P02_PWS_Source Sought_Hsng_Cnslr_Trng_Tstng_Cert_20250820.pdf

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Housing Counselor Training, Testing, and

Certification

8/19/2025

Version 1.0

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Housing Counselor Training, Testing, and Certification

Vision Statement

Through Contractor support, OHC provides training, exams, and certification to ensure all housing counselors meet HUD regulations to provide housing counseling to the public.

1 General Information

1.1 Scope of Work

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Housing Counseling has a requirement for housing counselor training, testing, and certification services. Services include:

Create a Project Management Plan

Maintain and administer a HUD Housing Counselor examination, practice exams and training modules

Maintain and administer a HECM Counselor examination, practice exams and training modules

Collect exam fees

Collect and analyze test results and provide an analysis and suggested improvements based on this analysis

Detailed descriptions of specific tasks are provided in Section 5 – Specific Tasks.

1.2 Background

HUD has a responsibility to ensure that participants in the housing counseling program have the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to educate the public on a wide range of housing subjects. This is accomplished through three tests. Two of these tests are addressed in this contract:

The Housing Counseling Exam tests candidates on a broad set of subjects that cover housing, lending, and other key subjects. This test is given and passed once but must be taken and passed by all housing counselors.

The HECM Counselor Exam tests candidates on HECM loans and other reverse mortgage products. It allows passing counselors to be placed on the HECM Counselor

Roster. This test is required every three years.

The Office of Housing Counseling is responsible for the oversight and administration of these exams. To help ensure candidate success in these exams, OHC provides test preparation materials in the form of practice exams, training modules, and other training resources.

1.3 Constraints

The services identified in this PWS will adhere to the rules, regulations, laws, standards, and conventions identified by HUD as well as within the Federal Government. Constraints include the following:

HUD Housing Counseling Program Handbook 7610.1 REV-6 24 CFR Part 214 24 CFR Part 206 FedRAMP Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing Dodd-Frank Act 508 Compliance The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Contractor shall maintain compliance with all current and future Federal IT security requirements. The Contractor shall:

1. Maintain IT security and comply with all terms and conditions of the contract throughout the term of the contract with respect to all data and information technology requirements.

2. Use, maintain, enhance, develop and upgrade all information technology software and system documentation under this Contract in accordance with Federal Laws, best practices, and regulations. This includes, but is not limited to:

Federal Information Security Management Act - https://www.dhs.gov/fisma The Privacy Act - https://www.archives.gov/about/laws/privacy-act-1974.html The E-Government Act - https://www.archives.gov/about/laws/egov-act-section-

207.html;

The Clinger-Cohen Act - https://www.fismacenter.com/Clinger%20Cohen.pdf Government Paper Reduction Act - http://www.hhs.gov/ocio/policy/collection/;

Office of Management and Budget Circulars A-130, and A-I23 -https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_default;

Office of Management and Budget Memorandum 17-12 https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2017/m-17- 12_0.pdf;

Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations, Handbooks and Policies -http://www.HUD.gov;

GAO directives; and Federal Financial Manager Integrity Act (FFMIA).

3. Maintain Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A) standards in accordance with guidance published by NIST. An independent SA&A will be performed by Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) during the period of performance of this contract. The Contractor shall complete the SA&A six months after the award of the contract and again at the expiration of the

SA&A and to include any revisions or updates.

https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/76101HSGH.pdf https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-B/part-214?toc=1 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-B/part-206?toc=1 https://www.fedramp.gov/ https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5759/text https://www.testingstandards.net/uploads/7/6/6/4/76643089/standards_2014edition.pdf https://www.cftc.gov/idc/groups/public/@swaps/documents/file/hr4173_enrolledbill.pdf https://www.section508.gov/develop/software-websites/ https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/

4. Follow HUDs Project Planning and Management (PPM) Life Cycle and industry best practices in the analysis, design, development, testing and implementation of proposed new systems and/or the enhancement to existing systems. This includes prohibiting live data from being used in any environment other than Production and Disaster Recovery (DR) environments.

Specifically, no live data should be used in development, testing or staging environments.

5. Review and update system documentation to ensure accuracy, compliance and completeness. Reviews and revisions must be completed and delivered to HUD quarterly.

6. The Contractor will prepare its security plan as part of its demonstration that it meets the requirements for SA&A per the applicable requirements from HUD, OMB, NIST, etc., which will require the preparation of several related documents, including but not limited to:

NIST FIPS 199/200 Security Categorization Analysis;

NIST SP-800 Security Controls Self-Assessment;

Application and network venerability scans;

Business Impact Assessment;

Privacy Impact Assessment;

Create System Security Plan, Risk Assessment, Technical Architecture, COOP and

Contingency Plans, Quality Control Plan, ST&E Plan and other relevant SA&A supporting documentation for each new application;

Security Assessment Tests (formerly ST&E Testing);

Security Assessment Reports (formerly ST&E Report);

POA&M; and Accreditation Documentation.

7. Each mixed or financial system that the Contractor manages, develops, modifies, enhances, releases and/or upgrades will be assessed under the Federal Information System Controls Audit

Manual (FISCAM) methodology that include control families for both General Computer and

Business Process Application controls:

General Controls:

o Security Management o Access Controls o Configuration Management o Segregation of Duties o Contingency Planning

Business Process Application Controls:

o Application Security o Business Process Controls o Interfaces o Data Management

8. Each mixed or financial system that the Contractor manages, develops, modifies, enhances, releases and/or upgrades must comply with identified OMB A-123 Appendix A "Management's

Responsibility for Internal Control", and Appendix D "Compliance with the Federal Financial

Management Improvement Act of l996 key controls; and the Federal Information Security

Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) to include:

National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication (SP) 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, Revision 5 (NIST SP 800-53, Rev. 5);

NIST SP 800-18 Rev. 5 - Guide for Developing Security Plans for Federal Information Systems;

NIST SP 800-23 - Guidelines to Federal Organizations on Security Assurance and Acquisition/Use of Tested/Evaluated Products;

NIST SP 800-30 Rev. 5 - Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments;

NIST SP 800-34 Rev. 5 - Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems;

NIST SP 800-37 Rev. 5 - Guide for Applying the Risk Management Framework to

Federal Information Systems;

NIST SP 800-47 - Security Guide for Interconnecting Information Technology Systems NIST SP 800-53A Rev. 5 - Guide for Assessing the Security Controls in Federal

Information Systems and Organizations, Building Effective Security Assessment Plans;

NIST SP 800-59 - Guideline for Identifying an Information System as a National Security

System;

NIST SP 800-60 Rev. 5 - Guide for Mapping Types of Information and Information

Systems to Security Categories;

NIST SP 800-84 - Guide to Test, Training, and Exercise Programs for IT Plans and

Capabilities;

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 199/200 - Security Categorization

Analysis; and FIPS 191 - Guideline for the Analysis of Local Area Network Security.

HUDs Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) will have responsibility for maintaining the

FISCAM-based mapping of security controls that will be required in order to maintain compliance with FISMA, OMB A-123, and HUD security requirements.

The Contractor shall support and provide system security to ensure availability, confidentiality, and integrity of the HUD data applications (e.g. maintaining access control, user identification, password protection and authentication, confidentiality of customer profiles and traffic, physical and personnel security required under this PWS). Provide SA&A support, including potential off cycle or unanticipated SA&A support, over the life of the contract.

The HUD System Security Plans (Risk Assessment, Incidence Response Plan and IT

Contingency Plan) shall be reviewed and presented to HUDs Chief Information Security Officer for approval.

The Contractor shall maintain compliance with OMB Memorandum 17-12 (Preparing for and

Responding to a Breach of Personally Identifiable Information), which requires Contractors and sub-Contractors (at any tier) to:

1. Cooperate with and exchange information with agency officials, as determined necessary by the agency, in order to effectively report and manage a suspected or confirmed breach.

2. Properly encrypt PII in accordance with OMB Circular A-130 and other applicable policies and to comply with any agency-specific policies for protecting PII;

3. Provide and participate in mandatory training on how to identify and report a breach;

4. Report a suspected or confirmed breach in any medium or form, including paper, oral, and electronic, as soon as possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the agency's incident management policy and US-CERT notification guidelines;

5. Maintain capabilities to determine what Federal information was or could have been accessed and by whom, construct a timeline of user activity, determine methods and techniques used to access Federal information, and identify the initial attack vector;

6. Allow for an inspection, investigation, forensic analysis, and any other action necessary to ensure compliance with OMB M 17-12, the agency's breach response plan, and to assist with responding to a breach;

7. Identify roles and responsibilities, in accordance with OMB M 17-12 and the agency's breach response plan; and,

8. Explain that a report of a breach shall not, by itself, be interpreted as evidence that the Contractor or its subcontractor (at any tier) failed to provide adequate safeguards for PII.

The Contractor shall provide and present a Security Self-Assessment Report to HUDs Chief

Information Security Officer on an annual basis, due no later than August 31st of each calendar year.

Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms) shall be reviewed and updated on a quarterly basis and presented to HUDs Chief Information Security Officer for review and approval.

Failure to adhere to the above NIST requirements could result in penalties, to include a contract performance stop-work order until compliance can be demonstrated. Disregard of these NIST requirements could also lead to other criminal, civil, administrative, or contract penalties, including, but not limited to:

1. Breach of Contract damages

2. False Claims Act damages

3. Liquidated Damages

4. Termination for Default

5. Termination for Convenience

6. Poor Past Performance

7. Suspension/debarment

1.3.1 Project Planning and Management

All HUD IT projects, including all information systems acquired, developed, enhanced, or maintained shall follow the policy, procedures, standards, and guidelines set forth within the IT

Management Framework using the Project Planning and Management (PPM) Life Cycle located at HUD’s PPM Life Cycle Website:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/cio/ppm/PPMV20HOME http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/cio/ppm/PPMV20HOME

PPM was designed based on the best practices from Capability Maturity Model Integration

(CMMI) for systems development and PMBok for project management. While at the foundation, PPM is designed as a Waterfall methodology, HUD encourages tailoring the PPM to use the many modern solution development methodologies available to enable the planning, development and delivery of useable functionality within 6-9 month increments.

Contractors are encouraged to propose a preferred methodology whether their solution(s) are for custom development, includes prototypes or pilots, Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS)/

Government Off the Shelf (GOTS) configuration, or Software as a Services. Working with the

HUD Project Manager(s), the Contractor will tailor PPM to take advantage of contractor proposed expertise in using other methodologies in a manner that will provide HUD the best value and address all of the work necessary for successful project completion, on time, within budget, and delivering intended functionality.

The decisions of PPM tailoring are captured in the Project Tailoring Agreement (PTA), which documents the specific agreement for creating, combining, referring, or omitting specific artifacts applicable to the project, as well as adjust project control gate reviews to be consistent with the tailoring. All tailoring of PPM must be approved by HUD’s Deputy Chief Information Officer

(DCIO) for Business & IT Modernization. As a default, any project without an approved project tailoring agreement is required to follow all PPM phases and artifacts as presented.

1.4 Non-Personal Services

The Government will neither supervise Contractor employees nor control the method by which the Contractor performs the required tasks. Under no circumstances shall the Government assign tasks to, or prepare work schedules for, individual Contractor employees. It shall be the responsibility of the Contractor to manage its employees and to guard against any actions that are of the nature of personal services or give the perception of personal services.

If the Contractor believes that any actions constitute, or are perceived to constitute personal services, it shall be the Contractor's responsibility to notify the Contracting Officer (CO) immediately. These services shall not be used to perform work of a policy, decision making, or management nature, i.e., inherently Government functions. All decisions relative to programs supported by the Contactor shall be the sole responsibility of the Government.

1.5 Period of Performance

The Period of Performance shall be for one Base Year of 12 months and four 12-month Option Years.

1.6 Place of Performance

The services to be performed under this contract shall be performed at the Contractors facility.

1.7 Hours of Operation

N/A

1.8 Special Qualifications

For these tasks, the Contractor shall provide its own subject matter experts and place minimal reliance on Government staff. The Contractor shall employ one or more psychometricians, at least one subject matter expert in adult education, and at least one HUD Housing Counseling program expert with knowledge of HUD industry practices and HUD Certified Housing

Counselor and HECM counseling expertise. Expertise shall be gained by virtue of profession, education, and experience. These shall be considered key personnel as defined in section 2.1 and 4.5 and resumes of these personnel shall be submitted and approved by the COR.

The Contract or Project Manager or their designated alternate outlined in section 4.5 may fill the role of the Adult Education Expert, Psychometrician, or HUD Certified Housing Counselor expert as long as they have the required education and experience to meet that requirement.

The Contractor shall furnish all necessary technical and clerical services, equipment, materials and supplies, facilities, personnel, and supervision needed to accomplish the requirements specified in this contract. Any system the Contractor elects to purchase, enhance, and/or develop for data processing shall ensure that all requirements of this contract are met. All data collected shall be considered in its entirety as the property of HUD and will be transferred to the

COR and SME upon termination of the contract in a format compatible with HUDs existing systems.

1.9 Post Award/Kickoff Conference

The Contractor shall attend any post award conference convened by the contracting activity or contract administration office in accordance with FAR Subpart 42.5 and HUD Acquisition

Regulation (HUDAR) clause 2452.237-79 - Post Award Conference.

1.10 Status Meetings

The Contracting Officer, Contracting Officers Representative (COR), and other Government personnel, as appropriate, may meet periodically with the Contractor to also review Contractor performance, requirement status, etc. At these meetings, the Contracting Officer will apprise the

Contractor of how the Government views the Contractor's performance or progress of the requirement. The Contractor will apprise the Government of problems, if any, being experienced. Appropriate action shall be taken to resolve outstanding issues. These meetings shall be at no additional cost to the Government. Post Award Conference and subsequent meetings may be held via teleconference at the Contracting Officer's discretion.

1.11 Contractor Travel

Contractor travel is not anticipated during the contract period of performance.

1.12 Transition In

The Contractor shall, upon the Contracting Officer's written notice, furnish Transition-In services as required. As a successor, the Contractor shall have sufficient personnel on board during the

90-day Transition-In period to ensure a smooth transition with the incumbent Contractor. The

Contractor shall provide an orderly transition of work acceptance and accomplishment such that any impact to the program is minimized. During the Transition-In period, the Contractor shall become familiar with the requirements in order to commence full performance of services by the end of the contract Transition-In period. Transition-In is not required if the successor Contractor is the incumbent Contractor. The successor Contractor shall facilitate the transition of the entire website and testing process in a seamless manner that shall be defined by mutual agreement between the incumbent and the successor Contractor. This process shall be determined within the first 10 business days of the start of the successor contract. The transition process shall not cause any interruption to counselor testing or take the supporting website down for any period of time outside what would be considered normal maintenance. The incumbent Contractor shall provide all materials and support required for this transition at request of either the COR or

Successor Contractor. The transition of the exam, testing process, website and control of the website shall be completed within the 90-day transition period.

1.13 Transition Out

To minimize any decrease in productivity and to prevent possible negative impacts on additional services, the Contractor shall have sufficient personnel on board during the 90-day Transition-

Out period. The incumbent Contractor shall ensure a smooth transition with the successor

Contractor during the Transition-Out period, prior to completion of contractual performance. The incumbent Contractor shall aid the successor in the development of plans, procedures, and methods for the assumption of all ongoing work. The Contractor shall provide an orderly transition of work acceptance and accomplishment, such that full control by the successor

Contractor is achieved by the end of the new contract Transition-In period. The incumbent

Contractor shall facilitate the transition of the entire website and testing process in a seamless manner that shall be defined by mutual agreement between the incumbent and the successor

Contractor. This process shall be determined within the first 10 business days of the start of the successor contract. The transition process shall not cause any interruption to the testing process or take the supporting website down for any period of time outside what would be considered normal maintenance. The incumbent Contractor shall provide all materials required for this transition at request of either the COR or Successor Contractor. The transition of the exam, testing process, website and control of the website shall be completed within the 90-day transition period.

2 Definitions and Acronyms

2.1 Definitions

Adult Education expert - is defined as an expert by virtue of education (bachelor’s degree or higher level in secondary or adult education) and experience in adult education (curriculum development and instruction).

Business Days/Workdays - Every official workday of the week which is between and including

Monday through Friday. This does not include public holidays and weekends.

Calendar Day - Any day of the week.

Contractor - A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the Government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime.

Contracting Officer (CO) - A person with authority to enter into, administer, and/or terminate contracts and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the Government. Note: the only individual who can legally bind the Government.

Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) - An employee of the U.S. Government appointed by the Contracting Officer to perform contract administration activities in regard to technical issues. This individual has authority to provide technical direction to the Contractor as long as direction is within the scope of the contract, does not constitute a change and has no funding implications. This individual does not have the authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract. This individual is responsible for approving all deliverables.

Defective Service - A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with the Performance Work Statement.

Deliverable Anything that can be physically delivered but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

Government Furnished Property (GFP) - Government-furnished property means property in the possession of, or directly acquired by, the Government and subsequently furnished to the

Contractor for performance of a contract. Government-furnished property includes, but is not limited to, spares and property furnished for repair, maintenance, overhaul, or modification.

Government-furnished property also includes contractor-acquired property if the contractor-acquired property is a deliverable under a cost contract when accepted by the Government for continued use under the contract.

FHAC - An application used by HUD for a large number of services including tracking HECM

Roster Housing Counselors.

HECM Roster Counselor - A HUD Certified Housing Counselor who has also passed the HUD

HECM exam, taken continuing education, and applied to be on the HECM Counselor Roster.

Housing Counselor - A housing counselor is a professional who provides advice and guidance to individuals and households in order to assist them in improving their housing situation and meeting the responsibilities of tenancy and homeownership.

HUD Certified Housing Counselor - A housing counselor that has passed the HUD Certified

Housing Counselor Examination and works for a HUD Housing Counseling Program participating agency.

Key Personnel - Contractor personnel that are evaluated in a source selection process and that may be required to be used in the performance of a contract by the Key Personnel clause. When key personnel are used as an evaluation factor, offers can be rejected if they do not have firm commitments from the people that are listed in the proposal. These personnel are required to be organic employees of the Contractor and not sub-contracted.

IT Database/Systems Integration Specialist - is defined as an expert by virtue of profession, education, or experience in the installation, configuration, upgrade, administration, monitoring and maintenance of databases.

Psychometrician - develops assessments such as examinations for educational, employment or professional credentialing purposes.

Performance Requirements Summary (PRS) - A listing of the performance requirements under the contract that are to be evaluated by the Government on a regular basis, performance indicators for these requirements, performance standards for these requirements and surveillance methods to be used to determine if performance standards are met.

Performance Standard - The Contractor's performance level required by the Government.

Performance Work Statement (PWS) - A statement of work for performance-based acquisitions that describe the required results in clear, specific and objective terms with measurable outcomes.

Physical Security - Actions that prevent the loss or damage of Government property.

Psychometric - The field of science associated with the development of instruments (such as examinations) that measure knowledge, skills and attributes (KSAs).

Psychometrician - A psychometrician develops assessments such as examinations for educational, employment or professional credentialing purposes.

Quality Assurance (QA) - Policies and procedures adopted by the Government to ensure that supplies and services acquired under Government contracts conform to the contract’s quality requirements.

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) - A plan describing how the agency will survey, observe, test, sample, evaluate and document the Contractor's performance in meeting critical performance standards identified in the contract.

Quality Control (QC) - All necessary measures taken by the Contractor to ensure that the quality of an end product of service shall meet contract requirements.

Service Contract - A contract that directly engages the time and effort of a Contractor whose primary purpose is to perform an identifiable task rather than to furnish an end item of supply.

Subcontractor - Any person, other than the prime Contractor, who offers to furnish or furnishes any supplies, material, equipment, or services of any kind under a prime contract or a subcontract entered into in connection with such a prime contract, and any person who offers to furnish or furnishes general supplies to the prime contractor or a higher tier subcontractor. The

Government does not have privity of contract with a subcontractor.

Subject Matter Expert (SME) - An employee of the program office who assists the Contracting

Officer Representative (COR) in the development of the procurement documents and monitoring of contractor performance and assists the COR with reviewing and inspection of deliverables. This individual does not have authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

Work Week - Monday through Friday, unless specified otherwise.

2.2 Acronyms

ATO - Authorization to Operate

ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act

AQL - Acceptable Quality Level

CBT - Computer-Based Training

CFR - Code of Federal Regulations

CIO or OCIO - Office of the Chief Information Officer of HUD

CO - Contracting Officer

COR - Contracting Officer Representative

CPO - Office of the Chief Procurement Officer of HUD

EST - Eastern Standard Time (U.S.)

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

GAO - U.S. General Accounting Office

HECM - Home Equity Conversion Mortgage

HUD - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

HUDAR - HUD Acquisition Regulation

HUD/ISG - Internet Services Group within the Telecom Processing Division

HUD Web - HUDs Intranet Web Site and related WEB pages.

IT - Information Technology

OCPO - Office of the Chief Procurement Officer

OMB - Office of Management and Budget

PII - Personal Identifiable Information

PM - Project Manager

POC - Point of Contact

PPM - Project Planning and Management

QA - Quality Assurance

QASP - Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

QCP - Quality Control Plan

SME - Subject Matter Expert

U.S.C. - United States Code

3 Government-Furnished Property and Services

The Contractor shall ensure accurate control and accountability of all Government-Furnished Property in accordance with the terms and conditions of this contract. The Government will furnish, at no cost to the Contractor, the GFP shown below.

3.1 Government Services

Government services will not be provided.

3.2 Facilities

Government facilities will not be provided.

3.3 Equipment

Laptops shall be issued to personnel who require access to any HUD systems. This equipment shall be surrendered prior to contract completion or within 10 business days of written COR request.

3.4 Materials and Information

See HUDAR 2452.227-70, Government Information.

The Government shall provide the following materials and information:

The Government will provide all existing practice exams, knowledge assessments, housing counselor exams, HECM exams, and training curriculum and materials in their current form to the Contractor at award. The Government will also provide access to HUD Certified Housing

Counselor program materials, regulations, requirements, and other related Housing Counseling documents not publicly available at award. Copies of required materials may be provided to the

Contractor in hard copy or soft copy and/or HUD website links for the purpose of obtaining the most current information on the HUD Housing Counseling program and HUD Certified Housing

Counselor policy. All materials will remain the property of the Government and will be returned to the COR upon request or at the end of the contract period.

3.5 Quality Assurance (QA)

The Government shall evaluate the Contractor's performance under this contract in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. This plan is primarily focused on what the Government must do to ensure that the Contractor has performed in accordance with the performance standards. It defines how the performance standards will be applied, the frequency of surveillance, and the minimum acceptable quality level.

4 Contractor-Furnished Items and Services

The Contractor shall furnish, all facilities, equipment, and supplies required to perform the work under this contract that are not listed under Government-Furnished Property and Services.

4.1 Facilities

The contractor shall furnish all facilities necessary to perform the required functions under this contract.

4.2 Equipment

The contractor shall furnish all equipment including software adequate to perform the required functions under this contract.

4.3 Materials

The contractor shall furnish all materials necessary to perform the required functions under this contract that are not specified in section 3.4.

4.4 Contractor Responsibilities

The Contractor shall only conduct business with designated Government personnel listed as points of contact (POCs). Names of authorized personnel shall be provided to the Contractor by the Government, in writing, and updated as necessary throughout the contract period of performance.

U.S. Government records, copies of original results and reports, verified original data, corrected data, and corrected supporting final reports which are maintained by the Contractor remain the property of the U.S. Government. These files/results must be surrendered to the COR.

4.5 Contractor Personnel

See HUDAR clause 2452.237-70 - Key Personnel in the Key Personnel section of the contract.

4.6 Identification of Contractor Employees

All Contractor/subcontractor personnel shall wear company picture identification badges as to distinguish themselves from Government employees. When conversing with Government personnel during business meetings, over the telephone, or via electronic mail, Contractor/subcontractor personnel shall identify themselves as such to avoid situations arising where sensitive topics might be better discussed solely between Government employees.

Contractors/subcontractors shall identify themselves on any attendance sheet or any coordination documents they may review. Electronic mail signature blocks shall identify their company affiliation. Where practicable, Contractor/subcontractors occupying collocated space with their Government program customer shall identify their workspace area with their name and company affiliation, or at a minimum, "Contractor" after name.

5 Specific Tasks

5.1 Project Management Plan

The Contractor shall create and provide a Project Management Plan (PMP) to maintain, deliver online services and administer two nationwide, standardized, housing counselor exams including: the Housing Counselor Exam and the HECM Counselor Exam, with all associated study guides, practice exams, and training modules available on the same website. At a minimum, the PMP shall:

Provide a timeline for completion of all required tasks.

Include a Quality Control Plan as outlined in section 6.2.

Describe the work to be performed and the processes for completing such work.

Describe the content and format of reports that are required by this PWS and PMP.

A description of how the Contractor will provide the COR and approved HUD Staff testing opportunities as test evaluators without including them in demographics, statistics, or payment.

A description, process, and timeline for the website, including development and launch.

A description of how the Contractor collects exam fees.

Describe the procedures to address reasonable and appropriate testing accommodations for examination candidates who meet the requirements specified in the ADA requests of disabled candidates.

A process for development of the website and critical interviews and information gathering to ensure the website and exam meet the vision of HUD subject matter experts.

The Contractor shall deliver an electronic copy of the draft Project Management Plan to the

Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and Subject Matter Expert (SME) no later than 5 business days from the date of Contract award.

The Contractor shall meet with the Contracting Officer, COR, and SME for final review and approval of the Project Management Plan. The Contractor shall provide a final version of the

Project Management Plan within 5 days of approval of the draft. The Contractor shall participate in team meetings with the COR and HUD staff as necessary. These meetings shall be at a minimum monthly. More frequent meetings may be necessary at the start of services.

The Contractor shall schedule monthly status meetings with the COR and SME. The agenda for meetings shall include the progress of tasks, assumptions, schedule updates, communications, tasks to be completed and by whom, and identification of risk. Detailed Minutes for meeting shall be submitted to the COR within 5 business days of the meeting.

Performance Standards

a) Standard: The Contractor delivers an electronic copy of the draft Project Management Plan to the COR and SME no later than 5 business days from the date of contract award.

AQL: Two Business days deviation from the standard.

b) Standard: The Contractor provides a final version of the Project Management Plan within 5 business days of approval of the draft.

AQL: Two Business days deviation from the standard.

c) Standard: The Contractor delivers detailed meeting minutes within 5 business days of the meeting.

AQL: Two Business days deviation from the standard.

Deliverables

A001 Draft Project Management Plan

A002 Final Project Management Plan

A003 Meeting Minutes

5.2 Housing Counselor Exam Website

The Contractor shall provide and maintain a website for administration of the online HUD

Housing Counselor and HECM Exams. This includes the following: HUD Housing Counselor

Certification Computer Based Online training (CBT) modules, downloadable study guides, practice exams, knowledge assessments, and exams. The HUD Housing Counselor Exam

Website shall include all exam data and associated study materials for each exam. The same interface, navigation, formatting, and style shall be used consistently throughout the platform.

Final approval of any format, interface, or style shall be made by the COR and SMEs.

The contractor shall maintain the website through a cloud-based platform that meets FedRAMP security requirements. The contractor shall ensure an ATO is issued within 6 months of contract start. The designated website shall include practice exams, study aids, and links to other sites that assist examinees in preparing for the exams. Practice services shall be provided to candidates at no cost to them. No practice exam may include any questions from the any examination question bank. The HUD Housing Counselor Exam Website shall be able to:

Verify the examinee’s identification.

Collect and enter the examinee’s identifying and demographic information and exam results.

Check in examinees online, at a test site or, on an as-needed basis, at onsite test sites that ensures test integrity and security of the test and the testing process.

Allow examinees and HUD staff to take a randomly generated practice exam. The practice exam is a timed exam offered in a format similar to the associated exam with similar types of questions. Candidates will not receive a score for the practice exam but will receive a summary page with feedback and recommendations for further study by topic.

Explain the proctored online exam process and procedures and describe all the necessary equipment needed to administer the test using this methodology.

Allow the specified time for each examination, with extensions required for those with an approved reasonable accommodation.

Provide reports on individual scores, trends, overall pass/fail ratios, test question pass/fail ratios, demographic data, identify difficult test content areas, and other pertinent data.

Provide clear and concise instructions on the process of becoming a Certified or HECM

Housing Counselor.

Provide a registration process for the website and the examination that collects certain demographic information.

The Contractor shall ensure the website is operational 7 days a week 24 hours a day.

Provide technical assistance via email and a toll-free phone number during the hours of 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday EST. The contractor shall respond to inquiries and requests for technical assistance within 48 hours, during regular business hours. The contractor shall accept calls via the Federal Information Relay Service to provide access to individuals with hearing or speech impairments.

Check in examinees online, or on an as-needed basis, at onsite test sites that ensure test integrity and security of the test and the testing process.

Report all exam discrepancies in a timely and efficient manner.

Score examinations.

The Contractor shall use federal plain writing principles in creating and updating all public-facing material, including, but not limited to, websites, exams, practice tests, training materials, and training modules.

Ensure the security of all data collected by the website, information that is transferred to

HUD, or held at the Contractors site. This includes both electronic and paper files.

Address reasonable and appropriate testing accommodations for examination candidates who meet the requirements specified in the ADA.

Ensure website is in compliance with Section 508 requirements, which can be found at:

https://www.section508.gov/develop/software-websites/ Any testing site that is used by the Contractor shall allow the use of typical applications used by people with disabilities including screen readers, magnifiers, alternative input devices, and speech-to-text or any other application/hardware type normally used but not mentioned here.

The Contractor shall provide scheduled updates on a quarterly basis. This shall be the time in which exams, associated exam material, list serve messages, FAQ, instructions to users, and the website shall be updated. Updates or required non-emergency maintenance shutdowns shall be conducted between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am EST with notice provided to the COR and SME at least 5 days prior to taking action and notice provided in a prominent place on the website.

Within 5 business days of conclusion of the Contract period of performance the Contractor shall surrender the HECM Exam website or other website designated for online registration and testing to the COR. The incumbent Contractor shall facilitate the transition of the entire website and testing process in a seamless manner that shall be defined by mutual agreement between the incumbent and the successor Contractor. In addition, the assigned XID utilized for access to

HUD systems for the purpose of submitting counseling test results will be terminated at the conclusion of this contract unless extended by HUD.

https://www.section508.gov/develop/software-websites/

With the exception of new government requirements, rules, or regulations, any costs associated with transition to newer versions of outdated structures, frameworks, designs, platforms, or other website hardware or software infrastructure necessary to maintain security or functionality of the website shall be the responsibility of the Contractor. All products, materials, presentations, websites, updates, or any other item created for the Government under this contract shall be owned by the Government and shall be delivered to the COR at the completion of this contract.

Performance Standards

a) Standard: Deliver the described website in accordance with this section of the PWS.

AQL: Zero deviation from the standard.

b) Standard: Conduct the exam in accordance with this section of the PWS.

AQL: Zero deviation from the standard.

Deliverables A004 Housing Counselor Exam Website

5.3 HUD Housing Counselor Exam and Related Materials

The Contractor shall administer the nationwide standardized HUD Housing Counselor exam.

The Contractor shall ensure academic integrity through careful test administration and monitoring. The Test Administrator must have unbiased relationships with examinees to ensure integrity and security of all exams. The Contractor shall be ready to start testing examinees within 90 calendar days of award of this contract.

HUD will provide all existing practice exams, knowledge assessments, HUD Housing Counselor exams, and training curriculum and materials in their current form to the Contractor. The

Contractor shall implement the existing HUD Housing Counselor Exam and provide updates to that exam as changes in policy, regulation, programs, or process occur. The Exam shall always meet the following requirements:

Include collection of demographic data for both passing and failing test takers.

Have a minimum of four different test versions to allow for retests.

Contain 90 different questions for each test version.

Generate questions in a random order for each version of the test.

Be consistent with current HUD Housing Counselor certification requirements.

Be based on the Computer Based Training (CBT) modules and the study guide which are updated in accordance with the six competency requirements as outlined by the 24

CFR Part 214 Final Rule:

1. Financial Management

2. Property Maintenance

3. Homeownership and Tenancy

4. Fair Housing Laws and Requirements

5. Housing Affordability

6. Avoidance of/responses to rental and mortgage delinquency and avoidance of

Eviction and mortgage default

Currently, the HUD Housing Counselor examination addresses the 8 topic areas as follows:

A.1 Housing Affordability A.2 Homeownership Pre-purchase A.3 Obtaining Tenancy B.1 Homeownership Post-purchase B.2 Avoiding Foreclosure B.3 Maintaining Tenancy and Avoiding Eviction C.1 Fair Housing History and Overview C.2 Fair Housing Violations and Complaints

The Contractor shall include in-person Housing Counselor Exam testing at sites throughout the

United States and Puerto Rico and other United States territories to existing and potential housing counselors on an as-needed basis to meet ADA or special requirements as reasonable accommodations. In situations where online proctoring cannot be used, the Contractor shall provide a COR-approved testing site with proctoring for the exam. In situations where onsite proctoring is required, the Contractor shall ensure a secure testing environment that achieves valid and defensible testing results.

The Contractor shall support and provide for any required special accommodation in compliance with the ADA to include hearing and sight impairment, or other disabilities as they may apply.

These processes shall be defined in the Project Management Plan. All costs associated with reasonable accommodation shall be a pass-through expense billed against Other Direct Costs.

Reasonable accommodation expenses must be approved by the COR prior to the use of these services.

Quarterly, the contractor shall review all materials including exams, practice tests, and training materials for any required changes. Training modules shall be reviewed by a professional Adult

Education expert. Tests and practice tests shall be reviewed by a psychometrician. A report shall be provided on findings as outlined in section 5.6. The Contractor shall update the exam, practice exam, and training materials quarterly as may be required by HUD.

The Government expects approximately 3000 exams annually, with a monthly average of 250 exams. These numbers are not intended to create a minimum or maximum number of tests in any given period for this section and are only provided for estimating purposes.

Performance Standards

a) Standard: Contractor administers, maintains, and updates the HUD Housing Counselor Exam and associated materials in accordance with this section of the PWS.

AQL: Zero deviation from the standard.

Deliverables A005 Housing Counselor Exam Testing A006 Updates to Tests and Materials

5.4 HECM Counselor Exam and Related Materials

The Contractor shall administer the nationwide standardized HECM counselor exam. The

Contractor shall ensure academic integrity through careful test administration and monitoring.

The Test Administrator must have unbiased relationships with examinees to ensure integrity and security of all exams. The Contractor shall be ready to start testing examinees within 90 calendar days of award of this contract.

HUD will provide all existing HECM practice exams, knowledge assessments, exams, and training curriculum and materials in their current form to the Contractor. The Contractor shall implement the existing HUD Housing Counselor HECM Exam and provide updates to that exam as changes in policy, regulation, programs, or process occur. The Exam shall always meet the following requirements:

The test shall have at least three different test versions, each with a different selection of 90 questions from a bank of at least 150 questions and covering the same topics in approximately the same proportion.

The test shall generate questions in a random order for each version of the test.

The Contractor shall include in-person HECM Counselor Exam testing at sites throughout the

United States and Puerto Rico and other United States territories to existing and potential housing counselors on an as-needed basis to meet ADA or special requirements as reasonable accommodations. In situations where online proctoring cannot be used, the Contractor shall provide a COR-approved testing site with proctoring for the exam. In situations where onsite proctoring is required, the Contractor shall ensure a secure testing environment that achieves valid and defensible testing results.

The Contractor shall support and provide for any required special accommodation in compliance with the ADA to include hearing and sight impairment, or other disabilities as they may apply.

The Contractor shall provide a process for requesting a reasonable accommodation at registration, and ensure all registrants are aware this service is available should they need it.

These processes shall be defined in the Project Management Plan. All costs associated with reasonable accommodation shall be a pass-through expense billed against Other Direct Costs.

Reasonable accommodation expenses must be approved by the COR prior to the use of these services.

Once per week, the Contractor shall forward a list of HECM Exam results in an excel spreadsheet to the Contractor that maintains the FHAC application (or similar application and

Contractor as defined by HUD). The format of this spreadsheet shall be defined by HUD or the

FHAC Contractor. These results are uploaded into FHAC by the FHAC Contractor. HUD will provide the contact information for the FHAC Contractor.

Quarterly, the contractor shall review all materials including exams, practice tests, and training materials for any required changes. Training modules shall be reviewed by a professional Adult

Education expert. Tests and practice tests shall be reviewed by a psychometrician. A report on findings is outlined in section 5.6. The Contractor shall update the exam, practice exam, and training materials quarterly as may be required by HUD.

The Government expects approximately 10-36 exams monthly, with an annual average of 230

HECM exams. These numbers are not intended to create a minimum or maximum number of tests in any given period for this section and are only provided for estimating purposes.

Performance Standards

a) Standard: The Contractor maintains and administers the HECM Counselor Exam in accordance with this section of the PWS.

AQL: Zero deviation.

b) Standard: Weekly, the Contractor sends HECM Exam results to the FHAC Contractor in an Excel spreadsheet in a format required by HUD or the FHAC Contractor.

AQL: Zero deviation.

Deliverables

A006 Updates to Tests and Materials

A007 Housing Counseling HECM Exam Testing Results

5.5 Exam Registration and Fee Collection

The Contractor shall collect all fees required for the administration of these examinations. The

HUD Housing Counselor Exam Website shall allow for registration…