16-Q-0070_PWS_Revised_8-24-2016.docx

SP4703-16-Q-0070 / Interpreter Service

Performance Work Statement

ALS Interpreter Service for DLA Aviation and Forward Locations

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

It is the policy of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), a federal agency, to provide equal employment opportunities for its employees, former employees, as well as applicants for employment with policies and practices in full compliance with the laws and regulations governing equal employment opportunity.

B. BACKGROUND

The DLA Aviation Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Office is responsible for providing reasonable accommodations to its deaf and hard of hearing employees and tenant activities working in various locations on the Defense Supply Center Richmond and DLA Aviation forward locations. Due to the increase in the demand for and the lack of resources necessary for effective, timely interpreting services for the deaf and hard of hearing employees to hearing employees, DLA Aviation has determined that contractor-provided support services for this requirement is in the best interest of the Government.

C. PURPOSE

This requirement is to comply with the policies and laws to provide qualified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting services to deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) employees in a variety of work-related settings. These settings include, but are not limited to, office and job-related issues such as: work group meetings; employee orientations; training; wellness program events; conferences and seminars; employee/manager meetings, to include those regarding performance and/or disciplinary actions; and other employment situations.

D. SCOPE OF WORK

This requirement is to provide interpreter services for D/HH employees and applicants on an as needed basis. Current requirements for services and the primary locations for this contract are at: DLA Aviation: Richmond, Virginia; Huntsville, Alabama; Ogden, Utah; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Additional locations that may have future requirements are: DLA Aviation: Cherry Point, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; North Island, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Warner Robins, Georgia.

E. REQUIREMENTS/TASKS

The Contractor will provide all of the necessary personnel, services, and material needed perform the work set forth in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) including but not limited to all equipment and related materials/office supplies, and administrative support services.

1. The Contractor shall provide interpreting services for scheduled trainings and other appointments as required. Current requirements include but are not limited to:

· Formal training sessions dealing with specialized terminology in the fields of acquisition, human resources, supply, and quality assurance, etc.

· On the job training in specific applications used in the fields of procurement, human resources, supply planning, and quality assurance, etc.

· Other appointments as requested including, but not limited to, job interviews, safety talks, discussions on work procedures, policies or assignments, and disciplinary discussions, team building events, etc.

2. Upon receipt of an interpreting requirement, the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)/Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) or a designated representative will contact the contractor allowing sufficient time to meet the requirements as follows:

· Standard Requests: Standard requests are 3 business days in advance of any single event or 5 business days in advance for a large or long (more than 16 hours interpreting hours) work training session.

· Emergency Requests: Emergency requests are considered as 2 business days or less. At all times the expectation is that the Contractor will make every effort to ensure coverage when possible. Emergency requests will be handled based upon the availability of interpreting services; therefore, there is no penalty to the contractor if coverage cannot be secured on an Emergency Request only.

3. The COR/COTR or a designated representative will provide the following information:

· Type of interpreters required (American Sign Language, Close Vision/Tactile and/or Oral)

· Dates of the event to include daily start and end times

· Event POC of the organization requesting the interpreter (name, telephone number, location).

· The event POC is responsible for ensuring that interpreter(s) are signed-in upon arrival, escorted to the event where the service is needed and ensuring the interpreter(s) is/are escorted to the check-out location, as necessary.

· Name of D/HH employee(s)

· Type of interpreting event

· Length of time for the event

· Location of the interpreting event

· The COTR is responsible to ensure that the interpreter has access to the installation in advance of the event (following location specific base access requirements, providing necessary information to security as needed in advance).

4. The Contractor shall provide at least 3 business days prior notice to the COR/COTR or a designated representative of the interpreter names and any installation access requirements information for the scheduled requirements. In addition, the COR/COTR is responsible for ensuring that the event POC is provided the interpreter name as a double check that the event will occur and that the services are still needed.

5. The COR/COTR or a designated representative that makes the request for services to the contractor is responsible for ensuring the contractor has complete and accurate job information for the interpreter in advance. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring interpreters have complete and accurate job information prior to the time of the requirement/task.

6. The interpreter must contact the COR/COTR or a designated representative upon arrival for assistance with accessing the facility and must arrive approximately 30 minutes before scheduled requirement/task to clear security, where required. A requirement/task will be invoiced for a minimum of 2 hours (industry standard). Additional time for travel and arrival time to clear security will not be reimbursed. Ex. 1 Assignment time: 0900-1000. Invoice will be for 2 hours for the assignment (which may potentially cover interpreter travel time in this case) Ex. 2 Assignment time: 0900-1100. Invoice will be for 2 hours for the assignment (no additional time for travel and arrival time to access the installation).

7. When on site the interpreter must notify the COR/COTR or a designated representative if a requirement/task is canceled or completed early. If this occurs, the COR/COTR or a designated representative reserves the right to reassign the interpreter to another requirement/task as needed for the duration of the assigned time or releases the interpreter early. The interpreters scheduled time cannot be extended without contacting the contractor for approval. If approved by the contractor, the additional time will be reimbursed at the contracted emergency rate however the original time will be paid at the regular rate as scheduled.

8. If the communication mode of the customer (D/HH or Hearing) and the interpreter do not match, the interpreter must be replaced within 24 hours. Determination will be made based on agreement between the Government and the Contractor.

9. Cancellations: If any time requirement/task is cancelled by the Government, the Government is responsible for payment of cancellation fees for any requirement/task cancelled less than 2 business days before the scheduled start of the requirement/task (Standard 2 hour minimum paid for general requests, 4 hour minimum paid for any requirement/task scheduled for 8 hours or more) Ex. 1 Assignment for Friday at 0900-1000 is scheduled/assigned/confirmed. COR/COTR cancels the assignment on the Wednesday prior to the assignment at 1300. Contractor may bill a 2 hour minimum for the last minute cancellation (less than 2 business days).

Ex. 2 A week long training has been scheduled/assigned/confirmed to begin on Monday at 0800. Contractor receives notice that the training with 2 interpreters assigned has cancelled the Thursday prior at 1100. The contractor may invoice for 4 hours for each interpreter assigned for Monday and Tuesday of the training week. This equates to 16 total hours can be invoiced for the cancellation in lieu of the full 80 hours the assignment would have incurred.

10. Scheduling Changes Prior to Assignment: At any time requirement/task could be changed and/or additions made to start and stop time, the Government is responsible for payment of emergency fees for any requirement/task changed/added less than 2 business days before the scheduled start of the requirement/task.

Ex. 1 Assignment is scheduled for Thursday 0900-1100. On Tuesday afternoon the contractor receives notice that the requirement/task has changed to 0800-1000. If the contractor can make the adjustment for an earlier start time, then the invoice would reflect 1 hour of emergency rate/fee (0800-0900) and one hour of regular rate/fee 0900-1000.

11. Monthly Status Report: The Contractor shall document the efforts performed in the completion of each task in a monthly status report due on or before the 5th day of each month and include summary of work accomplished during the reporting period, and recommended changes to include any lessons learned to the COR. A template of the Monthly Status Report shall be provided to the Contractor.

12. All DLA Aviation locations shall submit their requirement/task requests to COR/COTR or designated representative to be submitted to the Contractor. The preferred method of submitting requests and receiving confirmation is one in which there is written documentation. This could be an email trail or a mutually agreed upon system that is capable of producing written documentation. All phone calls need to be documented on a phone log for record as well.

F. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance will be 12-month base period and two 12-month option periods from date of award.

G. HOURS OF PERFORMANCE

DLA operates under a flextime schedule, 6:00 a.m. to 18:30 p.m. Monday through Friday except on government holidays. The hours of performance for this requirement will normally fall between 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with a 30-minute lunch break. However, the Contractor shall make every effort to alter service hours to accommodate government schedules as requested.

Federal Holidays:

· New Year's Day (January 1)

· Martin Luther King's Birthday (Third Monday in January)

· President' Day (Third Monday in February)

· Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

· Independence Day (July 4)

· Labor Day (first Monday in September)

· Columbus Day (Second Monday in October)

· Veteran's Day (November 11)

· Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday in November)

· Christmas Day (December 25)

H. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The primary place of performance will be at Defense Supply Center Richmond located in Richmond, Virginia and DLA Aviation forward locations in Huntsville, Alabama; Ogden, Utah; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Additional locations that may have future requirements are: DLA Aviation: Cherry Point, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; North Island, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Warner Robins, Georgia.

I. TRAVEL

Travel to and from location of required services will not be reimbursed by the Government for this requirement. The Contractor will be responsible for any travel cost incurred during the required services.

J. PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires the provision of qualified interpreters in a variety of settings. The Contractor shall submit copy of the resumes of all interpreters within 5 business days of date of award. Resumes will include knowledge, experience, education, and certifications. Interpreter must meet one of the three categories listed below (in order of preference):

1. Minimum Level of Knowledge and Experience for Nationally Certified Interpreters:

· Minimum of 1 year of professional experience interpreting in formal government training/classroom settings

· Must be proficient in ASL-to-English and English-to-ASL interpreting/transliterating

· Must possess communication skill sets to work in variety of communication modes such as American Sign Language, Contact Sign Language, Signed English, and Oral modes.

· Experience in the fields of acquisition, human resources, supply and quality assurance preferred

National Certifications: Interpreters providing service that possess, at minimum, one certification for the following and maintain their memberships in good standing:

· NAD-RID National Interpreter Certifications (NIC, NIC-Advanced, NIC-Master)

· RID National Interpreter Certification (CI, CT, CSC, MCSC, SC:L)

· NAD National Interpreter Certifications (NAD V)

2. Minimum Level of Knowledge and Experience for Interpreters holding State Certificates or Screenings:

· Minimum of 3 year of professional experience interpreting in formal government training/classroom settings

· Must be proficient in ASL-to-English and English-to-ASL interpreting/transliterating

· Must possess communication skill sets to work in variety of communication modes such as American Sign Language, Contact Sign Language, Signed English, and Oral modes.

· Experience in the fields of acquisition, human resources, supply and quality assurance preferred Certificates or State Screenings: Interpreters who possess, at minimum, one certificate or state screening level and maintain their certificate or state screening level as dictated by the awarding entity and are in good standing:

· Texas BEI (Advanced , Master, Level IV and Level V)

· State Screening Level III, IV or V (State Screening Levels may vary- for approval of level acceptance, documentation of the rating system needs to be provided to ensure quality services).

3. Minimum Level of Knowledge and Experience for Interpreters demonstrating experience and/or education without National/State Credentials:

· Minimum of 10 years of professional experience interpreting in formal government training/classroom settings

· Must be proficient in ASL-to-English and English-to-ASL interpreting/transliterating

· Must possess communication skill sets to work in variety of communication modes such as American Sign Language, Contact Sign Language, Signed English, and Oral modes.

· Experience in the fields of acquisition, human resources, supply and quality assurance preferred Education and/or Experience: An interpreter’s experience and/or education will be considered. Documentation of the interpreter’s experience in the interpreting field, specifically government interpreting is necessary. Primary focus will be on experience in the government setting of interpreting with a minimum of 10 years documented service. Additional consideration will be given for the demonstration of educational achievement in the field of Deafness or ASL - Associates degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or Ph.D.

Verification: The contractor and its affiliates must follow the standards set forth by the Registry of Interpreters for Deaf (RID) and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) and the issuing State Screening Programs. The Contractor must verify each individual interpreter’s current credentialed status in accordance with the awarding entities’ standards. Additionally, interpreters placed based on education or years of experience must have documentation provided to the contractor, who will in turn provide the documentation to the COR/COTR.

K. SECURITY REQUIREMENT

1. Security and Privacy Act Requirement: All service performed relative to the tasking identified in the PWS are unclassified or carry a Privacy Act Classification. System security shall be in accordance with Security Requirements for AIS.

2. Security Investigation Requirement: No classified work will be required. However, the Contractor will be working with sensitive information which is covered by the Privacy Act.

3. Facility Requirement: All contractor personnel or any representative of the contractor entering any government facility or government leased facility shall abide by all security regulations and be subject to security checks. Access to Government facility must be coordinated with the EEO Office point of contact to ensure that any site-specific requirements are met. The Contractor will comply with lawful order of Law Enforcement personnel while on the Government facility. Motor vehicles entering any Government facility shall have a valid state license and vehicle registration. The Contractor employee visiting any Government facility in conjunction with this award shall be subject to the Standards of Conduct applicable to Government employees.

L. INVOICING

Contractor shall invoice no more frequently than MONTHLY. In accordance with DFARS 252.232-7003, invoices must be submitted to the COR through Wide Area Workflow (WAWF). Inaccurate invoices shall be returned to the Vendor within seven (7) days for correction. Additional information regarding WAWF may be found at https://wawf.eb.mil.

M. SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

No Contractor personnel performing sensitive duties will be allowed to commence work on this effort until his or her trustworthiness has been favorably adjudicated. DLA retains the right to request removal of Contractor personnel, regardless of prior clearance or adjudication status, whose actions, while assigned to this contract, clearly conflict with the interest of the government. The reason for removal shall be fully documented in writing by the Contracting Officer. When and if such removal occurs, the Contractor shall within five (5) working days assign qualified personnel to any vacancy(s) thus created.

The Contractor will comply with lawful order of Law Enforcement personnel. Operating a motor vehicle on the Government facility is not a right but a conditional privilege granted by the Government. To retain this privilege, motor vehicles entering Government facilities shall have a valid state license and shall be registered with the Vehicle Registration Office. State license and registration shall be maintained current during the time the vehicle is in use on this installation. Contractor personnel shall return registration decals to the Vehicle Registration Office within 24 hours after termination or completion of work under this contract, when state license is no longer valid, or upon sale of the vehicle.

This PWS may require the Contractor (or any of its subcontractors) to access data and information proprietary to the Government agency or of such a nature that its dissemination or use, other than in performance of this PWS would be adverse to the interest of the Government or others. The Contractor shall not divulge or release data or information developed or obtained in performance of this PWS except to authorize Government personnel or upon written approval of the Contracting Officer. The Contractor will not use, disclose, or reproduce proprietary data which bears a restrictive legend, other than as authorized in the performance of this PWS. The limitations above do not apply to data or information which has been made public by the Government. Further, this provision does not preclude the use of any data independently acquired by the Contractor without such limitations or prohibit an agreement at no cost to the Government between the Contractor and the data owner which provides for greater rights to the Contractor.

Contract personnel visiting any Government facility in conjunction with this contract shall be subject to the Standards of Conduct applicable to Government employees. Site specific regulations regarding access to classified or sensitive materials, computer facility access, issue of security badges, etc. will be provided as required.

All products produced and their associated work papers are to be considered the property of Defense Logistics Agency.

N. QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVEILLANCE

Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP): In fulfillment of this effort, the Contractor shall provide the deliverables identified in Table 1. All deliverables shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) unless otherwise agreed upon. Unless otherwise specified the Government will have a maximum of five (5) working days from the day the draft deliverables is received to review and provide comments back to the Contractor, approve or disapprove the deliverables. The Contractor will have a maximum of five (5) working days from the day comments are received to incorporate all changes and submit the final deliverables to the Government. The days identified in Table 1 are intended to be calendar days unless otherwise specified.

Final inspection and acceptance of all work performed, reports and other deliverables will be performed at the place of delivery by the COTR. The format for the individual deliverables will be determined through consultation between the COR/COTR and the Contractor. Products that reflect the Contractor’s analysis and opinion (e.g. studies or analyses) may be in template format as provided by the COR/COTR. All documents will be provided in either hard copy or electronically as requested by the COR/COTR. Electronic documents will be provided in the appropriate Microsoft Office format (e.g. Word or Excel). If appropriate, the Government may ask that the documents be provided in compressed or PDF format.

Random Monitoring: Random monitoring shall be conducted for the performance and deliverables identified in this PWS, random monitoring shall be performed by the COTR. The COTR will confirm that all deliverables have been received and they meet the requirements described in the PWS. The COTR will conduct random monitoring of the contractor’s performance and report all findings. The COR will use these information as basis for the required monthly COR reports.

1. Performance Requirements Summary

The tasks the Contractor shall perform are defined in Section E Requirements/Tasks.

Additional information about the deliverables produced from the identified tasks is listed in Table 1. The standard set for all tasks is 100% Satisfactory Completion, and 100% COTR Inspection is the surveillance method which will be utilized. This information is detailed in Table 2. The incentive for all tasks will be pursuant to a performance evaluation and payments which is further defined in Section N5.

2. Method of Surveillance

The Government will ensure quality assurance of all tasks with 100% inspections performed by the COTR. During the inspections, the COTR will review for current task completion. More information about the method of surveillance can be found in Table 2.

3. Inspection and Acceptance Criteria

Final inspection and acceptance of all work performed, reports and other deliverables will be performed at the place of delivery by the COTR or designated POC.

4. Surveillance Schedule

Specific surveillance schedules for tasks can be found in Table 2. The surveillance staff has three components:

A) Contracting Officer: The primary function of the Contracting Officer, with regard to the surveillance activity, is to authorize changes to the Performance Work Statement (PWS). The Contracting Officer is responsible for ensuring the completion of all work in accordance with the PWS, and the QASP provided a means to accomplish this. The Contracting Officer will rely on the COR to provide information and recommendations.

B) Contracting Officer’s Representative: The COR’s responsibility is to receive the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative’s reports and findings, make recommendations to the Contractor for improvement or when necessary elevate the concerns to the Contracting Officer to manage or determine changes to the PWS.

C) Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: The COTR’s responsibility is to monitor and inspect, report, and make recommendations to the Contracting Officer’s Representative regarding the quality of Contractor work performed or not performed.

5. Performance Evaluation and Payments Performance measurement progress will be tracked based on the milestone event of the Contractor receiving tasking from the COR/COTR or designated representative. Performance evaluation will be based on the complexity and completion of the tasking. The number of completed actions will be balanced against the quality of the output. Receipt and completion of tasking is tracked through written documentation between the COR/COTR or designated representative and the Contractor point of contact.

Below are the Performance Standards that will be used in evaluating performance on a monthly basis and in determining the amount of the payment owed to the Contractor.

Performance standards and ratings are designed to determine if performance exceeds, meets, or does not meet a given metric and acceptable performance level. Note: The application of these performance ratings or failure of the Government to apply these performance ratings does not waive any of the Government’s rights to damages under this contract. The following ratings shall be used:

Good – Performance meets or exceeds contract requirements in terms of timeliness and quality. COR will make a determination to pay the contract 100% of the invoice amount.

Fair – Performance meets contract requirements with only 1 unfilled requirement/task and does not adversely impact the mission of the Agency. Performance is satisfactory and has been timely. The COR will make a determination to pay the contractor 90% of the invoice amount.

Poor – Performance narrowly meets contract requirements and borders on unacceptability in terms of timeliness and/or quality or performance may have an adverse impact on the mission of the Agency. This equates to 2 unfilled requirements/tasks, marginal quality services, or minor complaints submitted by the customers. The COR will make a determination to pay the contractor 80% of the invoice amount after all corrections have been made.

Unacceptable – Performance has been at a less than acceptable level in terms of timeliness or quality. Possible issues include, but are not limited to: more than 2 unfilled requirements/tasks, low quality services, significant or serious complaints submitted by the customers, or one or more cure notices have been issued. Payment will be withheld pending resolution of cure notice(s). Termination for default or cause may result.

The performance will be rated each month by the COR. These findings will be the basis for the amount paid for that month. The ratings, as described in the table above, will be based on the performance of the contractor on the timeliness and quality of the services provided using the rating scale for each criterion as shown below.

Timeliness

Quality

Performance below the acceptable level specified in Table 2 will result in consideration for termination of the contract.

TABLE 1: DELIVERABLES

Table 1 identifies Deliverables associated with Section E – Requirements/Tasks.

Interpreter Service

TABLE 2: PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS

Table 2 identifies the performance requirements resulting from the tasks defined in Section E – Requirements/Tasks.

Notice of Assigned Interpreter(s)

E4. Requirements/ Tasks

Interpreter Service

E. Requirements/ Tasks

Provide Monthly Status Report

O. CONTRACTOR QUALITY CONTROL PLAN (QCP)

The Contractor shall submit a Quality Control Plan within 5 business days of contract award. This plan shall describe the Contractor’s methodology for compliance with the Deliverables above. The COR will notify the Contractor of concurrence or required modifications to the QCP within 5 business days of receipt. The Contractor shall make appropriate modifications and provide a revised QCP within 3 business days.

P. NON-PERSONAL SERVICES

This contract is a "non-personal services contract" as defined in FAR 37.101. It is, therefore, understood and agreed that the contractor and/or the contractor's employees: (1) shall perform the services specified herein as independent contractors, not as employees of the Government; (2) shall be responsible for their own management and administration of work required and bear sole responsibility for complying with any and all technical, schedule, or financial requirements or constraints attendant to the performance of this contract; (3) shall be free from supervision or control by any Government employee with respect to the manner or method of performance of the services specified; but (4) shall, pursuant to the Government's right and obligation to inspect, accept, or reject the work, comply with such general direction of the Contracting Officer, or the duly authorized representative of the Contracting Officer as is necessary to ensure accomplishment of the contract requirements.

Q. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR) / CONTRACTING OFFICER’S TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE (COTR)

Name of the COR and COTR will be provided at time of award.

R. MISCELLANEOUS

The COR/COTR will act as the technical point of contract for the Government. COTR will initiate all requests and monitor all contractor performance. The COR authority is limited to technical reviews and does not authorize to make contractual decisions. The contractor shall contact the Contract Specialist or Contracting Officer for any contractual matters.