Sources Sought Synopsis.pdf

World Trade Center Health Program Sources Sought

CDC WORLD TRADE CENTER

(WTC) HEALTH PROGRAM

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

SOURCES SOUGHT

13 January 2025

RESPONSE DUE DATE:

03 February 2025

WTC HEALTH PROGRAM

The World Trade Center Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Title: CDC World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program Outreach and Education

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 10, the following Notice is issued for Market Research purposes only. This Notice does not constitute a Request for Proposal or a commitment to issue a Request for Proposal. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is not soliciting or accepting offers at this time. Information received in response to this notice will not be evaluated or considered by the Government as an offer. HHS is not responsible for any administrative cost incurred by respondents for answering to this announcement.

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE:

Sources Sought Synopsis Only

This sources sought synopsis 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 sources sought synopsis does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service.

The Government is not at this time seeking proposals. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations.

The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding the availability and capability of qualified sources to perform a potential requirement. The sources sought respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or costs incurred in response to this sources sought; all costs associated with responding to this sources sought will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this sources sought does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be issued via SAM.gov. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement, if any.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

1.0 Background

On January 2, 2011, the President signed Public Law No. 111-347, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (Zadroga Act). Title I of the Zadroga Act amended the Public Health Service Act to add Title XXXIII establishing the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, referred to herein as “the Program,” within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Zadroga Act was amended in 2015 by Public Law No. 114-113 to provide authority and funding and for the Program to continue through 2090 and further amended in 2019-2024 by Public Law No. 116-59, Public Law No. 117-328, and Public Law No. 118-31, codified at 42 U.S.C. 300mm-

The World Trade Center Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 300mm-64.1 In addition to the statutory requirements for the Program codified in 42 U.S.C. §§ 300mm – 300mm-64, the Administrator of the WTC Health Program has also promulgated regulations governing the administration of the Program at 42 C.F.R. pt. 88. As of September 30, 2024, the Program had enrolled 137,595 members, including 89,577 Responders and 48,018 Survivors.2

The Program is a limited health benefit program, meaning that treatment is only available for specific covered health condition(s) for which exposure to airborne toxins, any other hazard, or any other adverse condition resulting from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has been determined to be substantially likely to be a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to, or causing the illness or health condition in an individual member. The Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a component of HHS, and provides medical monitoring and treatment for Program members.

Members comprise responders to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City (NYC), responders at the Pentagon, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania (PA), and survivors in the NYC disaster area. To receive treatment for a specific health condition, members must be both enrolled in the Program and have their health condition certified as WTC-related by the Program. Only certain health conditions established by statute and through rulemaking by the Program qualify for coverage, and the Program is therefore a limited benefit plan. Both Program enrollment and certification decisions are made by Program enrollment and certification specialists within NIOSH. The Zadroga Act establishes responsibilities associated with the administration and performance needed to enroll, initially evaluate, medically monitor, manage treatment, and reimburse services for covered health conditions. The Program contracts with vendors to carry out specific Program functions and operations of the limited benefit plan.

Monitoring and treatment are administered to members residing in the New York metropolitan area (NYMA), as defined in 42 C.F.R. 88.1, by Clinical Centers of Excellence (CCEs), and to members residing outside of the NYMA through the Nationwide Provider Network (NPN) Contractor; the CCEs and NPN are administered under separate contracts in support of the Program. The Government also contracts with a Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) to administer prescription benefits in the Program. In addition to these contracts, the Government also contracts with a Third-Party Administrator (TPA) that receives and processes enrollment and certification applications for NIOSH decision-making, maintains member demographic information, manages a call center, manages and maintains provider network(s) on behalf of the Program, administers Program benefits, and processes medical claims.

To be eligible for the WTC Health Program, applicants must qualify as either responders or survivors. Responders include rescue, recovery, and clean-up workers and volunteers in lower

1 The Zadroga Act, as amended, can be found at:

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter6A/subchapter31&edition=prelim.

2 Current Program statistics and reports can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/ataglance.html#enrollmentWTC.

3 Regulatory definitions can be found at Member Handbook - WTC Health Program https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim%40title42/chapter6A/subchapter31&edition=prelim https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/ataglance.html#enrollmentWTC https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/handbook.html#overview

The World Trade Center Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Manhattan, at the Pentagon, and at the crash site near Shanksville, PA. Survivors include persons caught in the dust cloud on 9/11 and/or who worked, lived, or attended school, childcare, or adult daycare in the New York City disaster area. Individuals must meet specific eligibility requirements for enrollment in the Program. These requirements include types of activities performed during specific time periods surrounding the disaster, locations in which these activities were performed, and minimum lengths of time these activities were performed. More details on eligibility criteria are available at https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/eligiblegroups.html.

2.0 Objectives:

Experts estimate that around 400,000 people were impacted by the dust cloud and other adverse effects of the attacks in NYC; Program enrollment is currently only approximately 34 percent of that total. Under §300mm–2 of the Zadroga Act, the WTC Program Administrator shall institute a program that provides education and outreach on the existence and availability of services under the WTC Program.

The Program is committed to ensuring all potentially eligible persons are made aware of the Program and the benefits they may be eligible to receive. Certain populations are underrepresented in the Program and may be unaware of the benefits for which they are eligible, thus creating the need for outreach and education (O&E) activities. The Government seeks outreach services to reach any or all of the following underrepresented populations, in addition to the general population. The proposal may also include additional populations with justification as to why the Contractor believes the population is underrepresented.

Underrepresented Survivors – Examples:

• Spanish-speaking survivors

• Chinese-speaking survivors

• Other identified non-English speaking communities

• Low-income individuals

• Survivors who live outside of the New York metropolitan area

• Young adult survivors (those who were 21 years old or younger at the time of 9/11)

• Residents of Lower Manhattan

Underrepresented Responders – Examples:

• General Responders with a focus on union outreach

• Non-traditional responders (examples include construction workers, volunteers, communication workers, journalists, etc.)

• Spanish-speaking responders

• Other identified non-English speaking responders

• Pentagon/Shanksville responders

3.0 Functional Area Skills and Expertise

The Government seeks Contractor(s) with experience in designing, executing, and managing outreach and education campaigns targeted to various audiences, with proven expertise in https://www.cdc.gov/wtc/eligiblegroups.html

The World Trade Center Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, effectively fostering awareness and trust. The Government seeks Contractor(s) with the ability to conduct all operations with cultural sensitivity, adhering to best practices to ensure respectful engagement with diverse groups.

The Contractor(s) will be responsible for conducting Outreach and Education (O&E) activities to establish and/or increase awareness of, and trust in, the WTC Health Program. O&E activities may be targeted to the general population and/or to specific underrepresented population(s), also known as selected population(s), identified by the Contractor. All operations and interactions conducted in connection with this effort must be conducted with respect and sensitivity, including best practices for cultural sensitivity and awareness, as appropriate.

4.0 Scope of Outreach and Education Activities to be Performed

O&E activities may include, but are not limited to:

1. Promoting overall awareness of and interest in the WTC Health Program within the general and selected population,

2. Educating the general and selected population(s) about Program benefits, eligibility criteria, the application process, and any other relevant information about the Program,

3. Encouraging general and selected populations to apply to enroll in the Program, if eligible, and

4. Providing application assistance to those interested in enrolling as a member into the

Program.

If selected for contract award, Contractor(s) will plan and execute comprehensive outreach strategies that allows for measurement of success. Use of a mixed-method approach is strongly encouraged.

The Government seeks Contractor(s)’ expertise in devising O&E Plans and Approaches with trackable metrics demonstrating success and/or shortcomings of such Approaches.

Examples of potential O&E activities and associated measurements of success are listed below;

other appropriate and culturally sensitive activities may be proposed in the Strategic Outreach Plan (Task 1) and submitted for approval by the Program.

i. Attend in-person events where potentially eligible persons are expected to be in attendance.

Track and report number of attendees reached.

ii. Host in-person outreach events targeting potentially eligible persons that, to the best of the Contractor’s knowledge, were not previously contacted by the WTC Health Program or attended past outreach and education events. Track and report number of novel attendees.

iii. Develop and/or disseminate print and digital marketing materials (fact sheets, matte articles, social posts/videos, etc.) focused on the selected population(s) through appropriate channels or outlets, or in appropriate locations for the selected target population.

The World Trade Center Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,

iv. Develop, promote, and place (paid and donated) Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on relevant radio, television, print, or digital/social channels in the relevant language for the selected population(s). Track and report pitches, outlets, successful placements, airtimes, etc.

v. Distribute O&E materials at appropriate and relevant locations that the selected population(s) are expected to visit. Track and report number of materials dropped off. If possible, track any follow-up contact resulting from these materials.

vi. Social media post/paid ads campaigns. Track and report social media post metrics

Other potential metrics for measuring success include, but are not limited to:

1. Attendance/contact made at events and other outreach activities.

2. Conversion rate from initial contact to engagement, such as attendee requests for application support or follow-up, attendees sharing their contact details for vendor follow-up, and confirmation that incoming calls following events are from event attendees.

3. Count of Program-related materials distributed at outreach events.

4. Digital and print metrics including website visits, impressions, reach, click-throughs, placements, and circulation numbers.

The above is not intended to be an exhaustive list of acceptable Activities or Metrics to be implemented or utilized by Contractor(s) under this requirement. A more detailed description of the requirement can be found in the attached “Draft Performance Work Statement”. The Government encourages Contractor innovation in developing Outreach & Education activities, specifically when targeting underrepresented populations with the goal of increasing awareness of and enrollment in the Program.

CONTRACTOR’S CAPABILITIES STATEMENT AND CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Parties interested in performing the services as described shall submit a Capability Statement detailing Contractor(s)’ expertise and experience in devising O&E Plans and Approaches with trackable metrics demonstrating success and/or shortcomings of such Approaches. Contractor shall detail relevant past experience implementing O&E activities targeting specified populations and shall describe measurements of success. Contractor shall describe staffing and other resources available for use in future O&E activities.

To be deemed capable of providing the required services, interested parties must demonstrate to the Government’s satisfaction that 1) they possess the knowledge, skills, and expertise to effectively reach target population(s); 2) they have demonstrated success in past O&E activities and campaigns, measured by the ability to track and act upon relevant metrics and measurements of success; and 3) have sufficient resources, staffing and otherwise, to develop and implement a strategic O&E plan able to reach the target population(s).

RESPONSES:

Interested parties believing that they possess the expertise and experience to meet the Government's needs described above are invited to submit a Capability Statement as described herein.

Interested parties shall include the following information in their response:

Responders shall identify the underrepresented population(s) they are interested in targeting. Contractors may respond to more than one underrepresented target group, but shall include separate technical approach, demonstrated experience, and staffing resource submission for each identified group. Target group submissions may be submitted separately and should each be subject to separate 10 page limit. If multiple target groups are submitted under one submission, then it shall be subject to the 10 page limitation.

Responders shall also include:

1. Company name, address, phone number;

2. UEI and CAGE Code as registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at http://www.betaSam.gov/

3. Business size and Classification (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code of

813319 - Other Social Advocacy Organizations.

4. Contracts, and information about any available Federal contracts/schedules, GWACs, Interagency

Agreements, etc. that may be used to acquire your products or services.

5. Small Business Administration Business Opportunity Specialist (name, email address, phone number) if applicable.

6. Point(s) of contact including e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for contacts.

SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION:

Responses are due via email on or before 03 February 2025, 4:00PM Eastern Time to Joseph Jones, email address: zjb2@cdc.gov. Only emailed responses will be accepted.

Copy and paste into subject line: Response to Sources Sought for 2025 World Trade Center Health Program Outreach and Education for (insert your company name).

Responses are limited to 10 pages, 12pt Times New Roman font. Responses greater than 10 one-sided pages will not be considered.

Late responses will not be accepted.

Questions may be submitted by email no later than 20 January 2025, 4:00PM EST.

Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in the response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).

The World Trade Center Health Program is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mailto:zjb2@cdc.gov