USCIS_PEER_SUPPORT_SOW_-_OPEN_MARKET_-_9-13-2017.doc

UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

FOR

PEER SUPPORT TRAINERS

1.0 GENERAL

1.1 Background

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) USCIS secures America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of the immigration system.

The USCIS workforce of ~16,000 federal employees are found working at 223 offices across the world. Achieving agency goals becomes possible when the different elements of the organization are engaged and act as partners working toward a common outcome. In order to accomplish its mission, the USCIS workforce must maintain a high level of psychological wellness. Studies show that an effective strategy to assist in the mental readiness and psychological wellness of an agency is the presence and deployment of a peer support program. A peer support program, composed of specially trained USCIS employees, provides a support response model capable of providing timely, private, and personal assistance to employees and is a source of preventive maintenance.

A peer support program will strengthen the capacity for coping, increase workplace productivity of the USCIS, and contribute to a trusting workplace climate. Trained volunteers will ensure a qualified cadre of volunteers to assist the USCIS in enhancing and maintaining a productive and healthy workforce focused on its mission. This function does not replace, but augments existing crisis response capabilities of the USCIS EAP.

1.2 Scope

The scope of this PWS encompasses peer support training services for the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Contractor shall furnish the necessary personnel, equipment, and materials to do all things necessary for the performance of work set forth in the PWS.

1.3 OBJECTIVE

To conduct five peer support training classes during a one 12-month Period of Performance (POP) resulting in approximately 150 trained peer supporters.

1.4 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

Basic peer support topic areas to be addressed in peer support as as follows: PEER SUPPORT TOPIC AREAS (MINIMUM)

· Key peer support terms and basic concepts

· Roles and functions of peer responders

· Active listening (verbal, non-verbal)

· Stress reactions / stress response

· Suicide assessment / referral

· Death Notification/ grief and loss

· Basics concerning stress and critical incidents

· Recognizing and referring for substance abuse

· Demonstration of assessment and application of intervention(s) with peers experiencing distress

· Ethical principles and standards of practice that maintain integrity of a peer support program

· PS contribution to USCIS social capital

Social capital is a form of cultural capital in which social networks and bonding between people are central. The core guiding principle is that a peer supporter’s goodwill towards others is a valuable resource. This relationship is marked by trust. Social capital is fundamentally about how people interact with each other.

Training should address how peer support can contribute to a trusting work environment

2.0 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS/TASKS

The Contractor shall determine the project organization, coordination, management oversight, and plan to accomplish the requirements under this contract.

2.1 Five classes shall be held during a one (1) year base Period of Performance. Classes will be held in the continental U.S.

2.2 Classes shall run for 5 days. Total training hours per class are expected to be no less than 40 hours.

2.3 There shall be at least one instructor per class. A clinical mental health professional shall teach or be present during class instruction. If a mental health professional is not instructing, one must be present. Class size shall not exceed 25 participants.

2.4 The contractor shall provide the curriculum to include scenarios for role plays. Curriculum content shall be cleared by the USCIS PSP Manager prior to instruction and must include the topic areas reference in 1.4 and the attachment.

2.5 The contractor shall provide student notebooks containing material covered in class. Content of notebook shall be cleared by the USCIS PSP Manager prior to instruction.

2.6 The class is knowledge and skill based. The contractor shall provide and administer both written and practical tests. Test content and practical test scenarios shall be cleared by the USCIS PSP Manager prior to class start date.

3.0 CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL

3.1 Qualified Personnel : The Contractor shall provide qualified personnel to perform all requirements specified in this PWS.

· The instructor must have experience in developing peer support training curricula and a a minimum of five years in training that curricula for formal peer support programs. Evidence of this training must be provided in the proposal. Examples of role play scenarios, as well as knowledge and skill-based exam questions are required.

· A qualified mental health professional with at least a Master’s level degree in a clinical mental health field must be present at training sessions. Resumes are required in response to this solicitation.

· The peer support instructor must have completed the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation training or equivalent course instruction in Critical Incident Response.

3.2 Employee Identification

3.2.1 Contractor employees working on-site at Government facilities shall wear a Government issued identification badge. All Contractor employees shall identify themselves as Contractors when their status is not readily apparent (in meetings, when answering Government telephones, in e-mail messages, etc.) and display the Government issued badge in plain view above the waist at all times.

3.3 Employee Conduct

Contractor’s employees shall comply with all applicable Government regulations, policies and procedures (e.g., fire, safety, sanitation, environmental protection, security, “off limits” areas, wearing of parts of DHS uniforms, and possession of weapons) when visiting or working at Government facilities. The Contractor shall ensure Contractor employees present a professional appearance at all times and that their conduct shall not reflect discredit on the United States or the Department of Homeland Security. The Project Manager shall ensure Contractor employees understand and abide by Department of Homeland Security established rules, regulations and policies concerning safety and security. 4.0 SECURITY All security shall be in accordance with the security attachment.

4.1 Period of Performance

The period of performance for this contract is 12 months from the date of award.

4.2 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The primary place of performance will be in a training room in the Washington DC area. All training will be conducted in the CONUS. There is a possibility that some classes may be held in other regions (e.g., Western region- California; Central region- Texas; Southeast region- Florida; Northeast region- Vermont).

4.3 HOURS OF OPERATION

Contractor employees shall generally perform all work between the hours of 7:30am and 4:30pm EST, Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays). However, there may be occasions when Contractor employees shall be required to work other than normal business hours, including weekends and holidays, to fulfill requirements under this PWS.

4.4 Travel

Contractor travel is required to support this requirement. All travel required by the Government outside the local commuting area(s) will be reimbursed to the Contractor in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulations. The Contractor must be responsible for obtaining COR approval (electronic mail is acceptable) for all reimbursable travel in advance of each travel event.

5.0 GOVERNMENT ACRONYMS

5.1 COR - Contracting Officer’s Representative

5.2 DHS - Department of Homeland Security

5.3 USCIS– US Citizenship and Immigration Services

5.4 PSP – Peer Support Program

6.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED RESOURCES

The Government will furnish the classroom facility to the Contractor in support of this Contract.

7.0 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED PROPERTY

The Contractor shall furnish all materials, equipment and services necessary to fulfill the requirements of this Contract. Training material shall be provided to the Government for future DHS use. Training material includes curriculum, student notebooks, instructor guides and audio/visual materials. The contractor should have a projector in case AV equipment is not already furnished in the classroom.

8.0 DELIVERABLES:

The Contractor shall provide all submittals specified in the deliverable table for review and acceptance.

Unless otherwise specified, the Government will have ten (10) business days to review and provide comments to the Contractor prior to acceptance of all deliverables. The COR will review the submittal and notify the contractor if it is rejected or accepted.

The government has the right to reject or require corrections of any deficiencies. In the event of a rejected deliverable, the Contractor will be notified in writing by the COR of the specific reasons for rejection.

The Contractor shall have an opportunity to correct the rejected deliverable. The Contractor must respond with corrections within ten (10) business days after receipt of Government comments.

If the deliverable is acceptable, the COR will send an e-mail to the Contractor notifying that the deliverable has been accepted.

The COR will have 3 business days to review deliverables and make comments. The Contractor shall have 3 business days to make corrections and redeliver.

8.1 POST AWARD CONFERENCE

The Contractor shall attend a Post Award Conference with the Contracting Officer, OR, and USCIS PSP Manager no later than 10 business days after the date of award. The purpose of the Post Award Conference, which will be chaired by the Contracting Officer, is to discuss technical and contracting objectives of this contract and review the Contractor's draft project plan. The Post Award Conference will be held via teleconference.

8.2 PROJECT PLAN

The Contractor shall provide a draft Project Plan at the Post Award Conference for Government review and comment. The Contractor shall provide a final Project Plan to the USCIS PSP Manager and/COR COR not later than 10 business days after the Post Award Conference.

8.3 In case of a life threatening emergency, the PSP manager or COR shall immediately make contact with the Contractor Project Manager to ascertain the status of any Contractor personnel who were located in Government controlled space affected by the emergency. When any disruption of normal, daily operations occur, the Contractor Project Manager and the COR shall promptly open an effective means of communication and verify:

· Key points of contact (Government and contractor)

· Temporary work locations (alternate office spaces, telework, virtual offices, etc.)

· Means of communication available under the circumstances (e.g. email, webmail, telephone, FAX, courier, etc.)

· Essential Contractor work products expected to be continued, by priority

8.4 PROGRESS REPORTS

The Project Manager shall provide a progress report to the USCIS PSP Manager and COR via electronic mail within one week of the completion of each class. This report shall include a summary of all Contractor work performed, pertinent issues or problems occurring during the class, questions regarding course content, deviations from curriculum, and a summary of any participant failures.

8.5 PROGRESS MEETINGS

The Project Manager shall be available to meet with the USCIS PSP Manager and/or COR upon request to present deliverables, discuss progress, exchange information and resolve emergent technical problems and issues. These meetings shall take place via teleconference.

8.6 GENERAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide all written reports in electronic format with read/write capability using applications that are compatible with DHS workstations (Windows XP and Microsoft Office Applications).

9.0 DELIVERABLES TABLE

10.0 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS).

The PRS establishes key elements of Contractor performance that represent “mission essential” service requirements, which are identified in the table below in the “Service Output” column.

10.1 The “Performance Objective” column represents the standard against which Contractor performance will be measured in relation to accomplishment of the corresponding service output. The performance objective or “standard” describes the minimum acceptable level of service by the Contractor for satisfactory performance. The “Acceptable Quality Level (AQL)” column displays the maximum allowable deviation from the performance objective, which, if exceeded, evokes the negative incentive specified in the table below.

This contract includes a Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) at PWS 10.0. The PRS plays an integral role in the administration of the contract. In addition to any applicable inspection clauses or other related terms and conditions contained in the contract, the PRS shall serve as a primary tool for inspection and acceptance of services as facilitated by the USCIS PSP Manager and Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Evaluation of the Contractor’s overall performance shall be in accordance with the performance standards set forth in the PRS, and will be conducted by the COR and PSP Manager. The PRS constitutes a material aspect of the contract and will not be changed or otherwise modified without prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

Trainer thoroughly understands and fluent with the curriculum material. Trainer can demonstrate practical skills using different examples.