RFI Inmate Speakers FINAL.pdf

U.S. Department of Justice

Request For Information For Formerly Incarcerated Motivational Speakers Federal Bureau of Prisons

BACKGROUND AND SCOPE

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) is an agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). It consists of 122 institutions throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico, 6 regional offices, a Central Office (headquarters), 2 staff training centers, and 26 Residential Reentry Management offices.

The Bureau is responsible for the custody and care of approximately 181,000 adult Federal offenders. Approximately 84 percent of these inmates are confined in Bureau-operated facilities, while the balance is confined in secure privately-managed or community-based facilities and local jails.

The Reentry Services Division is the Bureau’s “face of reentry” which is comprised of the following branches: Community Reentry Affairs, Chaplaincy Services, Education Services, Women and Special Populations, Psychology Services, and Residential Reentry Management. The branches work with other disciplines, agencies, and organizations to develop programs, resources, and activities designed to facilitate the successful reintegration of inmates into their communities upon release. These branches oversee the delivery of evidence-based programs to the inmate population designed to treat mental health conditions, improve skills, and prepare releasing inmates for successful community reintegration.

PURPOSE

The Bureau is seeking detailed information on individuals who were incarcerated and provide motivational speaking engagements to individuals currently in prison. Information provided by the vendors will be used to further refine the Bureau’s specifications for a potential solicitation/acquisition for individuals to address segments of the inmate population in Federal Bureau of Prisons located nationwide.

Preference includes speakers who served time in Bureau of Prisons facilities, completed evidence-based programs, and are able to address how these programs added value in their own reentry. Motivational Speakers are expected to address their personal reentry challenges and how they overcame them by 1) applying skills learned in prison and/or in other reentry programs; 2) developing a positive, prosocial network of friends and associates; and 3) changing negative attitudes connected with the criminal lifestyle. The motivational speaking engagements should be sufficiently broad in scope to effectively meet the needs of a population of inmates that is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, culture and religion.

The specific questions outlined in this Request for Information shall be answered by vendors in as much detail as possible.

QUESTIONS AND REVIEW

Please be advised that providing responses to these questions will not automatically include responders in the acquisition process should the Bureau determine to continue to establish an acquisition plan.

Questions regarding this RFI must be submitted to Vanessa Jackson, by October 25, 2020.

Questions and answers will be posted as an amendment on beta.sam.gov on or about October 28, 2020. Answers will only be provided through beta.sam.gov and contractors should not anticipate a response from the contract officer. Responses to this RFI shall be emailed in PDF format, no later than 7:00 p.m. (EDT) on 30th day, November, 2020, to Vanessa Jackson, Contracting Officer, at vx5jackson@bop.gov.

This RFI will close on November 30, 2020 AT 7:00 P.M. EST.

This is a Request for Information, please see FAR 52.215-3.

Please provide detail response to Motivational Speakers requirements.

Motivational Speakers Requirements

1. Provide a detailed description of the speaker that would provide services to Bureau inmates. Specifically, approximately how many speakers does your organization have available? In what geographical areas? Would they have served Federal or state sentences (or both)? Approximately how much time post-release would they have?

2. Do your speakers have any specific qualifications, such as a degree or required training?

What qualifications do you look for prior to hiring them for your organization?

3. Inmates have varying levels of attention span and interest in listening to formal presentation. Describe how long your speakers address a group, what their message is, and whether the presentation is interactive.

4. Inmates in the Bureau population represent a diverse range of cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. Describe how your motivational message can reach groups from diverse backgrounds (e.g., having speakers of diverse races and ethnicities; having a motivational message that can reach different racial and ethnic groups).

5. The agency has an interest in increasing the degree to which inmates view its programs as beneficial. Describe how your speakers will use their talks to increase inmate buy-in and voluntary participation in the programs their institutions currently offer (e.g., institution work, educational, substance abuse programs).

mailto:vx5jackson@bop.gov

6. Many inmates have mixed feelings about making positive changes in their lives, and are still deeply connected with prison subcultures engaged in illegal activities. Describe how your speakers will motivate inmates to begin to rethink their involvement in harmful prison subcultures that hold back their rehabilitation.

7. Inmates in the agency have a range of religious backgrounds, and many are not religious at all. Describe how your presentations address (or steer clear of) issues of religion.

8. There are many reentry needs that inmates address in prison in programs, including substance abuse, education, and employment. Describe which of these issues (or other issues) your speakers address in their presentations, and how they are addressed.

9. Your speakers have personal experience making the transition from prison to the community. However, their own experiences may not be the same as the specific group of inmates they are speaking to. What methods will your speakers employ to get feedback from their audience to make sure their presentations are relevant and on target?

10. Inmates in Bureau institutions participate in programs which provide skills that they use after they release to the community. What skills did your presenters learn in prison and how did they use those skills when they released to the community? How do your presenters share this in their motivational message?

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Bureau is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it may be synopsized on the http://beta.sam.gov website. It is the responsibility of the potential offeror to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

What should be included in your responses:

Do submit comments that address the Government’s requirements, assumptions, conditions, or contemplated approaches.

Do submit information and suggestions that may encourage new, different or innovative approaches that would result in direct cost savings to the Government.

Do submit additional technical documentation (white papers, system design, etc.).

What should not be included in your responses:

Do not submit proposals or offers.

Do not submit capability statements or other company marketing materials.

Do not submit requests to be considered for award or to be notified of a future solicitation.

Do not submit requests to be added to a mailing or distribution list.

Do not submit questions or comments not related to this RFI.

Do not respond via telephone.

Please be advised that providing responses to these questions will not automatically include you in the acquisition process for the upcoming solicitation. In addition, this RFI is intended solely for the use to improve communications between potential contractors and the Bureau. If for some reason, the responses are requested by outside parties (i.e. FOIA request), the information is not protected as source selection information (FAR 2.101 and 3.104). If you intend for the information to be exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 4, please indicate this in your response and on each page you want exempt. Furthermore, indicate that your response is proprietary information that may not be used, reproduced, or disclosed to any other parties for any purpose without expressed written permission.

Any information received will become the property of the Government and will not be returned to the submitter. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Each Page must be marked “Proprietary Information” or it can and will be made available to any Freedom of Information Act request. To aid the Bureau, please segregate any proprietary information.

Questionnaire Name of Organization/Corporation:

Corporate Address:

Basic Corporate Information:

TIN and DUNS Numbers:

Point of Contact Name & Title:

Phone Number:

Email Address:

Socio-Economic Category (if known): HUBZone 8(a) Small Business Veteran Owned Small Business Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Women Owned Small Business

North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS), please list all codes:

General Services Administration, Federal Supply Schedule information (if applicable):

Additional Information:

Vendor Capability

Interested and qualified vendors are encouraged to:

1) Send a brief summary of their company's capabilities and expertise

2) Include your company’s point of contact, address, e-mail address, telephone,

3) Include Socio-economic listing (SDVOSB, WOSB, Large, etc.), Tax-ID and DUNS.

All information received in response to this RFI notice that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly.