MTW Expansion Asset Building Cohort

SEE ATTACHED SOURCES SOUGHT FOR RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS This requirement is to develop two documents that together will serve as a blueprint to guide the evaluation of the Asset Building Cohort (ABC) of the MTW Expansion, and an educational program for PHAs participation in the ABC. HUD requires guidance from a contractor to ensure that the policies tested by the ABC PHAs will be designed and implemented in a way that will be conducive to rigorous evaluation. PD&R research contracts always require a Research Design, which establishes the fundamental evaluation approach and addresses key methodological choices. Typically, the Research Design is a task in a contract for the full evaluation. An excellent Research Design reduces complexity and uncertainty associated with completing the evaluation. PD&R research contracts also usually require a Data Collection and Analysis Plan, which is the technical blueprint for conducting the evaluation and describes in detail the data collection and analysis methods that will produce valid research results. An excellent Data Collection and Analysis Plan lays the foundation for getting the evaluation “boots on the ground” and ensures that valid and rigorous research results will be produced by the study. The documents to be procured under this contract are (1) a Research Designs Report and (2) a Data Collection and Analysis Plan. PHAs participating in the ABC will implement a program intended to build households’ savings or a program or reporting rent to build households’ credit. The requirement is divided into a base contract for the Research Design (RD) and the educational program, and a set of optional tasks for the Data Collection and Analysis Plan (DCAP). The options will be exercised if needed to meet government requirements. The actual evaluation of the Asset Building Cohort will be procured separately; it is not included in this requirement. The RD will identify the most rigorous approaches possible for evaluation of the Asset Building Cohort in light of the number of PHAs that end up participating, the types of asset building programs they decide to implement and the number of households they plan to enroll in the programs. In addition, the contractor will be asked to develop an educational webinar and present it three times to participating PHAs; the webinar will explain what we know as of today about the types and scope of asset building interventions that are likely to have an observable impact on households. The DCAP will be based on the RD and it will be a detailed technical blueprint, including data collection instruments, for implementation of the evaluation research that HUD plans to procure separately. The base contract includes the following five tasks: • Task 1, Project Management, includes the Opening Meeting, the Management and Work Plan, and Monthly Reports and Ongoing Communication. • Task 2, Expert Panel, includes recruiting expert panel members, securing their signed participation agreements, and paying them honoraria. • Task 3, White Paper and Engagement with PHAs, includes writing a literature review and synthesis to establish the likely components, size, and scope needed for the asset building programs allowed in the MTW Expansion Asset Building Cohort (i.e., building savings and reporting rent to build credit) to have an observable impact on households. It also includes producing an educational webinar for PHAs to convey to them the findings of the White Paper. • Task 4, Design Memo and Expert Panel Meeting, includes outlining possible research approaches and meeting with the Expert Panel, HUD staff, and possibly additional stakeholders to get feedback on the possible approaches. There is no second draft of the Design Memo, it serves purely as a guide for discussion leading to the first draft of the Research Design. • Task 5, Research Designs Report, will produce a complete, stand-alone written product recommending the best research methodologies for the planned evaluation of the ABC. The task includes two separate Expert Panel meetings, with the thought being that one meeting focuses on how to study savings programs and the other focuses on how to study rent reporting for credit building—however, the actual division of topics is TBD. The Option Period 1 will include some or all of the following 5 tasks: • Task 6 (Option Period), Data Collection and Analysis Plan, would produce a detailed technical blueprint, including data collection instruments, for implementation of the evaluation research. It also includes two expert panel meetings to get feedback on the DCAP draft. • Task 7 (Option Period), Expert Panel Onboard, is a small task to ensure that the Expert Panel members either stay onboard or can be replaced and to get their signed agreements in place. • Task 8 (Option Period), Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Package and Common Rule Compliance, requires the contractor to assist substantially with production of the PRA package and to make sure the research plans and data collection instruments are IRB-approved before the PRA 30-Day Notice is published. • Task 9 (Option Period), Monthly Reports and Ongoing Communication, requires the contractor to continue relevant project management activities of monthly reporting and ongoing communication. • Task 10 (Option Period), Transition to Evaluation Contractor, requires the RDDCAP contractor to coordinate with the Evaluation Contractor who is awarded the contract for the full evaluation. The base contract is for 28 weeks and the optional tasks would be a contract with a period of performance of 35 weeks. The services will be performed at the contractor’s work site.