Support for Analytic Capacity of NSECE Data RFI Questions.docx

Support for Analytic Capacity of National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) Data 2025 For these questions we would like to hear about your experiences, including specific examples of relevance.

1. Describe your current capabilities and specific experiences in the past five (5) years with preparing very large data files (i.e., 2,000-10,000 respondents, up to 26,000 variables) from multiple waves of nationally representative, cross-sectional and/or longitudinal studies with complex sampling frames and disclosure risks for analyses; and archiving and preservation of data in systems that allow for online analyses and meet data security and monitoring requirements to prevent disclosure of Personally identifiable information (PII) and access by unauthorized users. (Please specify the data sets for which you have this experience.)

2. Please provide evidence of your corporate experience obtaining an Authority to Operate (ATO) from the US Department of Health and Human Services that meets the requirements to save and use data that contains PII.

3. Describe your technical capabilities for and specific experiences in the past five (5) years with hosting data for extramural researchers to conduct secondary analyses (with complex sampling frames and disclosure risks) in a secure data enclave to minimize disclosure risks, and to provide support for analyses by outside researchers. (Please specify the data sets with which you have this experience, and the specific supports provided the researchers.)

4. Describe your technical capabilities for, and specific experiences in the past five (5) years with conducting analyses to determine disclosure risk of samples in large national studies; please provide details of approaches used to ensure non-disclosure of study participants while still answering the key questions of interest of analysts using restricted-use data.

5. Describe your experience linking large datasets that include PII of households with young children, childcare and early education providers (center- and home-based), and the early childhood workforce with other large datasets, including other nationally representative survey data, administrative data, and policy data, to answer key questions related to supply and demand of childcare and early education for children, birth through age 13. (Please list the relevant datasets that you have linked in the past and the types of questions answered through analyses of the linked datasets).

6. Please describe your specific experiences within the past five (5) years and your current capability and availability to conduct rapid turnaround analyses in response to requests from a government agency (e.g., ranging from same-day simpler requests for data to more complex time-sensitive analyses). Include details about your technical capacity to respond to rapid turnaround requests including your approach to ongoing communications with the agency, relevant staffing to facilitate such requests and responses, range of technical expertise to address a range of policy-relevant data analyses with quick turnaround, approach to quality control in the context of rapid turn-around requests, and specific strategies for communicating results plainly for a program administrator (non-technical) audience.

7. Please describe your current knowledge and understanding of Child Care and Early Education (CCEE) supply and usage and/or demand, including approaches to measuring CCEE supply and usage and/or demand across the US broadly, beyond center- or school-based programs; current issues in CCEE supply and usage and/or demand from varying perspectives; current issues specifically related to supply and usage of CCEE funded by the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF); and experience conducting research about CCEE supply and usage and/or demand using nationally representative cross-sectional and/or longitudinal data in the past five (5) years.

8. Please describe your current knowledge and understanding of CCEE cost versus price and families’ CCEE cost burden at per child- and household-levels, including approaches to measuring CCEE cost, price, and household burden across the US for children birth through age 13; current issues in measuring CCEE cost, price, and household burden from varying perspectives; and experience conducting research about CCEE cost, price, and household burden using nationally representative cross-sectional and/or longitudinal data in the past 5 years.

9. Please describe your current knowledge and understanding of the CCEE workforce, including approaches to measuring CCEE workforce turnover/retention across the United States in a broad range of CCEE settings; current CCEE workforce issues from varying perspectives; and experience conducting research about CCEE workforce using nationally representative cross-sectional and/or longitudinal data in the past five (5) years.

10. Please provide detailed examples of your key staff’s qualifications for and specific experiences in the past five (5) years with answering key policy questions about family’s access to CCEE using nationally representative cross-sectional and/or longitudinal data sets, such as:

a. Access of families with young children to CCEE that meets the parents’ needs, supports children’s development, is affordable, and can be accessed with reasonable effort.

b. Access of families with low incomes to programs that are free or low cost to the family and still meets parents’ need to cover care while employed or in training/education.

11. Detail your staff’s capabilities for and specific experiences in the past five (5) years with conducting complex analyses with nationally representative and/or longitudinal data with complex sampling frames linked with other policy, regulatory, and other relevant data to answer questions of interest to the government agencies. (Please specify the data sets with which you have this experience.)

12. Describe your capacity for and specific experiences in the past five (5) years with developing training and Technical Assistance (TA) resources for data users via different modes (e.g., in-person, online, virtually (e.g., ZOOM)).

13. Please describe your experience in the last five (5) years with preparing packages for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for full and generic information collection requests to address key policy questions from the Agency, as well as registering studies and completing necessary Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements.

14. Please describe your specific experiences in the last five (5) years communicating about nationally representative cross-sectional and/or longitudinal quantitative data, analyses, and findings, especially for data with complex sampling frames, for various audiences, including:

a. Federal, State, Territory and/or Tribal human services agencies

b. Researchers with varying levels of experience

c. ACF Federal Program Office staff and agency leadership

d. Professional associations and constituents in human services delivery

For these questions we would like to hear about your experiences, including specific examples of relevance.

15. What information, details, or items would your company need in a Request for Proposal (RFP) in order to provide a quote in the future?

16. Based upon the content provided in the Performance Work Statement (PWS), what do you see as the main risks associated with this work?

17. Is your company interested in providing a proposal for this requirement in the future?

18. Are the requirements explained clearly in the PWS in order to provide a capability statement?

19. Please identify any relevant ambiguities in the PWS. Please be specific with your response.

20. What, if any, risks, or other factors does your company foresee that may deter your company from submitting a proposal on this requirement in future?

21. The NAICs contemplated for this requirement are 541720 - Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities and 541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services.

22. The contract type contemplated for this requirement is Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF). Does your company have an accounting system capable of receiving a cost reimbursable contract?

a. Is it approved by any Government agency?

b. If so, which agency?