2532-61760 Sole Source Justification.docx

CENTRAL CONTRACTS AND LEGAL SERVICES (CCLS)

Sole Source Contract Justification

TO:

CCLS

CONTRACT NUMBER

2532-61760

TODAY’S DATE

05/13/2025

SELECT CONTRACT SERVICE DESCRIPTION / SUB-OBJECT CODE

Contractor Information

CONTRACTOR’S LEGAL NAME

Solid Ground Washington dba Statewide Poverty Action Network

TAX IDENTIFICATION (TIN) OR UNIFORM BUSINESS IDENTIFICATION (UBI) NUMBER

23-7421892

ADDRESS

1501 N 45th St., Seattle, WA 98103

Contract Purpose

Provide leadership and coordination of a community assembly planning grant for rural Washington & provide Community Compensation Distribution. The purpose of this Contract is to establish the terms and conditions under which the Contractor works with DSHS, and other state and community partners, to plan for the implementation of up to two (2) Community Assemblies in a rural part of the State of Washington. The findings will be used by DSHS and other stakeholders to inform policy, program, and budget decisions as well as to leverage the public-private partnerships that are available for this work. The activity of Community Compensation Distribution has been awarded by the Office of Equity to the Economic Justice Alliance to compensate the lived experts who have actively participated in the Alliance.

Contract Funding

FEDERAL FUNDING

STATE FUNDING

$56,861

CONTRACT TOTAL

$56861

Contract Dates * Start Date must be more than 15 business days from date of request to CCLS.

*START DATE

06/16/2025

END DATE

08/31/2025

AMENDMENT OPTIONS

None

Sole Source Definition and Guidelines What is a sole source contract?

“Sole source” means a contractor providing goods or services of such a unique nature or sole availability at the location required that the contractor is clearly and justifiably the only practicable source to provide the goods or services.

(RCW 39.26.0101)

Unique qualifications or services are those which are highly specialized or one-of-a-kind.

Other factors which may be considered include past performance, cost-effectiveness (learning curve), and/or follow-up nature of the required goods and/or services. Past performance alone does not provide adequate justification for a sole source contract. Time constraints may be considered as a contributing factor in a sole source justification however will not be on its own sufficient justification.

Why is a sole source justification required?

The State of Washington, by law and policy, believes competition is the best strategy to obtain the best value for the goods and services it purchases, and to ensure that all interested vendors have a fair and transparent opportunity to sell goods and services to the state.

A sole source contract does not benefit from competition. Thus, the state, through RCW 39.26.010, has determined it is important to evaluate whether the conditions, costs and risks related to the proposal of a sole source contract truly outweigh the benefits of a competitive contract.

Sole Source Justification

To expedite CCLS and DES review of this sole source contract, please provide clear and compelling answers to the following justification questions.

1. What is the business need or problem that requires this contract?

The business need to center communities furthest away from state decision-making tables and co-creating solutions in a nonpartisan way is more critical now more than ever in this unique federal and state environment. This creates relationships and builds civic muscle with those who are not typically involved in the democratic process. Building trust is critical at this juncture and this model works across party lines to learn together, create together and work with many toward solutions around poverty and environmental justice.

2. Describe the unique features, qualifications, abilities or expertise of the contractor proposed for this sole source contract.

The contractor needs to have experience facilitiating this community assembly process in both urban and rural areas AND have experience with compensation of lived experts with low-incomes. The contractor is already doing listening sessions in rural communities and will bolster these sessions to talk about the assembly model which goes even deeper into relational partnership that leads to an outcome - either policy, program or budgetary.

3. What kind of market research did the agency conduct to conclude that alternative sources were inappropriate or unavailable? Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due diligence in determining the basis for the sole source contract, including methods used by the agency to conduct a review of available sources such as researching trade publications, industry newsletters and the internet; contacting similar service providers; and reviewing statewide pricing trends and/or agreements. Include a list of businesses contacted (if you state that no other businesses were contacted, explain why not), date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

The assembly model is big in Europe and the largest assembly effort is transpiring in Bend, Oregon and we are the only state who is implementing a state model. Citizen's assemblies utilize a sortition model and the Washington state assembly model uses communities furthest away from opportunities which is unique to the assembly models nationwide. Washington state is the only state who is a part of the assembly community of practice nationally due to our model.

Three organizations were instrumental in cocreating the Community Assembly model and that's Front & Centered, People's Economy Lab, and Statewide Poverty Action Network. All of these organizations were on a call about this opportunity and Statewide Poverty Action Network said they had the capacity to do this at this time. The other nonprofits said they'd help with this but not lead.

4. As part of the market research requirements, include a list of statewide contracts reviewed and/or businesses contacted, date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

There are only three organizations who have implemented the community assembly model in regional efforts. We were all on a call talking about this opportunity and Statewide Poverty Action Network said they had the capacity to both do a planning grant and do the compensation of lived expertise on behalf of the Economic Justice Alliance.

5. Per the Supplier Diversity Policy, DES-090-06 and A.P. 13.27: Was this purchase included in the agency’s forecasted needs report?

No

6. Describe what targeted industry outreach was completed to locate small and/or veteran-owned businessman to meet the agency’s need?

There are only three nonprofits who have implemented this model and one of them said they are available to do this.

7. What considerations were given to unbundling the goods and/or services in this contract, which would provide opportunities for Washington small, diverse, and/or veteran-owned businesses. Provide a summary of your agency’s unbundling analysis for this contract.

Statewide Poverty Action Network has done the compensation for the lived experts on the Alliance since its inception thus this was woven into this contract.

8. Provide a detailed and compelling description that includes qualification of the costs and risks mitigated by contracting with this contractor (i.e., learning curve, follow-up natures)..

This is a quick turnaround and we, the Economic Justice Alliance, needs a contractor who is poised and ready to implement the compensation AND the planning grant. Statewide Poverty Action Network is the only one who is ready to go once this contract is signed.

9. Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of special circumstances such as confidential investigations, copyright restrictions, etc.? If so, please describe.

|_| Not applicable.

10. Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of unavoidable, critical time delays or issues that prevented the agency from completing this acquisition using a competitive process? If so, please describe. For example, if time constraints are applicable, identify when the agency was on notice of the need for the goods and/or service, the entity that imposed the constraints, explain the authority of that entity to impose them, and provide the timelines which work must be accomplished.

|_| Not applicable.

11. The agency proposing this sole source contract because of a geographic limitation? If the proposed contractor is the only source available in the geographical area, state the basis for this conclusion and the rationale for limiting the size of the geographical area selected.

|_| Not applicable.

12. What are the consequences of not having this sole source filing approved? Describe in detail the impact to the agency and to services it provides if this sole source filing is not approved.

If this is not approved, those who have served the Alliance will not get compensated, which is critical via the Office of Equity compensation of lived experts - SB5793. If we don't proceed with the planning grants, we will not be able to implement an assembly in one or two rural communities in Washington to build bridges, cocreate solutions, create new relationships with those not typically involved in democratic processes, etc. This work has the potential of getting private dollars to implement to benefit Washington state.

13. Since competition was not used as the means for procurement, how did the agency conclude that the costs, fees, or rates negotiated are fair and reasonable? Please make a comparison with comparable contracts, use the results or a market survey, or employ other appropriate means calculated to make such a determination.

This contract is well underbid comparatively to a typical planning grant to do meaningful cocreation and relationship building in communities that don't typically have deep relationships with state agencies, leadership and public servants.

SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT JUSTIFICATION Page 4 of 4

DSHS 27-231 (REV. 02/2025)

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