Safe Helpline Sources Sought

Page 1 of 31 PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS) DoD Safe Helpline 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) requires contractor support services for the Department of Defense (DoD) Safe Helpline (SHL). The SHL is the sole sexual assault response hotline for the DoD that enables military readiness by providing the DoD community with specialized assistance that is flexible, supports changing technology, legal guidance, DoD policy and Directives, empowers victims to report their sexual assault, and restores survivor resilience. 1.2 The DoD SHL is a confidential worldwide service that provides anonymous, live, one-on- one crisis intervention, support, information, and resources to members of the DoD community who have been affected by sexual assault, in support of the Department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program. Services include a telephone helpline, online helpline, website, text-for-information service, mobile self-care app, anonymous online peer support, and resource database for Transitioning Service Members (TSM), publicly searchable responder database, follow-up support and self-paced educational courses. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 SAPRO represents the Secretary of Defense as the central authority charged with preventing sexual assault in the military and facilitating recovery for victims. SAPRO promotes military readiness by reducing incidents of sexual assault through advocacy and execution of programs, policy, planning, and oversight across the DoD Community. The Safe Helpline was launched in February 2001 as the result of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military (DTF-SAMS) Recommendation 27, issued in December 2009, which endorsed the establishment of a universal hotline to enhance victim care and facilitate victim reporting. Additional requirements for the DoD Safe Helpline are contained in the congressionally mandated Response Systems Panel Recommendation 6, issued in 2014, requiring the Secretaries of the Military Services to set forth clear guidance that DoD Safe Helpline is the single 24/7 sexual assault crisis hotline; requirements for sustaining the DoD Safe Helpline are included in the DoDI 6495.02, incorporating change 3, dated May 24, 2017, and in the forthcoming DoD-wide Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Strategic Plan, 2023 - 2027. In addition, Section 549H of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) grants DoD Safe Helpline the authorization to perform intake of official restricted and unrestricted reports for eligible adult sexual assault victims. 2.2 The DoD Safe Helpline is the Department's only anonymous, secure service providing support for DoD community consistent with DoD Instruction (DoDI) 6495.02 and the forthcoming DoD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Strategic Plan, 2022-2026. The Helpline provides live, one-on-one, anonymous confidential assistance, and referral services on a 24/7/365 worldwide basis. The Helpline serves to enhance victim care and increase victim reporting, as sexual assault underreporting poses a serious challenge to military readiness with potential costs and consequences of sexual assault being extremely high. -- 1 of 31 -- Page 2 of 31 2.3 In 2015, the Secretary of Defense directed the development of a Department-wide strategy to prevent and report retaliation. The DoD Safe Helpline is part of the strategy in response to the directive. 2.4 In June 2021, the Independent Review Commission (IRC) on Sexual Assault in the Military (SAM) presented the Secretary of Defense with its report and recommendations addressing four broad areas: accountability, prevention, climate and culture, and support and care of victims. The IRC recommended 82 ways the DoD can improve climate and culture, prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment, provide better care for victims, and hold perpetrators appropriately accountable. The DoD Safe Helpline supports, recommendation 4.2 a - Increase Access to and Visibility of Civilian, Community-based Care for Sexual Assault Survivors. 3. SCOPE 3.1 The contractor shall provide all personnel, management, oversight, materials and equipment necessary to support, maintain, assess, promote and administer the DoD Safe Helpline services addressing prevention and response. The objective is to provide Helpline support services to prevent victimization, facilitate victim care, restore resiliency, and increase reporting that are flexible and responsive to changing technology, legal guidance and DoD policy and Directives. 4. REQUIREMENTS The Contractor shall: 4.1 Provide Safe Helpline services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Safe Helpline shall be staffed, and all services shall operate at all times except in cases of emergencies, planned maintenance, or technical outages (see technical uptime requirements in Section 13.1). 4.1.1 Submit an emergency operations plan for Government approval no later than 45 days after contract start date. The plan will detail technical, staffing and communications steps that will be taken in the event one or more services is unavailable due to emergencies, planned maintenance, or technical outages. 4.1.2 No later than 60 days after contract start date, acquire and maintain the following items to allow for limited redundancy when any service is unavailable: toll-free helpline number for CONUS use; direct-dial helpline number for OCONUS use; direct-dial SMS number; and Safe Helpline website. To minimize risk of these resources being unavailable when needed, the limited redundancy measures will be housed within separate vendors or cloud hosting regions (subject to DMDC approval). Submit a redundancy plan to Government for approval. 4.1.3 Obtain the Government's approval prior to publishing revised web content regarding requirements contained in this PWS, as outlined below, and utilizing Government -- 2 of 31 -- Page 3 of 31 approved templates and documents listed in Appendices A and B. …