RFI 15PVCD22N00000001.pdf

Beta.SAM Presolicitation Notice

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* = Required Field FedBizOpps Presolicitation Notice Rev. March 2010

R

National Elder Fraud Hotline

20531

15PVCD2N00000001

03-25-2022

N

Y

624190

US Department of Justice DOJ, Office of Justice Programs Acquisition Management Division 810 7th Street, N.W.

Washington DC 20531

Debashis Nag, Contract Specialist USDOJ Office of Justice Programs 810 7th Street, NW Room 3610 Washington, DC 20531 (202)616-1705 Direct | (202)354-4154 Fax debashis.nag@usdoj.gov

US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office for Victims of Crime 810 7th Street, NW Washington, DC

20531

USA

http://ojp.gov

US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs debashis.nag@usdoj.gov

US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS (OJP)

OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME (OVC)

NATIONAL ELDER FRAUD HOTLINE (NEFH)

This Request for Information (RFI) is being released pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 10 Market Research. The information collected through the process is considered to be market research as described by FAR 2.101 and in accordance with FAR 10.002. This is NOT a Request for Proposals (RFP), and nothing shall be construed herein or through the Sources Sought process to commit or obligate the Government to further action. In addition, vendors responding to this RFI shall bear all risks and expenses of any resources used to provide the requested information. The submission of capability information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary.

The Department of Justice (DOJ), the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is issuing this RFI to identify qualified and responsible small business vendors (e.g., 8(a); Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business;

Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Small Business; Small Disadvantaged Business; Veteran- Owned Small Business, Women-Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business) having an interest in and possessing the resources and expertise to provide support for the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and assist in the execution of transitioning, providing training and manpower for, and marketing of the Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline (NEFH).

The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to these proposed services is 624190. The anticipated contract type is Time & Material. The anticipated period of performance is a base year plus four (4) option years commencing September 30, 2022. The anticipated place of performance will include some on-site work at OVC at 810 7th Street NW, Washington DC 20001, as well as the Contractor’s site.

Background

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) established the NEFH in March 2020 to help combat fraud against older Americans and provide services to victims. In this task, OVC intends to enhance its service capabilities that will help ensure support for older victims (60 and older) of financial fraud and exploitation through the hotline. The goal of this effort is to ensure that a national elder fraud telephone hotline is able to provide support to older victims of financial fraud and exploitation, offer useful resources, warm hand-off referrals so as to offer guidance and assistance in helping victims report fraud (through existing in-take forms) to the various federal investigative agencies handling elder financial fraud and to help older fraud victims with referrals to local and state programs where appropriate. Additionally, the services provided by the trauma-informed and victim-centered hotline will help ensure reports of elder fraud/financial exploitation are directed to OVC’s federal partners (where appropriate), helping increase reporting and the likelihood of recovering losses. Finally, the services provided will add value to OVC’s existing national program portfolio but also for the Department of Justice (DOJ’s) Elder Justice Initiative, Consumer Protection Branch, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and Recovery Asset Team, as well as the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, and other federal agencies in this programmatic area.

Key federal and non-federal stakeholders will also benefit from data stemming from this capability as well as referrals made as a result of case managers helping victims make reports of financial fraud/exploitation as appropriate. Examples of key federal stakeholders include DOJ’s Elder Justice Initiative and Consumer Protection Branch, FBI’s IC3 and Recovery Asset Team (RAT), Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN), United Postal Inspection Service’s Tele-Victim Services, Adult Protective Services, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and other federal entities.

Scope

The role of the prospective contractor would be to bring the appropriate blend of knowledge, experience, and abilities to provide elder financial fraud/exploitation hotline services. To achieve the intended operating results, the prospective contractor would need to successfully perform the work outlined in this RFI and demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of OVC’s strategic goal for this task. The prospective contractor is encouraged to be creative and innovative in its recommendations to implement the overall task. Modifications in tasks should be anticipated as hotline services evolve, needs assessments are conducted and key stakeholders are regularly consulted. The prospective contractor would conduct marketing and develop presentation materials in coordination with DOJ’s outreach efforts to promote use of and value of the hotline.

The prospective contractor should expect to ensure seamless transfer of existing hotline services, and coordination from current contractor within 3 months of issuance of the Service Contract with no interruption in services.

Services

The following are all concurrent tasks, and additional concurrent tasks may be added. The prospective contractor may be required to:

1) National Elder Fraud Hotline Services and Personnel: The prospective contractor would maintain

OVC’s existing Elder Fraud Hotline designed to assist older Americans that may be victims of financial fraud/exploitation. The prospective contractor should expect to utilize an established toll-free number provided by the OVC. In support of this effort, the prospective contractor would:

Ensure hotline services are available from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday

(five days a week), providing support in English, while non-English speakers will receive returned calls with interpreter support. The goal is for all incoming calls during office hours to be answered within four rings. At all times when support personnel are unavailable to respond to incoming calls, callers will be transferred to voicemail. The voicemail message shall provide clear information about the hours the hotline is staffed with live support, when a caller will receive a return call, and any other useful and timely information. All voicemail messages would need to be responded to by the following business day.

Provide a quality control system that tracks real-time and historical phone utilization, trends, and staffing. The system must record incoming and outgoing calls and be able to produce a log of the calls.

Provide supervisory/management personnel required for effective project management;

Provide qualified personnel in sufficient quantities to perform the required tasks, including hotline operators, project managers, and support staff to meet the required tasks;

Ensure personnel are subject to a Public Trust Investigation (PTI).

Provide support personnel that do not have any financial or other potential conflicts of interest that would impair their ability to provide fair and unbiased advice and assistance to callers;

Provide necessary telecommunications equipment and services to support the hotline personnel, to include appropriate hardware and software, and shall immediately report to the OVC any problems that cause or could potentially cause service disruptions;

Develop internal controls and procedures to identify performance problems and shall promptly resolve them;

Document all calls received, capturing date and time, specific issues involved (e.g. type of fraud and assistance provided, including whether IC3 and/or Consumer Sentinel Network form was completed and filed); and, Ensure hotline is Section 508 Compliant and provides full access for individuals who are blind or hearing impaired.

The prospective contractor would utilize a hotline staffing pattern that is nimble and can be scaled up or down as appropriate, based on usage patterns and planned marketing or outreach. In addition, the prospective contractor would provide a staffing plan that includes the following positions and qualifications:

Elder Fraud Specialists: Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a human services subject area and 3–5 years of experience working with older Americans experiencing victimization and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of all local, state, and federal resources available to elder victims of crime and be able to provide training and technical assistance to a variety of audiences on the Hotline.

Hotline Manager/Director: Responsible for leading the development and implementation of the Hotline and all tasks associated with the Hotline. Will work with the federal POC and the COR to ensure that the Hotline and associated activities comport with the vision of this task. Minimally have experience in working with elder justice issues at a national level, be able to provide TTA on this issue, possess pre-existing relationships with national partners, at least a bachelor’s degree in a human service area, and at least 8–10 years of experience in elder justice.

Case Manager/Shift Supervisors: Responsible for all operational and compliance requirements of operating the Hotline, live chat, database development, and data collection. Will work with staff to ensure that data are collected in as limited a way as possible, respecting confidentiality, while still allowing staff to assist callers. Will ensure that any PII collected is maintained and protected in compliance with all local, state, and federal requirements. Will work with OVC to ensure that national public awareness campaigns around elder fraud are delivered in the manner envisioned. Will manage all social media accounts and ensure the Hotline web pages reflect current information. Will monitor email inboxes and social media accounts to ensure that requests for assistance are addressed. Will ensure that any web-based offerings comply with OJP and OVC quality standards, and are 508 compliant. Will assist in planning meetings and conferences and providing the associated logistical support.

2) Victim Assistance for Older Victims of Financial Fraud/Exploitation: The prospective contractor should expect to provide training for personnel that are alert and aware of the importance of making timely assessments of the victim’s situation, and determine if immediate action is required to assist the victim such as notifying the FBI’s Recovery Asset Team or others. Callers must be treated with respect and compassion at all times. In support of this effort, the prospective contractor would:

Ensure hotline staff are skilled and trained in age-appropriate, trauma-informed, victim-centered care, as well as elder justice/financial fraud/exploitation issues, existing resources and available services (federal, state, and local);

Adhere to practice standards for effective victim assistance hotlines as established by the National Hotline Consortium (e.g., ensure a comprehensive victim-centered, solution-focused training program is instituted for all direct services staff and volunteers, that training incorporates a continuing education component with annual training standards and expectations, maintain targeted areas(s) of expertise, maintain written standards on confidentiality of services and related records, maintains a comprehensive resources and referral program component that includes policies related to services description standards, inclusion/exclusion policies, updated standards and security, etc.);

Provide timely advice and assistance for hotline callers. Call center personnel must be capable of assessing the caller’s specific problem or issue, and based on the information provided, be fully capable of providing non-legal advice and assistance for financial fraud victims. This information should include but not be limited to resources at the federal, state and local levels and materials developed by national non-profit organizations;

Assist callers with populating the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and FTC Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) Complaint Referral Forms, for reporting of financial fraud occurrence. The prospective contractor would make the callers aware of the IC3 and CSN Complaint Referral Forms used to document and report financial fraud. The prospective contractor would provide any requested assistance callers may need in completing the IC3 and CSN Complaint Referral Forms. In some instances, with the caller’s permission, the prospective contractor may complete the form on behalf of the caller, and submit the complaint. The prospective contractor would capture information from potential older victims of financial fraud/exploitation. Any information gathered shall be captured accurately with no errors or omissions. The prospective contactor periodically would consult with IC3 and CSN staff to ensure forms are being completed in a proper manner consistent with agency expectations;

Maintain, and submit for approval, an electronic capture record for callers with potential financial fraud complaint, and provide a monthly summary of calls received, nature of calls, and action(s) taken.

These records will not contain personally identifiable information of callers such as names, addresses, or telephone numbers, but may reference the record identifiers of complaints submitted to IC3 or CSN;

Implement a “warm transfer” protocol to help callers where practical. If a hotline representative identifies another agency or resource needed to advise or assist the caller, the caller should be kept on the telephone line, if practical, as the hotline representative transfers the call to an outside agency or resource willing and able to help the caller. Hotline representatives, where practical, should not disconnect with the caller until they confirm that the outside agency or resource is on the telephone line and willing and able to help or advise the caller on additional resources as needed.

3) Marketing, Presentation Materials and Outreach: The prospective contractor should expect to develop, maintain, and continuously update a marketing strategy for the Hotline that incorporates the existing telephone line (833-FRAUD-11; 833-372-8311), webpage content, media assets, marketing materials and images (where applicable) and use language that is easy to understand and age appropriate. The prospective contractor would make information available for periodic use in presentations, webinars and instructional materials to better inform and assist victims, victim assistance professionals, policy makers and key stakeholders about the hotline services. In support of this effort, the prospective contractor would:

Develop, submit for approval, and produce marketing material, public service announcements, outreach materials, webinar slide presentation materials and media assets;

Deliver presentations focused on increasing awareness of the National Elder Fraud Hotline services, and safeguarding against financial fraud; and, Ensure that materials are ADA Section 508 compliant, and developed in both English and Spanish.

Material must be grammatically correct with no spelling or punctuation errors, and not overly complex to be beyond the grasp of the intended audience.

4) Resource Data and Database: The prospective contractor would maintain victim resource materials and keep all resources current. The prospective contractor would ensure that non-personally identifiable data is collected, maintained, and available for analysis in determining trends, messaging, marketing/outreach, and in coordination with federal and key stakeholders. Data is expected to be tracked and reported weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, and on an ad hoc basis.

5) Monitoring: The prospective contractor would develop standards to monitor the effectiveness of the Hotline with respect to:

Providing timely response to callers during operating hours of Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. through

6:00 p.m. eastern time;

Providing non-legal advice and trauma-informed/victim-centered assistance to callers;

Assisting callers with populating the IC3 and CSN Complaint Referral Forms, and completing the forms, as requested by the caller;

Providing callers with a warm transfer to local/state/federal service providers;

Implementing a marketing and awareness campaign to raise awareness about the Hotline; and, Developing and implementing a protocol to follow-up with older victims of financial fraud/exploitation regarding satisfaction of service assistance/referral.

The prospective contractor would implement procedures to increase the effectiveness of these activities based on analysis of the first set of reported standards. The standards and procedures would be developed in consultation with and after receiving final approval from OVC. Such monitoring and improvement efforts would be repeated on a quarterly basis and the prospective contractor would provide a quarterly report on such actions.

6) Confidentiality: The prospective contractor should expect to work with OVC/OJP to develop/update procedures that ensure all measures are taken to protect victims’ confidentiality.

Respondents to this RFI shall provide the following information:

a) Vendor background summary including, contractor name, address, DUNS, point of contact information, email, phone, website address, small business designation, and any GSA schedule number.

b) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort, with appropriate documentation supporting claims of organizational and staff capability. If subcontracting or teaming is anticipated in order to deliver technical capability, organizations should address the administrative and management structure of such arrangements.

c) Past Performance - Provide a list of previous contracts where similar services were provided. Provide customer/Government Agency contact information where these services were provided including:

contact name and organization, telephone number, and email address.

The Government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to provide services consistent in scope with what is described in this notice and otherwise anticipated.

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. Interested vendors should monitor a government point of entry site for further information.

Submission Instructions: Interested small business vendors who consider themselves qualified to perform the above-listed services are invited to submit a response to this RFI Notice by Friday, March 25, 2022 at 1:00PM Eastern Time. All responses under this RFI Notice must be emailed to debashis.nag@usdoj.gov.