PWS_SASH Support Services.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

NOAA Workplace Violence Prevention and Response

Sexual Assault / Sexual Harassment (SASH) Support Services

I. BACKGROUND

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employs approximately 12,000 people, including federal civilian workers and officers of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, contractors, and affiliates. Many of these individuals work in remote locations and aboard research and survey vessels to study, understand, and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coast. NOAA has taken steps to update policies, make it easier to report sexual harassment and sexual assault, implement new trainings, and update investigation protocols, but more must be done to prevent harassment, to make sure survivors can seek justice, and to hold harassers accountable for their actions. The FY17 National Defense Authorization Act included provisions to address sexual harassment and assault issues at NOAA. In response, NOAA created a Workplace Violence Prevention and Response Program (WVPR), developed an agency policy to address harassment and assault, and reports annually to Congress. Based on information provided in the required annual reports, NOAA requires additional authorities to fully implement its prevention and response program, coordinate harassment, equal employment, and assault complaint reporting, and to protect certain non-federal personnel who conduct business on behalf of or required by the agency, especially fisheries observers and fishery management council members and staff.

II. PURPOSE

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. NOAA is committed to upholding a sustained and vibrant climate and culture in which every employee at every level of the agency genuinely feels safe, professionally valued and empowered. We aim to achieve an organizational culture where bullying, harassment, discrimination, and retaliation of any form will not be tolerated. To proactively fulfill our organizational commitments, we will systematically pursue and promote inclusive and safe environments free from sexual assault and sexual harassment. To that end, NOAA seeks to procure support services to advance efforts to prevent and effectively respond to sexual harassment.

III. SCOPE

The contractor shall create tailored virtual trainings and operate the Safe Hotline to provide 24/7 free, confidential support services for anyone affected by sexual violence within the agency.

IV. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance shall be for one 12-month base period and four 12-month option periods.

Base Period: September 1, 2020 – August 31, 2021 Option Period I: September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022 Option Period II: September 1, 2022 – August 31, 2023 Option Period III: September 1, 2023 – August 31, 2024 Option Period IV: September 1, 2024 – August 31, 2025

V. STATEMENT OF WORK

Training and Development

The contractor will complete a three-step process when developing the training content and modules. First – meetings with key stakeholders within NOAA to determine the overall goals and expected outcomes of the training. Second – participant engagement in their own feedback of goals and outcomes. Third – creation of tailored training modules reflective of the NOAA’s unique culture and participant concerns.

The contractor will develop content tailored to the needs of the organization and the participants based on core concepts in sexual misconduct prevention and response. The contractor will work closely with NOAA to determine the overall goals of the training, and the smaller but crucial goals of each individual training module. In process of developing the content based on the stated needs of the NOAA, The contractor will also obtain feedback from training participants through a confidential survey. The pre-training survey is developed by the contractor and provided to NOAA for feedback before it is sent out to all potential participants.

The pre-training survey is utilized for three main goals:

Support service awareness: There is a high likelihood that some individuals who view the training modules have been directly affected by sexual violence. As such, the contractor provides information for the NOAA Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment Helpline through a brief introduction that all participants see when first logging into the survey.

Boundary and expectation setting: The pre-training survey allows the contractor to clearly and concisely describe the purpose of the training modules and the intended skills and strategies for participants. Trainings will be interactive and intended to build the participants skills for supporting survivors, while increasing their communication strategies.

Participant feedback in the training content: Participant engagement in the trainings is crucial for creating safer environments and building skill sets. As such, the pre-training survey allows participants to think ahead of time about their key concerns and areas they feel they need the most support. The contractor is able to modify the training content, examples, and group discussions to be reflective of participant needs.

The contractor will develop the training modules based on feedback from NOAA and from the pre-training survey and provide this to NOAA for review and input. Once the input is received from NOAA, The contractor will finalize all training materials.

TRAINING GROUPS Based on conversations with NOAA, The contractor will provide specific and tailored virtual trainings for the following three groups: Leadership, Key Responders, and General Employees. It is assumed that each group of people will only view the trainings for their subgroup. As such, Leadership will not see the General Employee training so there will be similar information in all three trainings to ensure the same level of education and understanding is provided to all NOAA participants.

LEADERSHIP SERIES The Leadership Series will focus on two key goals – 1) ensuring all leaders at NOAA understand their role and responsibilities in creating and maintaining a safe environment for all employees; and 2) understanding how to respond to disclosures of sexual misconduct in a supportive, victim-centered, and trauma-informed way.

This series is to be no longer than three individual modules that are pre-recorded for all Leadership to view. To ensure participant fatigue is mitigated, each training will be no longer than 60 minutes and will include activities for the participants to think through real-life scenarios specific to NOAA.

KEY RESPONDER SERIES The Key Responder Series will focus on providing additional skills, education, and strategies to those who are responsible for supporting individuals who disclose sexual misconduct within NOAA. The contractor recognizes the expertise of these individuals, and will create a two-part series that will be delivered live through a virtual platform (i.e., Google Meet or NOAA’s internal training platform). This will provide the participants the opportunity to talk about their experiences, ask questions, and discuss concerns or challenges in the response process. Unlike the Leadership Series, these modules will focus primarily on survivor needs and the response process.

To ensure all attendees are able to participate in small group conversations, role-plays, and discussions of how to support survivors, the virtually-delivered live trainings should be no larger than 25 individuals, excluding the two the contractor trainers. The contractor will use break-out groups to ensure small group conversations are productive and answer all participant questions.

The contractor will deliver both modules on the same day for participants, with a 30-minute break between each session. This will allow participants to digest the information that was presented and ask questions during the second part of the training. Based on NOAA’s estimate of 250 participants, this training will be delivered on ten separate days – and will provide online sign-ups to ensure all participants are able to attend one of the ten training days.

GENERAL EMPLOYEE SERIES The General Employee Series will focus on three key goals

– 1) ensuring all employees at NOAA understand expectations of conduct, including what is sexual harassment and sexual misconduct; 2) enabling NOAA employees to understand their role in helping create a safe and respectful environment; and 3) how to report sexual misconduct.

Based on our expertise in training organizations with large and dispersed global staff, we recommend the following two modules:

This series is to be no longer than two individual modules that are pre-recorded for employees to view. To ensure participant fatigue is mitigated, each training will be no longer than 60 minutes and will include activities for the participants to think through real-life scenarios specific to NOAA.

Services and Resources

Hotline Services:

The contractor shall continue to provide crisis intervention, referrals and emotional support to NOAA employees and affiliated personnel who are victims of sexual assault and harassment. The hotline shall be staffed by paid employees who undergo background checks, extensive screening, training and ongoing supervision. The hotline shall be available through three paths of communication, making it accessible to victims by the method they choose. Hotline services will be available through telephone connection, an online chat crisis response, and through texting referrals. The telephone and online systems will offer a comment card feature allowing callers to provide feedback on their helpline experience.

Telephone-based Services:

The contractor shall continue to procure a toll-free number that will serve as a sexual assault phone helpline for NOAA employees and a local US-based number for access to text referrals.

Create and Maintain an App:

The contractor shall continue to maintain a mobile device application (App) for IOS and Android users to allow NOAA employees and affiliated personnel to access the telephone helpline using data or WI-FI connections when cellular service is not an option.

Trained Helpline Staff:

The contractor hotline staff shall be trained to effectively and consistently serve NOAA employees and affiliated personnel, and shall be equipped to meet their unique needs. Hotline staff shall complete basic training of approximately 70 hours and complete ongoing monthly supplemental training on working with sexual assault trauma survivors. Hotline staff will also complete two-hours of training covering NOAA-specific reporting procedures and policies and an overview of NOAA work culture prior to launch of helpline services. This training will be provided by NOAA employees and recorded for future new staff training. New staff shall receive the same training during their new employee orientation classes.

Hotline Dashboard and Resources:

The contractor shall consult with NOAA on the creation of a NOAA-specific resource dashboard. This Dashboard shall allow staff to access resources and standard responses for difficult and frequently asked questions specific to NOAA procedures. In addition, the dashboard will allow contractor staff to capture caller demographics, complete warm hand-off / transfer logs, and other reporting information.

Policies and Protocols:

The contractor shall consult with NOAA on creating policies and protocols for contractor staff serving NOAA employees and affiliated personnel who have experienced sexual assault and harassment. These policies will include, but not be limited to: when it is required to contact NOAA directly, mandatory reporting requirements, warm hand-off / transfer protocol, and confidentiality.

Website Hotline Services:

The contractor shall create and maintain a NOAA-dedicated website that provides information about and access to the hotline services. This website shall also direct NOAA employees and affiliated personnel to information pages on the contractor’s website about sexual assault trauma.

Promotional Materials:

The contractor shall create three types of promotional materials for NOAA's distribution to communicate and promote the helpline services: brochures, wallet cards and posters. The contractor shall create these items using NOAA's existing style guide and promotional materials as a guide. The printed products will be delivered to NOAA's headquarters for NOAA's distribution. Additionally, the contractor shall create web-based promotional materials such as a web banner for easy placement on NOAA's stakeholders’ websites.

VI. DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall create reports based on specifications provided by NOAA relating to call length, demographic data, and user feedback. The contractor shall create an application that allows NOAA stakeholders to view the helpline data and access reports at any time.

Deliverables shall be reviewed and accepted in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan.

Additionally, all deliverables under this contract (trainings, reports, etc.) shall be compliant with all Section 508 regulations and best practices.

VII. TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

The contractor will make his/her own travel arrangements and also pay for his/her own travel and costs in accordance with Federal Travel Regulations. No U.S. Government invitational travel orders will be issued to the contractor.