Sources Sought - Reader Services

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. This is not a request for offers, quotes or proposals. This notice does not represent a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or award a contract. This is a market research tool only to determine the capability of potential sources.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is contemplating establishing a contract under NAICS Code(s) 561110 Office Administrative Offices, and the Small Business Standard is $7.5 million, PSC Code R699 Support - Professional Other. FHEO requires a Contractor who shall provide Reasonable Accommodation Assistant/Reader services for two employees, (subject to change) which shall include reading and administrative services for employees with disabilities, which may include an individual with a vision, learning, physical, or other disability as defined by The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Revised ADA Regulations Implementing Title II and Title III. Employees may also rely on the use of a service dog. The R/A Reader/Assistant services shall include:

• Reading documents aloud in a voice that is clear, quick, and easily understood by the employee with a disability.

• Converting documents to electronic or hard copy print formats that are accessible to the employee with a disability.
• Assists with the use of assistive technology, electronic information technology, and other equipment used by the employee with a disability.
• Providing accurate oral or written summaries of messages, meetings, and specialized/other documents.
• Integrates several types of software to generate specific working documents and forms such as spreadsheets, databases, word processing, and other similar products.
• Provides orientation and mobility services to assist employees with disabilities during a special event, conference or any other function. This may include but is not limited to:
o Providing orientation and mobility assistance utilizing the sighted guide technique.
o Assisting an employee with a visual disability by pushing their wheelchair.
o Providing visual environmental cues such as describing who is in the room.
o Assisting the employee in locating a certain individual during an event.
o Providing visual description plus navigational support during a software training.
HUD is issuing this Request For Information (RFI) in order to solicit responses from capable sources and capability statements to ensure sufficient competition exists to meet the government's requirements.
Teaming arrangements and joint ventures will be considered for any subsequent procurement based on the Government's market research, provided that the prime contractor is a small business
Please review the Statement of Work and provide your feedback to Gabriel Wright at Gabriel.G.Wright@hud.gov. Please call 202 402-4471if there are questions.

So, what exactly is HUD contemplating acquiring?

BACKGROUND

The R/A Reader/Assistant services will enable employees with a disability to perform essential job functions. The R/A Reader /Assistant will work directly with and receive tasking directly from the employee with the disability. Currently FHEO seeks assistance for two employees with a disability. However, if that number changes, we would like to be able to accommodate these employees swiftly and as necessary. The current need for R/A Assistant Readers are in Washington, DC., Headquarters and Los Angeles, CA.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF WORK

(The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is contemplating establishing a contract under NAICS Code(s) 561110 Office Administrative Offices, and the Small Business Standard is $7.5 million, PSC Code R499 Support - Professional Other. FHEO requires a Contractor who shall provide Reasonable Accommodation Assistant/Reader services for two employees, (subject to change) which shall include reading and administrative services for employees with disabilities, which may include an individual with a vision, learning, physical, or other disability as defined by The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Revised ADA Regulations Implementing Title II and Title III. Employees may also rely on the use of a service dog. The R/A Reader/Assistant services shall include:

• Reading documents aloud in a voice that is clear, quick, and easily understood by the employee with a disability.
• Converting documents to electronic or hard copy print formats that are accessible to the employee with a disability.
• Assists with the use of assistive technology, electronic information technology, and other equipment used by the employee with a disability.
• Providing accurate oral or written summaries of messages, meetings, and specialized/other documents.
• Integrates several types of software to generate specific working documents and forms such as spreadsheets, databases, word processing, and other similar products.
• Provides orientation and mobility services to assist employees with disabilities during a special event, conference or any other function. This may include but is not limited to:
o Providing orientation and mobility assistance utilizing the sighted guide technique.
o Assisting an employee with a visual disability by pushing their wheelchair.
o Providing visual environmental cues such as describing who is in the room.
o Assisting the employee in locating a certain individual during an event.
o Providing visual description plus navigational support during a software training.
CONTEMPLATED PERFORMANCE METRICS
Acceptance of all deliverables shall be submitted in a draft format agreed upon by the Contractor and the Government. Upon review and acceptance by the Government, the Contractor shall address all Government comments and submit a final draft within 5 business days of Government notification.
CONTEMPLATED REPORT REQUIREMENTS
Monthly Report
Provide a detailed monthly report of activities for local and domestic travel and finances carried out under the terms of the contract; delivery due to the GTR ten (10) business days after the end of each month.
Quality Control Plan
The Contractor shall establish and maintain a complete quality control program that shall ensure services are performed in accordance with this contract. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-reoccurrence of defective services. The Contractor's quality control program is how he assures himself that his work complies with the requirements of the contract. The Contractor shall provide the associated Quality Control Plan to the Government as directed.

CONTEMPLATED MAGNITUDE OF THE PROJECT

Estimated value is from $250,000 to $410,000.00

CONTEMPLATED PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The services to be performed under this contract shall be performed at:
HUD Headquarters, 451 7th St, SW, Washington, DC 20410 and
Los Angeles, CA Field Office, 300 North Los Angeles Street, Suite 4054, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
This requirement is to support 2 FTEs;1 currently located at HUD Headquarters and the other at the Los Angeles, CA Field office.

RESPONSE REQUESTED

Small Businesses are encouraged to respond.
This synopsis is a market research tool being used to determine the availability and capability of potential sources prior to determining the method of acquisition and whether the government will proceed with this acquisition. The Government will not pay for any information solicited. If a contract is ultimately pursued, responses to this synopsis will be used to aid in determining whether the acquisition is set-aside for small business or in establishing small business subcontracting goals. All qualified firms are encouraged to respond.

The capability statement shall address, at a minimum, the following for the past three years:

1. Name and address of company and or companies (if there is a teaming arrangement or joint venture);
2. Technical expertise relevant to the requirement;
3. Technical approach relevant of the requirement (1 to 2 paragraphs);
4. Management approach relevant to the requirement (1 to 2 paragraph);
5. Corporate experience relevant to the requirement (1 to 2 paragraph);
6. Indicate if you are a small business or any other socio-economic categories that apply to your firm under the designated NAICS code;
7. Whether you have had unequal access to any information relevant to the acquisition that could provide an unfair competitive advantage;
8. Relevant past performance. Your capability statement needs to include a list of three customers (Government/non-Government) within the past three (3) years highlighting similar work in nature, scope, complexity, and difficulty and a brief description of the scope of work. Your submission for relevant past performance must include for each customer:

• Contract name;
• Contracting Agency or Department, POC and contact information;
• Yearly contract value (in $);
• Whether your firm was the prime or a subcontractor;
• Period of performance;
• Description of work and how it relates to the requirements.

Interested firms responding to this market survey must provide a capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills and capability to fulfill the Governments requirements for the above. The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not exceed 5 pages TOTAL, so that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the requirements above. Please specify one primary and one alternate Point of Contact (POC) within your firm, including telephone numbers and email addresses in case clarifications of your submission are needed.

Only electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted and should be emailed to: Gabriel.G.Wright@hud.gov The e-mail shall contain the following subject line: Response to Sources Sought Notice -Reader Services Requirement. The Government may use the responses received to determine whether to proceed with the acquisition as a set-aside, or in the absence of a least two small business responses to this notice, may determine to proceed with a full and open competition. This decision and whether to proceed with the acquisition is at the sole discretion of the Government.

All interested contractors should submit their capability statements by TIME10:00am on DATE 11/27/2018 , attention POC Gabriel Wright. Late responses will not be considered.

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