Inactive

Sources Sought Notice # 36C24119Q0488) (VA Boston Healthcare System) This is a Sources Sought Notice with regards to the following Statement of Work: This information will be used for solicitation pla... Sources Sought Notice # 36C24119Q0488) (VA Boston Healthcare System) This is a Sources Sought Notice with regards to the following Statement of Work: This information will be used for solicitation planning purposes only. No quotes are being requested or accepted at this time. This is not a solicitation and no contract shall be awarded from this Sources Sought Notice. In accordance with Public Law 109-461, the Department of Veterans Affairs is particularly interested in Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and/or Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB) that are interested. Interested parties responding to this Notice should submit the following information: company name and address, point of contact with phone number, and DUNS number; company socio-economic status to identify business as being an SDVOSB, VOSB, Small Business, Hubzone, 8a, Woman Owned, etc. Primary NAICS for this procurement will be 621910 (Ambulance Services) with a small business size standard of $15.0 Million; Statement of capability; if an SDVOSB or VOSB, provide proof of registration in the VA Vet Biz website and verification by VA Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) or intention of registration prior to submission of offers to a solicitation; all interested firms must be registered in SAM (www.sam.gov); all interested SDVOSB or VOSB firms must be registered in VETBIZ.GOV and Verified by VA CVE and registered in SAM to be eligible for award of Government contracts; and any other pertinent company documentation. The response date to this Notice is August 1st, 2019, at 12:00 noon EST. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS ONLY PLEASE. Send to: anna.norcross@va.gov. General Information The National Military Sexual Trauma (MST) Support Team is seeking a contractor to lead the design of a 3-5-page booklet for providers intended to enhance provision of care to racial and ethnic minority MST survivors. Content for the booklet will primarily highlight Veteran quotations collected through a previously conducted qualitative interview project. Brief statements regarding clinical implications and action steps based on those quotations will also be included, provided by subject matter experts on the MST Support Team. Scope of Work The tentative title for the booklet is Understanding the Experiences of Racial and Ethnic Minority Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma: A Guide for Providers. The main focus of the 3-5-page booklet will be on Veterans experiences and the use of their own words (i.e., quotations derived from our existing pool) to highlight how providers can respond more competently and sensitively to MST survivors who identify as racial and/or ethnic minorities. Specific clinical implications and key action steps will also be included but kept brief so as not to detract from the quotations. The booklet will also provide basic information on 1) the impact of minority stress and both race- and ethnicity-based discrimination and harassment; and 2) the extent to which both race- and ethnicity-based discrimination and harassment can be a part of MST, and/or occur leading up to and/or following MST. Examples of key themes articulated in the Veterans quotations include: culturally-sensitive ways for providers to communicate safety and build trust importance of accurately documenting race and ethnicity in the medical record ways to ask about race and ethnicity and their impact on MST and recovery patient-provider dynamics that can influence treatment engagement and success sociocultural and historical contexts that can contribute to symptoms, experiences of MST, and recovery ways to demonstrate interest in and knowledge of different cultural backgrounds attention to the environment of care and its impact on survivors The booklet must be 508 compliant and conform to all Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) and MST Support Team standards with regard to technological specifications, design, and plain language. This product will be created as a pdf both for upload to our website and for print as a high-quality booklet. Tasks - Planning We require the production of a 3-5-page booklet that first and foremost highlights the Veteran quotations and their poignancy; it must also concisely share key recommendations and implications without overshadowing the quotations both in terms of layout and amount of content. We would like the tone to speak to providers in a warm and approachable manner. Development of the booklet will be guided by discussion between the contractor and MST Support Team subject matter experts, a review of the existing pool of Veteran quotations and the MST Support Team s list of suggested key themes and proposed outline of content, and a review of 2-3 key publications developed by the NCPTSD and/or MST Support Team, to be provided by the MST Support Team, that have a similar style, design quality, tone and feel to the end product booklet that the MST Support Team is envisioning. Tasks Production The booklet design should be similar to the look and feel of the sample publications provided by the MST Support Team mentioned above. The MST Support Team will draft all written content, and thus will rely on the contractor for the design of the booklet and will not expect the contractor to draft written content. Project Management Plan: The contractor and MST Support Team will set a timeline and milestones for all aspects of the project, including finalizing a draft of the written content following initial planning phase (MST Support Team) establishing direction for the look and feel of the booklet (contractor) offering a minimum of 3 distinct design template options (contractor) approval of design template option (MST Support Team) choosing images and icons and laying out the draft text in the chosen format (contractor) finalizing the text/layout/images and making needed revisions (MST Support Team + contractor) ensuring 508 compliance (contractor) producing the final brochure (contractor) Once the MST Support Team has finalized the draft text and the contractor has completed the steps outlined in task 4.1 above (e.g., reviewed MST Support Team s draft text, pool of Veteran quotations, and the 2-3 sample publications with a similar look and feel to the envisioned booklet), the contractor will provide an artist/designer who will be responsible for design and layout. Once a general direction for the look and feel has been established through conversations between the artist/designer and the MST Support team, the artist/designer will produce at least three different mockups of the design with draft content for the MST Support Team to review. Once a final design template/layout is approved of by the MST Support Team, we anticipate up to three rounds of substantive edits before arriving at a final design. Additional small content revisions may be necessary to arrive at a final product. The MST Support Team will work with the contractor to submit the product to the VA 508 Office for certification. The contractor must make all changes deemed necessary by that office in order to achieve 508 compliance. The contractor should schedule at least 1 month for the review, revision, and resubmission process. The contractor will provide the MST Support team with a 508-compliant booklet in PDF and printable formats along with all source files, such as InDesign, used to create them.