U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has a developing and urgent need to obtain contractual support for a needs assessment and gap analysis to support of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), to foster Afghan community integration, and solidify the resettlement framework for this population and other ongoing humanitarian efforts related to long-term immigrant integration.
Background:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—OAW’s lead federal agency—is assisting with integration activities as Afghan evacuees move into their new communities. These efforts include enhancing local integration efforts through outreach and engagement and minimizing the challenges these newcomers experience during their transition from Safe Havens into communities in the near-term and beyond. Through the Afghan Placement and Assistance (APA) program, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) funds nine resettlement agencies and their affiliates to support the resettlement of the Afghans into communities for a period of 90 days. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with any mainstream public benefits that Afghans may be eligible for, operate concurrently with the APA program and provide support beyond the initial 90-day period. Resettlement agencies and their affiliates are responsible for case management, facilitating access to direct services and coordinating with local housing authorities, public school districts, public health professionals, employment referral and support services, and volunteer organizations, to ensure Afghan evacuees have access to basic services to facilitate their immediate settlement needs.
Requirement:
Within DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also engages with federal, state, and local partners to welcome and support noncitizens, asylum seekers, and refugee and immigrant communities.
USCIS requires the services of an entity with deep knowledge of community-based resettlement and integration programs to work closely with state/local governments, resettlement agencies/affiliate Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), community and faith-based organizations, and volunteer organizations to conduct a community integration needs assessment. This assessment will include 1) an inventory of available settlement resources and assets in communities across the United States with high numbers of Afghan newcomers that have significant service gaps, 2) an assessment of service gaps compared to known or identified settlement needs, 3) an analysis of how USCIS can assist in addressing those settlement needs, with a concrete and detailed plan, which includes community contacts, possible service providers, and estimated costs, and finally 4) a model for integration service delivery. USCIS seeks to incorporate a community-based approach that includes a wide range of sectors and networks for service provision (i.e. social services, public health, mental health providers, public schools, and faith-based and community-based organizations) into the existing framework in order to expand or complement local integration capacity.
Inventory:
USCIS is suggesting that the community services inventory assessments include interviews with the state refugee coordinators, discussions with USCIS officials in key communities (including Community Relations Officers), discussions with PRM and ORR teams to include reviewing the surveys they conduct regarding subsidies available in various geographic areas, as well an analysis of publicly available information on services and/or funding available to organizations and individuals, and how an organization or individual would access those services. USCIS recommends mapping these against GIS maps of resources available through FEMA. As the population of newcomers varies by community, services required will vary accordingly. However, a few key demographics for the OAW population will drive the need for services, including more than 40% of the newcomer population is comprised of minors, medically fragile populations, and populations with mental health and other protection needs.
Gap Assessment:
The assessment of each community’s existing infrastructure (including state and local integration networks, government and non-government partners) to facilitate and ensure successful long-term engagement, integration and community cohesion shall include the following areas at a minimum:
- Housing, to include the services available to subsidize and place individuals in appropriate housing and the extent to which local grants are available,
- Public health services, to specifically include pediatric services,
- Public schools, to include the availability of counselors, experience with addressing the specific needs of immigrant newcomers, and the depth and availability of specialized ESL instructors with experience with the language requirements of the newcomer population,
- Mental health services, to include counseling and post combat related stress,
- Employment services, to include training and career development, job centers, and job placement,
- English-as-a-second-language (ESL) services,
- Adult literacy or education services, including digital literacy,
- Integration services, to include integration with local Muslim communities for OAW newcomers, and
- Other services, to include access to food pantries, access to halal markets, access to mosques, access and availability of public transportation to facilitate access to services, immigration and free or low-cost legal services or referrals, Resources available from Federal agencies (other than State and HHS) and from state governments that would add value to the resettlement mission, etc.
Analysis Report:
The assessment shall include the information on funding for services, or budget allocations (including the source of funding) for key integration services, including any specific information on costs per service unit (e.g. cost allocated per individual per service provided). This funding is critical to assessing not only the inventory of services available, but also to analyze and understand whether sufficient funding/resources are available to the community, compared to identified long-term integration needs, to sustain the services for this unique population. The assessment shall encompass the entirety of the community services that are necessary and available in support of welcoming strategies that foster long-term community cohesion. Relevant partners in the project include but are not limited to state/local governments, resettlement agencies/affiliates, community and faith-based organizations, volunteer organizations, and other service providers (public school systems, adult education programs, landlords, employers, public and mental health providers, community and civic groups) who must work in concert to offer a comprehensive community integration framework. This framework should ideally have the resources and local infrastructure to welcome and meet the critical initial needs of our Afghan newcomers while ensuring they continue to have access to services that facilitate community-based integration over time.
USCIS is interested in a robust assessment of the community resettlement infrastructure and local capacity for the delivery of services in the locations receiving Afghan newcomers. USCIS’ goal is to ensure all these newcomers who have an eventual path to citizenship have access to a strong community-based support infrastructure to facilitate successful long-term civic integration. The analysis report must also assess the resources necessary to establish or build these community integration networks should that need be identified during the gap assessment.
Although USCIS will require the community integration needs assessment for Afghan communities nationwide, USCIS’s requirement will be rolled out in four (4) phases, each focused on specific communities identified by the Government, based on number of resettled Afghan newcomers in each community with unmet service needs. This phased approach is due to the time sensitive and complex nature of the OAW initiative and the need to quickly assess service gaps with an eye toward taking the actions necessary to address identified needs.
The deliverable for Phases 1 through 3, shall include an inventory of all services available for each community, gap assessment and analysis report.
- Phase 1 of the community integration needs assessment will be focused on analyzing the top 10 communities identified by USCIS with the most significant service gap for Afghan newcomers based on federal data. The phase 1 deliverable is required within 30 calendar days of contract award.
- Phase 2 of the community integration needs assessment will be focused on analyzing the top 11 - 50 communities identified by USCIS with the most significant service gap for Afghan newcomers. The phase 2 deliverable is required within 45 calendar days of contract award.
- Phase 3 of the community integration needs assessment will be focused on analyzing the remaining communities identified that are not included in the subsets of communities in Phase 1 and 2. Phase 3 is anticipated to consist of optional phases to be exercised at the discretion of the government, structured in incremental quantities not to exceed a total of an additional 170 communities across all contract options. The phase 3 deliverables once exercised would be required within 30 calendar days of option exercise and if more than one option is exercised concurrently a reasonable timeframe (in excess of the 30 days) would be established at the time of option exercise.
Phase 4 of the project is a separate deliverable consisting of a model for integration service delivery that can be replicated and expanded across communities to successfully engage, support, and maintain partnerships, on a larger scale. The phase 4 deliverable is required within 90 calendar days of contract award.
As this requirement is extremely urgent, USCIS is utilizing this sources sought notice to identify capabilities that exist to meet this need with demonstrated experience in the following areas:
- awareness of the unique needs of a resettled population,
- defining the key role each sector of society plays in this resettlement process,
- assessing available programs and identifying collaborative strategies to enhance or build effective programs and services, including experience in identifying and addressing the needs of individuals at risk of “falling through the cracks” long-term with regard to service provision, which could ultimately impact integration outcomes and community cohesion, and
- building partnerships and trust by conducting stakeholder engagement and convening a cross-section of community partners to facilitate welcoming communities and immigrant integration.
USCIS is seeking a written responses to this sources sought notice of qualified and experienced entities by Monday March 7th. The responses to this notice will inform USCIS of the capabilities that exist to meet our urgent need and will be key in informing our acquisition strategy to meet this need within our established timelines. Additionally, if USCIS determines that a sole source contract is required to meet our urgent requirement, the responses to this notice will be critical resources in developing that strategy. As responses will be instrumental to identifying viable sources, USCIS urges all qualified and experienced entities to submit a response. The most highly qualified entities may be invited to a meeting with USCIS to discuss their responses, qualifications, and approach.
Responses are limited to three pages and shall address:
- the entity’s qualifications, specifically the qualifications required by USCIS as stated above,
- the entity’s experience in performing a community integration needs assessment (inventory, gap assessment, and analysis report) similar to USCIS’ requirement, and
a high-level outline of the entity’s planned approach to conducting a community integration needs assessment for USCIS to include the resources available immediately that could support the initiative, the composition and quantity of resources required for each phase, a rough order of magnitude of the cost for each phase, a recommendation regarding the digital format for the services inventory (backup data to the primary assessment reports) as USCIS requires the voluminous data to be consumable for data analytics, and an assessment as to the feasibility of successful completion with USCIS’ required timeframes.
Questions must be submitted no later than 5PM EST, Wednesday March 2nd, 2022 to the Contract Specialist: nicole.russo@uscis.dhs.gov.
Responses are due no later than 1PM EST, Monday March 7th, 2022 to the Contract Specialist: nicole.russo@uscis.dhs.gov.
