PWS Erie HCHV_ Emergency Shelter_Service_Contract_v2_Draft.pdf

PERFOMANCE WORK STATEMENT

CONTRACTED EMERGENCY RESIDENTIAL SERVICES

(CERS) for HCHV Program

Erie VA Medical Center, Erie, PA 16504

A. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this contract is to engage a community provider (Contractor) who will provide emergency housing to Veterans along with services consistent with Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) program objectives. The goal of this contract is to remove homeless Veterans from the street or habitation unfit for Veterans and place them in community-based, residential environments, with the ultimate goal of permanent housing. These residences must have sufficient services to meet the needs of the Veterans served.

B. BACKGROUND.

Through HCHV, VA provides case management services to Veterans and facilitates their access to a broad range of medical, mental health, and rehabilitative services. HCHV’s goal is to engage homeless

Veterans in treatment and place them in a safe and secure environment that supports their rehabilitation goals, including obtaining permanent housing.

The HCHV Program provides a gateway to VA and community supportive services for eligible Veterans who are homeless. The HCHV Contracted Emergency Residential Services for homeless Veterans addresses the needs of the most vulnerable and at-risk homeless Veterans.

C. TASKS AND ASSOCIATED DELIVERABLES.

The Contractor shall be expected to provide short term, low barrier, rapid residential placement that enhances the stability leading to permanent housing for Veterans and families located within five (5) miles of the Erie VA Medical Center and served by HCHV. Specific tasks are as follows:

Task 1: Emergency Housing Available for Rapid Placement

Contractor will be responsible for providing sufficient residential capacity to provide emergency shelter for up to three (3) Veterans per day in safe, ADA accessible, low barrier, community-based residences.

Identification of suitable residential placement shall require:

a) sufficient personnel to assure security.

b) at least one person available on-site twenty-four (24) hours a day and seven (7) days per week.

c) three (3) healthy meals per day.

d) available no-cost laundry facilities for residents to do their own laundry.

e) the ability to place a Veteran on the same day of a referral from HCHV staff.

f) ability to serve both male and female Veterans. Males and female veterans shall be in sperate locations

(if families are a possibility, please also include this data).

Contractor will be responsible for planning and coordinating all activities associated with providing safe and appropriate residential care. This includes, but is not limited to, the elements described in the preceding paragraph.

http://vaww1.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=1866

Task 1 Deliverables:

The identification of three (3) residential beds specific to the needs of the HCHV program. Contractor is responsible for providing VA a written summary of size, location, and condition of the available residential beds.

Task 2: Delivery of Support Services leading to permanent housing

Contractor must offer supportive services to Veterans during their contract residential stay that will lead to permanent housing upon discharge. These services will begin within twenty-four (24) hours of admission, and will continue throughout their authorized stay, generally not to exceed ninety (90) days.

Limited therapeutic, rehabilitative, and recovery services are to be determined with the individual resident in a plan developed by the Contractor, with the Veteran, and in coordination with the VA case manager and/or other appropriate VA staff.

Services will be tailored to the Veteran, and may include:

1. Case management to support the Veteran's progress towards permanent housing

2. Structured group activities such as social skills training, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics

Anonymous, vocational counseling, and physical activities as appropriate

3. Assistance to develop upgraded social skills and improved personal relationships

4. Support for an alcohol/drug abuse-free lifestyle

5. Assistance to gain and to apply knowledge of the illness/recovery process

6. The ability to assess and respond to a Veteran in crisis.

Documentation Required: An individual progress record must be securely maintained by the Contracted

Emergency Residential Services (CERS) for each Veteran placed. This progress record maintained by the

Contract Residential Treatment Program must include:

1. Essential identifying data relevant to the Veteran, including appropriate assessments and history of the Veteran's homelessness.

2. Data relevant to the Veteran's admission and anticipated length of stay.

3. Treatment or Service Plan (copy).

4. Copies of physician’s orders (if applicable).

5. Weekly progress reports to measure progress toward treatment goals including permanent housing.

6. Final summaries on each Veteran who leaves the contract program, which must include:

(a) A description of changes realized during the residential stay,

(b) Reasons for leaving,

(c) Future plans, and

(d) Follow-up information.

It is required that individual treatment plans and discharge summaries be maintained by the CERS for each Veteran provided treatment under the HCHV contract. Within 1 week of a Veteran's discharge from CERS, the Contractor will provide the Erie VAMC Homeless Care Team with a copy of the Veteran's treatment plan and discharge summary for incorporation into the Veteran's VA medical record.

Treatment Planning Requirements: The Erie VAMC Homeless Care Team HCHV case worker will monitor the quality of care provided by the contract facility through regular (weekly) visits to the facility.

1. Individualized treatment plans are developed through a joint effort of the Veteran, contract facility staff and the HCHV Program staff.

a. Treatment plans must be developed for each Veteran based on input from HCHV

Program staff assessments, other VA clinical data, and the Veteran.

b. Treatment plans should reflect the individual Veteran’s personal goals for recovery, strengths and barriers, timelines, and interventions.

c. Treatment plans will be completed within the first 7 days of entering the program.

2. Therapeutic and rehabilitative services must be provided as needed by the contract facility as described in the treatment plan. In some cases, VA may complement the residential treatment facility's program with added treatment services such as participation in VA Outpatient programs

(i.e., Compensated Work Therapy, Behavioral Health Clinic services, Substance Abuse treatment, etc.).

Discharge Criteria: Discharge from CERS is based on individual treatment outcomes

1. Planned discharges are usually accomplished with those Veterans who have achieved treatment goals, obtained employment or income, and have found permanent housing.

2. Veterans may be discharged due to non-compliance with the CERS or local HCHV Program rules

(i.e., substance abuse, violation of treatment contract, etc.).

3. Discharges must be coordinated with Erie VAMC Homeless Care Team staff.

4. Unplanned discharges are expected to be coordinated with Homeless Care Team staff to avoid a return to homelessness.

Task 2 Deliverables:

1. Contractor will provide a detailed staffing and service plan.

2. The Contractor will collaborate with VA program staff, provide weekly updates, and will conduct treatment and discharge planning

3. Treatment and discharge planning will reflect a team assessment of health, psychosocial and vocational needs and will show the involvement of resident, and as appropriate their families and appropriate community resources in resolving problems and setting goals.

Task 3: Status Reports

Contractor shall be responsible for providing VA with documentation demonstrating that service objectives are being met throughout the contract period. Documentation includes compliance with paperwork required as a part of the VA’s performance monitoring efforts. VA will conduct periodic fiscal and performance reviews of the Contractor.

Task 3 Deliverables:

1. The Contractor shall make available to the VA documentary information deemed necessary by the VA to conduct utilization review audits for the mandated national evaluation study as required by Section 2 of Public Law 100-6; to verify quality of patient care for veterans, to assure confidentiality of patient care for veterans, to assure confidentiality of patient record information, and to determine the completeness and accuracy of financial records.

2. The Contractor shall comply with the VA Patient’s Bill of Rights as set forth in Section 17.34a, Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations.

DELIVERABLE TIMETABLE.

Deliverables Due Dates

Task 1 Deliverables (Housing Available for Rapid

Placement/Bridge Housing)

Within 1 month of VA issuance of contract award.

Task 2 Deliverables (Delivery of Support Services) Beginning within 1 month of VA issuance of the contract award.

Task 3 Deliverables (Veteran Status Reports) Every month beginning one month from contract award.

D. MANDATED INSPECTIONS.

Initial Inspection Requirements: The pre-award survey is the survey to be made prior to awarding the contract.

a) An interdisciplinary VA team consisting of a social worker, nurse, an engineering service Safety Officer, and other designees of the VA medical center Director that are deemed necessary, must conduct a survey of the residential program prior to the award of a contract. Residential settings to be utilized will be restricted to community-based, peer group-oriented settings that provide food, shelter, and therapeutic services in a supportive environment.

b) Preliminary to inspecting each setting and performing each survey of patient care, the team leader will:

i) Contact the person in charge of the non-VA setting to arrange the date and time of inspection.

ii) Review the report of most recent previous inspection, if any, and discuss with the Chief, Business Officer, Medical Center Contracting Officer, and the Program Leader, Behavioral Health, any problems or irregularities which they have encountered earlier in dealing with the setting.

iii) Review terms of any existing agreement.

c) The Safety Officer will inspect the setting and submit the findings to the chairperson of the team.

The other members of the team will focus on an assessment of the quality of life within the residential treatment settings, giving particular attention to the following indicators:

i) General observation of residents indicates that they maintain an acceptable level of personal hygiene and grooming.

ii) The setting is conducive to social interaction and the fullest development of the resident's rehabilitative potential. It is preferably in a central location, near public transportation, and not too far from areas which provide employment.

iii) Appropriate organized activity programs which reflect a high level of activity in the setting or in the linked settings.

iv) There is evidence of program-community interaction. NOTE: This must be demonstrated by the nature of scheduled activities, or by information about resident involvement with community activities, volunteers, local consumer services, etc.

v) Staff behavior and interaction with residents convey an attitude of genuine concern and caring.

vi) Adequate meals are provided in a setting which encourages social interaction; nutritious snacks between meals and bedtime are available.

(1) The addition of nutritious snacks to the requirements for board is particularly indicated for HCHV patients. Many of these patients need assistance to develop improved nutritional habits.

(2) The local VA medical center dietitian must consult with the initial inspection team and the team making subsequent assessments, in evaluating not only the printed menus but the patients' satisfaction with meals and the actual consumption of food offered.

vii) Treatment and discharge planning reflect a team assessment of health, social and vocational needs and the involvement of residents' families (when indicated) and appropriate community resources in resolving problems and setting goals.

viii) There is documented evidence of the program's commitment to the implementation of the VA Patient's Bill of Rights (38 CFR, Section 17.33).

d) A formal report of each inspection will be prepared and forwarded to the VA Medical Center Contracting Officer. In accordance with normal contract administrative practices, the following actions can be expected to ensue:

i) The non-VA treatment program will be advised of the findings of the inspection team.

ii) In the event deficiencies have been noted, the non-VA treatment program will be given a reasonable time to take corrective action and to notify the contracting officer that the corrections have been made.

iii) Any unsatisfactory conditions noted during a follow-up visit to a residential treatment setting with which the VA has a contract will be reported in writing to the Contracting Officer through the VA Medical Center Director. In already existing contracts, satisfactory corrections must be made in a reasonable time. When this is not done, the Contracting Officer will consult with the concerned officials so that suitable arrangements can be made to discharge or transfer patients and terminate the contract.

iv) The original copy of the inspection report and pertinent correspondence will be filed in the contract file.

e) Contracts will not be awarded until noted deficiencies have been eliminated.

f) In the case of multiple or scattered sites for the non-VA community health care settings, it is imperative that all components of the community healthcare and residential treatment settings be inspected by the VA team prior to approval of the contract, as is required for an integrated primary site. Note: Each of the community settings identified in the complex as contract recipients, will be subject to the requirements for contracting, safety, and record keeping described in other parts of this document as applying to Contractors.

g) All contracted programs, as an explicit part of the contract, have agreed and warranted that they neither maintained nor provided for dual or segregated patient residential settings on the basis of race, creed, color, or national origin. As a part of each inspection, special attention will be given to evaluating compliance with this requirement. If, during the course of the inspection, an unresolved discrimination complaint arises or maintenance of segregated residential settings has been observed, a report will be forwarded to the VISN Director (10N__). The report will contain pertinent facts and observations with a description of action taken to correct this situation. A copy of the report will be given to the Contracting Officer.

Subsequent Inspection Requirements: Subsequent inspections of the residential treatment setting must be made on a yearly basis by an interdisciplinary team including such VA medical facility personnel as the Director considers necessary to ensure that the setting provides quality care in a safe environment. As site visits are accomplished by VA program personnel, attention will be directed to the adequacy of Veterans' records and include a review of patient records to ensure Contractor invoices accurately reflect the Veteran's length of stay.

E. TRAVEL.

The Erie VAMC estimates that travel will be restricted to the local area, accessible by car, or public transportation. The Contractor shall help the Veteran access public transportation.

F. INVOICES AND PAYMENTS.

The Contractor shall invoice in monthly payments. Invoices will be paid at the per diem rate for days of residential placement already completed with services provided as described in the PWS. Invoices are to be submitted to the assigned Contracting Officer’s Representative, (COR) for approval.

G. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

Information made available to the Contractor or subcontractor by VA for the performance or administration of this contract or information developed by the Contractor/subcontractor in performance or administration of the contract shall be used only for those purposes and shall not be used in any other way without the prior written agreement of the VA. This clause expressly limits the Contractor / subcontractor's rights to use data as described in Rights in Data - General, FAR 52.227-14(d) (1).

H. PRIVACY AND SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

The contractor employees shall not have access to VA sensitive or computer information and will not require routine access to VA Facilities. The contractor employees shall require intermittent access only and will be escorted by VA employees while at VA Facilities. No background investigation is required.

Any documentation will be provided to the VA employee via encrypted email or in a paper form for transfer back to the VA for scanning into the patient record by VA Staff.

I. LIQUIDATED DAMAGES FOR DATA BREACH

a. Consistent with the requirements of 38 U.S.C. §5725, a contract may require access to sensitive personal information. If so, the Contractor is liable to VA for liquidated damages in the event of a data breach or privacy incident involving any SPI the Contractor/subcontractor processes or maintains under this contract. However, it is the policy of VA to forgo collection of liquidated damages in the event the Contractor provides payment of actual damages in an amount determined to be adequate by the agency.

d. Based on the determinations of the independent risk analysis, the Contractor shall be responsible for paying to the VA liquidated damages in the amount of $37.50 per affected individual to cover the cost of providing credit protection services to affected individuals consisting of the following:

(1) Notification;

(2) One year of credit monitoring services consisting of automatic daily monitoring of at least 3 relevant credit bureau reports;

(3) Data breach analysis;

(4) Fraud resolution services, including writing dispute letters, initiating fraud alerts and credit freezes, to assist affected individuals to bring matters to resolution;

(5) One year of identity theft insurance with $20,000.00 coverage at $0 deductible; and

(6) Necessary legal expenses the subjects may incur to repair falsified or damaged credit records, histories, or financial affairs.

K. TRAINING

a. All Contractor employees and subcontractor employees requiring access to VA information and

VA information systems shall complete the following before being granted access to VA information and its systems:

(1) Sign and acknowledge (either manually or electronically) understanding of and responsibilities for compliance with the Contractor Rules of Behavior, Appendix D relating to access to VA information and information systems.

(2) Successfully complete the VA Cyber Security Awareness and Rules of Behavior training and annually complete required security training.

(3) Successfully complete the appropriate VA privacy training and annually complete required privacy training; and

(4) Successfully complete any additional cyber security or privacy training, as required for VA personnel with equivalent information system access [to be defined by the VA program official and provided to the contracting officer for inclusion in the solicitation document – e.g., any role-based information security training required in accordance with NIST Special Publication 800-16, Information Technology Security Training Requirements.

b. The Contractor shall provide to the contracting officer and/or the COR a copy of the training certificates and certification of signing the Contractor Rules of Behavior for each applicable employee within 1 week of the initiation of the contract and annually thereafter, as required.

c. Failure to complete the mandatory annual training and sign the Rules of Behavior annually, within the timeframe required, is grounds for suspension or termination of all physical or electronic access privileges and removal from work on the contract until such time as the training and documents are complete.

L. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The principal performance will take place at the Contractor’s facility.

M. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Contract shall have a five-year contract 01/1/2023 through 12/31/2027. Additionally, this contract shall have four (4) funding years to be used at the government’s discretion.

Funding Year 1: 1/1/2023 – 12/31/2023

Funding Year 2: 1/1/2024 – 12/31/2024

Funding Year 3: 1/1/2025 – 12/31/2025

Funding Year 4: 1/1/2026 – 12/31/2026

Funding Year 5: 1/1/2027 – 12/31/2027