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Contracting Office Address

U. S. Department of Labor, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM), Job Corps Acquisition Services (JCAS), 90 7th Street, Suite 18-300, San Francisco, CA 94103

Description

This is a Sources Sought Notice for the operation of the Centennial Job Corps Center located in Nampa, Idaho. The Government reserves the right to compete any acquisition resulting from this notice. This notice is for planning purposes only and does not commit the Government to pay for the information requested, issue a solicitation, or award a contract. No solicitation document exists currently. A determination by the Government to proceed with the acquisition as a small business set-aside is within the discretion of the Government. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM), Office of the Senior Procurement Executive (OSPE), Job Corps Acquisition Services (JCAS) is conducting market research for the upcoming procurement requirement for the operation of the Centennial Job Corps Center. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 611519 with a size standard of $47 million. It is anticipated that a fixed price contract with two base years and three option years will be awarded. The procurement will include the operation and management of a residential education, training, and employment program at the Centennial Job Corps Center located in Nampa, Idaho. The procurement will also include Outreach and Admissions (OA) and Career Transition Services (CTS).

Contractors will be expected to provide all material, services, and necessary personnel to operate this Job Corps center as set forth in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, which authorizes the Job Corps program. Contractors are also required to comply with the Job Corps Policy and Requirements Handbook (PRH). The PRH is available at https://prh.jobcorps.gov/Pages/Home.aspx.

Job Corps is a national residential training and employment program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor to address the multiple barriers to employment faced by youth between 16 and 24 years of age throughout the United States. Job Corps provides academic instruction, career technical training, and support services. The combination of services provided by Job Corps prepares youth to pursue further education or training, obtain and hold gainful employment, or satisfy entrance requirements for careers in the Armed Forces. The contractor shall provide:

1. Outreach and Admissions;


2. educational instruction;


3. career technical skills instruction;


4. social and employment readiness skills;


5. work-based learning opportunities;


6. Career Transition Services/job placement assistance;


7. stakeholder engagement in support of student job placement, including relationships with workforce development systems, employers, and business organizations and entities; and


8. operation and management of a Government-owned, full-time residential campus/facility, including providing safe and secure living and training environment, health and wellness services, food services, recreational programming, transportation, property maintenance and management, financial management and reporting, staff training and development, and program performance management and recordkeeping.

The planned measure of student utilization for the center or On-board Strength (OBS) for the Centennial Job Corps Center is 241, which consists of 230 residential and 11 non-residential students. The center is in the city of Nampa, State of Idaho. The property consists of 11 buildings located on approximately 25 acres of land.

The contractor shall provide Outreach and Admissions in all workforce development areas in the state of Idaho and shall ensure the annual arrival of a minimum of 336 students to the Centennial Job Corps Center.

The contractor shall also provide Career Transition Services (CTS) for all graduates and former enrollees of the Centennial Job Corps Center, regardless of where the graduate or former enrollee resides or matriculates, and former enrollees within their eligibility period that separated under the prior operator.

All contractors doing business with the Federal Government shall be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) database, which is located on the System for Award Management website (https://sam.gov). All active CCR records have migrated to SAM. ALL QUALIFIED SMALL BUSINESSES INCLUDING 8(A) FIRMS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE.

Interested contractors responding to this Sources Sought Notice will be required to indicate their ability to successfully manage and operate a Job Corps center by responding to the capability requirements listed below. The contractor should also indicate the number of students/program participants served for each described contract. If the contractor references a Job Corps contract, the contractor should also provide the referenced center’s On-board Strength at the time that the contractor held the contract. FOR A CONTRACTOR TO BE DEEMED CAPABLE, THE CONTRACTOR MUST BE FOUND CAPABLE IN ALL 14 REQUIREMENTS LISTED BELOW.

Capabilities Requirements

1. Describe your organizational experience operating a large-scale residential education and job training program similar in size and scope to the Job Corps center. Demonstrated experience should encompass key aspects of operating a similar program, including providing food services; medical, dental, and mental health care; facility and property management including facility maintenance and repairs; residential management and supervision of at-risk youth; recreational programming; student transportation; oversight and purchase of Government owned property; managing General Services Administration (GSA) fleet vehicles; and protecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII).


2. Describe how your organization will meet the requirements of WIOA Section 159(a) that requires maintaining a financial management information system to provide accurate, complete, and current disclosures of costs and sufficient data for the effective evaluation of activities executed through the Job Corps program. Describe the internal controls your organization has in place to ensure proper accounting of federal funds consistent with FAR Section 159(a) that requires each operator to maintain received funds in accounts that ensure timely and accurate reporting as required by the Secretary of Labor.


3. Describe your ability to comply with all health and safety standards in the residential, food preparation area and dining hall.


4. Describe your organizational experience procuring, managing, and executing facilities repairs/improvements more than $600,000 and doing so in a timely manner. Add any experience with timeworn and/or historic buildings and aging infrastructure.


5. Describe your organizational experience overseeing, managing, and administering educational and technical skill training programs.


6. Describe your organizational experience implementing effective behavioral management programs and enforcing student code of conduct policies.


7. Describe what organizational infrastructure exists for providing corporate oversight and support for managing multiple residential educational and/or skills training programs that include one or more of the following: career training, academic instruction, career preparation, work-based learning and transition services, and job placement.


8. Demonstrate your organization's ability to access financial resources sufficient to satisfy requirements of operating the contract for the first 60 days of operation or the ability to obtain them prior to award.


9. Describe your organizational experience conducting outreach and admissions services to attract individuals to a program, screen for eligibility, and arrange for admission placement into the program.


10. Describe your organizational experience working with at-risk and disadvantaged youth and young adults.


11. Describe your organizational experience providing career counseling, planning, and placement services. Describe your experience providing career counseling, planning, and placement services including assessments, counseling, résumé development and interviewing techniques, transition support with housing, childcare and transportation during the specified service window, job development and referral services, and follow- up placement services.


12. Describe your organizational experience obtaining, establishing, and/or overseeing post-secondary educational programs and program providers.


13. Describe your organizational experience collaborating with career skills training provider(s) to identify trade-specific employers to place center graduates into meaningful careers related to the training completed.


14. Describe your organizational experience identifying and establishing strategic relationships with industry-specific employers, businesses and business organizations, and workforce development systems.

All interested parties are invited to submit a written package entitled "Statement of Qualifications / Capabilities Statement” by the closing date indicated below for receipt of responses. (This package must include the contractor's indication of ability to fulfill the requirements.) The Statement of Qualifications / Capabilities Statement package must be transmitted under a cover letter. The response must be specific to each of the capability requirements listed above. The submittals shall not exceed a total of 15 pages. The capabilities package must cite the following information at a minimum:

1. response to Sources Sought Notice No. 1605JW-23-N-00003 for the Centennial Job Corps Center;


2. company/organization’s name, address, and point of contact;


3. Unique Entity Identifier (from SAM.gov);


4. business size standard/classification and socioeconomic status, if applicable; and


5. NAICS code certifications.

The closing date for the receipt of responses is October 2, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). Please send your responses to Nuestro.Carmelo.P@dol.gov with a copy to Safi.Qais.A@dol.gov. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL MUST STATE: “Response to Sources Sought Notice for the Centennial Job Corps Center.”

No questions in connection with this notice will be accepted. Only submit responses to the Qualifications and Capabilities requirements provided above.

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