SPECIAL NOTICE OF INTENT.docx

INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

INTRODUCTION:

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Program Contracting Activity Central (PCAC), intends to issue a sole source contract to Shore Systems and Solutions, LLC, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) for direct program/project management support for the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) Program. The performance period will be for six-months.

BACKGROUND:

This service is specific to one contractor. This service is not available through any other business. VCL requires continued support directly related to work started under a task order against an IDIQ vehicle for direct program and project management expertise as part of the National Clinical Contact Center Modernization (CCCM) initiative. The need for continued direct program management support is required to assist with the impact of the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act (formerly N11 Initiative; referred to in this document as 988), and subsequent steps for growth to meet the needs of Veterans.

In 2020, FCC adopted rules to formally establish 988 as the new national three-digit telephone number for Americans in crisis. The FCC rules require all phone service providers to direct all 988 calls to the existing Lifeline number by July 2022. Facing this incredible, mission critical change, with modernization requirements, full system analysis and recommendations including necessary staffing levels, recruitment challenges, onboarding systems, space concerns, technical issues, etc., VCL has worked aggressively to move forward with the modernization efforts while incorporating the changes and challenges that have presented since 2020 and meet the deadline put forth by the FCC of July 2022. VA is working alongside the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) to implement and activate the 988 expansion. Once activated, the 988 expansion will also grant VA the opportunity to collaborate with the suicide prevention community across the United States.

This initiative is aligned with the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS) program, a nationwide plan to raise awareness about mental health, connect Veterans and others at risk of suicide to federal and local resources.

REQUIREMENTS:

The service requested in this contract is a continuation of the task order project management services to complete the final execution of the Executive Decision Memo that was developed under the original task order and updated as requirements, environment, and COVID related adjustments presented, or inefficiencies were discovered. The Contractor shall provide direct project management support for executive-level analysis, course of action development, implementation planning, facilitating decision making, IPT coordination and documentation, and development of recommendations based on established knowledge and expertise of CCCM. The contract requires established expertise in our modernization efforts and the VCL program regarding 988. VCL has identified and quickly develop improvement plans with execution to ensure success in the future with 988 reaching public awareness comparable to 911. Direct experience with all of the moving parts impacts the capability of the contractor capable of bringing this project to the next level at the time of national activation of 988. Phone carriers have been making the change at their own pace since December 2020. Call volume increases have continued throughout this year and with the recent addition of the texting requirement to go into effect July 2022, VCL will require similar activities of leadership high level progress reporting, team level IPT progress, interdepartmental workgroups, development and coordination for all of the VCL departments, weekly meeting(s) with all of the IPT leaders to address the interdependencies, and routine leadership presentations, communications, project management updates, any changes in the timelines allow for rapid decision making, to keep pace with the urgency presented by 988 as a phone number, and now 988 for texting. In concurrence with the program management support, VCL also requires project management support to continue through the implementation of 988.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

Statutory Authority Permitting Other than Full and Open Competition: 41 USC §3304(a)(5), 38 U.S. Code § 8127(c), as implemented by FAR 6.302-5 (Authorized or Required by Statute). Contracting Officer’s may use the non-competitive (sole source) procedures authorized in VAAR 819.7007 Sole source awards to a verified service-disabled veteran-owned small business, up to $5,000,000. The applicable NAICS code is 611430 with a size standard of $16.5 million.

DISCLAIMER:

This notice of intent to is not a request for competitive quotes. No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be accepted. However, any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirements may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the agency, only if received by the closing date and time of this notice. Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses received to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Responsible sources may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement by submitting a capability statement in accordance with the procedures stated herein. Contractors will not be reimbursed for any/all costs associated with submissions provided to the Government in response to this announcement.

RESPONSES:

Contractors having the skills and capabilities necessary to perform the stated requirements should submit in writing, a capability statement with sufficient information to substantiate your business is reasonably capable of performing the work. The capability statement must clearly demonstrate a business’s ability to fulfill the requirement. The burden of proof rests with the contractor; therefore, written responses must provide clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate capabilities appropriate to satisfy this need.

All responses must include the following information: Company name, Dun and Bradstreet Number, Business Size Standard (Small, HUB-Zone Small, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small, Veteran Owned Small, Woman Owned Small, or Small Disadvantaged Business relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition), Company Address, Point of Contact name, Phone Number, and E-mail address.

The subject line of the correspondence shall clearly display the Special Notice number.

Companies shall provide clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate their capability to fulfill the requirements outlined in this Special Notice. All responses must include 1) addressing the capability questions outlined below, 2) a list of subcontractors you would consider for the work, 3) resumes of key personnel, and 4) a rough order of magnitude (ROM) based on the attached draft Performance Work Statement (PWS).

1. Describe your firms demonstrated experience with and current understanding of VCL Onboarding, VCL Clinical Operations (Clin Ops), VCL Business Operations (Bus Ops), VCL Quality Assurance & Training (QA&T), VCL Resource Management (RM), VCL Internal Communications (Internal Comms), VCL Knowledge Management KM), VCL Employee Experience Team (EET), and VCL Innovations Hub (iHub).

2. Provide a description of where your firm has supported the evolution and deployment of CCC modernization activities in VA or within other leading commercial healthcare practice.

3. Describe your firms demonstrated experience with and understanding of the nexus between CCC modernization and related, supporting and/or supported clinical deployment activities currently underway in VHA.

4. Provide a description of where your firm has supported the evolution and deployment of virtual care modalities into a CCC environment in VA or within other leading commercial healthcare practice.

5. Describe your firms demonstrated experience with and understanding of those VCL resource constraints (business, technological, clinical) and their current impacts on VHA’s ability to deliver care efficiently and effectively.

6. Provide a description of where your firm has supported the evolution and deployment of standardized solutions designed specifically to address resource shortfalls in the VHA CCC environment.

7. Describe your firms demonstrated experience with and understanding of developing Lanes of Effort (LOE) based models to provide structured support for routine operations, troubleshooting and coordination, implementation and development, future state goals, as they relate to CCC.

8. Describe your firms demonstrated experience with and understanding of CCC modernization and virtual care delivery over the last 3 years. This experience and understanding should be a product of the firm’s hands-on experience in supporting these activities within VHA. Provide, at a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) instances of your firm’s experience in enterprise-level VHA CCC and virtual care delivery modernization within the past three (3) years. These activities should include examples in both domains, CCC and virtual care delivery.

Responses shall be in Microsoft Word compatible format and are due no later than Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 1PM ET. Responses shall be limited to 10 pages, 12-point font minimum. List of potential subcontractors and resumes of key personnel do not count against the page limitation. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Responses shall be sent to Kymberly Morgan at Kymberly.Morgan@va.gov.