Sources Sought for AFFH Support Services.pdf

SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is issuing this sources sought synopsis as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to support this requirement for nationally available racial residential segregation and integration data. The result of this market research will contribute to determining the method of procurement. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code assigned to this procurement 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services. The size standard for this NAICS is $24.5M. The Product Service Code (PSC) is R410, Support- Professional: Program Evaluation/review/development. The government will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to 1) provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and otherwise anticipated; 2) secure and apply the full range of corporate financial, human capital, and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements; 3) implement a successful project management plan that includes: compliance with program schedules; cost containment; meeting and tracking performance; hiring and retention of personnel and risk mitigation; and 4) provide services under a performance based service acquisition contract.

Based on the responses to this sources sought notice/market research, this requirement may be set-aside for small businesses or procured through full and open competition, and multiple awards may be made. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions.

Background:

On February 9, 2023, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) entitled “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing”. The proposed rule, which builds on and refines HUD’s 2015 rule, would faithfully implement the Fair Housing Act’s statutory mandate that HUD ensures that recipients of its funding affirmatively further fair housing (AFFH). The AFFH mandate requires the agency and its program participants to proactively take meaningful actions to overcome patterns of segregation, promote fair housing choice, eliminate disparities in opportunities, and foster inclusive communities free from discrimination.

The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) has a business need for racial residential segregation and integration data at the census tract, city, county, and core-based statistical area (CBSA) level, over the last four decennial census cycles. The provided racial residential segregation and integration data and metrics should be disseminated in a format accessible to non-technical audiences and support the Department’s jurisdictions in understanding their unique fair housing landscape.

The contractor shall have expert knowledge of geospatial data analysis and development, fair housing, and data visualization methodologies.

General Description of Work:

The Contractor shall provide data to support HUD’s Policy and Legislative Initiatives Division (PLID) in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) to further HUD's implementation of the AFFH mandate. Tasks shown below are detailed in Section 5 of the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS).

• Geospatial Segregation and Integration Data

• Project Management and Support Services

Services required to perform the tasks:

General o Provide built-in fault tolerance to prevent data loss and processing time loss due to partial or full system failures.

o Allow the user to use all aspects of the system over a VPN connection.

o Protect data from change or deletion during the collection and storage processes.

Geospatial Segregation and Integration Data o Demonstrable knowledge in diverse areas of geospatial data analysis, research design, data visualization, and fair housing law.

o Previous experience conducting spatial inequality and segregation research and preparing clearly written methodology documentation, analysis, and result.

o Working knowledge of best practices in data cleaning (including error detection, data validation, and error correction) and ability to apply these principles in the development of large datasets.

Project Management and Support Services o Demonstrated success to facilitating meetings in a "lead" capacity for groups of various sizes and scientific expertise;

o Organized and deadline driven;

o Skilled in written communication

Contemplated report requirements:

Number Name Frequency per Year

Quantity per Year

A001 Draft Project Management Plan Once 1

A002 Final Project Management Plan Once 1 A003 Updated Project Management Plan monthly 12 A004 Weekly Status Report Weekly 52 A005 Data Analysis Report with Results as needed NTE 50

A006 Draft Research Design and Analysis Plan (RDAP) Once NTE 1

A007 Final Research Design and Analysis Plan (RDAP) Once NTE 1

A008 Interim Report Once NTE 1 A009 Draft Final Report Once NTE 1 A010 Final Report Once NTE 1

Contemplated place of performance:

The place of performance shall be at the Contractors facility.

Contemplated period of performance:

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

RESPONSE INFORMATION

THIS IS AN SOURCE SOUGHT ONLY to identify sources that can provide FHEO racial residential segregation and integration data. Interested vendors are those vendors who have interest in providing a response to the sources sought and who can provide a vendor capability statement demonstrating a commercial solution and technical experience for this requirement, including relevant scope in terms of its size, complexity and magnitude to the tasks/activities to be performed under this requirement, particularly, as it pertains to the support services and technical solutions required for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Policy and Legislative Initiatives Division (PLID) in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO). All capable and available firms are encouraged to participate.

Please be advised that generic capability statements are not sufficient for effective review of respondents’ response. It must directly demonstrate the company’s capability, experience, and/or ability to marshal resources to effectively and efficiently perform each of the tasks described above in sufficient level of detail to allow definitive numerical evaluation; and evidence that the contractor can satisfy the minimum requirements listed above in compliance with FAR 52.219- 14 (“Limitations of Subcontracting”). Failure to definitively address the requirement will result in a finding that respondent lacks the capability of performing the work.

Responses to this notice shall be limited to ten pages, and must include:

Company name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone and FAX numbers, website address (if available), and the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a point of contact having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with Government representatives.

Name, title, telephone number, and e-mail addresses of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses.

Business size for NAICS 541611, (size standard $24.5 million or number of employees) and status, if qualified as an 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA), Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA), Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA), and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Vendor Information Pages).

Unique Entity ID, DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number, and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Companies also must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/#1 to be considered as potential sources.

Identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and contract number and SINs that are applicable to this potential requirement are also requested.

If the company has a government approved accounting system, please identify the agency that approved the system.

Please submit copies of any documentation such as letters or certificates to indicate the firm’s status (see item #3, above).

Teaming arrangements are acceptable, and the information required above on the company responding to this announcement, should also be provided for each entity expected to be teammates of the respondent for performance of this work.

To the maximum extent possible, please submit non-proprietary information. Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be properly protected from disclosure. This notice is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, a Request for Proposals, a Solicitation, and a Request for Quotes, or an indication the Government will contract for the items contained in this announcement. This request is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with submission of the information being requested or reimburse expenses incurred to interested parties for responses to this source sought.

Responses to this sources sought will not be returned, nor will there be any ensuing discussions or debriefings of any responses. However, information obtained as a result of this sources sought may be reflected in the subsequent solicitation, and HUD, OCPO may contact one or more respondents for clarifications and to enhance the Government’s understanding. This sources sought is Government market research and may result in revisions in both its https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/#1 requirements and its acquisition strategy based on industry responses. RESPONDENTS MUST SUBMIT CAPABILITY STATEMENT VIA E-MAIL to Maureen Cameron, maureen.v.cameron@hud.gov and Ann Turner, ann.j.turner@hud.gov no later than 1 May 2024 at 2:00pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) for consideration.

mailto:maureen.v.cameron@hud.gov