R408--Veterans Outcome Assessment Program (VOAP) Services- Q&A Amendment

Description This is a combined synopsis/solicitation seeking domestic commercial products and commercial services prepared in accordance with the format Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 12.202, “Streamlined Procedures for Evaluation and Solicitation for Commercial Products and Commercial Services,” as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested, and a written solicitation document will not be issued. This solicitation is issued as an RFQ. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2026-01. This solicitation has 100% SDVOSB set-aside. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541910, with a small business size standard of $22.5 Million. The FSC/PSC is R408. The Network Contracting Office (NCO) 1- New England is seeking VOAP Services as a Firm-Fixed Price contract with two option years. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this solicitation, it should be forwarded in writing via email to the Point of Contact listed below: Tara Dossiema Tara.Dossiema@va.gov All interested companies shall provide quotations for the following: Line Description Quantity Price Total 0001 VOAP Services in accordance with the Performance Work Statement.* 1 YR $ $ 1001 VOAP Services in accordance with the Performance Work Statement.* 1 YR $ $ 2001 VOAP Services in accordance with the Performance Work Statement.* 1 YR $ $ *Please provide a breakdown of costs for each base year and option years (PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT) Performance Work Statement Veterans Outcomes Assessment (VOA) Program Calls and Data Collection Description of Services/Introduction: The Department of Veterans Affairs Health Administration (VHA) requires data to determine whether mental health and suicide prevention services provided by VHA are effective and satisfactory for Veterans. The purpose of this contract is to obtain services in support of this VHA agency priority, including collection of interview data from Veterans across the country who have received mental health and/or suicide prevention services; tracking of participants receiving initial interviews to ensure timely follow-up interviews; and provision of digital data from the interviews to VHA. The Contractor will provide all personnel, equipment, supplies, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to collect interview data from Veterans as defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS) except for those items specified as government furnished property and services. The Contractor must perform to the standards in this contract. Background: The Government has placed high priority on rigorously examining the outcomes of mental health and suicide prevention services provided across the country by VHA facilities and staff. In addition, there is a legislative requirement from the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act that directs VA to contract with an independent third-party evaluator to analyze the effectiveness of VA mental health services and suicide prevention programs. Data collected for this contract is called the VOA and will be used to meet this requirement. The Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers Act of 2021 (PAWS) directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pilot program providing canine training to eligible Veterans diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The program objective is to provide data that will allow VHA to determine if the program has any impact on the PTSD symptoms of participating Veterans. The data collected as part of this contract will be provided to meet this requirement. This provision of the PWS will conclude on TBD (with the Base year of the contract). The sampling and data collection strategies have been developed and approved by VHA. The sampling and data collection strategies have been developed and approved by VHA.  The process will be for VHA to send the Contractor contact information for  a sample of Veterans who have received a mental health and/or suicide prevention appointment, contact and interview them using the interview protocol developed by VHA within a short time after their appointment (but not later  than 30 days past initial appointment; see quality assurance standards for details) to determine how they are feeling and functioning, and then contact and interview the same Veteran again between 160-190 days post their initial mental health visit to provide a follow-up assessment. The process for the PAWS sample will be to interview the Veterans who are scheduled for PAWS training classes, using the interview protocol developed by VHA, within 7 days prior to the first scheduled canine training class or 7 days after the scheduled class, and then to contact and interview the same Veteran again 10 weeks after the first scheduled canine training class. The VOA requires completion of 16,000 pairs of interviews (baseline and follow-up) and the PAWs program requires 150-200 (number is based on demand for the PAWS pilot) pairs of interviews (baseline and follow-up) per contract year with sampled Veterans. While VHA will conduct sampling, the purpose of this contract is to secure services to accomplish the interviews and transmission of data from those interviews to VHA. Objectives: Provide data that will allow VHA to determine whether mental health and/or suicide prevention services are effective and satisfactory to Veterans, as outlined below. Complete 16,000 pairs of telephone interviews (a baseline and follow-up) with sampled Veterans by the end of each performance year, using a structured and scripted interview to be provided by…