SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Accountability
- Notice Date
- 7/10/2012
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical 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
- ACF89217
- Point of Contact
- Wendy C. Cruz, Phone: 3014433086
- E-Mail Address
-
Wendy.Cruz@psc.hhs.gov
(Wendy.Cruz@psc.hhs.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This is a Pre-solicitation notice and NOT a Request for Proposals (RFP), thus no proposals are currently being requested and should not be submitted at this time. The Program Support Center (PSC) intends to issue a solicitation for the award of a contract to implement the recommendations from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Integrity Working Group. It is anticipated that the award will be for a two-year, non-severable, Firm Fixed price contract. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a block grant authorized by the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 (OBRA), as amended, and administered within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In DHHS, LIHEAP is administered by the Division of Energy Assistance within the Office of Community Services (OCS), which is a part of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). The purpose of LIHEAP is to provide grants to LIHEAP grantees (States, Territories, and approximately 140 Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations) to assist low income households in meeting the costs of home energy. Section 2609A(a) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (title XXVI of Public Law 97-35, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981, 42 U.S.C. 8621, as amended), authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to set aside up to $300,000 each fiscal year to make grants to State and public agencies and private nonprofit organizations; or to enter into contracts or jointly financed cooperative arrangements with States and public agencies and private nonprofit organizations, to provide training and technical assistance related to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The Consolidated Appropriations Act, Public Law 112-74 (2011) appropriated $3.4 billion for the FY 2012 LIHEAP program and included the following additional provision: "Provided further, That notwithstanding section 2609A(a), of the amounts appropriated under section 2602(b), not more than $3,000,000 of such amounts may be reserved by the Secretary for technical assistance,training, and monitoring of program activities for compliance with internal controls, policies and procedures." The LIHEAP Program Integrity Work Group (PIWG) provided a very general analysis of various internal controls and requested that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conduct an in-depth, cost-benefit analysis of third-party automated verification systems. This request is consistent with the General Accountability Office (GAO) recommendation that HHS: "Evaluate the feasibility (including consideration of any costs and operational and system modifications) of validating applicant and household member identity information with the Social Security Administration (SSA)." Although several states have engaged in some efforts to use third-party verification to improve program integrity, the level of success is varied. A cost-benefit analysis based on best practices will help grantees make critical decisions and plan appropriately in regard to preventing and detecting LIHEAP fraud. The priority for these analyses should be placed on those systems identified in the LIHEAP PIWG and GAO reports, particularly the SSA data exchange process that enables verification of client and household member Social Security Numbers (SSNs) and income of Social Security recipients. In addition to providing cost-benefit comparisons across multiple systems (e.g. SSA, new hire databases, incarceration records), an effective cost-benefit analysis should take into account current capacity among states, highlighting areas where existing resources, including HHS efforts to collaborate with other federal agencies to streamline third-party verification processes, could be leveraged to increase efficiency and maximize outcomes. Offers will only be considered from States, Territories, Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations, public agencies, and private nonprofit organizations as authorized by the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (Title XXVI of Public Law 97-35, as amended, 42.U.S.C. 8621), in Section 2609A(a). Offerors should be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database. In the event that an Offeror cannot satisfy all of the Government's requirements, that Offeror may opt to establish a Contractor Teaming Agreement with a States, Territories, Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations, public agencies, and private nonprofit organizations to work together to meet the agency requirement. No proposals are requested at this time, this is a Pre-solicitation notice only, the solicitation requirements and contract documents to include instructions to Offerors and the response date for proposals will be available with the Request for Proposal. The RFP is anticipated to be available electronically on the Federal Business Opportunities website by July 17, 2012. Please submit any questions regarding this Pre-solicitation notice to Contract Specialist, Wendy Cruz, via email only at Wendy.Cruz@psc.hhs.gov.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/PSC/DAM/ACF89217/listing.html)
- Record
- SN02799088-W 20120712/120711001120-e8302c0af834313e468e95d1718aa5e5 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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