Please respond to the contact listed below with no more than three pages explaining in detail the magnitude of your experience in the below referenced subject matter area. Interested sources should submit their response via email to
[email protected] by 6/20/2025. Sources should include their business address, point of contact, cage code, duns number and small business status (for example, HubZone or Service Disabled Veteran Owned). Disclaimer: This request for information is for market research purposes only. This is not a solicitation. Information received from this notice will not be disclosed outside the government. DFAS, Contract Services Directorate _CSD _ is seeking sources and capability statements for DFAS Indianapolis - Interpreting. All qualified and experienced sources including small businesses, 8(a) small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, and Women-owned small businesses are encouraged to respond to the Notice. DFAS, Contract Services Directorate is seeking sources and capability statements for DFAS Indianapolis Interpreting. All qualified and experienced sources including small businesses, 8(a) small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone small businesses, and Women-owned small businesses are encouraged to respond to the Notice. DFAS is seeking information on Virtual/Remote and Onsite/Offsite interpreting services for various meetings, trainings, etc. for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing employees (hereinafter referred to as deaf) on an as needed basis at Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) in Indianapolis, IN to include interpreting consecutively from: Oral spoken English into signed English and American Sign Language (ASL), Pidgin sign English (PSE), Tactile ( deaf and blind), Oral, Oral with sign or ASL (in reverse) back to oral English, The Contractor shall provide interpreting services with all necessary personnel and equipment as requested on an as needed basis, which shall perform the work identified in this PWS. A.1.2. A sample list of interpretation events is provided below. This list is not inclusive and is subject to change dependent upon the requirements of DFAS-IN: Staff meetings Commemorative programs Award ceremonies Safety talks Discussions on work procedures, policies, or assignments for formal/informal settings Quarterly performance discussions Annual performance appraisals Disciplinary discussions Basic staff training & classroom training Interviews All Hands meetings Other ad hoc assignments similar in nature on an as-need basis. A.2 General Operating Conditions A.2.1 Place of Performance. The Contractor shall perform interpretation services for DFA S Indianapolis, IN throughout the facilities occupied by the Agency (Buildings 1 also known as the Emmett J. Bean Federal Center) located at 8899 East 56th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46249. Though the location specified above will be the primary place of performance, services may also be required for DFA S-sponsored events at offsite locations in the metro Indianapolis region, or in a federal virtual environment. Services will need to be performed in offices, training rooms, warehouses, auditoriums and conference rooms. The conditions may be hot, cold, dirty, dusty, noisy, and involve hazards of working around material handling equipment and operations. Virtual Remote Interpreting - All contractor personnel or any representative of the contractor performing interpreting services shall need to connect securely to established DFA S Virtual environment in order to provide services. All contract interpreters will connect from a secure and private environment free of any visual and auditory distractions. No other persons shall be in the vicinity or within the same space as the interpreter providing services to DFAS. Contractor will occasionally require telephone access in order to dial into a bridge line or conference call to provide services and/or connect with team interpreter and consumer. Multiple technological devices (phone, laptop, videophone, tablet, etc.) shall be utilized to connect to virtual environment and provide services. During connection to DFA S virtual environment, devices shall only be used for government interpreting services. All technology devices will be supplied by the Contractor and or/ contractor personnel. If contractor personnel are unable to connect or are having technology issues, the Contractor will seek alternative solutions to remedy the issue and/or supply a replacement interpreter. A.2.2 Period of Performance. This contract will be established for a one (1) year* base period with four(4) - one (1) year option periods. 2.2.1 Estimated Hours 1,200 Virtual 1,200 In Person A.2.3.a Federal Holidays. No interpretation services will be required on federal holidays. A.2.4 Current Duty Hours and Access to the Host Installation. The Contractor shall perform services required under this PWS during the operating hours of the Government activity. Typically, normal operating hours for DFAS-IN are defined as, but not limited to, 0600 to 1800 hours; Monday through Friday except Federal Holidays. On occasion, DFAS is required to operate on weekends as well as operate past 1800 hours. Onsite Requests: Contractor interpreters must arrive no later than twenty (20) minutes prior to scheduled assignment to clear security . Upon clearing security, interpreter(s) must contact the COR or designee for assistance within the facility, if needed. The COR or designee is responsible for ensuring that interpreters are signed in upon arrival, escorted to the event(s) where the service is needed, and ensuring the interpreter(s) is escorted to the check-out location, as necessary. Remote and Virtual Requests: Arrival time for remote/virtual requests will be provided upon request and may vary based on type of request, up to twenty (20) minutes. All Hands and open-invitation events may require the contractor to connect twenty (20) minutes prior to the scheduled assignment to ensure successful connection. The contractor shall not bill the Agency for any of the time described in this paragraph. A.3 Key Personnel. The Contractor shall designate a point of contact (POC) for Government representatives. The Contractor POC should possess the basic knowledge and skills required to plan, control and manage the scheduling and accomplishment of interpretation services required for the successful completion of the work. The Contractor POC should have the authority to plan and manage the project to ensure work is scheduled properly to obtain maximum use of resources and prevent inefficient or wasteful methods in the performance of the services ordered; ensure that accurate and timely reports are provided; resolve problems; manage personnel and subcontractors; and monitor operation performance to ensure complete satisfaction. *** The resume and other supporting documents submitted must include relevant qualifications, certifications as applicable, background and knowledge, in sufficient detail, to demonstrate the capability of the person. A.4 Personnel Qualifications and Certifications A.4.1 Certification . All interpreters provided shall have a certification obtained from a recognized certifying organization. Certification for interpreter providers must be obtained from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (NIC, NIC Advanced, NIC Master, CI, CT, CI / CT or CSC) or the National Association of the Deaf (NAD I, NAD II, NAD III, NAD IV and NAD V.) A.4.2 Special Qualifications. Interpreters must demonstrate fluency in expressive and receptive skills in oral spoken English into signed English and American Sign Language (ASL), Pidgin sign English (PSE), tactile ( deaf and blind), oral, oral with sign or ASL (in reverse) back to oral English; ability to accurately interpret in a variety of settings; and ability to keep pace with communications in conferences, meetings, seminars, training classes, etc. A.4.3 Culture and Language . Preference will be given to quoters who have provided similar services at a federal installation or familiarity with federal finance and accounting operations. Knowledge of specific industry jargon and acronyms is essential to the quality of the interpretation services. A.4.4 Licenses. The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining all necessary licenses and for complying with all applicable Federal, State and local laws. The Contractor shall maintain updated copies of any applicable licenses and certifications for all Contractor personnel and subcontractors and make available to the Government upon request. B. SPECIFIC TASKS B.1 General: The Contractor shall provide interpretation services for meeting the requirements as specified in the PWS. At any time, assignments can be cancelled, additions made, type of assignment changed, and/or changes made to start and stop time. Contractor personnel and subcontractors provided should be able to easily be reassigned to another assignment if the current assignment is cancelled or concludes earlier than scheduled time and another need for services has been identified during the time scheduled. (Reference A.1.2 for types of interpretations assignments.) Interpreters must possess a high level of language proficiency in English and sign language and must be able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of DFA S that they are competent interpreters who can render spoken discourse accurately from English into sign language and from sign language into spoken English, and as appropriate, perform interpretations in the simultaneous, as well as consecutive modes and/or render sight translations with a high degree of accuracy. The Contractor shall attend scheduled and unscheduled meetings with the COR and other government representatives to furnish input concerning the operation and management of the interpretation program. Meetings may be scheduled by the Contractor to determine program requirement. B.2 Scheduling Requirements. B.2.1 Method of Requesting Services. The COR or designee shall contact the Contractor POC primarily via email, and secondarily via telephone with requests for, changes to or cancellations of interpretation service requests. Any telephone communications will be followed up via email for documentation purposes. B .2.2 Request Notification Time Schedule: For requests that will be from one (1) day to two (2) weeks in duration, the Contractor must be able to provide interpretation services for requests received at least five (5) business days in advance. For assignments that will be less than (1) day in duration, the Contractor must be able to provide interpretation services for requests received at least three (2) business days in advance. Business hours are defined as Monday through Friday (0700 - 1600), except Federal Holidays. Upon receipt of request, the Contractor shall provide to the COR or designee in writing ( email) receipt confirmation within (4) business hours of receipt. For requests that will be from one (1) day to two (2) weeks in duration, the name of the assigned interpreter(s) shall be provided to the COR or designee in writing (email) no later than sixteen (16) business hours prior to start of assignment. For assignments that will be less than one (1) business day in duration, the name of the assigned interpreter(s) shall be provided to the COR or designee in writing (email) no later than eight (8) business hours prior to start of assignment. If, however, the Government should require interpretation services and is unable to meet the notice periods specified above, the Contractor shall attempt to provide an interpreter, but the Government understands that the Contractor may not always be able to comply with such a request and therefore shall have the right to refuse the assignment. The Contractor's acceptance must be given within two (2) hours of the time the request was placed during DFAS' business days. If the Contractor fails to accept within the time specified, the Government will consider the assignment refused. If the Contractor accepts the request, the agency shall be billed at the hourly rate established. No special rates shall be used for requests that do not meet notice periods specified above. For requests that will be less than one (1) day in duration and notice was not provided at least three (2) business days in advance, the Contractor shall provide the COR or designee the name(s) of the interpreter(s) as soon as possible but no later than two (2) business hours prior to the assignment. For requests that will be from one (1) day to two (2) weeks in duration and notice was not provided at least five (5) business days in advance, the Contractor shall provide the COR or designee the name(s) of the interpreter(s) as soon as possible but not later than one (1) business day prior to the assignment. B.2.3 Agency Provided Information at time of Request. The COR or designee will provide the Contractor POC the following information at time of request: Type of interpretation required (i.e., ASL, Pidgen, Oral, etc). (Reference A.1.1 for list of types of interpretation applicable.) Virtual or Onsite/In person details- Virtual links, connection details or onsite meeting location. Start/End Date to include daily start and end times and identified lunch break if applicable. On-site POC information for Contractor interpreter(s) if other than COR to include office location, telephone number and email address. If no information is provided, it should be expected that the COR will be the primary point of contact for that request. Host installation Building Number for the event. Note: It should be expected that all events will be held at Building 1 unless otherwise specified. Offsite location and POC if applicable. Event Assignment Number. Name(s) of Deaf/Hard of Hearing Employee(s) Description of event (i.e. staff meeting, appraisal meeting, one-on-one training, etc.). (Reference A.1.2 for list of types of events applicable.) If available, copies of speeches, documents, program specific acronym lists, training materials that will be used during the event in advance of the event. However, there will be occasions when it is not possible for the Government to provide these materials in advance. Some virtual events will require the interpreter to be viewable within the platform and are subject to being recorded. The Contractor POC is responsible for ensuring personnel and subcontractors have complete and accurate job information prior to day of assignment. B.3 Cancellations/Reductions in Duration and Reassignments: All invoicing associated with this section shall be based on the number of service hours actually affected. B.3.1 Cancellations: The Contractor and its interpreter(s) shall keep assignments. Canceled assignments are not tolerated except for emergencies. If the scheduled interpreter(s) cancels an assignment, the Contractor shall provide a substitute interpreter(s) and notify the COR within 24-hours. If the Contractor is not able to provide an interpreter(s), the contractor shall inform the COR or designee. If the Contractor interpreter does not meet qualifications (reference A.4) or fails to appear at the event location within fifteen (15) minutes of the scheduled assignment start time, the assignment may be cancelled. The Government shall not incur any charges associated with such cancellations. The Government may cancel the services no less than one (1) business day in advance (8 business hours) with no penalty or charges assessed. For assignments one day or less, if the Contractor is not notified of a cancellation at least one (1) business day prior (8 business hours) to the scheduled assignment, the Contractor may invoice for the assignment's requested scheduled time. For multi-day assignments, if the Contractor is not notified of a cancellation at least one (1 ) business day prior to the first day of the scheduled assignment, the Contractor may invoice for the first day's requested scheduled time. If the assignment is cancelled or reduced in duration on the first or any subsequent day, the Contractor may invoice for that day's requested scheduled time. If the notice of cancellation or reduction in duration is issued less than one (1) business day before the start of the subsequent day's start time, the Contractor may also invoice for the subsequent day's requested scheduled time. The COR or designee can reassign the interpreter(s) to another service request covered by this PWS without incurring cancellation charges at the hourly rate established. If an interpreter appears for an assignment and the necessary parties fail to appear after 30 minutes of the scheduled start time of the assignment, the Contractor must contact the COR to be reassigned or released. If the COR does not have a reassignment, the Contractor may consider the interpreter dismissed and invoice for those days requested scheduled time. B.3.2 Reassignments: If upon arrival to the assignment and services are no longer required or the assignment ends early, the Contractor or its interpreter(s) must notify the COR or designee for reassignment. The COR or designee has the option to assign the interpreter(s) to another request without an additional charge/cancellation fee with the stipulation that if the new assignment runs over the original number of hours of the scheduled assignment, the difference will be charged. Reassignments for multi-day requests can be proposed to the Contractor for acceptance by the end of the current business day. (Reference A.1.2 for list of types of interpretation applicable.) If after thirty (30) minutes the Contractor or interpreter(s) cannot reach the COR or designee, or the original scheduled time expires (whichever occurs first), the interpreter may be dismissed. For assignments where no service was provided, the Contractor may invoice in accordance with C.3.1 Cancellations. For assignments concluded earlier than scheduled time, the Contractor may invoice in accordance with Section C.4. If an assignment is cancelled or ends early, DFAS has a right to reassign within the original requested time frame. Example: A three day request ends at noon on the first day. A reassignment is offered and declined by the Contractor or Interpreter; the invoice will reflect the actual ending time at noon. The following day reassignment was offered and accepted, and the invoice will reflect the original requested ending time. The third day is not billable as it was cancelled in accordance with C.3.1 Cancellations. No special rates shall be used for requests accepted as described in this section. B.6 The number of interpreters required is subject to the approval of the COR. In general, two (2) interpreters shall be required for assignments lasting more than two (2) hours; requiring detailed or technical interpreting; or involving general audiences that last more than one (1) hour. The COR and/or designee will consider the known/unknown demands of each assignment based on experience and trend analysis and will request the appropriate number of interpreters needed for each request. B.7 Invoices: Invoices shall be submitted a minimum of once per month unless otherwise approved by the contracting officer or COR via the automated system Wide Area Workflow (WAW F) in accordance with the rate/ prices established in this contract. Payment will be made in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act. The invoice shall include a detailed list of each interpretation event worked which has been certified and approved by the COR or designee that billed hours are accurate and accepted. The detailed list shall include at a minimum the following information: Estimated Hours a Year 1,200 Virtual Estimated Hours a Year 1,200 In Person Please respond to the contact listed below with no more than three pages explaining in detail the magnitude of your experience in the above referenced subject matter area. Interested sources should submit their response via email to
[email protected] by 6/20/2025. Sources should include their business address, point of contact, cage code, duns number and small business status (for example, HubZone or Service Disabled Veteran Owned). Disclaimer: This request for information is for market research purposes only. This is not a solicitation. Information received from this notice will not be disclosed outside the government.