How to bid on the VA’s national veteran mental health survey

What the VA plans to buy

The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to award the University of Michigan a five-year contract to design and run a national, longitudinal survey of veterans’ mental health. Work includes programming the survey, collecting responses online and by phone, and delivering cleaned datasets and survey weights.

The estimated value is approximately $6 million. The VA says it plans a sole-source award because it believes the University of Michigan is the only known source with validated access to CIDI 5.0 and the required survey capabilities.

Deadline and what happens next

Capability statements are due November 13, 2026, at 3:00 PM ET.

This notice is not a request for proposals. The VA will consider responses at its discretion when deciding whether to compete the requirement. If it issues a solicitation, the notice says it will be announced on SAM.gov.

Who this opportunity suits

This is relevant to professional-services firms with validated access to CIDI 5.0 and the ability to conduct a probability-based national longitudinal survey with veteran oversampling. The notice also describes mixed-mode web and telephone collection, data security, quality assurance, and delivery of cleaned data and survey weights.

How to respond

Submit a capability statement by the deadline to Ann Marie Stewart, Contracting Officer, at [email protected]. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted.

To view the opportunity, click “View the original posting” in the portal. If the first click takes you to the portal homepage, click it again. A free account may be needed to view documents.

Prepare a focused capability statement

Address the notice’s stated requirements directly. Explain how your firm has validated access to CIDI 5.0 and can carry out the national probability-based longitudinal survey with veteran oversampling.

Use concrete examples to show relevant experience with survey programming, online and telephone data collection, data security, quality assurance, and producing cleaned datasets and survey weights. Make the connection between each example and the VA’s described work clear.