S02 Notice of Intent to Sole Source_CVP.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Office of Procurement, Acquisition and Logistics (OPAL)

Strategic Acquisition Center -Frederick (SAC-F)

5202 Presidents Ct, Suite 103

Frederick, MD 21703

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) intends to award a Firm-Fixed Price purchase order on a non-competitive basis to Customer Value Partners, LLC, a Small Business, located at 805 15th Street North West Suite 650, Washington, DC 20005 to design, develop, test, and validate a virtual, immersive environment that enables training related to the Suicide Prevention Training for VA employees.

Customer Value Partners, using the industry-leading ADDIE model for instructional design, has developed a training and technical assistance capability that is flexible and supports interaction and communication between stakeholders to better drive the implementation and adoption of innovative solutions. Having already worked with a diverse set of agencies like CMS, DoD, and VA, CVP excels at the development of training protocols that move your ideas from theoretical to actual and change the way organizations work.

Customer Value Partners submitted a proposal to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Innovation Ecosystem’s Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), solicitation number 36C10X24R0053. This BAA for suicide prevention is structured to allow for a competition cycle, which consists of submission of a concept paper followed by an invitation-only full proposal, to select projects to be funded for an initial prototyping and testing phase and option period phase for subsequent field test/piloting. The VA invited all potential offerors (including private sector companies, non-profits, and institutions of higher learning) to contribute ideas for innovations in suicide prevention, care coordination, and treatment that significantly increase Veteran access to services, reduce or control costs of delivering those services, enhance the performance of VA operations, and improve the quality of service that Veterans, caregivers, and their families receive. The VA sought solutions that could be developed, piloted, and evaluated within a 12–24-month period. This total period included all time required for prototyping, testing, and evaluation of field test/pilot results. The proposal submission of process of the BAA was conducted in two stages, with the multidisciplinary review team evaluating at each stage and including subject matter expert review as relevant to the proposal. Government-elected topics for consideration were included in the public-facing BAA solicitation, and the review team considered each submission in line with the above criteria.

For the first stage, offerors were required to submit a concept paper of their proposed solution for one of the VA topic areas of interest. Based upon the evaluation criteria for review of concept papers specified in the BAA, an offeror would be invited to submit a full proposal on an invitation-only basis. This approach minimizes proposal investment costs for prospective offerors. Concept papers will be evaluated on an on-going basis as they are submitted beginning July 15, 2024, until August 15, 2025, as long as project funding is available. The submission of concept papers allows VA to determine the acceptability of the proposed concept, provide feedback and communicate with selected offerors prior to full proposal submission. All concept papers are evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria set forth in the BAA and selected offerors are invited to submit full proposals. The Government reserves the right to select all, some portion, or none of the concept papers received in response to the announcement for full proposal submission. The Government also reserves the right to conduct discussions if determined to be necessary when offering an invitation to submit a full proposal for award consideration. Awards may continue to be made if funding is available. Any acquisition decision regarding a particular concept paper or proposal will be rendered based on its technical approach, importance to agency programs, and availability of funds.

The specific evaluation criteria are set forth below:

• The potential impact, benefits, and contributions of the solution to the stated areas of interest

• The quality of the proposed solution design

• The quality of the proposed implementation plan

• The scalability of the proposed solution

• The Offeror's capabilities, related experience, facilities, techniques, or unique combinations of these which are integral factors for achievement of proposed objectives

• The cost-effectiveness of the solution in proportion to its potential impact/benefits

The Government may consider options if proposed or negotiate with a contractor to establish options for additional effort. VA mandated security clauses will be included in any resultant contracts. Contractors will be required to comply with the technical standards at 40 U.S.C.11312 and Office of Management and Budget (0MB) Circular A- 130 in performing their respective contracts. All concept papers received through August 15, 2025, will be evaluated based on the criteria identified in above and as funds remain available. The contractor will be required to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-220), August 7, 1998. All acquisitions of information technology services, regardless of dollar value are subject to the Clinger-Cohen Act.

This proposed contractor, Customer Value Partners, and their proposal for providing a solution to aid suicide prevention went through all of the above processes and was selected as a solution to further develop and test. As such, considering no others like it have submitted a proposal and been accepted based on the above criteria, they are the only Contractor and only solution to fit the VA’s need.

The NAICS code is 541511 – Computer Programming Services, with a small business size standard of $34M. SAC-F anticipates negotiating and awarding a firm-fixed-price contract to Customer Value Partners for this requirement by August 29, 2025.

Interested parties that believe they could satisfy the requirements listed above for SAC-F may clearly and unambiguously identify their capability to do so in writing on or before the response date for this notice. This notice of intent is not a solicitation. Information submitted in response to this notice will be used solely to determine whether competitive procedures could be used for this acquisition.

The Government intends to negotiate solely with Customer Value Partners under the authority of FAR 13.5, 41 U.S.C. 1901, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. The Government will not be responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice. This is not a request for quote. Questions or comments to this Notice of Intent should be directed to Contract Specialist, William Justiniano William.Justiniano@va.gov no later than August 25, mailto:William.Justiniano@va.gov

2025, at 3:00 PM ET.

Points of Contact:

Primary: William Justiniano William.Justiniano@va.gov Secondary: Michael Stevens Michael.Stevens5@va.gov mailto:William.Justiniano@va.gov mailto:Michael.Stevens5@va.gov