Notice ID: ACF-24-OPRE-SUPPORTT
Background. The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) is to study ACF programs and the children and families they serve through rigorous research and evaluation projects. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA) requires HHS to carry out a pilot program under which it may select up to five states to negotiate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) performance benchmarks for work and family outcomes instead of the Work Participation Rate (WPR).1 This acquisition, “Supporting Pilot Program Outcomes, Research, and Technical Assistance in TANF,” also known as “Project SUPPORTT” will provide research, evaluation, and data-related technical assistance to the states participating in the pilot program, and will design and carry out implementation and outcome studies of the pilot programs. Additionally, this acquisition will support the establishment of peer learning communities and other mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of lessons learned, findings, and resources from the research and technical assistance activities among pilot and non-pilot states and other TANF jurisdictions.
Objective. The objective of this acquisition is to provide the selected states with research, evaluation, and data-related technical assistance to support their participation in the pilot program, and to design and carry out implementation and outcome studies of the pilot programs. Additionally, this acquisition will support the establishment of peer learning communities and other mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of lessons learned, findings, and resources from the research and technical assistance activities among pilot and non-pilot states and other TANF jurisdictions. This effort may ultimately help build the knowledge base around new ways of operating and measuring the performance of TANF programs that lead to better outcomes for children and their families that participate in the TANF program.
The scope of the work includes, but is not limited to, the following activities: design and carry out implementation and outcome studies of the pilot programs; provide tailored research, evaluation, and data-related technical assistance (TA) to each pilot state and potentially other states or TANF jurisdictions, coordinating closely with any relevant ACF-funded programmatic TA efforts; establish peer learning communities to facilitate the sharing of lessons learned, findings, and resources from the research and technical assistance activities among pilot and non-pilot states and other TANF jurisdictions; draft and disseminate study findings; facilitate active engagement with program practitioners, decision makers, and TANF participants, and potentially other interested parties, to inform tasks at all key stages of the project; and develop universal research, evaluation, and data-related tools and resources to support TANF pilot program states and other non-pilot states.
The period of performance for this contract will include two services components and twelve optional services components for a total estimate of 99 months (from July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2032).
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