RFI and Industry Day ISAP-V 6Nov2024.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Alternative to Detention (ATD)

Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) V

1. Request for Information (RFI)

This RFI is for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) V which is an Alternative to Detention (ATD) program that applies to noncitizens released from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody pursuant to an Order of Release on Recognizance (OREC), an Order of Supervision (OSUP), a grant of parole, or a bond. This is a follow-on program.

i. Overview

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provision 52.215-3, this RFI is solely for informational and planning purposes. It does not constitute a request for proposal (RFP), nor does it restrict the government to any specific acquisition strategy. It describes only the currently contemplated scope of services and is subject to change in the final solicitation. By posting this RFI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE hopes to decrease the time to award, thereby delivering capabilities faster, encourage competition by providing interested vendors with an improved understanding of the goals and objectives for this procurement, and increase the likelihood of a successful outcome by refining evaluation techniques to identify the most qualified contractors. This RFI does not commit the government to contract for any supply or service. Further, the government is not seeking proposals at this time and will not accept unsolicited proposals. The government will not reimburse interested sources for any costs incurred in the preparation of a response to this notice and submittals will not be returned to the sender. No award will be made from this RFI. At its discretion, the government may conduct additional exchanges with industry in accordance with FAR 15.201.

ii. Industry Briefing / One-On-One Sessions

As part of the RFI process, the government intends to host a virtual industry briefing via Microsoft Teams on 12/2/2024 from 9:00am to 11:00am Eastern Time (ET). Virtual one-on-one sessions will be scheduled for that afternoon. The objective for hosting this briefing and one-on-one sessions is to further stimulate interest in the ISAP V program and answer questions to assist in preparation of capabilities statements prior to their due date. Any information received from industry as a result of the briefing will be used for market research to include determining if any small business set aside opportunities exist, procurement strategy, and allowing interested companies to network for potential teaming arrangements.

All interested large and small businesses are welcome to attend.

Requests to attend the virtual industry day briefing shall be submitted to nicholas.zdanuk@ice.dhs.gov AND shayla.b.wray@ice.dhs.gov by 11/20/2024 at 9:00 AM ET.

The following information shall be included in your request: company name/address/UEI, Company Size under NAICS 561210, attendee email address, and whether you’d like to request a one-on-one session.

It is anticipated that one-on-one sessions will be scheduled to occur between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM EST on the same day as the briefing. The government may not be able to accommodate all requests for one-on-one sessions due to limited availability. One-on-one sessions are intended to provide potential contractors/subcontractors in the industry with an opportunity to ask questions or provide information that will likely shape the requirement, or the offeror’s understanding of it.

The purpose of these one-on-one sessions are for questions/information directly relate to this specific requirement. ICE will not discuss any other requirements outside of ISAP in these meetings.

An advanced copy of the industry day briefing power point presentation will be emailed to registered attendees as well as a link to join the virtual briefing and requested one-on-one sessions prior to the event.

Following the industry day briefing, the government intends to provide written responses to all non-proprietary questions received.

2. Description

ICE is a federal agency charged with enforcing the nation’s immigration laws in a fair and effective manner. ICE identifies, apprehends, detains, and removes individuals who are amenable to removal from the United States. ICE oversees cases in both a detained and non-detained setting. For the non-detained cases, ICE uses several programs to accomplish the agency mission which includes electronic monitoring, immigration case management, and community services referrals. Through these programs, ICE supports noncitizen compliance with conditions of release, helps ensure attendance at immigration court hearings, and assists noncitizens with obtaining community services as necessary to allow them to successfully participate in their legal proceedings.

ISAP monitoring is a condition of release and not a form of custody. ISAP covers nationwide policy and operational structure for all of ICE’s non-detained programs, including electronic monitoring, case management, and community services referrals. ISAP is designed to increase appearance rates at immigration hearings, increase compliance with release conditions, and increase compliance with final orders of removal issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

Over the past 12 months, ISAP has enrolled over 149,000 participants, with an average of 12,400 noncitizen enrollments monthly. The current ATD program has over 100 sites with over 1,000 contractor employees.

For eligible noncitizens, ICE and program provider staff use a standardized assessment process to determine case management requirements, monitoring level, any potential need for community referrals, and any other case management requirements. ICE and program providers supervise participants utilizing a combination of home visits, office visits, alert response, court tracking, and technology.

3. Purpose and Scope

ICE Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ) is issuing this RFI as a complete program to cover monitoring technology, participant coordination services, and community services:

1) Monitoring Technology: devices that can track participant activities and movements via geolocation, offer identity verification, and offer one- or two-way communications capabilities to assist ICE with ensuring compliance with release requirements and court orders.

2) Participant Coordination Services: physical space allowing for interactive work with participants, including scheduled check-ins. This should include nationwide locations and staffing to meet with participants to provide information on case status, answer questions, input, update, and retrieve participant program records with information such as enrollment, activities and/or violations, case status changes, hearing attendance, and removal outcomes. Participant coordination services should interface with existing ICE systems and case management tools. Participant coordination services include developing reports on program compliance such as immigration court appearance rates, participant statistics, average length in program, average number of hearings, average daily population, significant events, performance measures, and recommendations for program improvements.

3) Community Services: referrals or direct services, covering at a minimum: legal assistance;

psychosocial services; therapeutic services; medical services; food and clothing banks;

housing; public transportation information; parental information; education information; and repatriation and reintegration services. These services are designed to increase participant compliance with immigration obligations through information, stabilization, and support while in the U.S. immigration process. Services will be individualized to each participant’s needs and may range from basic referrals to intensive direct assistance.

Solutions should include but are not limited to:

a. Physical Space Adequate physical office space, particularly outside major metropolitan areas, for interactive engagement with participants and local community service providers, and program information dissemination. Space should be accessible by public transportation where possible.

b. Case Management Vendors will provide a case specialist to participant ratio sufficient to enroll new arrivals and ensure proper case management, monitoring, and reporting activities. Case specialists should:

Work closely with participants both onsite and remotely to ensure they are aware of their immigration and program obligations.

Be conversational in languages other than English and/or competent using interpretive services/language software.

Contact and engage with participants.

Issue and collect monitoring equipment.

Update case management systems.

Track participants’ EOIR and Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) cases and activity and adjust according to hearing schedules/appeal status.

Gather and verify information when participants move from their address of record.

Integrate services with other programs.

c. Data Collection and Analysis

Develop and maintain an integration plan for interfacing with ICE systems including the timely documentation of all case actions (enrollments, transfers, changes, ERO notifications, and terminations).

Provide automated notifications to alert to a specific action needed on a specific date as directed by the ERO case officer.

Provide automated ERO notification when participants miss an appointment or other program requirement.

Provide the ability to automate case actions based upon objective criteria as determined by the government.

Include a data management system to track and monitor the program success.

d. Biometric Verification which enables participant monitoring via smartphone or tablet using biometric facial comparison or other biometric means to establish identity.

e. Application-Based Technology which includes the ability to retrieve geolocation information at pre-set times or during pre-defined activities to confirm location and to easily communicate with ERO, the participant, or the service provider in multiple languages.

May include biometric verification capabilities.

May include a database of community resources and the ability to upload documents.

f. Wearable Device(s) that may be worn on a person’s body (e.g., on an ankle or wrist).

Devices may be non-removeable (i.e., only removeable by ICE or the service provider) or removeable (i.e., removeable by the person during pre-set times).

Devices will have:

Hypoallergenic bands with tamper alert.

Protected proximity sensor.

Secondary/backup method of proximity detection.

Immediate tamper alerting.

Communication ability, with a strong preference for two-way capabilities.

Communication capabilities may include text-based messaging, video conferencing, audio conferencing, or other means in multiple languages.

Search and retrieval ability that can put the device into sleep mode allowing longer run time to find discarded devices.

Modes that can retrieve and report location more frequently for a short duration as needed.

Minimum 24-hour battery life on single charge.

In addition, devices:

Can monitor a participant’s location and movement history using geolocation.

May include biometric verification technology.

Maintain fiberoptic straps.

May include an application-based technology.

Provide flexibility in geolocation collection and reporting frequency.

g. Mobile Devices, including smartphones or tablets that utilize application-based technology for geolocation, biometric verification, and communications capabilities and can receive inbound and outbound calls.

All stored program data associated with this acquisition shall be owned by the government. As such, it shall be made accessible to the government to allow full data transparency, flexibility in performing data analytics, and integration with data from other government programs. The government requires that sharing of program data take place via an application programming interface (API) or multiple APIs. APIs must be integrated with government systems through FedRamp approved platforms for efficiency through unidirectional or bi-directional integration with government platforms like ServiceNow and/or other federal government systems. APIs allow the government to efficiently consume data via a widely recognized standard where the data has been completely abstracted from the technology platform that produces it. In addition, the government requires that sharing of program data take place using techniques that enhance efficiency, such as change data capture (CDC). CDC enhances efficiency of data transfer by providing only incremental updates to program data as opposed to providing all program data each time data is shared.

4. Requested Information

Service providers are requested to respond to this RFI with a capabilities statement describing their approach for partnering with the government to furnish the service requirements described above and provide an estimated service implementation timeline.

Service Providers should address the following, at minimum:

Overview of the services available, their use, and how they can help ICE manage the non-detained population.

Programmatic approach and case management philosophy, including how participants would receive communications and appointment information in a language they understand.

Geographic areas where services could be provided.

Availability of a data management system to track and monitor the program success.

Plans or proposals related to repatriation planning and assistance for individuals subject to a final order of removal.

Also describe:

Expertise and experience working with children, young adults, or families.

Experience conducting and/or coordinating community support services for limited

English proficient (LEP) participants and vulnerable populations.

How does your company distinguish itself from other companies that provide similar services?

What would a transition timeline be to establish services of a similar size and scope?

How much time would you need to transition?

What services do you recommend that address the challenges outlined in this RFI?

Who are your trusted service providers/suppliers?

Do you hold any professional accreditations and if so, please name them and explain what value this would add in addressing the needs as stated above?

What operational bottlenecks do you anticipate while working in partnership with ICE?

Do you have experience in adhering to government IT security requirements?

What is your approach to innovation and how will you introduce new technologies, enhance IT processes, and optimize our business?

What is the most appropriate NAICS code for this acquisition?

What aspects of the SOW are unclear and/or need potential clarification?

What criteria do you believe will be important for the government to consider when evaluating offers?

What information could the government provide that would allow you to provide the most informed offer?

Are there any cost tradeoffs the government should consider?

The government may be planning to do a phased approach in a source selection process to streamline the process as well as reduce proposal costs for prospective offerors. For example, Phase 1 could be an overall evaluation of experience of successfully performing similar services followed by a second phase with written proposals, technical demonstrations, or oral presentations. What evaluation criteria has your company experienced regarding this approach, such as oral presentations, corporate experience interviews, and what was successful and what did you find to be challenges both for the contractors and (from your company’s perspective) the government?

In addition, please provide a rough cost estimate per person, per month, based on the services listed above.

a. Submissions

The capabilities statement and rough cost estimate shall not exceed twenty pages, with a Times New Roman font type and 12-point or greater font size. A coversheet is excluded from the page limitation, shall not exceed two pages, and shall contain at a minimum the following information:

Company contact information to include:

Firm name Primary point(s) of contact with telephone number(s) and email address(es) Firm mailing address and telephone number Firm’s NAICS Code and socio-economic classification UEI number and active System for Award Management (SAM) registration Product service code (PSC) Identify if your company has any pre-existing contract vehicles related to the scope of this requirement and provide the contract number for similar services.

The information provided may be used by the government in developing its acquisition strategy, statement of work/statement of objectives, and/or performance specifications. All proprietary information shall be clearly marked. Any material that is not marked will be considered publicly-releasable. Submission by all qualified interested firms shall be sent via email to:

nicholas.zdanuk@ice.dhs.gov AND shayla.b.wray@ice.dhs.gov

Submissions are due no later than 12:00 PM ET on 12/20/2024. The subject line of the email should read: “RFI: ISAP-V”. Extraneous materials such as brochures will not be considered.

b. Questions

Questions shall be submitted in written form via email to nicholas.zdanuk@ice.dhs.gov AND shayla.b.wray@ice.dhs.gov by 12:00 PM ET on 12/10/2024. Responses to inquiries is at the government’s discretion. Telephone inquiries will not be addressed.

The government reserves the right to hold one-on-one meetings as a result of responses received from this RFI as part of its market research. Meetings may be held with vendors who provide the most relevant or comprehensive responses to the questions posed. In addition, there may be a need to seek further clarification from those respondent(s) identified as capable. This clarification may be requested in the form of brief verbal communication by telephone; written communication; electronic communication; or a request for a presentation of the response. The government reserves the right to seek additional information from those vendors identified with unique solutions that are determined to be beneficial to the government.

Currently no solicitation exists; therefore, PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST A COPY OF THE

SOLICITATION.

5. RFI Attachments

1) Draft Statement of Work (SOW)

2) Draft SOW attachments*

*The omission of Attachment 3 from this publication is intentional.