04.06_Limited_Source_Justification.pdf

OFFICE OF ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT

Limited-Sources Justification

Orders or BPAs Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold

J&A-FY19-0049

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of the Multiple-Award Schedule Program, 41 U.S.C. 152(3), Competitive Procedures, and 40 U.S.C. 501, Services for Executive Agencies.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Acquisition Management (OAQ), on behalf of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), Custody Management Division (CMD), proposes to award an order pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a), Limited Sources.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

(a) Type of action: New Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) Call Order

(b) Amount the current J&A is justifying: $1,287,644.26 including all options.

(c) Brief Description: OAQ intends to procure, on a sole source basis, support for the ERO

Contact Center of Operations (ECCO) from the following company:

XL Associates, Inc. (XLA) 8614 Westwood Center Dr Vienna, VA 22182

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The ECCO receives and responds to requests received from internal and external stakeholders via the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) hotline, the Detention Reporting Information Line (DRIL), as well as ERO Non-Telephonic Reporting (ENTR) messages.

The vendor will provide ECCO with Telephonic Operations Support, Non-Telephonic and Written Case Review Operations Support, Contract Management tasks, and Work Activity Tracking support. These tasks are described in detail in the Statement of Work. The ECCO receives over 12,000 communications per month (both Telephonic and Non-Telephonic).

This interim Call Order will establish a four-month base period and three (3) one-month option periods.

Period Time Total Base 4 mos. $735,796.72 Option Period 1 1 mos. $183,949.18 Option Period 2 1 mos. $183,949.18 Option Period 3 1 mos. $183,949.18

$1,287,644.26 http://uscode.house.gov/

4. Authority and supporting rationale and a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

This acquisition is conducted under the authority of FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B). FAR 8.405-6 (a)(1)(i)(B) states that the government may limit sources where “only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.”

Rationale:

The Government has an immediate need for XLA services to staff and operate the ECCO. A new Call Order was competitively awarded for this requirement, however that award has been protested to the GAO which requires approximately 100 days to resolve. The current Call Order will expire on May 3, 2019, which means a lapse in service will occur unless XLA provides the necessary staffing services. A lapse in performance of these services will shut down all operations at the ECCO and would stop the Government from being able to provide unique immigration information regarding detainees and detainment status to interested stakeholders, a complete elimination of, over 12,000 interactions each month.

As the incumbent, XLA has been providing support for the ECCO since 2014 and is the only vendor in position to provide these services at the level of quality required. No other vendor is capable of providing these unique services at the level of quality required before the current Call Order expires on May 3, 2019.

A majority of of the services are provide by XLA’s Call Analysts, who interact directly with ICE detainees, victims of immigration crime, non-governmental organizations, attorneys, and the general public. These Call Analysts are uniquely trained to receive communications from this wide range of stakeholders, record necessary information from each interaction, and provide the stakeholder with appropriate information. This training is unique to the ECCO and, under XLA, the Call Analysts currently operating the ECCO have completed this training and are the only source capable of maintaining the level of service required.

For these reasons, XLA is the only source capable of providing this unique service at the level of quality required.

5. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the anticipated order represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d).

The contracting officer has determined that the proposed action represents the best value consistent with FAR 8.404(d). The labor rates offered are discounted rates off of the vendor’s Federal Supply Schedule, which GSA has already determined to be fair and reasonable. The proposal submitted by the vendor includes even further discounts off of their Business and Professional Services for Law Enforcement (BAPSLE) BPA Schedule. Additionally, prior to issuance of the call order, the ordering activity will consider the level of effort and the mix of labor proposed to perform the specific tasks being ordered in order to determine that the total price is reasonable.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results, or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market Research has determined that these services are specialized because no other vendor can provide these services at the level of quality required.

7. Any other facts supporting the limited-sources justification. Additional facts may be stated in this section. If there are no additional facts, you must state that here.

N/A.

8. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to restricted consideration (i.e., limited-sources) before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

A competitive award was made to meet this requirement on March 15, 2019. Delays stemming from a GAO protest have impacted an already shortened timeline to award. Once the protest on the new award is resolved, ICE will no longer need to acquire these services on a sole source basis.

Additionally, this interim Call Order, 70CDCR19FC0000011, is meant to act only as a “stop gap” measure to ensure services are performed until the protest is resolved. The Call Order will be arranged in a way that allows for the quickest transition away from this Call Order and into the new, fully competed Call Order, as quickly as possible

9. DHS intends to post this requirement on Fedbizopps pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(2).