the scope of work for a prospective activity described below.

This Request for Information (RFI) relates to the identification and assessment of employment barriers for women in one of FLETC’s mission critical job series: GS-1801-12/13 Law Enforcement Specialist (Instructor). FLETC is seeking to determine what types of organizations/firms are capable of assisting the agency to assess representation gaps and identify existing employment barriers through rigorous quantitative analysis of job applicant flow data and qualitative feedback from the current FLETC employees and hiring managers. FLETC is also seeking to determine the methodologies such organizations/firms would employ to conduct the assessment.

This is a Sources Sought announcement solely for planning and information gathering purposes.

This is not a solicitation announcement for proposals and no contract will be awarded from this announcement. Any proposals submitted in response to this request will not be considered and will be discarded. Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked “Proprietary” will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice are strictly voluntary and FLETC will not pay for any costs associated with responding to this RFI.

Background:

Since its establishment in 1970, FLETC has provided training in subjects integral to the performance of law enforcement functions across the Federal Government, including firearms, driving, tactics, investigations, and legal training. Currently, over 100 federal agencies, and many state and local organizations rely on FLETC for all or some of their law enforcement training.

Historically, FLETC has had low female representation in one of its mission critical job series – Law Enforcement Specialist (Instructor), GS-1801-12/13. The issuance of President Biden’s Executive Orders 13985 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government) and 14035 (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the federal workforce), followed by the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality in 2021, clearly demonstrates the Administration’s strong commitment to close persistent gender gaps for equal opportunity for all Americans in the U.S. Government.

With the largest law enforcement workforce in the Federal Government, DHS launched the 30x23 Women in Law Enforcement (WLE) Initiative in December 2021 to increase the representation of female law enforcement new hires to 30% by 2023. FLETC aims to increase the number of women in law enforcement instructor positions to meet this nationwide goal for a more competitive and diverse workforce. The successful implementation of the DHS 30x23 Initiative requires rigorous examination of existing barriers in both hiring and retaining female employees for law enforcement instructor positions as well as evaluation of potential measures that can effectively eliminate such barriers within FLETC.

Objective:

FLETC is seeking input from all interested parties that can perform in-depth research and analyses on female employment barriers for FLETC’s GS-1801-12/13 Law Enforcement Specialist (Instructor) positions. These positions are located at all FLETC training delivery points across the United States – Glynco, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; Cheltenham, Maryland; and Artesia, New Mexico.

Women are underrepresented in FLETC law enforcement instructor positions compared to males. In FY 2021 alone, FLETC received thousands of applications for instructor positions. In a sample of approximately 188,136 applications for instructor positions, only 9 percent identified themselves as females, whereas 91 percent identified themselves as males. As of February 26, 2022, 344 (27%) of FLETC’s 1,283 employees are women. Only 54 women (4% of the entire FLETC workforce) are in the GS-1801 Law Enforcement Specialist (Instructor) series. Of 661 FLETC GS-1801 Law Enforcement Specialists (52% of the total FLETC workforce), only 54 (8% of GS-1801s) are women.

This analytic effort to address a significantly lower percentage of women in FLETC’s GS-1801 series is essential for FLETC to meet Executive Order guidance of the Biden-Harris Administration, create a more diverse and balanced law enforcement instructor workforce, and reflect the growing presence of female law enforcement officers and agents in the federal workforce.

The barrier analysis should include the following elements:

• Quantitative and qualitative analysis and methodology with discussion of limitations of each methodology

• Assessment of the entire FLETC workforce data, including trends in female employment across the agency.

• Assessment of FLETC job applicant (GS-1801 series) data and female representation in application process (referral, interview process, selection, etc)

• Evaluation of representation discrepancies and underlying triggers/factors that account for lower rates in both hiring and retaining women in GS-1801 series.

• Recommendation: targeted action plans to eliminate female employment barriers.

Submission Information:

FLETC welcomes all interested organizations/firms to respond to the RFI. All responses must be submitted via email to Sheila Henley at Sheila.Henley@fletc.dhs.gov by August 1, 2022: 2:00 PM (ET). The email subject line must include the RFI number and the name of the submitting organization (“70LGLY22-RFIHCO – Organization Name”). All submissions must not exceed five pages, including the cover page, and each page should be numbered consecutively. Only one submission per organization will be accepted.

The cover page must include the following information:

• Organization/firm: name, address, contact information.

• Point of contact(s): name, title, phone number, address, and email address

• Organization type – commercial, educational institution, non-profit, public sector, etc.

• Socio-economic status of the organization/firm, if applicable.

mailto:Sheila.Henley@fletc.dhs.gov