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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION INTRODUCTION THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) for Chapte... REQUEST FOR INFORMATION INTRODUCTION THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) for Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only. There is no obligation for the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. In accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.201(E), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by VBA in developing its acquisition strategy and informing, refining and finalizing the Performance Work Statement (PWS). Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. Only electronic responses to this RFI will be accepted. The Government will not pay for any time expended or information submitted in response to this RFI. Eligibility in participating in a future acquisition does not depend upon a response to this RFI. BACKGROUND The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has authority, pursuant to Title 38 USC Chapters 18, 31, 35 and 36, to provide all services and assistance necessary to enable eligible Claimants with service-connected disabilities to obtain and maintain suitable employment and, if not employable, achieve independence in daily living to the maximum extent feasible. To accomplish this responsibility, the Veteran Readiness and Employment Service Division (VR&E) within each Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA) Regional Office s (RO) jurisdiction undertakes an initial evaluation of the Servicemember/Claimant to determine his or her entitlement for these services and assist and develops, in cooperation with the Servicemember/Claimant, an Individualized Written Plan of Services. Rehabilitation plans include: an Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan (IWRP) that outlines training and job placement services needed to achieve employment goals; an employment placement under an Individualized Employment Assistance Plan (IEAP); an Individualized Extended Evaluation Plan (IEEP) to determine feasibility for employment; or if employment is not possible, services to enhance the Claimant s independence in daily living under an Individualized Independent Living Plan (IILP). The VA is charged with providing assistance to Claimants with service-connected disabilities through VR&E services. In order to assure services in close geographic proximity to Claimants and to provide timely services when staff turnover occurs, Contractor assistance may be required to supplement VR&E services. Specialized services may also be required to complement services typically provided by VBA Staff. In order to provide these services, VR&E requires Contractor assistance in the following areas: (1) Initial evaluation; (2) Case management services; and (3) Job placement services to assist the Claimant in finding and maintaining suitable employment. The objective of the contract is to assist Servicemember/Claimants to obtain and maintain suitable employment. The VA is procuring local services for Claimants through VA s jurisdiction under a national contracting initiative. Under the terms of any awarded contract as a result of this solicitation, an authorized VR&E official will be responsible for: (1) Approval of rehabilitation plans and; (2) Approval or authorization of any specific expenditure or benefit to, or on behalf of, the Servicemember/Claimant whose case is referred to the Contractor. It is understood that no obligation will be incurred under the contract by the Government for any services or benefit to, or on behalf of, a Servicemember/Claimant without prior authorization issued by the designated VR&E official. INFORMATION SOUGHT The Government is seeking the following information to be provided by the vendors when responding to the RFI: Company Information Answers to Questions Draft PWS Comments 3.1 Company Information RFI respondents shall provide the following information: Company Name Company Address Company Point of Contact (name, address, telephone number, email address) DUNS Number Type of business (i.e. Large Business, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Small Business (SB), etc.) under NAICS 624310, which contains a size standard of $12 Million; Existing Multiple Award Contract (MAC) vehicles currently held by your company (examples may include General Service Administrations (GSA) schedules, Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), Indefinite Delivery Contracts (IDCs), Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPAs)) available for the Government s use for this requirement. For each MAC vehicle provide: vehicle name; vehicle number; date of award; expiration date 3.2 Answers to Questions RFI respondents shall provide answers to the questions provided in Section 5.0 of this RFI. RFI respondents are requested to address each question. Questions that do not apply to RFI respondents or RFI respondents cannot provide answers to shall be addressed by marking these questions with N/A . 3.3 Draft PWS Comments RFI respondents shall provide comments on the PWS in the following table format: Comment # PWS Page # PWS Section # Comment The comments may include recommended changes, noted errors, inconsistencies, ambiguities, areas requiring further clarifications or higher level of detail, etc. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Please submit responses via email to the Contract Specialist, Jonathan Latson, at jonathan.latson@va.gov. Submissions are due no later than September 3, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. The email subject line must contain the following: Response to RFI 36C10D22Q0001, Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services. VBA reserves the right to not reply to any emails, responses, questions and materials submitted in response to the RFI. Mark your response as Proprietary Information if the information included is considered to be business sensitive and / or includes trade secrets. RFI responses shall not exceed 10 pages total (exclusive of the Draft PWS Comments). Responses shall be prepared on standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper (charts may be landscaped but must be on 8.5 x 11 inch paper) and shall be in Times New Roman, font size (12), with 1 margins. All pages of the response shall be appropriately numbered, and identified with the RFI number LIST OF QUESTIONS Please provide information regarding proposed joint ventures, teaming arrangements, strategic alliances or other business arrangements to satisfy requirements of the entire PWS. Please describe your organization s expertise in the areas of employment and educational counseling as delineated in the PWS. Also, indicate the relationship to areas of expertise and skills as they relate to providing vocational rehabilitation and employment services or support to Veterans and their dependents. Provide any examples that are similar to those in this RFI. Please describe relevant certifications that your organization possesses which are specific to vocational rehabilitation and employment services. Please describe your organization s strategy, experience, and capability to recruit and retain Program managers and Certified Counselors. Please discuss how your organization would prepare for and respond to referrals issued by the VA's Veteran Readiness and Employment, specifically the timelines to contact participants for sessions and submit reports to the VA based on those counseling sessions. On average, how many full-time equivalent (FTE) Certified Counselors are employed by your company? How long has your company been providing vocational rehabilitation and employment counseling services? Over the last 3 years what rate of success does your company have for finding suitable employment for Claimants? Please identify the range that best reflects the percentage of your company's clients that have been placed to the total number of company clients on an annual basis. (i.e., 60 clients placed in employment out of 100 total annual clients = 60%) How many counselors have a minimum of 3 years of experience in vocational rehabilitation and employment counseling? For the previous 3 years, for whom has your company provided vocational rehabilitation and employment counseling services, and in what capacity (select all that apply and notate whether the services were provided as a Prime Contractor or Subcontractor)? What is your average retention rate over the past 3 years (year-over-year) for Certified Counselors? How do you identify performance deficiencies? How do you address them? How do you implement corrective action? What recommendations would your company make relative to pricing structures? What are the major risk factors in the performance of services required in the PWS? How can those risks be mitigated? Please indicate the Contracting Group(s) your company is interested in and capable of conducting Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services, by completing the attached Areas of Consideration Interest Form . If the Government were to solicit for these services, individual contracts would be awarded for each of the 18 Groups and 6 stand- alone contracts outlined in the attachment. ATTACHMENTS See attached document: Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Services Draft PWS. See attached document: Areas of Consideration Interest Form.