Q526--police psychological assessments

SOURCES SOUGHT

Sources Sought Only: This is not a request for bids, quotes, or proposals. This is a Sources Sought notice for the identification of potential vendors capable of providing Police Psychological Assessments for the Durham VA Healthcare System, 508 Fulton Street, Durham, North Carolina, 27705 in the very near future.

The purpose of this notice is to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their business size classification (HUBZone, 8(a), small, small disadvantaged, small veteran owned, or service-disabled veteran owned small business) relative to NAICS 621330, Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) and the Size Standard of 41.5 Million. Consistent with Public Law 109-461 VA's Veterans First Contracting Program , first priority would be given to Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) and Small Business (SB) concerns, should there be sufficient firms available to compete under a set aside if the requirement goes to solicitation. If insufficient veteran owned and small business response is received to establish the basis for setting this action aside for other than large business participation, then the action will be advertised as full and open competition, in which case, all interested parties responding shall be eligible to bid.

Potential vendors should be capable of supplying the following:

Line Item

Description

Qty

Unit

0001

TO PROCESS INVOICES FOR INITIAL AND ANNUAL POLICE OFFICER PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS. VA POLICE OFFICERS ARE MANDATED TO RECEIVE AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT, AS WELL AS AN ANNUAL ASSESSMENT TO REMAIN IN COMPLAINCE WITH OFFICE OF SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (OS&LE) STANDARDS. OFFICERS MAY ALSO NEED TO HAVE AN EXAMINATION IF A FITNESS FOR DUTY IS REQUIRED TO ASSESS AN OFFICER S ABILITY TO PERFORM THE JOB. WE WILL HAVE AN APPROXIMATE FTE OF 44. WE CURRENTLY HAVE 17 VACANCIES, AND APPLICANTS WILL NEED TO RECEIVE AN ASSEMENT BEFORE COMING ON BOARD. FITNESS FOR DUTY ASSESSEMENTS MAY BE NEEDED IF IT IS DETERMINED THAT AN INDIVIDUAL IS UNABLE TO PERFORM IN THE CAPACITY OF A POLICE OFFICER. WE CURRENTLY HAVE 17 VACANCIES, AND APPLICANTS WILL NEED TO RECEIVE AN ASSEMENT BEFORE COMING ON BOARD. FITNESS FOR DUTY ASSESSEMENTS MAY BE NEEDED IF IT IS DETERMINED

61

EA

STATEMENT OF WORK

Psychological Assessments are a condition of continued employment as a VA police officer per VA Handbook 0720, Dated January 24, 2000.

1. INTRODUCTION

Background

Preemployment and Annual medical examinations must include a psychological assessment of the applicant/officer s emotional and mental stability by a psychiatrist or psychologist. Police officer duties include personal encounters with the mentally ill, irrational, or disturbed persons who must be handled with full control of force, and unimpeded judgment. Any emotional or mental condition which could cause the applicant/officer to be a hazard to others or self during stressful situations and physical altercations could disqualify the Police Officer. Psychological assessments are designed to determine an officer s suitability to be issued a firearm. VA Handbook 0720 also requires the psychological assessment to comply with the regulations of the Office of Personnel Management ( OPM ), which set forth the procedures to be used by federal agencies in requiring medical examinations and in using such examinations for the basis of personnel decisions.

Requirements

Scope of Work: The Durham VA Police Service currently has 14 vacancies. Each new applicant must receive an initial assessment to determine if a VA Police Officer is qualified to carry a firearm and perform his or her duties as a police officer. The contractor will complete the pre-employment examination on the same day, with only access to the applicant s name. The contractor will also perform an annual psychological assessment for approximately 40 current VA Police Officers. Contractor will determine if the VA Police Officer is qualified to carry a firearm and perform his or her duties as a Police Officer. Contractor will complete all 40 psychological assessments within 3 consecutive days. Psychological Assessments will be convenient for the Police Officer and will take place at the Durham VAMC, Building 1, room A1011. Contractor will only have access to VA Police Officer s name; no other VA sensitive information such as date of birth and social security number will be stored, generated, transmitted or exchanged. Contractor will not have access to VA sensitive information from CPRS or VISTA. Once the assessment is complete, contractor will forward results to Employee Health within 2 days. Contractor does not keep a record of the assessment once it has been completed.

The following documents form a part of the requirements of this Statement of Work to the extent specified:

VA Handbook 0730/2, dated 27 May 2010

VA Handbook 0720, dated January 24, 2000

OS&LE Inspection Guide, dated October 1, 2021

Again, all respondents shall submit capability statement signifying that they meet the above-mentioned specifications. The capability statements received from this market research survey are for planning purposes only and will assist the Government in planning its acquisition strategy. This is strictly market research, and the Government will not entertain questions concerning this market research survey. The Government will not assume any costs incurred by the contractor in the preparation of responses.

All responses shall be submitted in the form of email to Tiara White, Contracting Specialist at email address: Tiara.White@va.gov. Please reference SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE: POLICE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS in subject line. Telephone responses will not be accepted. Responses must be received in writing no later than January 05, 2024, 12:00 PM, EST. Please do not include any quotes. This notice is to assist the VA in determining sources only.

All contractors interested in doing business with the Government must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database. The website for registration is www.sam.gov.

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses and Veteran-Owned Small Businesses should also indicate whether the company is verified by SBA on VetCert Database at Veteran Small Business Certification (sba.gov).

There is no other information available at this time. Thank you for your interest.