SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Child Support Enforcement State Legislature Support Project
- Notice Date
- 12/23/2010
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541611
— Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Division of Acquisition Management, Parklawn Building Room 5-101, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland, 20857
- ZIP Code
- 20857
- Solicitation Number
- ACF54775
- Archive Date
- 1/8/2011
- Point of Contact
- Camille M. Timmerman, Phone: 3014436851
- E-Mail Address
-
camille.timmerman@psc.hhs.gov
(camille.timmerman@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The Department of Health and Human Services intends to negotiate a contract with National Conference of State Legislatures located in Denver, CO on a sole source basis for the Administration of Children and Families (ACF)/Office of Child Support Enforcement's "Child Support Enforcement State Legislature Support Project." The acquisition is for a one year base period and includes a one year option period. Purpose - The success of the federal Child Support Enforcement Program (e.g., ensuring that children receive financial support from their noncustodial parents) is contingent, in part, on the ability of state legislatures to establish correlating laws, policies, and procedures and to appropriate funds that adhere to the federal program financial matching requirements. These responsibilities are being made more difficult for state legislatures in view of the current downturn in the economy, increasing state budget deficits, and the fact that nearly ¼ of the state legislators elected in November, 2010 are new. Furthermore, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) reauthorization, pending congressional action in the near future, will likely contain amendments to the child support enforcement program that will require legislatures to propose, review and approve implementing state legislation. It is in the best interest of the federal Child Support Enforcement program that state legislatures remain informed on current national issues, federal and key interstate laws, and changing program policies so that child support agencies can build and maintain an infrastructure that ensures federal policies are implemented and programs perform, as required, to meet the needs of parents and children. The purpose of the proposed acquisition will enable the federal government to ensure child support policies are properly implemented at the state level. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is the official representative of the nation's 7,382 state legislators and their staff and can serve federal child support interests through the: 1) Establishment of a Child Support Clearinghouse and by providing Technical Assistance to States' Legislatures (and their staff); and 2) Convening a National State Legislative Symposium on Child Support Enforcement in order to provide state legislators with the opportunity to meet and work with senior state and federal officials on key child support issues. Background - The need to assist state legislatures with the immediate challenges before them (both fiscal and programmatic) as they relate to the continued viability of state child support enforcement programs can be best expedited through the bi-partisan National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) which has been designated by the Internal Revenue Service as an instrumentality of the fifty states. This organization represents and is comprised of the nation's 7,382 state legislators and their staff. Furthermore, NCSL's organizational structure has been built upon the need to provide information, guidance, and expert technical assistance to state legislators in order to ensure their awareness of public policy and state and federal statutory and program mandates. NCSL is the organization which exists to provide technical assistance to state legislatures and legislators in the conduct of their program and policy responsibilities. NCSL has the unique in-house staff capability to analyze state law and federal and state policies; the expertise to provide guidance; and the mechanisms in place to disseminate information directly to state legislators. These organizational capabilities are vital to achieving the objectives envisioned for the proposed project. Since the second objective of this proposed acquisition is to convene a National State Legislative Symposium on Child Support in September, 2011, we find that the NCSL is the sole credible organization that has the ability to meet the needs and interests of the federal government in executing this task in a timely manner. And because of its status as an extension of state legislatures, NCSL can ensure the participation of the state legislators in the national symposium in a way that no other organization is able to. The current economic downturn, rising state budget deficits, pending TANF reauthorization, a large number of recently-elected and new state legislators, and the complexity of other child support program and policy issues necessitate that this project be implemented to meet the critical timing as specified in this proposed acquisition. Summary of Approach - The mechanisms are in place within NCSL's organization to fulfill the requirements of the project. With respect for implementing Task I, NCSL currently provides the nation's 7,382 legislators a full range of services designed to help them confront the problems that matter most to their states and their constituents. NCSL has "State Liaisons" and the nation's best policy experts to provide state legislators and their staff with information on various policy areas that are essential to the child support program. Child support is an issue area that needs to be given more visibility and NCSL will be able to accomplish this objective through this acquisition. NCSL also sponsors an annual Legislative Summit. It is the largest and most substantive meeting of its kind in the nation. Each year, more than 6,000 state legislators, staff and other interested public policy-makers attend informative sessions on a range of public policy issues. Through this contract, NCSL will give child support high visibility and prominence at this key annual Summit through the convening of workshops on the topic. State legislators and legislative staff are also entitled to bill information services. As it relates to child support enforcement, this contract will enable NCSL to assist state legislators in various ways including, but not limited to, providing testimony and consulting with legislative committees considering child support law and policy; developing and maintaining a legislative clearinghouse on child support enforcement; and in the provision of on-site and long-distance technical assistance to states. Furthermore, this task area is of utmost importance since an estimated 25% of the nation's state legislators were newly-elected in November, 2010 and will need to be informed about child support policy, critical funding issues, and the child-support related amendments that might be included in the TANF reauthorization. At the same time, legislative term limits and increasing turnover in state legislatures have resulted in a continuing need for education and the provision of reliable information on child support issues by a trusted, non-partisan source. With respect to implementing Task II: [Convening a] National State Legislative Symposium on Child Support in September, 2011, NCSL will be able to identify state legislators serving key roles on child support matters and/or those who maintain leadership positions on appropriations and/or legislative authorizing committees. NCSL has this information on-hand and once the specific legislators have been identified, an estimated 75 to 85 state legislators across the nation will be invited to participate in the National Symposium. The NCSL is the sole organization capable of expediting delivery of this task because of its status as an instrumentality of the fifty states and ensuring the participation of the state legislators in the national symposium in a way that no other organization can approximate. This statement is also based on OCSE's past experience with NCSL when a similar national symposium was held on September 11-13, 2003 -- necessitated at the time with by passage of the landmark 1996 welfare reform legislation. The statutory authority for other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1), in accordance with FAR Part 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Vendors who are interested in this acquisition must demonstrate in writing that they can meet the Government's requirement by January 7, 2010. Responses must include a written narrative statement of capability, including detailed technical information and other technical literature demonstrating the ability to satisfy the stated requirements. Responses must be emailed the attention of Camille Timmerman at Camille.Timmerman@psc.hhs.gov. The Subject Line of the email must reference ACF54775. The Failure to submit adequate documentation will result in the Government proceeding with a sole source award to National Conference of State Legislatures. A determination by the Government not to open the requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. No solicitation document is available. The purpose of this announcement is to determine whether there may be other sources with the requisite qualifications to perform the work described above.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/ACF54775/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02349981-W 20101225/101223233619-f5bb9da556130ebf614ea6c511581646 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |