Performance Work Statement -2026 Volunteer and Cadet Background Screening.docx

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

FOR VOLUNTEER & CADET BACKGROUND SCREENING COAST GUARD ACADEMY, NEW LONDON, CT

1.0 GENERAL

1.1 BACKGROUND

Today the Academy is committed to strengthening the nation’s future by educating, training, and developing leaders of character who are ethically, intellectually, professionally, and physically prepared to serve their country and humanity, and who are strong in their resolve to build on the long military and maritime heritage and proud accomplishments of the United States Coast Guard.

To perform this mission, the Academy relies on the following networks to work closely with prospective cadets, applicants, and our more than 1,100 enrolled students. The Cadet Sponsor Family program is comprised of local families in New London County. These members may or may not have a direct affiliation with the Coast Guard Academy but serve as a support network for cadets. The Admission Partner program is comprised of a network of more than 1,100 volunteers around the world. Volunteers range in affiliation with the Coast Guard from Active Duty, Alumnus, to Auxiliary, cadet parents, and other civilian affiliates.

The specifications contained herein are intended to describe the scope and nature of the work required by the Coast Guard Academy (CGA).

2.0 SCOPE

The contractor shall furnish all labor, material, equipment, transportation and supervision to provide services in support of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s policy for conducting background investigations (Federal, State, local/county, and sex offenses) for volunteers associated with the Cadet Sponsor Program, the Admissions Partner Programs, as well as background investigations for annually selected, prospective cadets. This Request for Quote is for Base Year plus Four (4) Option Years. The number of background checks are as follows:

· Within the USCGA Admissions Office, the Operations Branch will use this service to run background investigations on ALL appointed applicants, roughly 450 investigations annually.

· The Admissions volunteer branch will use this service to conduct background checks on approximately 100 people annually, who wish to assist with the Academy Admissions Partner (AAP) program. AAP’s are comprised of civilian, prior military, active duty and reserve members, and Coast Guard Auxiliarists. In year one (1) of the contract all civilian, prior military, and Coast Guard Auxiliarists will require a background check. This will be approximately 1200 people.

· The Academy sponsor family program, run by the Cadet Activities division, will conduct approximately 100 background checks a year for local families interested in sponsoring and hosting CGA cadets.

· An additional 50 background checks may be conducted annually for other various positions around campus.

The Government’s specifications for the specific steps in the background screening shall be as follows:

2.1. SSN Validation and Address Verification: Verification of prospective volunteer through social security number search to determine whether the Social Security Number (SSN) is validly issued; in which year (or range of years estimated) and state the SSN was issued; if the SSN was issued prior to the individual’s date of birth; the current and other known or previous addresses to that SSN, or if it matches to the SSN Death Master Index. The SSN verification process can reveal that the number has been associated to another individual, has more than one name associated therewith, produces other aliases, including maiden and divorced names, is not a validly issued SSN, belongs to a deceased person, produces additional addresses, or has other SSN’s associated with that individual.

2.2. National Criminal File search and 5 Year Felony Check: Review county, state and federal records to determine if the prospective volunteer has been convicted of a felony in any of the counties in which he/she has resided during the past 5 years. Searches shall be conducted to locate any existing county, state or federal felony crime convictions. Available national databases shall also be searched.

2.3. Sex Offender Check: Sex offender records from all 50 states shall be searched. If the prospective volunteer is listed in the Sexual Offender Registry, the individual shall be disqualified.

2.4. The investigating company must satisfy National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) requirements and be able to provide a complete, accurate, and comprehensive background investigation utilizing the national sex offender registry, national criminal search, SSN trace, statewide criminal search, and county federal and misdemeanor databases. County checks will be needed for AAPs to ensure that all resources are used to vet potential recruiting volunteers.

2.5. Background checks must comply with Federal and State regulations, as well as all legal requirements and ethical standards for such investigations.

2.6. The company must be able to provide a way for prospective volunteers and cadets to access their background check online and provide their basic information (full name, SSN, aliases, address, etc), to perform these checks.

2.7. The company must notify the Academy stakeholder when the background check is complete.

2.8. Background checks must be completed and returned within 72 hours of the request and results must be available in a secure-online location, which can be accessed 24 hours (via three independent username and password) a day and utilizes an archiving function that allows us to bring up older records.

2.9. An individual interview with each person being checked is NOT desired for the purpose of this background investigation. We will rely on screening each person using existing databases of SSN, federal, state, local, and sex offender registries.

3.0 SECURITY

The Contractor shall provide security to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data in accordance with all applicable federal laws, regulations, policies, and industry standards in accordance with, appropriate access control, comprehensive intrusion detection, comprehensive virus protection, formal incident response procedures, vulnerability monitoring and mitigation, and periodic (at least annual) third party security assessments to ensure on-going effectiveness and confidentiality.

4.0 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance for this contract is a one-year base period with four one-year option periods as follows:

4.1 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Unless otherwise agreed, the primary place of performance will be at the contractor’s place of employment.

5.0 TRAVEL

Contractor travel must not be required for this requirement.

6.0 POST AWARD CONFERENCE

The Contractor must attend a Post Award Conference with the COR no later than seven (7) business days after the date of award. The purpose of the Post Award Conference, is to discuss technical and contracting objectives of this contract and will be via teleconference.

7.0 GENERAL REPORT REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall only provide reports to the designated Division Officer(s), who will be identified by the Contracting Officer after contract award. Once it has been determined that no disqualifying event exist, the prospective volunteer shall be available for participation in Coast Guard Academy programs. Should the background investigation reveal derogatory information resulting in an adverse decision, the respective Division Officer will notify the prospective volunteer and provide him means to contact the credential verification firm that issued the report. The Coast Guard Academy will not collect, process or store personal information necessary for the investigation from prospective volunteers.

8.0 QUESTIONS

RFQ point of contacts for general technical questions:

1. USCGA Admissions Partners: Mr. Timothy Kessell, USCGA Admissions | timothy.j.kessell@uscga.edu

2. USCGA Prospective Cadets: Ms. Katy Robbins, USCGA Admissions | katy.a.robbins@uscga.edu

3. USCGA Cadet Sponsor Families: Ms. Lara Schrage, Cadet Activities | Lara.j.schrage@uscga.edu

4. Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): Mr. William Anderson, USCGA Admissions | William.j.anderson@uscga.edu

RFQ solicitation package questions must be submitted via email to Mr. Alfred Chaney at Alfred.Chaney@uscg.mil | (571) 610-6939 Questions not received within a reasonable time prior to close of the solicitation will not be considered.

9.0 DELIVERABLES

The Contractor must consider items in BOLD as having mandatory due dates. Items in italics are deliverables or events that must be reviewed and/or approved by the COR prior to proceeding to next deliverable or event in this PWS.

DISTRIBUTION

COR

COR

Updated 6/24/15