Social Security Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants, 1710 Gwynn Oak Avenue, Baltimore, Md. 21207-0696

R -- VOCATIONAL FACTORS RESEARCH SOL SSA-RFP-97-3114 DUE 062797 POC Jane M. Quinn Tel: (410) 965-9495 WEB: Social Security Administration, http://www.ssa.gov/oag/oag1.htm. The Social Security Administration (SSA) requires the services of a contractor to perform a comprehensive review and evaluation of the literature and of any other research pertaining to the effects of age, education, and work experience on the ability to work, or adapt to work, in the presence of a functional impairment. The review may be national or international and will include: published material (e.g., books, magazines, journals, task force or conference reports); and unpublished or pre- publication material (e.g., draft reports or papers, training or teaching materials, databases). The review must include a thorough analysis of the development of, and basis for, the current statutory requirement for consideration of vocational factors. The contractor will assess how these vocational factors should be considered in evaluating the ability to work despite a severe, medically determinable, physical and/or mental impairment, and will evaluate and recommend methods or techniques that may be appropriatefor use by SSA. The contractor~s assessment must address the separate effects of each vocational factor, as well as their interaction with one another and with an individual's functional abilities. It must also address the ability to adjust to work other than that which has been previously performed. In the course of conducting this research, a variety of related or subsidiary issues and questions are likely to arise and must be addressed in the contractor's evaluation and recommendations. These include, but are not limited to: The extent to which the process of aging itself, as distinct from medical impairment, has an impact on an individual~s ability to work (including the ability to adapt to new work situations and to work in competition with others); The extent to which the aging process may magnify the impact of a medical impairment on an individual's measured functional capacity and/or ability to adapt to work; Whether, and to what extent, the impact of aging can be separated from the effects of medical impairment(s) in a functional capacity assessment; Whether measurement of functional capacity will adequately address the impact of age on ability to work and, if not, what additional measures would be needed; How "nearing full retirement age" should be defined and the point, if any, at which someone should be considered no longer capable of adapting to new or different work; Whether, to what extent, and in what manner formal education, work experience, and daily activities are valid indicators of cognitive ability; How past work experience affects an individual's ability to work, to adapt to new work settings and situations, or to work in competition with others. How recent such experience must be in order to be relevant; Whether a baseline of work could be defined in terms of clusters of jobs in order to account for the impact of any, some, or all, of these vocational factors. Are there other mechanism(s) necessary to define the baseline; The extent to which each of the vocational factors has an independent effect on the ability to adapt to work, as well as the extent to which they interact with one another or the effects accumulate or magnify one another, i.e., the combination of multiple adverse vocational factors may produce an effect different from the sum of the effects of the separate factors; The effect of changes in the workplace (e.g., fewer life-long jobs/occupations, wider range of duties and greater flexibility required for increasing numbers of jobs, increased employer use of temporary, seasonal, and contract workers, greater opportunities for work at home); and Whether and how positive vocational factors compensate for physical or mental deficits, and vice versa. The primary products of this research are: a comprehensive, comparative, critical, and authoritative survey of the literature and other research, pertaining to the effects of the vocational factors of age, education, and work experience on the ability to work (including the ability to adjust to new work), including a complete bibliography, with full citations and copies of pertinent materials that are not readily available from libraries, online services, etc.; an analysis of how the effects of vocational factors may be considered in a new disability decision process, within the conceptual framework provided by the Plan, and considering research already conducted by SSA in the areas of functional assessment and occupational requirements. This analysis will address the extent to which the functional assessment and occupational requirements research address the impact of vocational factors on the ability to work or adapt to work; and based on this research and analysis, the contractor~s conclusions and recommendations with respect to how these factors should be addressed in the redesigned disability decision process. The final report must provide the contractor's in-depth analysis of the role of vocational factors in a new disability determination process. The analysis must include a detailed assessment of each factor's contribution to the evaluation process. The final report must also provide an analysis of these factors, documenting the separate effects of each vocational factor, as well as their interaction with one another and with an individual's functional abilities. The ability of an individual to adjust to work other than that which has been previously performed must be assessed. Recommendations must be fully supported by appropriate documentation and rationale for any change in the role of vocational factors (as a group or individually) in a new disability decision methodology. Solicitation No. SSA-RFP-97-3114 will be available on or about June 27, 1997 with proposals due 30 days later. The RFP will be available for download in electronic form on SSA's Internet Home Page at URL "http://www.ssa.gov/oag/oag1.htm" and also on the SSA Acquisition Data and Information Exchange (SADIE) Bulletin Board Systems. Dial (410) 966-4889 within the Baltimore, MD area, or 1-800-SSA-SELL for access. Set your modem to 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit (8-N-1), full duplex, and VT-100 or ANSI terminal emulation. Further instructions are available online. For technical assistance, call the Sysop at (410) 965-9506. Interested parties may also receive the RFP by mail if unable to download from either the Internet or SADIE. Requests for the RFP may be sent via telefax on (410) 966-9310. No telephone requests will be honored. Notice is given that SF 33 Solicitation, Offer and Award and the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities form will not be available by electronic download. Persons intending to submit a quote should contact the Contract Specialist to obtain these documents. (0162)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0085 19970616\R-0002.SOL)