PWS Psychological Assessment 01082026.pdf

Performance Work Statement

Police Psychological Evaluation

VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System

1. Background:

VA Medical facilities are protected by Police Officers who have arrest authority, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Chapter 9. They protect life and property on VA owned or operated land and buildings, and must regularly make decisions on the appropriate application of force, the use of a firearm, police baton, or Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray. Applicant and incumbent VA

Police Officers must meet certain functional requirements. In order to meet the specific behavioral functional requirements for the successful police officer, individuals must:

a. Possess a high level of personal integrity

b. Be able to maintain control of anger and emotions

c. Be compassionate towards others, especially those who cannot care for themselves

d. Be able to quickly respond to emergency situations

e. Have respect for authority and rule of law

f. Be emotionally able to apply physical and possibly lethal force as needed, and to recognize when such force is necessary, but in strict accordance with training and policy requirements

g. Be able to often work independently, but within a regimented group

2. General Requirements:

a. VHA Directive 0730(1), dated December 8, 2020, establishes responsibilities related to the psychological evaluations of VA Police Officer applicants and VA Police

Officers. Contractor shall provide all required psychological assessment services for incumbent VA Police officers employed by the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare

System (VASNHS). The psychological assessments shall be performed in accordance with the guidelines designed to determine an officer’s emotional and mental stability of conducting designated functional requirements essential to the duties of a VA Police Officer and an officer’s suitability to carry a firearm. These guidelines are consistent with VA Handbook 0720, Procedures to Arm Department of

Veterans Affairs Police, dated January 24, 2000. These standards are based on 5

C.F.R. § 339.301. See:

http://www.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub

Continuum of Force, Training Units, other law enforcement standards and position descriptions are also available in VA Police Units at each of the participating facilities.

b. VHA Directive 0730 (1) dated December 8, 2020 paragraph 6 specifies Psychological evaluations for VA Police Officers in that the primary focus of the evaluation is to assess the applicant’s or employee’s psychological fitness to meet the functional requirements of the position. VA regulations require an initial psychological assessment for VA Police Officer applicants, which shall include a structured interview and written psychological testing. The regulations also require an annual psychological assessment for incumbent VA Police Officers, which are limited to a verbal interview covering only job-related factors, unless concerns arise during the psychological evaluation. The initial and annual psychological examination of the applicant/officer’s emotional and mental stability shall be performed by a psychologist with recognized expertise in performing the specifically focused exams.

http://www.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub

While not required by regulation, the ability of a contractor to conduct face to face

(rather than telephone) interviews with applicants/officers within shall be a factor in this award. Police officer duties include personal encounters patients, visitors, and other employees. Encounters are often with mentally ill, irrational, or disturbed persons who, although assaultive or destructive, must be handled with understanding, full control of force, and unimpeded judgement. Any emotional or mental conditions which could cause the officer/applicant to be a hazard to others or self during stress situations and/or physical altercations will disqualify.

c. The primary objectives of psychological screening for VA police officer applicants and incumbent police officer are to screen out emotionally unstable individuals and to identify positive psychological characteristics associated successful job performance.

Emotional instability, in this context, refers to symptomatology of such severity that the individual’s ability to meet the functional requirements of the position, including the carrying and use of firearms, would be impaired. A mental health diagnosis, on its own, cannot be used as a basis for a determination of instability. Suitability, in the psychological screening context, refers to personality characteristics pertinent to an individual’s performance in the job and includes interpersonal skills, judgement, decision-making and integrity. The evaluating psychologist will determine, based upon his / her clinical judgement, the exact subset of dimensions to be assessed while adhering to the police officer functional requirements.

3. Qualifications:

a. Personnel assigned by the Contractor to perform the services covered by this contract shall be licensed in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States, or the

District of Columbia. All licenses held by the personnel working on this contract shall be full and unrestricted licenses. The qualifications of such personnel shall also be subject to review by the VA Chief of Mental Health Services or Chief of

Psychology Service to ensure contract psychologists or psychiatrists are privileged in accordance with VHA Handbook 1100.19, Credentialing and Privileging, dated

October 15, 2012. Office of Occupational Safety and Health and Mental Health

Services staff must be involved to ensure that contractors have the requisite qualifications and training commensurate with their assigned responsibilities.

b. The work of psychologists who conduct psychological evaluations of Police Officers is complex and demanding. Evaluations shall be conducted only by licensed psychologists and psychiatrists who are qualified by their education, training, and experience to conduct psychological assessments. These individuals must have expertise in clinical assessment as well as the assessment of normal personality characteristics relevant to personnel selection. Examiners must be familiar with VA policies relevant to the evaluation and selection of Police Officers. Examiners must also be knowledgeable in employment law impacting the administration of these types of personnel evaluations, including but not limited to the Americans with

Disabilities Act As Amended (ADA/ADAAA), Uniformed Services Employment and

Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA}, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

(GINA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Health Insurance

Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and The

Privacy Act of 1974.

4. Types of VA Police Officer Evaluations:

a. Pre-employment Psychological Evaluation. The pre-employment psychological evaluation focuses on the functional requirements for the position of a VA Police Officer, as well as suitability and stability for the role. It must consist of a standardized interview and standardized objective psychological testing with symptom validity scales. At least two psychological tests must be administered. The psychological evaluation must also include exploration of substance abuse and symptoms of other mental health disorders that may be considered an impediment to effective functioning as a VA Police Officer.

b. Periodic Evaluations. Periodic or annual evaluations focus on functional requirements for maintaining the position of a VA Police Officer. To initiate the evaluation, VHA Human Resources must provide a written request for the periodic evaluation and provide a documented reason to the employee when ordering the exam. A standardized interview must be conducted, and psychological testing should only be conducted when concerns are raised about the psychological fitness of the Police Officer during the psychological evaluation. Screening instruments, such as the Personal Health

Questionnaire 2 (PHQ2), PTSD Screen for Primary Care (PC-PTSD), Alcohol Use

Identification Test (AUDIT) or other standardized instruments, may be used if additional testing is needed. A positive response on any screening instruments is an indication that further testing is required and cannot, in and of itself, be used as grounds for the final recommendation. If the interview or the screening and assessment tools raise concern for functional ability, stability, or suitability, further psychological testing may be done.

NOTE: Periodic psychological evaluations of Police Officers recur every 12 months.

c. Directed or Special Examination. Incumbent VA Police Officers may be referred for a directed or special examination when there is objective evidence as determined by

VHA Human Resources to indicate the employee’s ability to perform essential job functions may be compromised. A directed or special psychological examination may be required when it appears that the incapacity is due to a mental or psychological disorder.

This must be done in the context of an occupational health evaluation outlined in VA

Handbook 5019 to ensure that medical conditions that may manifest with psychological, mental, or behavioral disturbance are identified. VHA Human Resources must provide a written summary articulating the reason that the employee’s ability has come into question and provide the reason to the employee when ordering the exam.

5. Evaluation Components.

The psychological evaluation is composed of several components, to include:

(1) Authorization Form. Prior to conducting any psychological evaluation of an applicant or VA Police Officer, the VA or contracted psychologist or psychiatrist must obtain an

Authorization Form from the applicant or employee in writing. At a minimum this consent must include the nature and objectives of the evaluation and must identify the intended recipient(s) of the information, the probable uses of the evaluation information, and the limits of confidentiality. It is best practice to review the key elements of the authorization form with the applicant or employee prior to conducting the psychological evaluation. NOTE: See Appendix A for an Authorization Form template for VA Police

Officer psychological evaluations.

(2) Interview. All evaluations must incorporate an individual interview by a VA or contracted psychologist or psychiatrist for all evaluations of applicants and incumbent

Police Officers. The interview must be conducted in a consistent, comprehensive manner that focuses on the collection of information relevant to the purpose of the evaluation and adheres to professional and industry standards.

(3) Psychological Testing. A written psychological test battery relevant to the purpose of the evaluation must be utilized in accordance with the guidance provided in this

Directive. For new-hire evaluations, at least two psychological tests must be administered: one broadband measure of normal-range personality traits and the other a broadband measure of psychopathology and personality problems. For annual or special evaluations, testing should only be used if the interview or the screening and assessment tools raise concern for functional ability, stability, or suitability. NOTE: Instruments, such as the PHQ2, PC-PTSD, AUDIT or other standardized instruments, may be used for screening; A positive response on any screening instrument is an indication that further testing may be necessary and cannot, in and of itself, be used as grounds for a final recommendation.

(a) The Mental Health Assistant (MHA) software tool must not be used to administer or score psychometric instruments for Police Officer applicants or incumbents. Since the

MHA is accessed through the Electronic Health Record (EHR)-either the

Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) or Cerner Millennium Power Chart, MHA should be not used for Human Resource personnel evaluations. Keeping personnel evaluations outside the EHR will protect the confidentiality of VA Police

Officers. VA medical facilities should work with local fiscal teams to purchase test licenses or single test administrations direct from the test publishers, taking care to protect employee privacy when using online testing platforms.

(b) To ensure security and privacy, examiners must not enter employees’ Protected

Health Information (PHI) or Personally Identifiable Information (PII), even temporarily, into a test publisher’s online platform. Please note that any document connecting VA employees to simulated identification data must be kept securely within VA’s encrypted firewall, in keeping with VHA’s records policies.

6. Required Evaluation.

a. The psychological evaluation shall focus on the functional requirements for the position of VA Police Officer, as well as suitability and stability for the role. Information about the required duties, responsibilities, working conditions, and other psychologically relevant job characteristics should be obtained from Human Resources or the VA medical facility EOH prior to beginning the psychological evaluation. The psychological evaluation should focus on identifying skills, behaviors, attributes and other personal characteristics associated with effective and counterproductive job performance.

b. The evaluation of VA Police Officer applicants and employees must include a review of the individual’s history that is pertinent to the purpose of the evaluation.

c. The evaluation of the functional requirements for the position of VA Police Officers must be done using the constructs provided by the ten empirically derived psychological screening dimensions developed by the California Commission on Peace Officers

Standards and Training (POST) Psychological Screening Manual. The POST manual is recognized as the leading best practice in the field of psychology evaluations of Police

Officers. These dimensions, described in detail in the Evaluation Report Template in

Appendix C, are: social competence, teamwork, adaptability/flexibility, conscientiousness/dependability, impulse control/attention to safety, integrity/ethics, emotional regulation/stress tolerance, decision-making/judgment, assertiveness/persuasiveness and avoiding substance abuse/other risk-taking behavior.

Details on the development, definitions, and use of these psychological screening dimensions are available in the California POST Officer Psychological Screening

Manual, which can be obtained at no cost at https://post.ca.gov/peace-officer-psychological-screening-manual.

d. VA or contracted psychologists or psychiatrists should submit a recommendation report with discussion of the issues to be included in the Employee Medical Folder. The

VA medical facility EOH Agency Medical Officer is responsible for providing the final fitness for duty recommendation to VHA Human Resources.

e. For pre-employment evaluations, the written history review in the recommendation report is comprehensive in nature and must include but not be limited to: education, work history, financial record, legal history, substance use and mental health concerns. In all cases the information obtained must be based on the information necessary to assess the individual’s ability to perform requirements of the position and role.

f. For periodic evaluations of incumbent Police Officers, the written history review must focus on the employee’s recent job performance and any behaviors and events that could potentially indicate the presence of emotional or psychological symptoms that would interfere with the employee’s ability to perform the essential functions and role of a Police Officer. (7) For directed or special examinations, the written history review must focus on the behaviors or events precipitating the evaluation, as described in the written summary from VHA Human Resources, and any information needed to assess the employee’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job as a Police Officer. It is recognized that in these types of evaluations a comprehensive history review is often required to assess the nature and severity of any psychological concerns that may be identified.

g. If relevant to the evaluation of the applicant’s or employee’s psychological stability and suitability, mental health records may be requested from treating health care providers in accordance with VA Handbook 5019 and paragraph 9, Records

Management, of this directive, and reviewed before a final determination is made.

Obtaining these records requires written authorization from the applicant or employee for the release of the records.

h. When no background medical records have been submitted by the applicant or employee, VA or contracted psychologists or psychiatrists must make note of this in the report and indicate that all reported history is based on the applicant’s or employee’s self-report and could be subject to reconsideration based on subsequent submission of additional medical records by the employee.

i. VA or contracted psychologists or psychiatrists must not conduct any type of background investigation independently, such as, but not limited to, an internet search or a search using social media.

j. The psychological recommendation report will include only the minimum level of disclosure regarding functional requirements for the job and only the level of detail necessary for medical clearance by the EOH Agency Medical Officer. See Appendix B for an evaluation template and Appendix C for a report template.

k. The detail in the recommendation report must be adequate for the EOH Agency

Medical Officer to understand the rationale, make a determination of qualification or disqualification, and explain the decision to the applicant or employee, should they ask.

The rationale for this is the psychological evaluation is one component part of the overall

EOH medical examination and thus should be discussed in the context of the whole evaluation.

l. Medical disqualifications for a position are made by the EOH Agency Medical Officer based on all the evidence provided (including the medical examination and psychological evaluation). Psychological evaluation is one piece of information in the context of the entire fitness for duty evaluation to ascertain the applicant’s or employee’s ability to meet the functional requirements of the job, and the psychological test results alone cannot be used as evidence for medical disqualification. Similarly, a mental health diagnosis itself cannot be used as evidence of medical disqualification for a position. If a clinical diagnosis is made by the examining psychologist or psychiatrist and certain other factors exist such that the symptoms associated with the diagnosis impair the individual’s ability to meet the functional requirements, the functional impairment, not the diagnosis, would be the disqualifying reason.

NOTE: If a diagnosis is made, it must be made using the most current version of the

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders currently utilized in VA at the time of the evaluation.

m. Recommendations made by VA or contracted psychologists or psychiatrists to the

EOH Agency Medical Officers must be unequivocal (i.e., the applicant or employee does or does not meet the functional requirements). In the case of a negative recommendation, any functional requirements that are compromised must be documented. In the case that the findings of an evaluation are not sufficient to provide an unequivocal determination, the reasons of insufficiency must be described in the report.

7. Telehealth Considerations.

a. For evaluations conducted remotely through video communication technology, administration procedures should be kept as close as possible to the traditional, in-person procedures and documented in the written report.

b. Remote audio-visual monitoring of the test administration, even with self-administered instruments, is essential. Select a non-public facing video teleconference platform that is compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rule requirements and apply administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect information.

c. Consult publishers for guidance on video technology adaptation of specific psychological assessment measures.

d. Notify persons being assessed that video applications potentially introduce privacy risks and enable all available encryption and privacy modes when using such applications.

8. 6500.6 SECURITY CLAUSES

Appendix B

The contractor, their personnel, and their subcontractors shall be subject to the Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks regarding information and information system security as delineated in this contract.

**VHA Directive 0730 Record Keeping effective 8 September 2025

PURPOSE: The purpose of this memorandum is to provide updated guidance to ensure psychological evaluations of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) police officers (Officers), and candidates are protected in accordance with the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C § 552a and only appropriately released in accordance with VA policy and federal regulations.

BACKGROUND: Pre-placement, annual, and fitness for duty (also referred to as special/directed) psychological evaluations stored in accordance with the Privacy Act Veterans

Health Administration (VHA) System of Records Notice (SORN), Law Enforcement Officer

Evaluations (LEO Evals)—VA (216VA10), are exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy

Act. Thus, Officers and candidates do not have a privacy right of access to these records, including testing and handwritten notes, under the Privacy Act and the Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act Privacy Rule.

Appendix C

1. GENERAL

Contractors, contractor personnel, subcontractors, and subcontractor personnel shall be subject to the same Federal laws, regulations, standards, and VA Directives and Handbooks as VA and VA personnel regarding information and information system security.

2. VA INFORMATION CUSTODIAL LANGUAGE

a. 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).

b. VA information should not be co-mingled, if possible, with any other data on the contractors/ subcontractor’s information systems or media storage systems in order to ensure VA requirements related to data protection and media sanitization can be met. If co-mingling must be allowed to meet the requirements of the business need, the contractor must ensure that VA’s information is returned to the VA or destroyed in accordance with

VA’s sanitization requirements. VA reserves the right to conduct on-site inspections of contractor and subcontractor IT resources to ensure data security controls, separation of data and job duties, and destruction/media sanitization procedures are in compliance with

VA directive requirements.

c. Prior to termination or completion of this contract, contractor/subcontractor must not destroy information received from VA, or gathered/created by the contractor in the course of performing this contract without prior written approval by the VA. Any data destruction done on behalf of VA by a contractor/subcontractor must be done in accordance with

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) requirements as outlined in VA

Directive 6300, Records and Information Management and its Handbook 6300.1 Records

Management Procedures, applicable VA Records Control Schedules, and VA Handbook

6500.1, Electronic Media Sanitization. Self-certification by the contractor that the data destruction requirements above have been met must be sent to the VA Contracting Officer within 30 days of termination of the contract.

d. The contractor/subcontractor must receive, gather, store, back up, maintain, use, disclose and dispose of VA information only in compliance with the terms of the contract and applicable Federal and VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies. If Federal or VA information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies become applicable to the VA information or information systems after execution of the contract, or if NIST issues or updates applicable FIPS or Special Publications (SP) after execution of this contract, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to implement the information confidentiality and security laws, regulations and policies in this contract.

e. The contractor/subcontractor shall not make copies of VA information except as authorized and necessary to perform the terms of the agreement or to preserve electronic information stored on contractor/subcontractor electronic storage media for restoration in case any electronic equipment or data used by the contractor/subcontractor needs to be restored to an operating state. If copies are made for restoration purposes, after the restoration is complete, the copies must be appropriately destroyed.

f. If VA determines that the contractor has violated any of the information confidentiality, privacy, and security provisions of the contract, it shall be sufficient grounds for VA to withhold payment to the contractor or third party or terminate the contract for default or terminate for cause under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12.

g. If a VHA contract is terminated for cause, the associated BAA must also be terminated and appropriate actions taken in accordance with VHA Handbook 1600.01, Business

Associate Agreements. Absent an agreement to use or disclose protected health information, there is no business associate relationship.

h. The contractor/subcontractor must store, transport, or transmit VA sensitive information in an encrypted form, using VA-approved encryption tools that are, at a minimum, FIPS

140-2 validated.

i. The contractor/subcontractor’s firewall and Web services security controls, if applicable, shall meet or exceed VA’s minimum requirements. VA Configuration Guidelines are available upon request.

j. Except for uses and disclosures of VA information authorized by this contract for performance of the contract, the contractor/subcontractor may use and disclose VA information only in two other situations: (i) in response to a qualifying order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or (ii) with VA’s prior written approval. The contractor/subcontractor must refer all requests for, demands for production of, or inquiries.

k. Notwithstanding the provision above, the contractor/subcontractor shall not release VA records protected by Title 38 U.S.C. 5705, confidentiality of medical quality assurance records and/or Title 38 U.S.C. 7332, confidentiality of certain health records pertaining to drug addiction, sickle cell anemia, alcoholism or alcohol abuse, or infection with human immunodeficiency virus. If the contractor/ subcontractor is in receipt of a court order or other requests for the above-mentioned information, that contractor/subcontractor shall immediately refer such court orders or other requests to the VA contracting officer for response.

l. For service that involves the storage, generating, transmitting, or exchanging of VA sensitive information but does not require C&A or an MOU-ISA for system interconnection, the contractor/ subcontractor must complete a Contractor Security Control

Assessment (CSCA) on a yearly basis and provide it to the COTR.

4. SECURITY INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

a. The term “security incident” means an event that has, or could have, resulted in unauthorized access to, loss or damage to VA assets, or sensitive information, or an action that breaches VA security procedures. The contractor/ subcontractor shall immediately notify the COTR and simultaneously, the designated ISO and Privacy Officer for the contract of any known or suspected security/privacy incidents, or any unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including that contained in system(s) to which the contractor/subcontractor has access.

b. To the extent known by the contractor/subcontractor, the contractor/subcontractor’s notice to VA shall identify the information involved, the circumstances surrounding the incident (including to whom, how, when, and where the VA information or assets were placed at risk or compromised), and any other information that the contractor/ subcontractor considers relevant.

c. With respect to unsecured protected health information, the business associate is deemed to have discovered a data breach when the business associate knew or should have known of a breach of such information. Upon discovery, the business associate must notify the covered entity of the breach. Notifications need to be made in accordance with the executed business associate agreement.

d. In instances of theft or break-in or other criminal activity, the contractor/subcontractor must concurrently report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement entity (or entities) of jurisdiction, including the VA OIG and Security and Law Enforcement. The contractor, its employees, and its subcontractors and their employees shall cooperate with VA and any law enforcement authority responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible criminal law violation(s) associated with any incident. The contractor/subcontractor shall cooperate with VA in any civil litigation to recover VA information, obtain monetary or other compensation from a third party for damages arising from any incident, or obtain injunctive relief against any third party arising from, or related to, the incident.

5. 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.

b. The contractor/subcontractor shall provide notice to VA of a “security incident” as set forth in the Security Incident Investigation section above. Upon such notification, VA must secure from a non-Department entity or the VA Office of Inspector General an independent risk analysis of the data breach to determine the level of risk associated with the data breach for the potential misuse of any sensitive personal information involved in the data breach.

The term 'data breach' means the loss, theft, or other unauthorized access, or any access other than that incidental to the scope of employment, to data containing sensitive personal information, in electronic or printed form, that results in the potential compromise of the confidentiality or integrity of the data. Contractor shall fully cooperate with the entity performing the risk analysis. Failure to cooperate may be deemed a material breach and grounds for contract termination.

c. Each risk analysis shall address all relevant information concerning the data breach, including the following:

(1) Nature of the event (loss, theft, unauthorized access);

(2) Description of the event, including:

(a) date of occurrence;

(b) data elements involved, including any PII, such as full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, account number, disability code;

(3) Number of individuals affected or potentially affected;

(4) Names of individuals or groups affected or potentially affected;

(5) Ease of logical data access to the lost, stolen or improperly accessed data in light of the degree of protection for the data, e.g., unencrypted, plain text;

(6) Amount of time the data has been out of VA control;

(7) The likelihood that the sensitive personal information will or has been compromised

(made accessible to and usable by unauthorized persons);

(8) Known misuses of data containing sensitive personal information, if any;

(9) Assessment of the potential harm to the affected individuals;

(10) Data breach analysis as outlined in 6500.2 Handbook, Management of Security and

Privacy Incidents, as appropriate; and

(11) Whether credit protection services may assist record subjects in avoiding or mitigating the results of identity theft based on the sensitive personal information that may have been compromised.

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.

1. RECORDS MANAGEMENT LANGUAGE

Contractor shall comply with all applicable records management laws and regulations, as well as National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records policies, including but not limited to the Federal Records Act (44 U.S.C. Chapters. 21, 29, 31, 33), NARA regulations at 36 CFR Chapter XII Subchapter B, and those policies associated with the safeguarding of records covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a).

These policies include the preservation of all records, regardless of form or characteristics, mode of transmission, or state of completion.

In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, all data created for Government use and delivered to, or falling under the legal control of, the Government are Federal records subject to the provisions of 44 U.S.C. chapters 21, 29, 31, and 33, the Freedom of Information Act

(FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552), as amended, and the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a), as amended and must be managed and scheduled for disposition only as permitted by statute or regulation.

In accordance with 36 CFR 1222.32, the contractor shall maintain all records created for

Government use or created in the course of performing the contract and/or delivered to, or under the legal control of the Government and must be managed in accordance with

Federal law. Electronic records and associated metadata must be accompanied by sufficient technical documentation to permit understanding and use of the records and data.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (VASNHS) and its contractors are responsible for preventing the alienation or unauthorized destruction of records, including all forms of mutilation. Records may not be removed from the legal custody of VASNHS or destroyed except for in accordance with the provisions of the agency records schedules and with the written concurrence of the Head of the Contracting Activity. Willful and unlawful destruction, damage or alienation of Federal records is subject to the fines and penalties imposed by 18 U.S.C. 2701.

In the event of any unlawful or accidental removal, defacing, alteration, or destruction of records, the contractor must report to VASNHS. The agency must report promptly to

NARA in accordance with 36 CFR 1230.

The contractor shall immediately notify the appropriate Contracting Officer (CO) upon discovery of any inadvertent or unauthorized disclosures of information, data, documentary materials, records or equipment. Disclosure of non-public information is limited to authorized personnel with a need-to-know as described in the contract documents. The contractor shall ensure that the appropriate personnel, administrative, technical, and physical safeguards are established to ensure the security and confidentiality of this information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is properly protected. The contractor shall not remove material from Government facilities or systems, or facilities or systems operated or maintained on the Government’s behalf, without the express written permission of the Head of the Contracting Activity.

When information, data, documentary material, records and/or equipment is no longer required, it shall be returned to VASNHS control or the contractor must hold it until otherwise directed. Items returned to the Government shall be hand carried, mailed, emailed, or securely electronically transmitted to the CO or address prescribed in the contract documents. Destruction of records is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED unless in accordance with Paragraph (4).

The contractor is required to obtain the CO's approval prior to engaging in any contractual relationship (sub-contractor) in support of this contract requiring the disclosure of information, documentary material and/or records generated under, or relating to, contracts. The contractor (and any sub-contractor) is required to abide by

Government and VASNHS guidance for protecting sensitive, proprietary information, classified, and controlled unclassified information.

The contractor shall only use Government IT equipment for purposes specifically tied to or authorized by the contract and in accordance with VASNHS policy.

The contractor shall not create or maintain any records containing any non-public

VASNHS information that are not specifically tied to or authorized by the contract.

The contractor shall not retain, use, sell, or disseminate copies of any deliverable that contains information covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 or that which is generally protected from public disclosure by an exemption to the FOIA.

VASNHS owns the rights to all data and records produced as part of this contract. All deliverables under the contract are the property of the U.S. Government for which

VASNHS shall have unlimited rights to use, dispose of, or disclose such data contained therein as it determines to be in the public interest. Any contractor rights in the data or deliverables must be identified as required by FAR 52.227-11 through FAR 52.227-20.

Training. All contractor employees assigned to this contract who create, work with, or otherwise handle records are required to take VHA-provided records management training. The contractor is responsible for confirming training has been completed according to agency policies, including initial training and any annual or refresher training.

Flowdown of requirements to Subcontractors:

The contractor shall incorporate the substance of this clause, its terms and requirements including this paragraph, in all subcontracts under this contract document, and require written subcontractor acknowledgment of same.

Violation by a subcontractor of any provision set forth in this clause will be attributed to the contractor.