OAA-25-00002 RFI.pdf

Department of Labor - OSPE Request for Information (RFI)/Sources Sought Notice

FY25 NLSY79 / Y97 Recompete

SPECIAL NOTICE: SOURCES SOUGHT & REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI). THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice does not represent a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The Government is not obligated to and will not pay for information received as a result of this announcement. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this announcement and any follow-up information requests to include an invite to further explain/demonstrate aspects of their proposed approach. Requests for a solicitation will not receive a response. Information provided in response to this RFI is submitted voluntarily and is not being requested as part of a solicitation for actual pricing.

PURPOSE OF RFI:

The purpose of this RFI is two-fold:

1. To receive feedback regarding the previous NLS competition in order to determine how to increase vendor participation for future competitions. After reviewing the attached list of potential tasks in the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS), please address the following:

• What aspects or components of the PWS and/or solicitation terms would cause you not to propose (i.e. what are the disadvantages, if any, or challenges that you see in the PWS, solicitation, or supporting documents that would make you not propose, etc.)

• What could NLS address to encourage your participation in the future competition?

2.) To receive detailed feedback on potential ways to encourage participation through contract structure, vehicle type, fee structure, etc.

• What cost structure would encourage you to bid on the data collection task? Would

Labor Hour, T&M, or Hybrid structure be viable alternatives to Firm Fixed Price?

• Are certain tasks suitable for Firm Fixed Price?

• What contract mechanism is preferable: Contract v. Order v. IDIQ?

• If tasks can be bid on independently, what should the contract cost structure look like?

Responses to this RFI will be reviewed by DOL for their applicability to the Government’s need and determined to be “Relevant” or “Irrelevant” to the above problem. Offerors of “Relevant” responses may be requested to demonstrate their approach and/or product to a Government panel of Subject Matter Experts to help DOL determine the best approach.

BACKGROUND:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal statistical agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. Its mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate essential economic information to support public and private decision-making that forms the basis of our democratic, free-enterprise system. Like all Federal statistical agencies, BLS executes its statistical mission with independence, serving its users by providing products and services that are accurate, objective, relevant, timely, and accessible.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor sponsors the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) to obtain information about how people respond to changes in the broader economy and how they make transitions through various stages of their lives. The NLS program has obtained a wealth of information about young people making the transition from school to the labor market and adulthood; individuals in their 30s, 40s, and 50s as they make choices about their careers and families; and older individuals as they prepare for and enter retirement. Such information is obtained through the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97).

The NLSY79 Cohort is a longitudinal project that follows the lives of a sample of American youth born between 1957-64. The cohort originally included 12,686 respondents ages 14-22 when first interviewed in 1979; after two subsamples were dropped, 9,964 respondents now remain eligible for biennial interview. The NLSY97 Cohort follows the lives of a sample of American youth born between 1980-84; 8,984 respondents were ages 12-17 when first interviewed in 1997. This ongoing cohort has been surveyed 20 times to date and is now also interviewed biennially.

In recent rounds, the NLSY79 and the NLSY97 have maintained retentions rates of approximately 73 percent of eligible respondents.

SCOPE:

The objective of this effort is for the contractor to provide non-personal services for management and execution of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 as defined in the attached list of tasks.

RFI QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Company description, discussion of company capabilities, and general summary of approach to accomplishing the requirements listed in the draft PWS.

2. Historical information (description and length of time providing this service, as well as under what North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) XXXXXXXXX) to the public and other federal agencies.

3. Describe your type of business, (i.e., small, small disadvantaged, woman-owned, HUB Zone, serviced-disabled veteran-owned small business, large business, etc.), under NAICS XXXXXXXXX, which contains a size standard of XXXXXXXXXXX.

4. Does your company possess the capabilities to provide the entire range and scope of these requirements? If not, please list which requirements your company can provide?

5. Suggested roles and responsibilities of the Company and the Government

6. Suggestions/recommendations to improve scope of services to provide an improved value to the Government.

7. Potential risks that could impact the requirement, whether it is performance risk, technical risk or cost? Please be specific.

8. Issues with scope (either expressed or implied) that may limit a Company’s ability to perform services and ultimately increase the cost to the Government.

*Note: Respondents are encouraged to include additional comments/information considered to be appropriate and useful in assisting the program office in refining the Draft PWS and in assessing potential costs and potential risk. These include the following:

1. Based on a review of the referenced services in the Draft PWS, are there suggestions that your firm would propose in terms of providing this service?

2. Identify any questions or clarifications that would likely be requested from industry regarding the PWS as drafted.

RESPONSES TO RFI

RFI responses shall conform to the format below and provide the following information:

1. Cover Letter – The cover letter must include the following information:

• Company name

• Company point of contact, telephone number and email address

• Date submitted

2. Offerors shall respond to each of the general questions.

3. If the offeror chooses not to respond to a question, indicate “no response.”

4. Submit a capabilities package that include the above considerations that demonstrate capabilities and expertise related to the information outlined. As part of the market research associated with this RFI, we are also seeking pricing information. Any pricing information received is to be Rough Order of Magnitude, and is solely for information-gathering and planning purposes.

5. Marketing and/or reference materials, if included, shall be placed at the end of the response, in an appendix.

6. Responses shall not exceed 30 pages, and should be submitted in Microsoft Word .doc or .docx formats, Times New Roman 11-point or 12-point font, with 1-inch margins minimum all around.

RFI SCHEDULE

Responses to the RFI shall be submitted via email to DeCarlo Coleman coleman.decarlo@dol.gov by 3:00 PM EST on Friday, October, 11, 2024.

Contracting Officer – Rachael Vargas Email: Vargas.Rachael.N@dol.gov

Questions regarding this RFI shall be e-mailed to the above point of contact by 10:00 AM EST on October, 9, 2024. Questions and answers shall be posted as an amendment to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to edit any questions as needed to protect the identity of the source, but absent this consideration, the Government intends to quote each submitted question verbatim in its response.

DISCLAIMER

This RFI is issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for information received in response to this RFI. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Information provided in response to this RFI will be used to assess tradeoffs and alternatives available for determining how to proceed in the acquisition process for an agency-wide asset management system and may lead to the development of a Performance Work Statement for the system. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this RFI are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

BASED ON THE RESPONSES TO THIS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE/MARKET RESEARCH, THIS

REQUIREMENT MAY BE SET-ASIDE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES OR PROCURED THROUGH FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION, and multiple awards MAY be made.

mailto:coleman.decarlo@dol.gov mailto:Vargas.Rachael.N@dol.gov

Questions regarding this RFI shall be e-mailed to the above point of contact by 10:00 AM EST on October, 9, 2024. Questions and answers shall be posted as an amendment to this RFI. The Government reserves the right to edit any questions as needed to ...