STUDY ON NUTRITION AND ACTIVITY IN CHILD CARE SETTINGS-II

Sources Sought NoticeSTUDY ON NUTRITION AND ACTIVITY IN CHILD CARE SETTINGS-IIThis SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE is to determine the interest and technical capability of qualified small businesses. This synopsis is for information and planning purposes and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government, nor will the U.S. Government pay for information solicited. The information from this notice will help the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) plan their acquisition strategy.CAPABILITY STATEMENTSection 223 of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 directed the USDA to conduct a study of the nutrition and wellness policies of Child and Adult Food Care Program (CACFP) childcare providers in the United States. In 2017, the Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings (SNACS) collected data on a nationally representative sample of CACFP providers on 1) the nutritional quality of meals served, 2) the wellness policies and

practices of providers, 3) the nutrient intake of children in CACFP childcare settings, 4) CACFP meal costs and revenues, and 5) the observed plate waste in CACFP settings.Since this study was conducted, the USDA made the first major change to the CACFP nutrition standards since the program began in 1968. The updated standards went into effect on October 1, 2017. FNS plans to conduct a second iteration of SNACS--SNACS II--during program year (PY) 2021/22 to examine the following among a nationally representative sample of CACFP providers after the implementation of the updated meal pattern:• Childcare environments• Provider menu planning and food service practices• Nutritional quality of CACFP meals• Cost to produce CACFP meals• Dietary intakes of infants and children• Participant characteristics• Plate waste at the child level and center levelPLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, NO SOLICITATION EXISTS AT THIS TIME.Office of Policy Support (OPS) & Contracts Management Division, is conducting a market survey to determine the availability and technical capability of qualified small businesses, including small disadvantaged businesses (SDB), 8(a) small businesses, woman-owned small businesses (WOSB), veteran owned small businesses (VOSB), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), and Historically Under-utilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses capable of examining policies of all licensed child care providers in the United States.All responding small business firms are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business to the anticipated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code. For this acquisition, the NAICS code is 541611 and the Small Business Standard is $15 million. Teaming arrangements and joint ventures will be considered for any subsequent procurement based on the Government's market research, provided the prime contract is awarded to an applicable small business and that the small business provide at least fifty percent of the supportThe Food and Nutrition Service, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Office of Employment and Training & Contracts Management Division, is conducting market research to identify sources that can demonstrate their experience, skills, and qualifications with projects of similar scope and size completed within the last three (3) years, and explain in appropriate detail how they intend to demonstrate competency in each of the following points (A through J). Expound, utilizing specific examples, on how the firm has undertaken and/or demonstrated the prerequisites listed below:A. A dedicated project director who can deliver high quality work, adhere to project schedules, keep costs within budget, manage the work of many professionals on many tasks simultaneously, and contribute to the knowledge and understanding of FNS programs. In addition, the project director shall possess expertise with conducting nationally representative studies, including those that involve analyzing food service menus and dietary intake of children. The project director should also possess skilled expertise in research focused on the various childcare settings in the US, including the Head Start Program and family daycare homes, as evidenced by publications on the CACFP program in peer-reviewed journals and/or government reports/publications. Please provide citations in your response for full consideration.B. Staff experienced in highly technical sampling techniques to obtain representative samples of all CACFP childcare providers in the U.S., including Family Day Care Home (FDCH) providers. Staff should be highly experienced with the development of corresponding sample weights for complex sample designs. Please provide examples of staff that clearly indicate that relevant qualifications and experience, as evidenced by citations from peer-reviewed journals and/or government reports/publications.C. Staff experienced with developing comprehensive national study designs to address numerous complex interrelated research questions, OMB Information Collection Packages, and questionnaires for web administration, computer assisted data collection, or hard-copy completion. Please cite applicable OMB clearance numbers in your response.D. Experienced survey managers who can recruit a sufficient number of capable data collectors to obtain information nationwide and during a short period of time; can train and monitor data collectors' performance to collect high quality data and minimize non-response. Please specify in your response data collection efforts conducted by your firm of a similar magnitude to that of the Study of Nutrition and Activity in Child Care Settings-II. Include methods used and size of the data collection samples in your response.E. Experienced data collectors and interviewers who are proficient at collecting information from a wide variety of sources (e.g., State agencies, childcare center providers, family day care home providers, families with children in child care settings, etc.) using a variety of data collection techniques (e.g., CATI/CAPI data collection, record abstraction, interviews, paper and web-based surveys, collection of dietary intake information and body mass index data, etc.). Please clarify in your response proposed staff and their relevant experience and/or proposed efforts to obtain and train the data collection staff needed for a project of this size.F. Staff experienced with and demonstrating proficiency in using analytic methods, including mathematical modeling, multivariate regression analysis; and descriptive and inferential statistics. Staff with proficiency in manipulating large, complex databases, using mainstream software packages, synthesizing results from multiple research sources, performing literature searches and reviews, conducting nutrient, food group and other complex analyses; statistical adjustment for complex sample design; imputation; non-response bias analysis and correction; and creating complex, large scale databases accessible to any proficient database programmer.G. Staff who have the necessary skills and experience writing technical, high quality, well-edited reports, which may be targeted to technical readers or to policy officials. Staff who can produce briefing materials (including PowerPoint presentations) and present study findings for technical and/or policy staff (including peer reviewed journal articles, infographics, fact sheets, etc.). Staff that can take highly technical information and put it into language appropriate for non-technical audiences. Please provide citations to relevant peer reviewed publications, government reports, infographics, web sites, or fact sheets.H. Staff who have knowledge of the operational and financial management aspects of the Child and Adult Care Food Program, including program integrity issues, the CACFP meal pattern, issues related to CACFP participation. Please include previous publications in peer-reviewed and/or government journals/reports on these areas.I. Staff with experience conducting 24-hour AMPM Dietary Recall Analyses with children, as evidenced by reports detailing the results of these analyses. Please provide citations documenting relevant experience.J. Key personnel with experience collecting and analyzing data based on food service records (e.g., menus, production records, recipes, etc.) and plate waste observations with children. Please provide citations documenting relevant experience.Research Objectives of the Requirement:Data from this study will be compared to data from SNACS, collected in PY 2016/17, prior to the implementation of the updated CACFP meal patterns. This information will be used to examine how CACFP providers are implementing the meal pattern changes and any subsequent changes in the nutritional quality of the meals, the cost to produce the meals, and children's dietary intake, both in and out of CACFP care.The contractor shall meet each of the following objectives:Objective 1: Assess nutrition and wellness policies/practices and meal quality for infants and children in CACFP childcare settings;Objective 2: Describe food and nutrient intakes of infants and children in CACFP childcare centers and outside of child care;Objective 3: Determine the meal costs and revenues in CACFP child care centers, and;Objective 4: Describe and assess plate waste in CACFP childcare centers.Submission RequirementsInterested firms responding to this market survey must provide a capability statement demonstrating their experience, skills and capability to fulfill the Governments requirements for the above in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b). The capability statement shall be in sufficient enough detail, but not exceed twelve (12) pages total, so that the Government can determine the experience and capability of your firm to provide the requirements above. Your capability statement needs to include a list of three customers (Government/non- Government) within the past 3-years highlighting similar work in nature, scope, complexity, and difficulty and a brief description of the scope of work. The Government technical team will then assess the experience and capabilities (A - J above) based on relevance to the described requirements and objectives. These capability responses should be based upon the capabilities (A - J) pre-requisites listed above.Please specify one primary and one alternate Point of Contact (POC) within your firm, including telephone numbers and email addresses. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought Notice shall submit the following: Company name, address, point of contact, telephone number, email address, and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), and NAICS code. Provide business size and status such as Small Business, Disadvantaged, 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUB) Zone, Woman Owned, Minority Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, or Other Than Small Business. Provide contract vehicles you participate in such as General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solutions for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC), or any other vehicle. Capability statement shall be 12 pages or less.Only electronic copies of capability statements will be accepted and should be emailed to: Keeyada Dickens, Keeyada.Dickens@fns.usda.gov and Lawrence Williams, Lawrence.Williams@fns.usda.gov.The e-mail shall contain the following subject line: Response to Sources Sought Notice -A determination by the Government to proceed with the acquisition as a set-aside is within the discretion of the Government. If capability statements are not received from at least two responsible small businesses or if the Government determines that no small business concerns are capable of performing this requirement based upon an assessment of the capability statements submitted, the Government may proceed with a full and open competition.Please submit all information to Keeyada Dickens at Keeyada.dickens@fns.usda.gov and to Lawrence Williams at Lawrence.Williams@fns.usda.gov no later than May 13, 2019 by 5:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED.