PWS HUD-HHS Childcare 04-20-2022_clean.pdf

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

HUD-HHS Childcare Study

04/20/2022

Version 7.0

Vision Statement

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Background

1.3 Constraints

1.4 Description of Services

1.5 Non-Personal Services

1.6 Period of Performance

1.7 Place of Performance

1.8 Hours of Operation

1.9 Special Qualifications

1.10 Post Award/Kickoff Conference

1.11 Status Meetings

1.12 Contractor Travel

1.13 Transition In

1.14 Transition Out

2 Definitions and Acronyms

2.1 Definitions

2.2 Acronyms

3 Government-Furnished Property and Services

3.1 Government Services

3.2 Facilities

3.3 Equipment

3.4 Materials

3.5 Quality Assurance (QA)

4 Contractor-Furnished Items and Services

4.1 Facilities

4.2 Equipment

4.3 Material

4.4 Contractor Responsibilities

4.5 Contractor Personnel

4.6 Identification of Contractor Employees

4.7 Quality Control

4.7.1 Quality Control Plan

5 Specific Tasks

5.1 Project Management

5.2 Research Design/Data Collection and Analysis Plan (RD/DCAP), including Site Selection Criteria

5.3 OMB Clearance Package, Privacy Act Compliance, and IRB Approval

5.4 Data Collection, Analysis, and Disposition

5.5 Comprehensive Final Report

5.6 Final Briefing and Webinar

6 Deliverables

6.1 Quality Control Plan

6.2 Acceptance Criteria

7 Performance Requirements Summary

8 Related Documents

Appendix I. Existing Data

Appendix II. Deliverables Timeline

Performance Work Statement (PWS) HUD-HHS Childcare Study

Vision Statement The vision of this task order is to seek contractor support in designing and implementing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HUD-HHS) Childcare Study.

1 General Information

1.1 Introduction

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) is seeking a contractor conduct the HUD-HHS Childcare Study.

1.2 Background

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 authorizes the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to pursue a “collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to better prioritize or promote on-site childcare supportive services for HUD-assisted Families.” To address this charge, HUD seeks first to understand the preferences of HUD-assisted families and their access to on-site childcare. The study will examine childcare needs and preferences of HUD assisted families; how HUD-assisted families engage with and access federally supported childcare assistance programs (CCDF and Head Start); the availability of childcare services at or near federally assisted housing; and how the availability of federally supported childcare can be improved for HUD-assisted families. For this study, early childcare refers to the range of childcare options for children younger than 13 years old, and may include formal center-based programs, home-based programs, and informal care options.

Early Childcare and Education Research has shown that high quality early childcare and education (ECE) can have positive effects on the cognitive, emotional, and social development and health of children (Elango et al., 2016). A recent study investigated the long-term effects of public pre-K programs in Boston (Gray-Lobe, Pathak, and Walters, 2021). Children were enrolled into pre-K programs through a randomized lottery system. Compared to children who did not enroll in pre-K, children who enrolled in pre-K were less likely to get suspended from school, less likely to skip class, less likely to get in trouble and be sent to a juvenile detention facility, more likely to graduate high school, and more likely to go to college. The pre-K children did not have significantly higher standardized test scores, suggesting that the benefits from pre-K were on developing non-cognitive skills. These effects can be greater for low-income children (Vandell et al., 2010).

Even with subsidies, high quality childcare can still be unaffordable (Lipscomb 2013). Childcare assistance is also important for parental employment. Surveys of public housing residents found that childcare was the second most frequently cited barrier to parental employment (MDHA 2013; Riccio et al., 2017; Thurber et al., 2020). These results are supported by studies that have shown increased employment among low-income parents who receive subsidized ECE (Morrissey 2017). Despite evidence that childcare can be a barrier to employment, there is a dearth of research on how HUD-assisted households access childcare, and there is no systematic accounting of federally supported on-site childcare programs located at public housing sites.

The one known example of research to specifically study the intersection of housing assistance and childcare is Public Housing Child Care Demonstration Program, Program Assessment: First Round (Sextant Consultants, Inc., 1992). In 1989, HUD performed a demonstration of on-site childcare and an assessment was published in 1992. HUD provided a total of $5 million in a round of 57 grants to 55 non-profits. These grants enabled non-profits to partner with Public or Indian Housing Agencies to start on-site childcare programs at public housing sites. Most of the funds were used for renovation, equipment, supplies, and staffing. The programs relied on other sources of funding for operational costs or to subsidize costs for parents. 51 of the 57 grants successfully started up childcare programs and 44 remained in operation in 1992. The assessment included provider interviews and case studies. Respondents reported high levels of satisfaction with the programs and believed they were helpful for employment. Start-up renovation and licensing issues were the biggest problems for the programs. Although the early results were promising, no follow-up assessment has been conducted to evaluate the long-term effects.

Although relatively little is known about the childcare needs specifically among HUD-assisted families, there is a large body of literature on ECE among low-income families. Low-income families tend to use more informal care than higher-income families (Carlin et al., 2019). They tend to use informal care with relatives for infants and toddlers, while they use more formal family childcare or center-based care for preschool-age children. Higher education levels are also associated with greater use of center-based care. One study by the Urban Institute investigated the ECE preferences of low-income families (Chaudry et al., 2011). Over a third of the families preferred to use family members for care, generally due to less trust in stranger care. Trust and the relationship with the provider were identified by more than half of the families as important factors. The study noted that the expressed preferences of parents were not always the most important factors when choosing care, however. Most parents preferred ECE that provided learning opportunities for their children, however the most important factors in choosing care were often location, hours of care, and cost. Consistent with that result, more families in the study used relative care than expressed a preference for it. This is because low-income working families face significant challenges for ECE. Their employment can be unstable, at non-standard hours, and lack flexibility to accommodate ECE needs. They also have greater difficulty affording paid ECE, which can cost on average more than $9,000 per child per year (Child Care Aware of America 2019). When families receive subsidies, however, they tend to have greater utilization of formal and center-based care (Huston, Chang, and Gennetian, 2002).

Federal ECE assistance is available for low-income families and those programs are discussed in the following section.

HHS ECE Assistance Programs Shortly after HUD’s demonstration of on-site childcare, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which overhauled the federal ECE assistance programs. The federal funding streams were consolidated into the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), also referred to as the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), supplemented by funds through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. CCDBG was reauthorized in 2014, which added more safety and training requirements for ECE providers and quality spending requirements.

The CCDBG provides block grants to states and territories to provide ECE assistance for working families with children up to 13 years old. Federal eligibility is based on income, with eligibility for families earning below 85% of state median income.1 However, states are free to

1 87 FR 67438 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/FR-2016-09-30/2016-22986 establish stricter eligibility criteria for initial application to the program, and many have lower income thresholds and specific work/training requirements.

The Urban Institute maintains a database of CCDF eligibility requirements.2 Because CCDF assistance is not an entitlement, not every eligible family receives assistance. In the most recent report to Congress, CCDF reported serving ~1.4 million children per month on average in FY2016, ~10% of the federally eligible population (Office of Child Care, 2019). This is part of a downward trend over time, from a high of ~1.8 million children served in FY2006. Funding for the CCDF has remained largely stagnant (Hardy 2020). After PRWORA passed in 1996, spending (including TANF funds) rapidly increased, going from $4.2 billion in 1997 to $12.3 billion in 2003. Since then, spending has held steady between $11-13 billion per year. The 2014 reauthorization allocated significant increases to funding, providing an increase of $2.4 billion in FY2018, the last year for which data are available.

Funding made available through CCDF subsidizes ECE in three ways: 1) through certificates/vouchers to parents (89% of children served in FY2016), 2) through grants/contracts to providers (10%), and 3) through direct cash assistance (1%), although implementation varies by state. By law, all states give priority to very low-income children and children with special needs, but states still have some flexibility on how they prioritize CCDF recipients. Many states prioritize families transitioning off cash assistance. Families receiving housing assistance are not currently prioritized for CCDF assistance in any state. Families have a lot of flexibility with the vouchers and can use them with any legal child care provider, including center-based, family childcare, or relatives, licensed or unlicensed. Licensing requirements vary depending on the state, but legal, unlicensed care can include relative or friend care, nanny care, and before or after school programs. Some states do have health and safety requirements for these types of providers if they accept CCDF vouchers.

States have leeway to administer and disburse CCDF funds. For example, although only 7% of all children receiving assistance were served by grants/contracts in FY2018,3 nearly 40% of children in three states – California, Massachusetts, and New York – were served by grants/contracts as opposed to certificates/vouchers or direct cash assistance. Nation-wide, only 1% of all children receiving CCDF assistance received cash assistance, but 100% of children receiving CCDF assistance in Hawaii did. Abt Associates published the first report in the National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families in 2000, which was focused on CCDF (Collins et al., 2000). This report examines implementation of CCDF in 25 communities across 17 states. The study found great variation in ECE policies and administrative practices, in numbers of family served, and in the patterns of care that were supported. The study also found high variation among the states regarding eligibility criteria, copayment rates, and payments to providers. States and communities made different decisions about ways to serve families who were and were not receiving TANF cash assistance. In some states, families accessed ECE subsidies through TANF offices, while some accessed them through childcare resource and referral (CCR&R) agencies. This could make it easier or harder, respectively, for TANF families to receive ECE subsidies. The study found that the length of waiting lists for ECE assistance was not a good indicator of demand, as people were not likely to apply if they felt they would be waiting a long time. For a few states that aimed to serve every eligible family who applied without using waiting lists, they avoided high demand by not performing as much outreach.

The Urban Institute also published a study in 2002 examining how families can get and retain ECE assistance through CCDF in 17 communities in 12 states (Adams, Snyder, and Sandfort, 2 https://ccdf.urban.org/ 3 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/data/fy-2018-ccdf-data-tables-final

2002). The study found a large variation in parents’ experiences. States varied in how the ECE subsidies were administered at the local level, such as the size of the jurisdiction covered by local offices, whether ECE offices coordinated with welfare offices, the responsibilities of subsidy caseworkers, communication between ECE offices and providers or employers, and whether the local offices were governmental or not. States also varied in their policies, such as eligibility requirements, documents required for certification, frequency of recertification, communication methods (in-person vs telephone vs mail), and in how states handled terminations (grace period, notifications). Overall, the authors identified several major barriers for parents, both for getting and retaining ECE assistance through CCDF. Requirements to apply and/or recertify in person were a major barrier, since taking time off work could be difficult and wait times could be long. However, unreliable phone or mail communication with the offices drove parents to visit in person to ensure their case was being looked at. Frequent recertifications or requirements for notifications regarding changes in jobs or income and large document requirements were also a barrier to parents. These studies demonstrate the wide variation in state and local ECE assistance policy and how large of an impact they can have on the family’s receiving assistance.

Aside from CCDF, HHS also supports ECE through the Head Start (3 and 4-year-olds) and Early Head Start (pregnant women, children birth through age 2) programs established in 1965 and 1994, respectively. These programs provide grants directly to public agencies, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, tribal governments, and school systems to provide free learning and development services to families. Families at or below the federal poverty line are generally eligible, although eligibility varies locally. In FY2019, Head Start and Early Head Start received ~$10 billion in funding and funded ~870,000 enrollment slots per month on average.4 In the 2018-19, Head Start served ~36% of eligible children, while Early Head Start served ~11% of eligible children.5

The COVID-19 Pandemic and American Rescue Plan The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the availability of childcare, including forcing the closures of childcare centers. A recent analysis of employment data found that “between February and April 2020, employment in the childcare industry dropped by about one third, losing 360,000 jobs.

This has implications for the supply, quality, and price of childcare for low-income families.”6 In an effort to provide aid and support to the childcare industry, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP),7 $40 billion was appropriated for supporting ECE. $15 billion was appropriated to supplement the CCDBG, specifically to support ECE for essential workers. This increase is almost double the FY2018 funding of the CCDBG ($8.2 billion). The ARP also includes $24 billion for ECE stabilization through supporting providers impacted by the COVID- 19 pandemic. These funds can be granted to ECE providers to cover expenses such as personnel costs, rent, PPE or other equipment, and mental health services for children and employees. There is a further $1 billion appropriated for Head Start. Aside from these ECE funds, the ARP also expands the child tax credit for families for one year, which could make ECE at least temporarily affordable for many low-income families. The repercussions of the pandemic and ARP may still be felt during the study period, making it an important factor to consider in designing the study.

4 https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/no-search/hs-program-fact-sheet-2019.pdf 5 https://www.nhsa.org/national-head-start-fact-sheets/ 6 https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/migrated_legacy_files//194911/Child-Care-Industry-Employment-

Trends.pdf 7 https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr1319/BILLS-117hr1319enr.pdf

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: complying with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act for all data collection, producing written reports that comport with HUD/PD&R’s Guidelines on Preparing a Report for Publication, and conducting research that supports the core principles and practices outlined in HUD’s Program Evaluation Policy Statement.

1.4 Description of Services

PD&R will procure the services of a Contractor to describe 1) the needs, preferences, and early childcare solutions used by HUD-assisted families, 2) how HUD-assisted families engage with early childcare assistance programs, 3) the current availability of on-site early childcare services, and 4) how PHAs and Federal and state programs can better support on-site early childcare. These services are necessary to develop an understanding of the challenges faced by PHAs and HUD-assisted families in accessing early childcare, and to identify solutions to the identified challenges. Detailed descriptions of specific tasks are provided in Section 5 – Specific Tasks and Deliverables.

1.5 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.

1.6 Period of Performance

The period of performance shall be for one base period of up to 24 months.

1.7 Place of Performance

The Contractor shall perform services primarily at the Contractor's facility.

1.8 Hours of Operation

N/A

1.9 Special Qualifications

The contractor is expected to have knowledge of HUD programs and administrative data collected on the HUD Form 50058, and similarly exhibit knowledge of HHS’s early childcare and education programs and administrative data referenced in Appendix I of this solicitation.

1.10 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. The Government intends to convene a Post Award Conference with the Contractor within ten business days after contract award. The Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor of the specific date, location and agenda within five days after contract award.

1.11 Status Meetings

The Contracting Officer, the Contracting Officer’s 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 shall 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.

1.12 Contractor Travel

Prior to travel, the Contractor shall coordinate with and receive Government authorization from the COR for all travel. Reimbursement of travel costs will be in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation and in accordance with FAR 31.205-46. The Contractor shall travel using the lower cost mode transportation commensurate with the mission requirements. When necessary to use air travel, the Contractor shall use the tourist class, economy class or similar lodging accommodations to the extent they are available and commensurate with the mission requirements. HUD will not reimburse Contractor's local travel. Local travel is defined as travel within fifty (50) miles of Washington, DC. All other travel will be reimbursed on a cost reimbursable basis; no profit or fee will be paid.

1.13 Transition In

1.14 Transition Out

2 Definitions and Acronyms

2.1 Definitions

Business/Work Days – Every official work day of the week which are days between and including Monday to Friday. This does not include public holidays and weekends.

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 authority to change the terms and conditions of the contract.

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 is 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.

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.

Quality Assurance (QA) - Policies and procedures adopted by the Government to ensure that supplies and services acquired under Government contracts conform to the contracts 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 assure that the quality of an end product of service shall meet contract requirements.

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 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.

Work Day - The number of hours per day the Contractor provides services in accordance with the contract.

2.2 Acronyms

AI/AN - American Indian/Alaskan Native AQL - Acceptable Quality Level ARAMS - Automated Renewal and Amendment System ARP – American Rescue Plan BAA - Business Area Analysis Study CBT - Computer-Based Training CCB - Change Control Board CCDBG - Child Care and Development Block Grant

CCDF - Child Care and Development Fund CCMB - Configuration Change Management Board CCR&R - Childcare resource and referral CMMI - Capability Maturity Model Integration CFO or OCFO - Office of the Chief Financial Officer of HUD CFR - Code of Federal Regulations CIO or OCIO - Office of the Chief Information Officer of HUD CO - Contracting Officer COR - Contracting Officer's Representative COTS - Commercial Off-the-Shelf CPO - Office of the Chief Procurement Officer of HUD ECE – Early Care and Education ECE/SA - Early care and education/school-age EST - Eastern Standard Time (U.S.)

ETC - Estimate to Completion FACES - Family and Child Experiences Survey GAO - U.S. General Accounting Office HA – Housing Agency HHS – U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 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.

IG or OIG - Inspector General (Office of) IMS - Inventory Management System IRB - Institutional Review Board IT - Information Technology IV&V - Independent Validation and Verification LOCCS - Line of Credit Control System MWP – Management and Work Plan NSECE - National Survey of Early Care and Education OCPO - Office of the Chief Procurement Officer OHRP - Office for Human Research Protections OIG - Office of Inspector General OMB - Office of Management and Budget PCLIA - Privacy and Civil Liberties Impact Assessment PHA - Public Housing Agencies PIA - Privacy Impact Assessment PIC - PIH Information Center PIH – Office of Public and Indian Housing PII - Personally Identifying Information PL - Public Law PM - Project Manager POC - Point of Contact PPM - Project Planning and Management PRA – Paperwork Reduction Act PRWORA - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act

PTA - Privacy Threshold Analysis QA - Quality Assurance QASP - Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan QCP - Quality Control Plan RD/DCAP - Research Design/Data Collection and Analysis Plan SF - Standard Form SORN – System of Records Notice TANF - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families TBD - To be determined U.S.C - United States Code

3 Government-Furnished Property and Services No Government-Furnished Property will be provided by the Government.

3.1 Government Services

The Government shall make every effort to provide the Contractor with timely access to any administrative data or reports that are possessed by HUD and might be required throughout the course of the evaluation.

3.2 Facilities

No facilities will be provided by the Government.

3.3 Equipment

No government equipment will be provided.

3.4 Materials

Data will be provided by the Government. The contractor shall establish any necessary data sharing agreements to obtain federal and state-level administrative data. The data sharing agreements shall specify how data will be transferred and disposed, as well as how the contractor may use the data for the purposes of fulfilling this task order. No copies of or extracts from the data files shall be retained by the contractor after the completion of this contract. The contractor shall not retain any personally identifiable information, including but not limited to names, address information, social security numbers, and birthdates. The data collected under this contract belongs to HUD.

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 required to perform the duties of this contract.

4.2 Equipment

The Contractor shall furnish all equipment required to perform the duties of this contract.

4.3 Material

The Contractor shall furnish all materials required to perform the work under this contract.

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.

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

The Contractor shall provide a Contract Manager/Project Manager and Principal Investigator(s) (PI) who shall be responsible for the performance of work. An alternate shall be designated to act in the absence of the Contract Manager. These Contractor personnel (main point of contact and alternate point of contact and PI) are considered Key Personnel by the Government and shall be listed as such in accordance with HUDAR 2452.237-70, "Key Personnel”. Given the requirements for substantive knowledge in both housing and early childcare programs, the position of “PI” may be shared (e.g., co-PIs).

The Contract Manager/Project Manager or alternate shall have full authority to act on all contract matters relating to daily operations of this contract. Accordingly, at a minimum, the points of contact shall have the technical knowledge of the requirement and be in the position to actually receive assignment, guidance and direction from the COR and CO per HUDAR 2452.237-73, Conduct of Work and Technical Guidance and shall be allocated enough hours to ensure successful performance.

The PI shall demonstrate a high level of experience and subject matter expertise in a) qualitative data collection methods, analysis, and report-writing related to housing low income populations; b) the provision of early childcare and education (ECE) programs and the administrative data maintained and collected by HHS on these programs; and c) familiarity and experience matching HUD administrative data to other federal or state administrative data.

The Contract Manager/Project Manager or alternate shall be available between the hours of 8:00am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday EST, except Federal Holidays or when the Government facility is closed for administrative reasons.

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 meeting, 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 work space area with their name and company affiliation, or as a minimum, “Contractor” after name.

4.7 Quality Control

The Contractor shall establish and maintain a complete Quality Control Program that shall ensure services are performed in accordance with this contract. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-reoccurrence of defective services. The Contractor's quality control program is the means by which he assures himself that his work complies with the requirements of the contract. The Contractor shall provide the associated Quality Control Plan to the Government as directed.

4.7.1 Quality Control Plan

The Contractor shall develop, maintain, enforce, and document a Quality Control Plan (QCP).

The QCP shall ensure the Government receives the level of quality that is consistent with the requirements specified in this contract. The QCP shall be sufficiently detailed to provide the Contractor's methodology for identifying and recruiting qualified personnel. The QCP shall also provide the Contractor's methodology for resolving problems identified by the Government during reviews conducted in accordance with its Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP).

The QCP shall also provide the Contractor's methodology for establishing an internal feedback system for support personnel, and for resolving problems identified by that feedback system.

The QCP shall demonstrate and validate that the services or deliverables to be provided under the contract are completed with a level of quality that meets the minimum performance threshold established in the Government's QASP. The QCP shall address Quality Management Approach, Quality Assurance, Quality Control and Quality Standards.

5 Specific Tasks

5.1 Project Management

5.1.1 Orientation Meeting

Within two weeks of Task Order award, the Project Director and other project staff, as appropriate, shall meet with the COR and other relevant HUD staff virtually to review the Statement of Work and establish a common understanding about the Task Order objectives.

Among the topics for this meeting will be HUD’s goals and expectations; the contractor’s review of each task encompassed under this Task Order and a discussion of any challenges that might be faced during the completion of each task; a discussion of the proposed data collection and data analysis strategy; a review of the project schedule; administrative details related to progress reports and ongoing communications; and any other questions or issues identified by the contractor or COR. The contractor shall prepare a slide deck covering the abovementioned topics.

The contractor shall prepare PowerPoint slides three (3) days prior to the meeting for the COR’s review and approval. The contractor shall attend the Orientation Meeting within two (2) weeks of contract award. The contractor shall prepare a memorandum summarizing the issues discussed at the Orientation Meeting, any decisions reached at the meeting, and any items requiring follow up or further discussion. The memorandum is due one (1) week following the meeting.

Deliverables:

A001 Orientation Meeting Slides

A002 Orientation Meeting A003 Orientation Meeting Summary Memorandum

5.1.2 Management and Work Plan

The Contractor shall submit a Management and Work Plan (MWP) that will govern the performance of all services requested under this contract. The work plan should include a detailed outline of the contractor’s approach to each task, including staffing and management responsibilities, timeframe for accomplishing each task, and the allocation of contract resources.

The Contractor shall provide a schedule for accomplishing the substantive work of the contract including a timeline identifying start dates, completion dates, and other milestones for each task and subtask. Where there are interdependencies among tasks, the plan shall indicate the relationships between one task and another. It is expected that the contractor’s proposal shall include the proposed staffing, by task, and an estimate of the time (hours) allocated to each major task by key staff. Upon award, the contractor shall add and refine the details in the MWP.

The COR may direct the Contractor to update the MWP in the event of a modification or a re-allocation of resources within the existing scope, budget, and overall time of completion. Where changes affect the scope of work, budget, or overall time of completion, changes will require a contract modification and approval by the contracting officer.

The MWP shall be submitted to HUD in draft for review and comments three (3) weeks after contract award. The contractor shall revise the MWP and submit it in final form no more than one (1) week after receipt of comments from HUD.

Deliverables A004 Draft Management and Work Plan A005 Final Management and Work Plan

5.1.3 Monthly Progress Reports and Ongoing Communication

The contractor shall submit monthly administrative progress reports outlining the work accomplished during the previous month. At a minimum, such reports shall cover the following items:

• Discussion of the progress in accomplishing the tasks specified in this contract.

• An ongoing summary of the data collection activities.

• Difficulties encountered and remedial action(s) taken.

• Activities anticipated during the upcoming reporting period.

• A graphic depiction of the monthly and cumulative resources expended to date compared to that which was projected at the time of award (burn rate).

Monthly reports should be consistent with the period invoiced. Monthly reports are due within the first week of every month following the post-award meeting in Task 5.1.1 and shall be sent by the contractor directly to the COR via electronic mail. The Contractor and COR, along with relevant HUD staff, shall have monthly meetings via teleconference to discuss issues that need input or approval, in addition to meetings as deemed necessary by the COR. The COR and contractor will maintain timely communication on issues as they arise.

Performance Standards

a) Standard: Monthly reports are submitted by the end of the first week of each month.

AQL: Deviation of 3 business days.

Deliverables A006 Monthly Progress Reports

5.2 Research Design/Data Collection and Analysis Plan (RD/DCAP), including Site Selection Criteria The contractor shall develop an RD/DCAP to serve as a technical blueprint for all research activities related to this project. A review of relevant research and available data shall be undertaken, and the results included in the RD/DCAP. The review of research shall provide a solid conceptual basis for the design of the study. The review should focus on the childcare needs of HUD-assisted families and federal childcare assistance programs, including research on (1) childcare assistance utilization, (2) childcare preferences of low-income households and unmet needs, (3) low-income households’ access to quality childcare, (4) barriers to accessing childcare assistance programs; (5) data at federal, state, and local levels to support this study.

It is expected that the technical proposal shall describe the contractor’s expected research approach, including the research methods, site selection criteria, and sampling/data collection approaches anticipated to be used to address the research questions.

The RD/DCAP will expand on the proposal and include the site selection criteria and justification, a detailed sampling strategy for interviewing HUD-assisted families, data quality control plan, analysis plan, the data collection instruments, and identify any languages that the data collection instruments, and consent forms should be translated into. The contractor will be required to outline how its data collection plan will accommodate the needs of a diverse population with regard to languages and disabilities.

The RD/DCAP shall also describe the contractor’s plan for conducting, analyzing, and reporting on the qualitative data collection in a rigorous manner. The RD/DCAP shall describe the contractor’s plan for obtaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. HUD expects that approval from OMB will be required to gather information from HUD-assisted families. The contractor should outline their plan for which data collections will and will not require OMB clearance.8 Documentation for OMB approval shall be completed under Task 5.3.

The RD/DCAP shall describe how each research objective will be addressed and for each research objective it shall detail (a) data sources; (b) data collection strategy; (c) data analysis plan, and (d) a description of how the analysis will be presented.

HUD requires data collection efforts occurring in a minimum of 6 PHAs within 3 states. The RD/DCAP should describe the criteria for identifying and recruiting sites and their PHAs. States and PHAs shall be purposively selected to include a mix of PHAs that provide on-site early childcare or have recently done so. Another important factor for consideration in site selection is the availability of administrative data and the willingness of the state and the PHAs to participate in a rigorous, exploratory assessment of federally assisted childcare in their community. The RD/DCAP shall describe how states and PHAs shall be selected to participate in the study, including contingency plans if some decline to participate.

Data Sources The contractor shall conduct three main data collection efforts: (1) linked administrative data; (2) stakeholder interviews; and (3) resident interviews.

8 In general, the Paperwork Reduction Act requires OMB approval for data collection efforts that ask identical questions of 10 or more people, other than federal employees.

Linked Administrative Data: The contractor shall establish data sharing agreements to obtain state-level CCDF administrative data. HUD will provide HUD administrative data to link with the state-level CCDF administrative data. It is expected that these data shall include complete rosters of individuals receiving housing assistance and/or ECE assistance in a state. HUD administrative data includes rich detail at the household level. The RD/DCAP shall describe how data could be linked, how the linked data will be analyzed to answer research questions, and how the analysis will be presented.

Stakeholder Interviews: The contractor shall conduct in-depth interviews with stakeholders such as PHA staff, early childcare providers, state and local administrators, industry groups, HUD staff, and HHS staff to establish an understanding of industry and provider perspectives on models for, and barriers to, providing on-site early childcare services for residents of federally assisted housing. The RD/DCAP shall specify how many people in different stakeholder categories shall be interviewed, how they will be identified, how data will be collected and analyzed, and develop the data collection instruments to be administered.

Resident Interviews: The contractor shall conduct in-depth interviews and/or focus groups with at least 18 families at each PHA in the study. These interviews and/or focus groups will be used to understand how HUD residents currently meet their early childcare needs, residents’ preferences for early childcare, unmet needs, and residents’ view of the availability of services and assistance and obstacles to obtaining it. The RD/DCAP should include a discussion of how the contractor plans to identify residents to interview. The RD/DCAP should include a sampling strategy, a discussion of how data collection will be conducted, the data collection instruments, and a plan for how the data will be analyzed and presented.

Research Questions and Objectives The research questions to be addressed in this study are listed below. This research is exploratory, drawing heavily on the collection of qualitative data and the contractor’s ability to match federal administrative data in a limited number of well-picked sites. The contractor may propose additional questions and approaches. The contractor may combine questions or objectives to organize its response, as long as the overall thrust of the questions is preserved, and the expected content is not diminished.

1. Understand HUD-assisted families’ early childcare preferences.

• Do families want early childcare services to be located on-site at HUD developments?

• How do HUD families describe their early childcare preferences (including but not limited to location, type of provider, hours, affordability, and quality)? What factors are most important in HUD-assisted families’ current or most recent search for early childcare supportive services?

• How do their preferences change with the age of children?

• How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected early childcare preferences among HUD-assisted families?

2. Understand the early childcare options used by HUD assisted families, and their utilization of federal childcare assistance and its availability to them

• What can we learn about the types of childcare HUD assisted families use (center-based, home-based, family-care, stay-at-home parenting)?

• What types of federally supported childcare assistance is available to HUD assisted families?

• How far away are families from their childcare providers? What are the costs of these early childcare solutions? Are there childcare options that are geographically accessible to HUD-assisted families living in publicly assisted housing but are not used by them?

• How do HUD families describe their current childcare solutions (including but not limited to location, type of provider, hours of operation, affordability, availability of spots, cost, and perception of quality)? Does this differ for HUD families who do or do not receive federal ECE assistance?

• What is the nature of the federal childcare assistance accessed by HUD-assisted families (childcare vouchers? Cash subsidy? Other?). How prevalent is this assistance with HUD-assisted households?

• Why is utilization of federal childcare resources greater in some jurisdictions than others?

3. Understand the availability of early childcare providers for HUD-assisted families (both federally subsidized providers and those who are not subsidized) and the extent to which childcare services are accessible to them (e.g., cost, availability of spots, proximity, hours, etc.)

• If feasible, describe the characteristics of ECE providers that are located near PHA developments (such as distance from HUD assisted families, cost, capacity, and quality ratings) using linked administrative data.

• What are tenants’ perceptions of the availability of early childcare services?

• What barriers do HUD-assisted families report facing in accessing early childcare services?

• How do HUD-assisted families perceive the quality of the available early childcare options?

• How do HUD-assisted families perceive the cost of the childcare options available to them and how does cost impact their choice of provider?

4. Understand unmet needs for early childcare assistance among HUD assisted families.

• What do families report needing from an early childcare provider that is not offered? As an example, many providers only offer services during regular business hours. Do families report needing additional flexibility to meet their needs? What other needs are not met by the available providers?

• What portion of HUD assisted families have children younger than 13 but do not successfully obtain childcare assistance?

• If additional early childcare assistance was available, what portion of families who currently do not use ECE services, would use them?

5. Understand how HUD-assisted families engage with early child care assistance programs (CCDF and Head Start).

• Are HUD-assisted families aware of HHS-funded childcare assistance? How do residents apply for assistance? What barriers do they face to accessing assistance?

• Do state and local policies present barriers to accessing early childcare assistance?

• To what degree do HUD housing assistance and federal early childcare assistance serve the same population? What portion of HUD assisted families with children also receive early childcare assistance? What portion of families receiving ECE assistance also receive HUD assistance?

6. Understand PHAs’ role in providing on-site early childcare and the major barriers in doing so.

• Describe on-site early childcare supportive services available to HUD-assisted families.

What is the type of care provided (center-based care, home-based care, etc.)?

• How are the programs financed (do PHAs help subsidize the ECE program, how do CCDF and Head Start support the ECE programs, what are the costs to residents)?

• Who do PHAs partner with to deliver on-site childcare services?

• Do on-site early childcare services/ programs have waitlists and, if so, how long are they?

• Do HUD-assisted families receive preferential enrollment from on-site early childcare providers?

• What are the best practices and other factors PHAs have identified for successful on-site ECE program models?

• When establishing and operating an on-site early child care program, what are the biggest challenges associated with locating the program at a HUD development?

• Have PHAs considered any expansions to their ECE programs (such as expanding the ages of children served)? What are the major barriers to expanding the services provided?

7. Understand how federal and state policies and programs affect PHAs’ ability to provide…