SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- Sources Sought for AFI Project
- Notice Date
- 9/21/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541512
— Computer Systems Design Services
- Contracting Office
- Social Security Administration, Office of Budget, Finance, and Management, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1st Floor, Rear Entrance, 7111 Security Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland, 21244
- ZIP Code
- 21244
- Solicitation Number
- SSA-RFI-09-AFI
- Archive Date
- 10/23/2009
- Point of Contact
- Traci S Leach, Phone: 410-965-9539
- E-Mail Address
-
traci.leach@ssa.gov
(traci.leach@ssa.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Purpose: The Social Security Administration (SSA) is conducting market research to identify firm capable of providing all necessary services to support the ongoing and expanded deployment of the SSA Access to Financial Institution (AFI) Project. Introduction: SSA’s eligibility rules require that an individual’s liquid assets must be under a specified limit. Currently, there are over 7 million SSI recipients on the SSA rolls, and approximately 2 million individuals apply for SSI each year. In addition, SSA conducts periodic re-determinations of eligibility which include obtaining account balance information maintained by individual financial institutions (FI). The Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 permits SSA to require SSI applicants and beneficiaries to provide authorization for access to their respective FI, in order to provide verification of their financial assets. In most states, SSA’s current process for obtaining asset verification is paper-based. The form SSA-4641-U2, “Authorization for the Social Security Administration to Obtain Account Records From a Financial Institution and Request for Records”, is mailed to the FI and asks the FI to provide account balance information over specified time periods. The purpose of the AFI is to convert to electronic media the information exchanges (e.g., form SSA-4641-U2) that now occur in paper form between FI and SSA; obtain titling, balance and related information on all types of accounts or certificates held by the SSI applicant, recipient or deemor in addition to verifying the account balance and interest income revealed by the applicant, recipient or deemor; detect unreported accounts in financial institutions located in proximity to the home address of the SSI applicant, recipient or deemor and to automate the process whereby FI are reimbursed for the cost of account verification. Interested parties must be able to deliver a web-based application that allows for the electronic transfer of account information between SSA and FI. The application would be used to verify eligibility for SSA’s means-tested program, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Background: Accuity, a SourceMedia Company, has previously created and deployed a web-based application that electronically transfers asset information between FI and SSA on a geographically-limited (i.e., California, New Jersey, and New York) basis since 2005. The current SSA AFI project successfully verifies financial information exchanges and detects undisclosed financial accounts to all 110 Field Offices (FO) in the states of New York and New Jersey and to a limited number of users in the Office of Quality Performance (OQP) 15 regional sites. SSA has previously conducted extensive market research and published multiple sources sought notices to identify alternative sources of supply for these services. To SSA’s knowledge, Accuity is the only company that has the capability for detecting unreported depository accounts at financial institutions using the customers, name and social security number as the identifying information. Current Requirements: SSA intends to implement, enhance and deploy the AFI system nationally in incremental phases overt the next five years. Interested vendor parties with the proven capabilities to create, support, and maintain such a system that electronically transfers asset information between FI and SSA nationwide are invited to submit responses to this notice. Responses to this notice should consist of full capabilities statements demonstrating the firm’s previous and ongoing experience in developing and/or deploying such systems, including specific examples of their experience in detecting unreported depository accounts at financial institutions using the customers name and social security number as the identifying information. Specifically, responses must address the following items: 1.Please demonstrate your firm’s capability to establish and operate a secure automated system that would electronically transfer asset information between FI and SSA on SSI applicants and beneficiaries nationwide. The information provided to SSA must include account titling, monthly balances and interest income on all types of accounts or certificates held by SSI applicants and beneficiaries, and may include spouses and parents’ accounts. The system must provide an interface that allows SSA users to request and receive verified asset information. 2.Please demonstrate your firm’s capability to recruit most of the nation’s FI to participate in the electronic exchange of asset information, including your ability to create a system that would interface with large numbers of FI. Such capability would include an established relationship with the financial community. Also, include in your response your ability to train FI personnel in using the newly-created system. 3.Please demonstrate your firm’s capability to detect unreported asset information in at least 10 FI located in geographical proximity to the applicant and/or beneficiary residential address. Include in your response your ability to increase and decrease the number of FI set in the geographical parameters, or to change the distances used in the geographical proximities. 4.Please demonstrate your firm’s ability to electronically reimburse FI adhering to common accounting principles for fees charged by FI for account information, as well as your ability to provide billing information to SSA. 5.Please provide evidence that your firm is legally approved to exchange information with financial institutions. 6.Please demonstrate your firm’s capability to provide SSA with comprehensive management information, program data, and analytical support related to data collected from the system. 7.Please demonstrate your firm’s capability to establish a secure/dedicated facility for encrypting backups for associated data files. Response Instructions: Any responsible firm that feels it has the capabilities and resources to meet the requirements listed herein may respond in writing no later than October 22, 2009 with capability statements and information describing in full detail their capabilities to accomplish SSA’s objectives. Interested parties shall respond by submitting their capability statements by email to traci.leach@ssa.gov. Telephone calls regarding this matter will not be accepted, nor will they be returned. All responses shall be marked CAPABILITY STATEMENTS—FINANCIAL INSTITUTION VERIFICATION. The Government will not pay for, nor will it return, information provided in response to this notice. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct a competitive procurement. A determination by the government not to compete this requirement based upon responses, or lack thereof, to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/SSA/DCFIAM/OAG/SSA-RFI-09-AFI/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: 7111 Security Blvd, Baltimore, Maryland, 21244, United States
- Zip Code: 21244
- Zip Code: 21244
- Record
- SN01964567-W 20090923/090922001603-e49b4ff59d038d293ef636d15f07027b (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
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