Serving SNAP Applicants and Participants with Limited English Proficiency

This SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is to determine the interest and technical capability of qualified small businesses. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government, nor will the U.S. Government pay for information solicited. The information from this notice will help the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) plan their acquisition strategy.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT

The Food and Nutrition Service intends to conduct a study to determine what policies, plans, and procedures States use to fulfill USDA and FNS civil rights regulations and guidance as they relate to serving Americans with limited English proficiency. To satisfactorily complete the study, businesses must be knowledgeable in USDA and FNS civil rights policies, US civil rights statutes and regulations as they apply to language access, general SNAP policies including how certain policies are devolved to States for implementation, different language patters between and within US States and territories, and the differences between SNAP and the Nutrition Assistance Programs (NAP) in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The business must have experience with quantitative and qualitative research design and data collection, experience producing quality online surveys designed to be taken by institutions (e.g., State SNAP agencies), experience conducting interviews and focus groups, and demonstratable experience in writhing high-quality reports and delivering oral briefings for non-technical policy-relevant audiences

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

The Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support & Contracts Management Division, is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and technical capability of qualified small businesses, including small disadvantaged businesses (SDB), 8(a) small businesses, woman-owned small businesses (WOSB), veteran owned small businesses (VOSB), service- disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), and Historically Under-utilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses capable of undertaking primary data collection and analysis that will increase understanding of and inform best practices for D-SNAP planning and operations.

All responding small business firms are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business to the anticipated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code. For this acquisition, the NAICS code is 541720, and the Small Business Standard is $20.5 Million. Teaming arrangements and joint ventures will be considered for any subsequent procurement based on the Government's market research, provided the prime contract is awarded to an applicable small business and that the small business provide at least fifty percent of the support.

The Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support & Contracts Management Division, is conducting market research to identify sources that can demonstrate their experience, skills, and qualifications with projects of similar scope and size completed within the last three (3) years, and explain in appropriate detail how they intend to demonstrate competency in each of the following points (A through N). Expound, utilizing specific examples, on how the firm has undertaken and/or demonstrated the prerequisites listed below:

1. Detailed knowledge and understanding of Federal civil rights statutes and regulations as they apply to language access;
2. Detailed knowledge of USDA and FNS regulations and guidance as they apply to language access;
3. Detailed knowledge of the relationship between Federal regulations and policies and State policies as they relate to the SNAP program, especially as they apply to language access policies and procedures;
4. Familiarity with how States develop their language access plans;
5. Demonstrated understanding of how Nutrition Assistance Programs in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands differ from SNAP;
6. Experience with or demonstrated ability to engage with partners who have experience with social science research in American Samoa, Guam, and/or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
7. Demonstrated experience designing and fielding online surveys meant to be answered by multiple respondents in one organization;
8. Demonstrated experience designing reliable and valid data collection instruments for collecting data from State and local office SNAP program staff;
9. Demonstrated experience in conducting interviews, focus groups, and data collection site visits within limited time frames;
10. Demonstrated experience with analytic review of documents, including comparative analysis of public documents;
11. Demonstrated experience working with State SNAP agencies for data collection including interviewing staff and acquiring administrative data;
12. Detailed knowledge of and demonstrated experience preparing information collection packages for approval by the Office of Management and Budget;
13. Capacity to write high-quality reports and provide oral briefings on technical information in language appropriate to non-technical, policy-relevant audiences
14. Demonstrated experience meeting federal government objectives and ensuring the quality and timeliness of deliverables.

Research Objectives of the Requirement:

The primary objective of this study is to provide a thorough understanding of how the selected States plan for and operate D-SNAP and develop a comprehensive set of best practices for operating D-SNAP under various disaster scenarios. This study will require examining D-SNAP operations for selected disasters in the study States that have occurred in at least the past five years. Study objectives include:

• Assess the implementation and operation of D-SNAP for selected disaster(s) in each study State
• Describe the characteristics and economic circumstances of the D-SNAP households for the selected disasters(s)
• Document each State’s approach to protecting program integrity while operating D-SNAP for the selected disaster(s)
• Determine best practices for developing annual plans to address a variety of disaster types
• Determine best practices for implementing and operating D-SNAP for a variety of disaster types.

Submission Requirements:

1. Limit the length of the packages to 10 double spaced pages. Note: Packages over 10 pages will not be evaluated.
2. 1 inch margins (top, bottom and sides)
3. Times New Roman font - 12 point
4. Page limitation does not include appendices, 1 cover page or 1 letter of introduction page
5. Do not include promotional materials
6. Submission must address all capabilities listed (A through N)

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 in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b). The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not exceed ten (10) pages total, so that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the requirements above. Your capability statement needs to include a list of three customers (Government/non- Government) within the past 3-years highlighting similar work in nature, scope, complexity, and difficulty and a brief description of the scope of work. The Government technical team will then assess the experience and capabilities (A –N above) based on relevance to the described requirements and objectives. These capability responses should be based upon the 14 capabilities (A – N) pre-requisites listed above.

Please specify one primary and one alternate Point of Contact (POC) within your firm, including telephone numbers and email addresses. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought Notice shall submit the following: Company name, address, point of contact, telephone number, email address, and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), and NAICS code. Provide business size and status such as Small Business, Disadvantaged, 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUB) Zone, Woman Owned, Minority Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, or Other Than Small Business. Provide contract vehicles you participate in such as General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), or any other vehicle.

Capability statement shall be 10 pages or less.

Only electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted and should be emailed to: Rondaski. Burley at [email protected] and copy Kara Stith at [email protected]. The e-mail shall contain the following subject line: Response to Sources Sought Notice – Serving SNAP Applicants and Participants with Limited English Proficiency. A determination by the Government to proceed with the acquisition as a set-aside is within the discretion of the Government. If capability statements are not received from at least two responsible small businesses or if the Government determines that no small business concerns are capable of performing this requirement based upon an assessment of the capability statements submitted, the Government may proceed with a full and open competition.

Please submit all information to Rondaski Burley at [email protected] and copy Kara Stith at [email protected] no later than Friday, July 14, 2021 by 10:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response to this Sources Sought. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work as providing detail responses to questions included in this document.

Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.