Attachment 3. National Canine Services - Instructions to Offerors - Update 20251218.pdf

(Attachment # 3 – Instructions to Offerors) National Canine Services

Request for Proposal Solicitation NO.: 15M50025QA4400022

The enclosed RFP is to provide support for the United States Marshals (USMS), Asset Forfeiture Division (AFD), National Canine Services requirement. The Government is issuing a competitive solicitation under the Asset Forfeiture Program to a qualified vendor for the purpose of entering into a contract with a Base, four (4) one (1) year Option periods, and FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services up to six (6) months. The Government will conduct this acquisition in accordance with FAR 12 Acquisition of Commercial Products and Services, NAICS code 812,910 Pet Care (Except Veterinary) Services, Small Business Size Standard $9M Interested parties should submit their proposal in accordance with the following instructions. The Government’s total estimated requirement quantities are disclosed within solicitation attachment 10. The Government anticipates awarding a separate contract to multiple prospective vendors such that the summation of all selected vendors’ capacities offers the most advantageous resources/capabilities to meet the Government’s total requirement.

Proposals shall be clear, coherent, and prepared in sufficient detail for effective evaluations of the Offeror’s proposal against the evaluation criteria. Also, proposals shall cover all aspects of this solicitation. Proposals shall clearly demonstrate how the Offeror intends to accomplish the project and shall include convincing rationale and substantiation of all claims. A proposal with significant informational deficiencies will be rated as low confidence. Proposals must demonstrate the Offerors approach and capability to meet requirements. Mere restatement of solicitation language without substantive detail may be considered insufficient.

The Government contemplates a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract award with multiple prospective vendors resulting from this solicitation. Quantity limits and Min/Max ordering is stated in the SF1449 solicitation under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Clause 52.516-19 Ordering Limitations. The Government intends to evaluate proposals and issue multiple contracts presenting the best value to the Government without discussions with Offerors. However, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions or negotiations if later determined by the CO to be necessary.

The Government is not liable for any expenses incurred by the Offerors in developing and submitting proposals for this solicitation.

The Government anticipates selecting the best-suited Offerors from initial responses, without engaging in exchanges.

However, the Government reserves the right to engage in exchanges at the sole discretion of the Contracting Officer (CO). Therefore, Offerors are strongly encouraged to present their best technical solutions, price, quality control in response to this RFP. The Government reserves the right to communicate with only the apparently successful offerors that propose the best value to meet the Government’s requirements to address any remaining issues, if necessary, and finalize with those Offerors. These issues may include but are not limited to quantities, price, and responsibility matters.

The Government reserves the right to down select proposals based on proposed kenneling capacity if total bid capacity from all prospective vendors exceeds the total Government Requirement.

FAR 52.212-1- INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS – COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS AND

COMMERCIAL SERVICES. (Nov 2021)(ADDENDUM)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The resulting award period of performance is a based period of 12 months with four (4) 12 month option periods and FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services 6-month option period, unless the period is extended by modification to this task order. Option periods are subject to availability of funds and may be unilaterally exercised by the Government.

The following contract period of performance may be revised to align with the conclusion of competition; start date to begin within the proposal validity:

Base Period: 02/27/2026 – 02/26/2027

Option Period 1: 02/27/2027 – 02/26/2028

Option Period 2: 02/27/2028 – 02/26/2029

Option Period 3: 02/27/2029 – 02/26/2030

Option Period 4: 02/27/2030 – 02/26/2031

FAR 52.217-8: 02/27/2031 – 08/26/2031

ESTIMATED SCHEDULE

An estimated schedule of the phased approach to the evaluation process is provided below:

Event Date

RFP Release 11/24/2025 Questions and Answers (Q&A) Questions due in writing by 12/02/2025

Answers posted by 12/05/2025 Factor 1 Request - Email Submission NLT 12/23/2025 @ 10am - Request for presentation time shall be requested via email. Available time slots posted below.

Factors 1, 2, 3, 4 01/02/2026

REQUEST FOR PRESENTATION TIME AND PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

Offerors shall request a presentation time via email to Christopher Ottie via email at christopher.ottie@usdoj.gov and AFP.Procurement@usdoj.gov no later than 10:00 AM EST on 12/23/2025. Offerors shall provide their first, second, and third choice of presentation times from the times listed within the solicitation. When submitting the time preferences, the Offeror must complete the contact information box by providing two Authorized Corporate Representatives and include the following information: Company Name, Entity ID from SAM.gov, Authorized Corporate Representatives names, titles, emails, and phone numbers. Presentation times will be established on a first come first serve basis. Instructions for the presentation are provided below.

To the maximum extent practicable, Offerors will be provided one of their three time slots. If one of the three time slots cannot be accommodated the CO will work with the Offeror to coordinate an alternate date and time. The alternate date and time must be within specified options in the Presentation Time and Presentation Schedule.

AVAILABLE PRESENTATION TIME SLOTS:

*If more than 4 requests received before December 23, 2025 @ 10AM EST then alternative dates/times may be requested by the Government.

Slot # Presentation Start Time 1 January 5, 2026 @ 10:00AM EST 2 January 5, 2026 @ 11:00AM EST 3 January 5, 2026 @ 1:00PM EST 4 January 5, 2026 @ 2:00PM EST

1. SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS

(a) Proposals are due on January 02, 2026 by 10:00 a.m. EST. Late proposals will not be considered for award.

(b) All questions with respect to this solicitation must be submitted in writing no later than December 2, 2025 by 11:00 a.m. EST.

(c) Questions and Proposals shall be e-mailed t o C h r i s t o p h e r . O t t i e @ u s d o j . g o v , E l i a n a . Y o r k @ u s d o j . g o v , and AFP.Procurement@usdoj.gov. Offerors shall submit all volumes to all of the identified Government Points of Contact (POC)s via e-mail attachments. Each e-mail’s subject line shall include “15M50025QA4400022 – National Canine Services – Vol. n – Offeror Name.” If more than one email will be sent, please state the total number of emails (ex. 1 of 3) to be sent in the email or subject line.

In the body of the e-mail, Offerors shall include the following information:

Name of Offeror

Email contents/list of attachments

Offeror POC (name, phone number, and email address)

(d) Incomplete proposals will not be considered for award. See FAR 52.212-2 “Evaluation – Commercial Products and Commercial Services” (Nov 2021) under Attachment 4 in the Evaluation Factors for Award section. Each area / section of Technical Capability must be addressed in the Written Proposal.

(e) Period for acceptance of offers. The Offeror agrees to hold prices in its offer firm for 180 calendar days from the date specified for receipt of offers per FAR 52.212-1(c).

(f) Proposals should contain the following information:

1) Signed and Dated SF-1449 and Completed Offeror’s Information Page.

2) Signed and Dated Standard Form SF-30 (Amendment of Solicitation/Modification of

Contract) [If any amendments were issued]

3) Oral Presentation (Volume 1)

4) Pricing Schedule (Volume 3) (Attachment #8)

5) Proposed Storage Facility – Signed Memorandum of Understanding or Lease Agreement and address of Facility.

6) Technical Capability Materials (Volume 2) - one (1)

7) Provide a Sample Plan for an adoption for review within the proposal

8) Subcontracting Plan (Volume 4), if applicable

(g) SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT

Ensure all Representations and Certifications are up to date with all fill ins completed in www.SAM.gov.

(h) FACTOR 1 – EXPERIENCE/ORAL PRESENTATION (VOLUME 1)

1) The offeror shall submit and present their answers to the below list of deliberation prompts. The presentation must meet the following established requirements for format and content so that all presentations contain essential information and can be evaluated equitably:

NO PRICING INFORMATION SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE ORAL PRESENTATION.

Time Limit:

A total of 45 minutes will be allotted for the oral presentations. All responses within the 45-minute time limit will be accepted and considered. Any response that exceeds the 45-minute time limit will not be considered.

Number of Slides:

Offerors have the discretion of the number of slides and the format as long as it meets the time limit criteria.

Formatting:

Offerors shall ensure that the print, graphics, and fonts are easily readable. Slide presentations shall be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft PowerPoint (PPT).

Deliberation Prompts:

1. An introductory summary of your organization, its background, your current business model and your mission statement.

2. Describe your organization’s experience, if any, operating in conjunction with or assisting law enforcement entities/activities.

3. Describe your organization’s experience, if any, relating to animal welfare actions.

4. Describe your organization’s experience, if any, relating to animal behavioral assessments, behavioral rehabilitation and/or medical rehabilitation.

5. Describe your organization’s experience and operating standards relating to emergency veterinarian care.

6. Provide an example of your organization’s action plan in the following scenarios. The action plans should include provisions for veterinary assessments and treatment for canines in a range of medical conditions, transportation of all animals, indefinite kenneling, and the eventual rehoming/disposition of the animals.

a. The simultaneous seizure of 85 dogs total at three separate locations in Beaufort, SC (31 dogs); Greenville, SC (34 dogs); and Wilson Mill, GA (20 dogs).

b. Upon arrival at the Greenville, SC location in the previous scenario, there are actually 65 dogs present.

c. Separate from the previous 2 scenarios, the seizure of 15 dogs at 18.1407 O N, 66.2598O W.

Recording:

The presentations will be recorded in Microsoft Teams. The recording is procurement sensitive and will be handled accordingly. The Offeror retains full responsibility for ensuring its participants are able to gain access to Microsoft Teams.

Points of Contact:

The Offeror’s Authorized Corporate Representatives provided when submitting time preferences shall be the primary and secondary points of contact (e.g. program manager) who will be closest in contact with the USMS if awarded.

Participants:

The Offeror’s participants in on-the-spot oral deliberation prompts shall be limited to the designated Program Manager for the requirement as well as the authorized corporate official. No more than five

(5) total Offeror Participants shall attend.

Rules of Engagement:

1) The Offer may not generally ask questions during the Oral Presentation. Any questions asked must be directed to the Contracting Officer and should only deal with logistics and conduct of the oral presentation. Clarification or rereading of the deliberation prompts may be asked.

2) Oral presentations do not constitute discussions. The Government will not ask questions that will invite or allow the Offeror to change its offer. The Offeror shall not volunteer any information that might be construed as changing its offer. Oral presentations are distinct from the Government’s reserved right to conduct exchanges.

3) The Offeror participants shall not reach back, by telephone, e-mail, or any other means, to any other personnel or persons for assistance during the oral presentation.

(i) TECHNICAL CAPABILITY / WRITTEN PROPOSAL AND SITE VISIT (VOLUME 2)

(1) SCHEDULE FOR SITE VISIT: The government may choose to conduct site visits; companies selected for site visits will be notified of the date and time. No rescheduling of site visits will be done unless determined necessary by the government to resolve unanticipated problems or delays encountered in the presentation process. Site visits may be required over weekends to meet Government Acquisition timelines. Site visits shall not be construed as an opportunity to supplement the content of the submitted written technical proposal. Site visits are conducted to validate the content of the written technical proposal and identify omitted points of concern that could hinder Government confidence in the offeror’s understanding of the requirement, proposed approach, and or their ability to successfully perform the requirements of the SOW.

(2) WRITTEN PROPOSAL: Written proposals shall not exceed 25 pages to include the Physical Security

Plan, tables, charts, etc. Photos, copies of professional certifications, resumes, schematics of the facility, sample marketing plans, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Pricing Schedule are excluded from the written proposal 25 page maximum. Proposals shall be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides with 12-point Times New Roman font. If two (2) sided proposals are submitted, each side will count as one (1) page.

Note: If the offeror uses a different format (font size, margin, etc.), the government reserves the right to adjust the proposal to fit the parameters of the format as stated in the RFP and if this results in the proposal exceeding the page limitations in any one area, the government will not consider those excess pages.

(3) Your technical proposal should address all of the following:

A. Phase In/Phase Out Procedures

(i) Provide your firm's proposed Phase-In/Phase-Out Plan to meet the requirements of the Statement of Work (SOW).

a. The offeror shall provide their process for the contract phase-in/phase-out at both the start and end of the contract. This plan shall fully define the actions at contract onset to transfer existing assets from incumbent location to the new storage facility, and the actions to close out asset inventory at the conclusion of the contract period. Details provided shall, at a minimum, demonstrates the ability to provide services as requested including operational planning expertise, time frame, security, equipment, personnel/team, and industry knowledge.

B. Transportation/Initial Intake

(i) Provide proposed transportation vehicles, animal handling equipment, personnel, and applicable insurance for use to meet the transportation and initial intake requirements of the SOW.

a. The offeror shall provide a list of equipment that they would use when transporting and should detail the ability to secure additional equipment as needed. The detailed list should properly detail the types of equipment, their capacities, their use, and any specialty licensing/insurance requirements needed. The offeror shall provide a detailed process for how they would intake newly seized canines.

C. Facilities/Kenneling

(i) Provide a schematic and description of your firm’s proposed facilities/kennels.

a. The offeror shall provide a labeled schematic of their facility. The schematic in combination with the written description shall address the required attributes and capabilities outlined in the SOW.

D. Adoption Services

(i) Provide a description of your adoption process.

a. The offeror shall provide a detailed proposal of how they intend to perform all required activities related to adoption services in the SOW and a sample plan for an adoption for review within their proposal.

E. Key Personnel/Veterinarian Resumes

(i) Provide all pertinent resumes and curriculum vitae of key personnel to include those providing veterinarian/medical care.

a. The offeror shall provide a narrative of each key personnel’s roles and responsivities within their proposed operational structure and identify how such personnel have historically performed and can successfully achieve the requirements of the SOW.

(j) PRICING SCHEDULE INSTRUCTIONS (VOLUME 3)

(i) Each Offeror must submit one (1) original Price Schedule (Attachment #7). The pricing schedule will be provided in Microsoft Excel. The resulting contract will be Firm Fixed Price (FFP).

(ii) Please note all cells in the provided Pricing Schedule are locked with the exception of those identified in yellow. At the top of each pricing tab offerors shall propose their maximum kenneling capacity available to the Government; this entry will automatically, proportionally adjust the estimated quantity for all CLINs. (Note: The Government may determine through evaluation that the combined proposed capacities of the apparently successful offerors exceeds the Government’s Total Estimated Requirement and find it necessary to requested revised Pricing Schedules with alternative quantities.)

(iii) Modified Pricing Schedules will not be accepted, only input estimated rates within the yellow cells.

(iv) Please note there are seven (7) tabs at the bottom of the pricing schedule; five (5) tabs that require pricing entry. The seventh tab “FAR 52.217-8” on the Pricing Schedule is locked and will automatically populate with the rates proposed for Option Year 4.

(v) Each Pricing Schedule will be evaluated for reasonableness in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a) as appropriate. Contract award will be based on an assessment of which quotation presents the best combination of Experience/Oral Presentation, Technical Capability, and Price. The government may make award for other than the lowest price.

(vi) Price must be determined to be a fair and reasonable price for the capacity proposed. Contractors are encouraged to submit their best and realistic pricing to satisfy the terms and conditions of the contract.

(k) SUBCONTRACTING PLAN (VOLUME 4)

Under Factor 4 Subcontracting Plan Volume 4, Offerors must include the following:

Exceptions/Deviations/Conditional Assumptions. Any exception/deviation/conditional assumption relating to any part of the RFP shall be submitted in Volume 4. Any exception/deviation/conditional assumption taken must contain sufficient amplification and justification to permit evaluation. All benefits to the Government must be fully explained for each exception/deviation/conditional assumption taken.

Such exceptions/ deviations/conditional assumptions will not, in itself, automatically cause an offer to be deemed unacceptable. A large number of exceptions/deviations/conditional assumptions or one or more significant exception/deviation/conditional assumption not providing benefit to the Government, may, however, result in rejection of your offer as unacceptable.

Subcontracting Plan (if applicable). Plan must utilize Attachment #9 – USMS Subcontracting Plan Template. Offerors are encouraged to maximize opportunities for subcontracting with Small Businesses, HUBZone small, Small Disadvantaged, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, and Women- Owned Small Business concerns. In accordance with FAR Subpart 19.704, Offerors which are not small business concerns shall submit a Small Business Subcontracting Plan.

If applicable, the Offeror’s Small Business Subcontracting Plan must be approved by the Contracting Officer prior to award. Offerors which are small business concerns are not required to submit a subcontracting plan.