source_sought_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

Request for Information/Sources Sought

Title: Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Community Services (OCS) Division of Community Discretionary and Demonstration Programs (DCDDP) Capacity Building for Discretionary and Demonstration Programs (D

Issue Date: January 6, 2026

Response Due Date: January 13, 2026 @ 12:00 PM, Eastern Time

Issued by: This Request for Information (RFI) is being issued by the Department of the Interior (DOI), Acquisition Services, Directorate (AQD), Interior Business Center (IBC), on behalf of ACF OCS

I. Introduction

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE. NO SOLICITATION IS AVAILABLE AT

THIS TIME. The purpose of this Sources Sought Notice is to identify potential sources capable of performing the effort described herein pursuant to FAR Part 10, Market Research. This is for planning purposes only.

Any information submitted by respondents to this Source Sought Notice is voluntary.

The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. Neither unsolicited proposals nor any other kinds of offers will be considered in response to this RFI. Respondents should not construe this notice as a commitment by the Government.

If the vendor believes that their response contains trade secrets or confidential commercial or financial information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, (5 U.S.C. 552), the cover page of their response shall be marked with the following legend:

The information specifically identified on pages ____________ of this response constitutes trade secrets or confidential commercial and financial information which the vendor believes to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The offeror requests that this information not be disclosed to the public, except as may be required by law. The vendor also requests that this information not be used in whole or part by the government for any purpose other than market research.

II. Sources Sought Objective:

The goal of this Sources Sought is to assess the competitive environment.

III. Attachments

Attachment A PWS Draft

IV. Funds:

This is a Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) acquisition.

V. Submission Requirements:

Please provide a brief response of no more than 10 pages to the Contracting Officer, answering the following questions:

1. Please provide your business name, point of contact with phone number and email address, unique entity identifier (UEI), and small business type if any.

2. What portion of the work outlined in the Draft PWS (Attachment A) would your firm anticipate subcontracting? Please identify specific tasks or functional areas and provide rationale for subcontracting those elements.

3. Are there any concerns, ambiguities, or potential challenges in the Draft PWS that the Government should be aware of? Additionally, are there any sections you would recommend revising? If so, please specify the section(s), proposed changes, and justification.

4. Please describe your organization’s experience and capabilities in delivering Capacity Building services for Discretionary and Demonstration Programs. Include examples of similar past or current projects.

5. Describe your corporate capabilities as they relate to conducting an evaluation and assessment of protocols, procedures, and processes involved in providing Capacity Building for Discretionary and Demonstration Programs of the size and scope detailed in the Draft PWS (Attachment A).

6. Describe your organization’s capabilities in evaluating and assessing protocols, procedures, and processes related to Capacity Building efforts of similar size and scope as described in the Draft PWS.

7. Describe your company/business unit’s capability, experience, and methodology for properly staffing the Capacity Building for Discretionary and Demonstration Programs’ requirement similar in size, scope, and complexity as referenced in the Draft PWS (Attachment A) including subcontractors, and small businesses.

8. Outline your company’s methodology and approach for delivering services and products of similar size and complexity as those described in the Draft PWS.

9. What specific information or details would your organization need included in a future Request for Quote (RFQ) to prepare a complete and competitive response?

10. What, if any, risks or other factors does your company foresee that may deter your company from submitting a quote on this requirement?

11. What innovative approaches, tools, or best practices does your organization use to enhance capacity building efforts for discretionary and demonstration programs? How have these contributed to measurable outcomes?

12. How does your organization ensure scalability and flexibility in delivering services to diverse grantee populations with varying levels of capacity and technical needs?

13. What technologies or platforms does your organization use to support capacity building (e.g., learning management systems, virtual collaboration tools, data dashboards)? How do these tools enhance service delivery?

14. If awarded a contract, what would your approach be to onboarding, transitioning from a prior contractor (if applicable), and initiating services efficiently?

15. Please provide any other feedback or questions you may have related to the proposed acquisition strategy and the Draft PWS (specify Draft PWS section number).

Please email your response to the Contracting Officer, Ms. Ali Tsybulevsky, at Alexandra_tsybulevsky@ibc.doi.gov, no later than January 13, 2026 @ 12:00 PM, Eastern Time. Responses submitted by any other method will not be accepted or answered.

Please ensure that your e-mail response has “ACF OCS Capacity Building” in the subject line. The Contracting Officer will respond via email to confirm receipt of the vendor’s RFI response. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within one business day, please notify the Contracting Officer listed to ensure successful delivery.

ATTACHMENT A PWS DRAFT

Administration for Children and Families

Office of Community Services (OCS)

Division of Community Discretionary and Demonstration Programs (DCDDP)

Capacity Building for Discretionary and Demonstration Programs

7/22/2025

1.0 General

The purpose of this requirement is to procure a wide range of logistical and administrative services to support the capacity building of discretionary and demonstration grant recipients for the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Community Services (OCS). OCS partners with states, communities, and agencies to eliminate causes of poverty, increase self-sufficiency of individuals and families and revitalize communities. OCS’s social service and community development programs work in a variety of ways to improve the lives of many.

1.1 Description of Services:

The contractor must provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, information technology support, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform Technical Assistance and Training, Data Analytics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Communication and Outreach, Conference Management and Logistical Support, Innovation and Technology as defined in this Performance Work Statement, except for those items specified as government furnished property and services. The contractor must perform to the standards in this requirement.

1.2 Program Description and Background:

A. The Office of Community Services (OCS) is a program office within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which is an Operating Division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The overall mission, goals and objectives of the Office of Community Services are as follows:

(1) Mission:

OCS advises the Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, on matters relating to community programs to promote economic self-sufficiency.

OCS is responsible for administering programs that serve low-income individuals and address the overall goal of economic security for individuals and families with low incomes and community improvement for distressed neighborhoods. OCS administers the Community Services Block Grant, Social Services Block Grant, and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Block Grant. OCS also administers a variety of discretionary grant programs that foster family stability, economic security, responsibility and self-support, promote and provide services to individuals experiencing homelessness and individuals with low income and develop new and innovative approaches to reduce the need for public assistance, including Community Economic Development and the Rural Community Development programs.

Additionally, OCS administers a variety of federal demonstration grant programs funded out of the Social Service Research and Demonstration appropriation. The purpose of these programs is to evaluate new program models while strengthening and expanding the capacity of grant recipients to provide supportive services to individuals, families, and communities. Demonstration programs housed in OCS includes the Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration (AHSSD), the Diaper Distribution Demonstration and Research Pilot, the Medical-Legal Partnerships Plus (MLP+) Program, and future programs as appropriated.

B. The Division of Community Discretionary and Demonstration Programs (DCDDP) which is part of OCS, administers grant programs such as Community Economic Development (CED) Program and the Rural Community Development (RCD) Program.

a. CED program funds are awarded to support the development of employment and business opportunities for people with low-incomes and revitalize distressed communities by engaging public-private partnerships.

Projects may include business start-ups, business expansions, development of new products and services, and other newly undertaken physical and commercial activities.

Projects must result in creation of new jobs for individuals with low incomes.

The opportunities must aim to improve the quality of the economic and social environment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients;

residents with low incomes including displaced workers; individuals transitioning from the prison system into the community; at-risk youth; non-custodial parents, particularly those of children receiving TANF assistance;

individuals residing in public housing; individuals who are homeless; and individuals with disabilities.

b. RCD program funds provide training and technical assistance to small rural communities with low incomes in developing and managing affordable, safe, water and wastewater treatment facilities.

Project activities include improving coordination among Federal, state, and local agencies in water and wastewater management and providing assistance in obtaining funding for construction, upgrade, and repair of facilities.

This program is administered regionally and enables these communities to comply with the requirements of the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

c. AHSSD improves self-sufficiency, economic mobility, and housing stability for residents of affordable housing communities.

Project activities include provision of supportive services and service coordination to residents; assessing community needs and implementing strategies to increase access to services; supporting federal reporting and evaluation efforts.

Eligible applicants include CSBG-funded community action agencies and tribes that own affordable housing communities, enabling the program to leverage existing community infrastructure for social service provision to strengthen services for residents of affordable housing communities.

d. DDDRP addresses diaper need for families with low incomes by providing a regular supply of diapers and diapering supplies as well as connections to wraparound supportive services that address the root causes of diaper need and poverty.

Commented [A1]: AHSD and MLP may be removed

Commented [A2]: This may be removed.

Project activities include strengthening and expanding existing diaper distribution networks and facilitating the distribution of diapers and connections to wraparound referral services on a regional or state-wide basis.

e. MLP+ addresses the health-harming social and legal needs of families and children with low-incomes with a multi-disciplinary approach coordinated between medical, legal, and social service providers.

Project activities include the strengthening and expansion of social and legal services provided to families and children with low-incomes served by medical-legal partnerships; the integration of social service navigators into MLP service provision; and supporting federal reporting and evaluation activities.

1.3 Objectives:

To provide financial resources through discretionary and demonstration grant initiatives for planning, coordination, management, provision of services and physical renovation.

To provide training, technical assistance and related instructional materials to support planning, program development, resource identification and coordination as well as the deployment and management of economic development efforts and social service support activities.

To leverage Federal, state, and local resources through inter-agency agreements and public/private partnerships; and

To disseminate information regarding the results and effectiveness of the discretionary and demonstration grant activities.

1.4 Scope:

The scope of work for this requirement is for a Contractor to provide capacity building services and support to DCDDP in the administration of the discretionary and demonstration grant programs, to include the following:

A. Capacity Building Plan

B. Program/Project-Management

C. Capacity Building, Research, Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) and Program Support Services

D. Expand Internal and External Communications Capacity

E. Policy Development Support

1.5 Attachments:

Attachment 1 Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP)

2. Tasks

2.1 Capacity Building Program Plan

A. The contractor must develop a detailed Capacity Building Program Plan addressing the needs of DCDDP’s grant programs. The plan must describe the contractor’s technical approach, timeline, and organizational resources. The plan must also describe management controls on how the contractor must implement specific plans to meet the cost, performance, and schedule requirements for this effort. The plan must include

Commented [A3]: This may be removed.

clear performance goals and strategies for measuring performance and recommended activities that reflect the needs of these recipients and OCS’ management of these recipients. It must address for each type of the capacity building and technical assistance described under Task 2.3.

B. The contractor must deliver initial drafts of the Capacity Building Program Plan to the Project Manager (PM) or Contracting Officer Representative (COR) by the end of the third week after the Kick-Off meeting. It must finalize the initial plans by the end of the sixth week following the Kick-Off meeting.

C. After the PM or COR has approved the Capacity Building Program Plan, the contractor must neither modify it nor implement activities not in the plan without prior written approval of the PM or COR.

D. In addition to the Capacity Building, Training, and Technical Assistance Plan, the contractor must work with OCS staff to prepare and use a Quality Assurance Plan as a tool for managing the overall project.

2.1.2 Capacity Building Project Management Meetings/Ad Hoc Meetings

The Contractor must host and/or participate in meetings as directed by the PM or COR.

The Contractor must prepare and track meeting agendas, minutes, notes, issues, and action items.

The Contractor must prepare and provide the ACF PM or COR with the meeting minutes of all status meetings. The Contractor must prepare and provide other meetings minutes related to this requirement. Minutes must be of sufficient detail to accurately document meeting data and location, attendees, meeting purpose, items discussed, issues, decisions made and action items.

2.1.3 Reporting

1. Monthly Reports

The contractor must provide monthly reports to ensure that the PM or COR and other OCS staff are fully informed about project activities. For each functional area, the monthly reports must include:

Detailed information on progress in meeting goals and objectives;

Highlights of tasks and activities competed;

Issues or obstacles impeding progress, with recommended solutions;

Status of deliverables/milestones, with recommendations for schedule adjustments;

Plans for the next month and quarter;

Using a spreadsheet, financial details should include:

o Labor hours used compared with that originally planned, including a breakdown by labor category and name;

o Actual costs for the reporting period;

o Actual total costs to date;

o Estimated cost at completion;

o Task/cost variances;

o Complete-detailed cost for each activity/event (e.g., annual conferences, recipient visits, trainings, etc.); and o Other Direct Cost costs.

2. Final Report

The final monthly report must also provide a review of overall accomplishments, issues and barriers, and detailed recommendations for next step activities. If applicable, these recommendations will also address how they will impact the budget of the project.

3. Other Reports

As specified, the Contractor must provide other reports including but not limited to reports on lessons learned following the completion of milestones, summaries and assessments of grant recipient performance progress reports, summaries of interviews with grant recipients and beneficiaries, transcription reports, and reports on data collections.

2.1.4 Quality Control Plan (QCP)

As tasked, the Contractor must develop and maintain an effective quality control plan to ensure services are performed in accordance with this requirement. The Contractor must develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The Contractor’s quality control plan must describe how the work complies with the requirements of the contract. The Contractor must submit the initial QCP four (4) weeks after the kick-off meeting and any updates six (6) weeks after kick-off meeting. After acceptance of the quality control plan the Contractor must receive the COR acceptance in writing of any proposed change.

The Contractor's QCP must set forth the staffing and procedures for self-inspecting the quality, timeliness, responsiveness, customer satisfaction, and other performance requirements.

In reference to the reporting activities, the PM or COR will monitor performance and review reports, furnished by the Contractor to determine how the Contractor is performing. The Contractor must be responsible for making required changes in processes and practices to ensure performance is managed effectively.

2.2. Kick off and Planning Meeting

A. The contractor must participate in a project kick-off meeting to be convened by OCS within ten days of contract award. Participants will include OCS staff and relevant representatives of the contractor organization. The meeting will be a forum for commencing communication between OCS and the contractor, introducing key personnel, and establishing communication and project ground rules.

B. No fewer than five business days before the meeting, the contractor must submit a briefing memo to the PM or COR that provides suggested agenda items, discussion topics, and issues to be covered at the meeting. The contractor must also provide copies of all exhibits and other materials to be presented at the meeting.

C. Following the meeting, the contractor must develop a memorandum that reviews major issues discussed at the meeting, all decisions made, any open issues, and all other relevant information. The memorandum must be submitted to the PM or COR for review and approval no later than one week after the meeting date.

D. Contractor must establish a schedule to meet with DCDDP no less than bi-weekly to provide updates and progress of task activities.

2.3. Capacity Building, Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA), and Program Support

A. The Contractor must support OCS in providing technical assistance to DCDDP recipients to encourage sustainable and lasting projects that create jobs in low income and disinvested neighborhoods. The Contractor must assist OCS in developing a comprehensive delivery system that provides DCDDP recipients with appropriate knowledge, capacity building, and training and technical assistance tools, through a variety of approaches including, but not limited to, webinar series, conference calls, video, audio, and print resources for teaching, as appropriate. The Capacity Building Program Plan developed for Task 2.1 must include a clear strategy, timeline, as well as expected outcomes for developing and implementing the overall approach.

The Contractor must provide a team of knowledgeable and well-qualified staff either assigned on-site at OCS offices or working from the contractor’s location. The Contractor must use a variety of strategies for providing assistance needed depending on the recipient’s particular needs. The strategies and formats must include items developed or suggested by the Contractor and approved by the PM or COR. Contractor must provide Senior Technical Advisor on an ad hoc basis in the following topic areas:

Community economic development – knowledge and expertise in business planning and implementation, job creation, physical and staffing infrastructure and development, construction

Rural community development – knowledge and expertise in unique issues and challenges associated with the delivery of water and wastewater services in small, rural, and unincorporated communities, familiarity with water and wastewater infrastructure, knowledge of training and technical assistance around water and wastewater service delivery

As DCDDP often receives funding to administer new federal programs, contractor must demonstrate capacity to solicit and hire additional Senior Technical Advisors throughout the contract period to adequately support any new programs

B. The Contractor must provide two (2) analysts to occupy office space within the OCS Headquarter offices in Washington, DC. For planning purposes, one analyst will provide administrative and programmatic support to OCS leadership and management team and other team members as appropriate by coordinating activities, events, reviewing and editing high-level documents prior to leaving the office and work directly with other staff members when necessary. The other analyst will manage an assigned caseload of up to 40 recipient projects, that provide oversight over the grant projects.

C. DCDDP Program Capacity Building: The contractor must support program data collection and analysis in order to strengthen program and project effectiveness:

1. The Contractor must assist OCS with obtaining approval for Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) clearances relating to data collection.

2. The contractor must assist OCS in supporting recipients’ project reporting by providing technical assistance with various tools and systems required for recipient interaction, such as: the Performance Progress Report (PPR), the Data Collection Tool, the On-line Data Collection System (OLDC) and GrantSolutions.

3. The contractor must assist OCS in working with various ACF offices to ensure the systems (listed in 2.3 D.2) meets recipient and program specialist needs.

4. The contractor must conduct webinars and will create and develop resources including training material for current tools and applications to assist recipients in using OLDC and completing and submitting PPRs.

5. The contractor must assist OCS in reviewing and analyzing program progress data to examine program performance and trends.

6. The contractor must prepare and write the annual Reports to Congress and other reports pertaining data collection.

7. For planning purposes and subject to change, the government anticipates the contractor must prepare and conduct a minimum of one (1) survey document for OMB approval.

D. Outreach to Underserved Communities:

The contractor must assist OCS in outreach to underserved communities such as rural, indigenous, and other communities with high rates of unemployment and poverty.

1. Providing educational and research sessions in the form of webinars in an effort to conduct outreach to underserved communities.

2. Collecting information on the barriers to entry and determine ways to increase application submissions from rural and underserved communities.

For planning purpose, the contractor must provide an estimate of five (quantity subject to change) education and research webinars, adapted to specific communities, annually.

E. Training and Technical Assistance Activities for DCDDP:

The contractor must support T & TA recipients.

1. The Contractor must assist OCS staff in the development, coordination and implementation of a comprehensive strategy and delivery system for providing in-depth, high quality, responsive, and timely T&TA for recipients. Technical assistance must be provided virtually or at the contractor’s site..

2. Subject to the COR’s and COI’s approval, the Contractor must provide a team of knowledgeable and well-qualified staff and Senior Technical Advisors consultants to provide Capacity Building and T&TA to meet the needs of DCDDP recipients.

3. The Contractor must develop a T&TA plan and standards for working with the PM or COR, OCS staff, and other contractors OCS identifies as necessary to identify recipients needing assistance; a plan and standards for selecting and matching consultants to recipient technical assistance needs, and for tracking the results of technical assistance. Upon approval of the PM or COR, this plan is to be implemented. In addition, the Contractor must be responsible for arranging logistics for consultants assigned to provide technical assistance and for tracking the selection, engaging and payment of consultants.

4. The Contractor must assist OCS in conducting an annual review of the overall active grants and the progress on each project, after which, the contractor must assist OCS in developing a weighted system to determine which recipient should receive a monitoring visit by a contracting firm identified by OCS.

For planning purpose, The Contractor must operate under the assumption that there will be a total of approximately five to 10 CED recipients identified by OCS that need technical assistance each year. Visits may require up to 2 days virtual or on the contractor’s-site.

F. Capacity Building Activities provided to DCDDP Grant Recipients: OCS seeks to improve the ability of the recipients’ organizational capacity to sustain projects beyond the project period of the grant award.

1. The Contractor must work with the PM or COR and OCS staff to develop and produce a variety of resources in multiple media and formats, such as conference calls, webinars, audio/video training opportunities, on-line learning, web-based resource and program guidance repositories/toolkits, policy documentation, or standard operating procedures as appropriate. These approaches will focus on best practices and technical program guidance to include, but not be limited to, organizational capacity building, fostering partnerships (TANF, public and private sector), building strong boards, governance, organizational sustainability, leveraging funding from various sources, the field of community and economic development, implementing strong job creation approaches, providing wraparound services, Federal funding requirements, and managing and reporting on personal, tangible, and real property.

2. The Contractor must plan, identify topics, secure speakers, execute calls, develop agendas, review and/or prepare scripts and presentations, prepare materials for posting, and other related activities required and/or assigned with approval of the PM or COR. The Contractor must be responsible for drafting documents and preliminary edits to videos. ACF is responsible for publishing these documents on our approved platforms and posting accurate and timely information related to the continued provision of capacity building on OCS pre-approved websites. For planning purposes, the contractor may estimate up to 60 products per year of services to recipients in a combination of onsite staff calls, webinars, and video/on-line opportunities will be required.

3. The Contractor must develop and use effective and accurate materials for providing program information to recipients, such as: issue tip sheets; sample program documents; best practice articles; recipient spotlights, training curriculum and worksheets; and program policy guidance. The Contractor must develop materials that can be easily distributed to any discretionary grant program recipients by posting on the OCS, and other, approved websites and distributed in appropriate formats, including social media. Such assistance must include, but is not limited to, materials development, audio and video recording and editing for a variety of events.

For the purpose of planning, the contractor should plan for up to 24 one-on-one Capacity Building activities for the year (to be conducted virtually or at the contractor’s site)that provide support to building and maintaining the proposed creation of new jobs and hiring of low-income individuals.

2.4 Annual Grant Competitions:

1. At the direction of the COR, the contractor must provide policy and administration support to the programs under DCDDP as appropriated.

2. The contractor must assist in the drafting of Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for the year as directed by PM or COR. For planning purposes up to 3 NOFOs for the year with draft NOFO deliverable due date by December 10th.

3. The contractor must assist with answering questions raised by the public once a NOFO is published.

4. The contractor must provide support in preparations, during, and after the annual panel reviews by:

Developing training materials for selected reviewers, Federal staff, and contract staff;

Facilitating and leading trainings for selected reviewers, Federal staff, and contracted staff

Providing up to five support staff to serve as Panel Managers (PM) who will assist with the review;

Conducting project risk analysis and technical assistance analysis of selected applications in funding range.

2.6 Expand Internal and External Communications Capacity

The Contractor must coordinate and integrate communication approaches and products for DCDDP and align with communications strategy across OCS programs. As tasked, the Contractor must develop, implement, and integrate key messages across a full spectrum of communication products.

For planning purposes and subject to change, the government anticipates a minimum of one annual DCDDP accomplishment report, up to two (2) annual Reports to Congress, a series of 24 focused reports about program outcomes, eight (8) video recordings that highlight the program’s value to communities, and 15-30 other written documents for publishing will be drafted and edited.

Draft and edit public documents, such as congressional reports, blogs, spotlights, and other written briefing papers and multimedia products that tell the importance of the OCS’s program impact in communities. As tasked, the Contractor must draft in coordination with OCS various documents, white papers, and other written briefing papers. Additionally, contractor must support website updates by drafting material for upload by ACF communications. As tasked, contractor must maintain grant contact lists. Contractor must edit and transcribe recordings of meetings for 508 compliant web posting.

The Contractor must:

Ensure all documents and all web content are 508 compliant.

Follow the ACF Editorial Style Guide https://www.acf.hhs.gov/digital-toolbox/content/editorial-style-guide

A. Section 508 Requirements

The Contractor must provide a written Section 508 conformance certification due at the end of the order to the COR, certifying Section 508 compliance of all applicable deliverables, using the VPAT available at (https://www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat). If the Government determines that ICT products and services provided by the Contractor do not conform to the described accessibility standards in the Product Assessment Template, remediation of the products or services to the level of conformance specified in the Contractor's Product Assessment Template will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its own expense

B. References:

Section 508 Standards: https://www.access-board.gov/ict

HHS Policy on Section 508 Compliance and Accessibility of Information and Communications Technology (ICT): https://www.hhs.gov/web/governance/digital-strategy/it-policy-archive/hhs-policy-section-508-compliance-accessibility-information-communications-technology.html

ACF Accessibility (https://connect.acf.hhs.gov/rights-responsibilites/section-508

2.7 Policy Development Support

At the direction of the COR, the contractor must provide policy and administration support to the programs under DCDDP as appropriated.

The contractor must provide policy writing support and provide documentation regarding various issues that impact one or more of the program areas. The contractors will assist in obtaining OMB clearance for pertinent documents. The contractor must provide assistance in creating and distributing marketing materials, and updating the OCS website, for OCS and recipients.

Additionally, the contractor must provide quantitative, as well as qualitative, comparative data collection and analysis for grant project activities for future guidance for improving T &TA. The contractor must conduct a prioritization review to determine risk and provide assessment of CED recipients.

Contractor must comply with requirements pertaining to Safeguarding Information and Information Systems (FIPS)199, Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems. Contractor must protect government information and systems and provide processes that ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

For planning purpose, the contractor should plan to a minimum of three documents for the year requiring OMB clearance and a minimum of 50 marketing, data analysis, and TA tools.

2.8 Transition-Out Plan and Activities

The Contractor must develop and submit a transition-out plan within 90 days prior to the expiration of the contract award. The Contractor's transition plan must be approved by ACF OCIO and must contain a milestone schedule of events and system turnovers. The Contractor must transition systems with no disruption in operational services. The contractor must coordinate with the new contractor and/or Government personnel to transfer knowledge on all pertinent documentation, including leasing, licenses, project management and knowledge bases.

3. Deliverables and Milestones

The Government’s methods and standards for surveillance are specified in the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan and in the table below. The contractor must meet with the COR on a monthly basis to review their progress in completing the requirements stated herein.

Item Milestone/ Deliverable Due Date Format Acceptable Quality Level Method of Govt

Surveillance

2.1 Capacity Building Program

Plan

Draft plan due three weeks after the kick-off meeting.

Final plan due six weeks after Kick-off meeting

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.1.2 Capacity Building Project

Management Meetings/Ad Hoc Meetings

For duration of the contract Combination of telephone, virtual or on-site meetings

On time professional communications and responsiveness with COR, RD, reviewers, and any other attendees.

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.1.3 Reporting Monthly/Final MS Word and other

formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.1.4 Quality Control Plan

(QCP)

Draft plan due four weeks after kick-off meeting and updates due six weeks after kick-off meeting

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.2 Kick Off /Planning

Meeting Briefing Memo

10 days after award and plan no less than 5 days before the kick-off meeting

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.2 Kick Off/Planning Meeting

Follow-on Memo

No later than one week after kickoff meeting

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.3 A Capacity Building, Draft plan due three weeks MS Word and other >95% of deliverables Inspection by

Item Milestone/ Deliverable Due Date Format Acceptable Quality Level Method of Govt

Surveillance

Training, and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Plan after the kick-off meeting.

Final plan due six weeks after Kick-off meeting formats as required submitted timely and without rework required

COR/ACOR

2.3C Program Support On Site at OCS

Ongoing duration of contract N/A Tasks and their subtasks are executed in line with program direction, priorities, and processes stated in PWS.

Minor delays with minimal impact. No more than one legitimate complaint.

Customer complaints, Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.3 D DCDDP Program Capacity

Building

Ongoing duration of contract N/A Tasks and their subtasks are executed in line with program direction, priorities, and processes stated in PWS.

Minor delays with minimal impact. No more than one legitimate complaint

Customer complaints, Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.3 E Outreach to Underserved

Communities

As tasked in Capacity Building Plan

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.3 F 24 Capacity Building

Activities including the T&TA plan

As tasked in Capacity Building Plan

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.3 G Capacity Building

Activities provided to Recipients

As tasked in Capacity Building Plan

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.4 New Grant Competition Up to three per year

Draft NOFO due date

MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without

Inspection by

Item Milestone/ Deliverable Due Date Format Acceptable Quality Level Method of Govt

Surveillance

December 10th rework required

2.5 Expand Internal and

External Communications

As tasked in Capacity Building Plan

As specified by the

COR

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.5A VPAT Last day of period of performance

Template provided in para. 2.6A

100% conformance with Product Assessment Template

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.6 Policy Development

Support

Ongoing - As needed by OCS MS Word and other formats as required

>95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

2.7 Transition-Out Plan and

Activities

Transition-out plan due 90 days prior to the expiration of the contract award.

MS Word >95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

COR/ACOR

3 Weekly Status Meetings with COR

Weekly N/A >95% attendance Inspection by

COR/ACOR

8.5 Contractor Personnel

Roster

Submitted to the COR within 3 days of the effective date of this contract.

MS Excel >95% of deliverables submitted timely and without rework required

Inspection by

4. Logistics

4.1 Period of Performance:

The period of performance includes a six-month base period from September 30, 2025, through March 29, 2026, and a six-month option period from March 30, 2026 through September 29, 2026.

The total period of performance is 12 months.

4.2 Place of Performance: Services will be provided on-site, off-site and/or a combination thereof, depending on program requirements. The anticipated places of performance must be on site, at the Contractor site(s) and sites identified by the COR during performance of this effort. On site staff will not be reimbursed for local travel. The places of performance include, but are not limited to, the Contractor’s office and contractor’s location. ACF on site location: 330 C. Street SW, Washington

DC 20201

4.3 Recognized Holidays:

New Year’s Day Labor Day

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday Columbus Day

President’s Day Veteran’s Day

Memorial Day Thanksgiving Day

Independence Day Christmas Day

Juneteenth

4.4 Hours of Operation and Continuity of Operations:

The contractor must conduct business between the hours of 8:30 pm - 6:00 pm ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays or when the Government facility is closed due to local or national emergencies, administrative closings, or similar Government directed facility closings. During the competition period (section 2.4) the contractor is expected to have a point of contact available over the weekend 9:00 am - 5:00 pm ET for emergencies. The Contractor must at all times maintain an adequate workforce for the uninterrupted performance of all tasks defined within this PWS when the Government facility is not closed for the above reasons.

5. Key Personnel and Qualifications

5.1 Special Qualifications:

The following are the minimum personnel who must be designated as “Key.” The Government does not intend to dictate the composition of the ideal team to perform this work.

5.2 Key Personnel:

Sr. Project Manager-Qualifications:

Five (5) years of experience in Federal block, formula and discretionary grants.

Experienced in overseeing the drafting of technical documents for upper-level management.

Experience in direct management of a minimum of 10 mid to senior level people

(preferred) Master’s degree

(preferred) PMP certified

Commented [A4]: Update this for a base period of Sept.

30-2026 -Sept. 29, 2027.

(preferred) Ability to obtain a U.S. Government Clearance for the purpose of having Federal agency building access.

Sr. Technical Advisor- Qualifications:

Three (3) years’ experience in conducting policy/program research, data analysis, evaluation studies and/or providing technical assistance to clients

At least (1) year experience in a senior management position or the administration of Policy Assessments/Analysis; Program Assessments; Evaluation Design Studies and Data Collection; and/or Performance Measurements.

Technical Assistance/Expertise; Data Analysis.

5.2.1 Substitution of Personnel

The Contractor shall notify the CO and COR prior to making any changes in Personnel.

No changes in Personnel shall be made unless 1) the contractor employee leaves the contractor’s employ; or 2) unless the Contractor can demonstrate that the qualifications of prospective replacement personnel are equal to, or better than the qualifications of the Key Personnel being replaced. All proposed substitutes shall have qualifications equal to, or higher than the qualifications of the person to be replaced. The COR and CO shall be notified in writing of any proposed substitution at least ten workdays (10) in advance of the proposed substitution. Such notification shall include: An explanation of the circumstances necessitating the substitution; A complete resume of the proposed substitute; and any other information requested by the COR and CO to determine whether the Contractor is maintaining the same high quality of personnel that provided the basis for award. The COR will evaluate substitutions and advise the CO of whether the substitute is acceptable. The review of the substitutes shall be performed within 2 workdays and the CO will notify the Contractor of approval or disapproval in writing. All disapprovals will require resubmission of another substitution within ten (10) calendar days by the Contractor.

6. Government Furnished Property

The Contractors shall receive government issued computer devices.

7. Government Furnished Information

The performance of this contract requires contractor employees to have access to an HHS/ACF system or systems. All such employees who do not already possess a current PIV Card acceptable to HHS/ ACF must provide personal background information, undergo a background investigation (NACI or other OPM-required or approved investigation), including an FBI National Criminal History Fingerprint Check, and obtain a PIV Card prior to being permitted access to any such system in performance of this contract.

8. Security Requirements:

8.1 Baseline Security Requirements

1) Applicability. The requirements herein apply whether the entire contract or order (hereafter “contract”), or portion thereof, includes either or both of the following:

a. Access (Physical or Logical) to Government Information: A Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) employee will have or will be given the ability to have, routine physical (entry) or logical (electronic) access to government information as required to perform their work. Access is contingent upon positive adjudication of background check.

b. Operate a Federal System Containing Information: A Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) will operate a federal system and information technology containing data that supports the ACF mission. In addition to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 2.1 definition of “information technology” (IT), the term as used in this section includes computers, ancillary equipment (including imaging peripherals, input, output, and storage devices necessary for security and surveillance), peripheral equipment designed to be controlled by the central processing unit of a computer, software, firmware and similar procedures, services (including support services), and related resources.

2) Safeguarding Information and Information Systems. In accordance with the Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS) 199, Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems, the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must:

a. Protect government information and information systems in order to ensure:

Confidentiality, which means preserving authorized restrictions on access and disclosure, based on the security terms found in this contract, including means for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information.

Integrity, which means guarding against improper information modification or destruction, and ensuring information non-repudiation and authenticity.

Availability, which means ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information.

b. Provide security for any Contractor systems, and information contained therein, connected to an HHS network or operated by the Contractor on behalf of ACF regardless of location.

c. Adopt and implement the policies, procedures, controls, and standards required by the HHS Information Security Program to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of government information and government information systems for which the Contractor is responsible under this contract or to which the Contractor may otherwise have access under this contact.

d. Comply with the Privacy Act requirements and tailor FAR clauses as needed.

3) Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). CUI is defined as “information that laws, regulations, or Government-wide policies require to have safeguarding or dissemination controls, excluding classified information.” The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must comply with Executive Order 13556, Controlled Unclassified Information, (implemented at 3 CFR, part 2002) when handling CUI. 32 C.F.R. 2002.4(aa) As implemented the term “handling” refers to “…any use of CUI, including but not limited to marking, safeguarding, transporting, disseminating, re-using, and disposing of the information.” 81 Fed. Reg. 63323. All sensitive information that has been identified as CUI by a regulation or statute, handled by this solicitation/contract, must be:

a. marked appropriately.

b. disclosed to authorized personnel on a Need-To-Know basis.

c. protected in accordance with NIST SP 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations applicable baseline if handled by a Contractor system operated on behalf of the agency, or NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Information Systems and Organizations if handled by internal Contractor system; and

d. returned to ACF control, destroyed when no longer needed, or held until otherwise directed. Destruction of information and/or data must be accomplished in accordance with NIST SP 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization.

4) Protection of Sensitive Information. For security purposes, information is or may be sensitive because it requires security to protect its confidentiality, integrity, and/or availability. The Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) must protect all government information that is or may be sensitive in accordance with OMB Memorandum M-06-16, Protection of Sensitive Agency Information by securing it with a FIPS 140-2 validated solution.

5) Confidentiality and Nondisclosure of Information. Any information provided to the Contractor (and/or any subcontractor) by ACF or collected by the Contractor on behalf of ACF must be used only for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this contract and must not be disclosed or made known in any manner to any persons except as may be necessary in the performance of the contract. The Contractor assumes responsibility for protection of the confidentiality of Government records and must ensure that all work performed by its employees and subcontractors must be under the supervision of the

Contractor. Each Contractor employee or any of its subcontractors to whom any ACF records may be made available or disclosed must be notified in writing by the Contractor that information disclosed to such employee or subcontractor can be used only for that purpose and to the extent authorized herein.

The confidentiality, integrity, and…