Redacted NYC Metro JA FY24-00339 Final v2.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1))

J&A No.: FY24-00339

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of

Procurement Operations (OPO), Federal Protective Service (FPS), Acquisition Division (AD) proposes to extend the performance period of Contract 70RFP118DE2000001, with Paragon Systems, Inc., for Armed Protective Security Officer (PSO) services at various sites throughout the New York Metropolitan area on the basis of other than full and open competition.

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action being Approved.

Nature of action: FPS intends to procure protective security officer services on a noncompetitive basis for up to six (6) months, October 01, 2024 – March 31, 2025, to allow time to finalize award of the competitive follow-on task order and provide adequate time for transition. This action will result in a modification to extend the ordering period of the current contract to allow placement of a task order to continue critical PSO services throughout the New York Metro area.

The task order will only be issued under this contract for the necessary length of time required, but not to exceed six (6) months. The current contract is set to expire on September 30, 2024.

The follow-on procurement is currently in the pre-solicitation phase. Due to various delays including a change in acquisition strategy, additional time is needed in order to solicit, evaluate proposals and make a best value award determination. FPS AD intends to use an unrestricted/full and open Multiple Award Contract (MAC) to acquire the necessary Protective Security Officer Services. This contract vehicle was established to compete PSO requirements in a more efficient and streamlined manner utilizing FAR 16.505 procedures.

The MAC was specifically designed to enable DHS/FPS to accomplish its security mission objectives without delay. The estimated start date of the order to be placed under the MAC is April 1, 2025. This follow-on effort will also require a transition period of 120-days from the date of award to the performance start date. As such, this extension will allow time to complete the award and provide an adequate transition period to the new effort for this requirement.

(a) Name and address of the contractor.

Paragon Systems, Inc.

13900 Lincoln Park Drive Suite 300 Herndon VA 20171-4634

(b) Contract type: Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity, Firm Fixed Price

(c) Estimated total value: Six months -

Period of Performance

Hours Rate Total

PSO

Services

10/01/2024 – 03/31/2025

(d) Type of funding: Operations and support funds

(e) Year of funding: Fiscal Year 2025

(f) Solicitation number: Not Applicable

(g) Background information about the requirement: FPS AD intends to obtain services pursuant to

FAR 6.302-1 as only one responsible source and no other sources will satisfy agency requirements for the continuation of PSO services at facilities throughout the New York Metro area.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The requirement is to provide Armed Protective Security Officer services at various locations throughout the New York Metropolitan area. Paragon Systems, Inc. is currently performing under a six (6) month extension pursuant to Justification and Approval No. FY24-0011 period (April 1, 2024 through September 30, 2024) of the competitively awarded contract 70RFP118DE2000001. Services will end under this contract on September 30, 2024. To complete the competitive procurement process and provide a transition period for the new follow-on effort, FPS AD finds it necessary to request approval for up to an additional six (6) months of service under the authority for other than full and open competition cited herein. This will extend the ordering period under Contract 70RFP118DE2000001 from October 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025 in the event all six months are needed.

The instant action is to allow FPS to continue procuring PSO services from Paragon Systems, Inc.

under contract 70RFP118DE2000001 while processing the evaluation and award of the competitive follow-on task order and the necessary transition period. This will ensure uninterrupted security services at federal facilities throughout the New York Metro area between the expiration of the existing contract and the start of full performance by the successful vendor under the follow-on effort.

The proposed sole source extension will ensure services are provided while the award is being finalized and will also cover the 120-day transition for the new vendor to train and meet all requirements of the task order prior to standing post. The requirement fulfills an existing government need and the extension of the existing contract is the most advantageous and only practical method of fulfilling the government’s need, price, and other factors considered. This contract extension also takes into account the government’s need for continuity of operations and potential costs of disrupting operations. The period of performance for this extension is for up to six (6) months of additional PSO services from October 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025; at an approximate value of

4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) implemented by FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute

Not applicable.

6. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited.

Paragon Systems, Inc. is currently satisfactorily performing PSO services under Contract 70RFP118DE2000001 at various locations throughout the New York Metropolitan area. The contract is set to expire on September 30, 2024. FPS AD intends to award a competitive follow-on task order which will be solicited via full and open competition under the FPS Multiple Award Contract for PSO Services. However, due to unexpected delays and circumstances beyond the control of the contracting office, the Government requires additional time to issue the RFQ, answer questions from Industry, evaluate quotes, document source selection decision, award the follow on task order and allow for a 120-day transition. The unexpected delays were attributable to the following: (1) During this acquisition time frame, the contracting division responsible for this RFQ was working on recompeting several armed PSO requirements which included contracts with more imminent expirations. The Acquisitions Division currently has limited resources to process each of these competing efforts and achieve our acquisition milestones due to significant employee attrition in recent years and (2) procurement lead time was inflated due to the pursuit of thorough additional market research at the request of the Small Business Office representatives to ensure the appropriate acquisition strategy is selected for the follow-on procurement. The acquisition strategy for the follow-on requirement is currently still under review. This contract vehicle was established to compete PSO requirements in a more efficient and streamlined manner utilizing FAR 16.505 procedures. With the incumbent contract set to expire on September 30, 2024 and the compilation of the unforeseen circumstances enumerated above, an extension of the incumbent contract is required to allow for award of the follow-on task order and the requisite 120-day transition period.

The follow-on requirement under this contract is estimated to be awarded on or before December 1, 2024, with an anticipated performance start date on April 1, 2025. The follow-on contract will have a transition period of 120-days from the date of award to the performance start date. This transition period enables the follow-on contractor to obtain all necessary equipment, licenses, training, and other certifications/ suitability requirements for its employees to be able to begin standing post at the start of performance. Due to extensive screening, training, licensing, and transition requirements for PSOs under the FPS program, another PSO firm cannot immediately replace the existing contractor without a severe and unacceptable degradation in overall security jeopardizing federal government personnel, visitors, and assets. For these reasons, it is also not feasible for any portion of the work to be segregated to allow for competition. The incumbent contractor, Paragon Systems, Inc., is familiar with the instant requirement, facility locations, and has a fully qualified staff in place and is the only contractor at this time that can immediately fulfill the requirement without delay or interruption of services. As a result, a short-term extension of services under the current contract is necessary to ensure a seamless transition takes place from the existing requirement to the follow-on effort.

Title 40 United States Code (U.S.C) §1315 gives DHS the responsibility to protect federal facilities and the people therein. Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21), and the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) further refine DHS’s responsibility to protect buildings, grounds, and property that are owned, occupied, or secured by the Federal Government. These documents also establish U.S. policy for the protection and resilience of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and provide a framework for integrating efforts designed to enhance the safety of critical infrastructure. Given the reality of terrorist threats, it is in the best interests of DHS and the public to continue to allow the incumbent contractor to provide services until the follow-on contract is appropriately transitioned. Effective PSO services are integral to the FPS mission to respond to terrorist attacks, domestic workplace violence, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and emergency medical situations. PSO services also mitigate threats by detecting firearms, hazardous materials, and suspicious packages at these locations. Due to these critical roles, a modification to extend the ordering period under the current contract 70RFP118DE2000001 with Paragon Systems, Inc. is required to allow placement of a new task order to provide continued services to ensure uninterrupted service, a seamless transition, and to eliminate potential disruption in PSO services.

7. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable.

The circumstance restricting competition for this requirement is that “only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements,” pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. Therefore, no exception to the FAR 5.2 notification requirement applies, and FPS AD will post this requirement to SAM.gov on or about September 13, 2024, pursuant to FAR 5.201(b)(1)(ii). FPS AD intends to make this justification publicly available pursuant to FAR 6.305.

8. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be

Fair and Reasonable.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the hourly rate of is fair and reasonable based on comparison of the proposed prices to historical prices paid for the same or similar items in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(ii). The price analysis table below shows the comparison in hourly priced rates from different contracts that were competitively awarded for PSO Armed Guard Services for the FPS East Zone to the price established for the six month extension period. All contracts have similar Statements of Work and similar training/ certification requirements as they are all for Armed PSO services.

12. A Statement of the Actions, if Any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome Any Barriers to Competition Before Any Subsequent Acquisition for Supplies or Services Required.

This requirement is for the sole purpose of issuing a modification to continue PSO services under Contract 70RFP118DE2000001 until the competitive follow-on task order is awarded and transitioned to start. The agency is currently processing a follow-on requirement which is taking longer than originally projected due to unanticipated delays. The agency plans to make award no later than December 1, 2024, with the new award to start no later than April 1, 2025. It is essential that services continue without interruption for the security of federal facilities throughout the New York Metro area to include government personnel and visitors at these locations.