JA - form Sole Source - Home Mod Cohort 1 and 2 - 13.501(a)(1)(ii) - 10-11-23.pdf

JA No. 23-28 OAHMP Cohort 1 and Cohort 2

Older Adult Home Modification - Cohort 1 - RCS-R-2023-00091 - 86614623Q00017 Older Adult Home Modification - Cohort 2 - RCS-R-2023-00013 - 86614623Q00009

JUSTIFICATION

FOR SOLE SOURCE

IAW FAR 13.501(a)

Evaluation of Older Adult Home Modification Program (OAHMP)

Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 Sole Source

1. REQUIRING AGENCY: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Office of the Chief Procurement Officer 301 W. 7th Street, Suite 1000 Fort Worth, TX 76102

PRISM Requisition Number(s):

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION BEING APPROVED:

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will award two sole source contracts to Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc.

These awards will be issued under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) section 13.501(a)(1)(ii) Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items - 41 U.S.C. 1901- Sole Source (Including brand name) Acquisitions. Due to the unique and highly specialized nature of the requirements, only one source is capable of providing the services at the level of quality required by the Government. Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc is the vendor chosen to perform the evaluation of the Older Adult Home Modification (OAHMP) grant program for Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 grants, NAICS Code: 541720 Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities

PSC: B545 Special Studies/Analysis-Housing/Community Development

3.

(INCLUDING ESTIMATED VALUE):

The evaluation of the Older Adult Home Modification (OAHMP) grant program is administered by the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH).

The new acquisitions are required to evaluate the effectiveness of the Home Modification grant program. The evaluation will assess how the grants were implemented and describe challenges, barriers, and successes as well as the impact of the home modifications on the recipients. The impacts on the seniors will be measured via data collected on the activities of daily living (ADLs), instruments of daily living (IADLs), and any reductions in at-home falls, hospitalizations, and emergency response calls, as well as improving independence and tenure in home over time.

The Contractors shall complete the following tasks, (1) update the Management and Work Plan to reflect the changes in data collection and instruments, (2) update the Research Design/Data Collection and Analysis Plan including the research design, the research questions, the sampling plan, Analysis Plan, Data Collection Plan and the Data Process and Management (3) continue with Data collection and all related tasks, (5) provide HUD with an Interim Report and an Interim Briefing, (6) complete Data Analysis cleaning, matching and analyzing data collected for the final report, (7) Final Report and Briefing.

Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 represent two distinct groups of grantees, each associated with a specific funding opportunity under the Older Adult Home Modification program fund . The program provided two separate funding opportunities, with Cohort 1 comprising grantees funded under the first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), and Cohort 2 consisting of grantees funded under the second NOFO. It is important to note that according to the NOFO guidelines, grantees from Cohort 1 cannot serve as primary grantees under the second NOFO.

Evaluation of Older Adult Home Modification Grants Cohort 1

The current contract 86614620C00004 for the Evaluation of the Older Adult Home Modification Grants -Cohort 1 was issued to evaluate 20 grants.

The new acquisition is to continue the evaluation under Cohort 1 for 27 more grants which will require that data continue to be collected via the HIPPA compliant REDCap system. The system is programmed to be unique to this evaluation and created specifically to meet the requirement for the grant program. It allows grantees to collect data for the evaluation as well as data for their management and grant requirements. Data can be securely collected by the interviewers on and offline, which is particularly important when the grantees have to go to rural sites with patchy internet connection. Furthermore, there are safeguards built into the system to ensure only appropriate staff have access to the data collection instruments and the data collected. The data collected via REDCap can also be used to clean the data before analysis of data and completion of the interim and final report .

Cohort 1 - The estimated value for this acquisition is for a 6-month period of performance.

Evaluation of Older Adult Home Modification Grants Cohort 2

This new acquisition is to evaluate Older Adult Home Modifications for 25 grants under Cohort 2 which will require the data collection to be collected via the HIPPA complaint REDCap system utilized for Cohort 1. The acquisition for Cohort 2 will utilize the same Research Design and Data Collection Plan created for use for Cohort 1 grantees and revised based on findings from Cohort 1. Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc developed and executed the RD/DCP. They are also the owner of the REDCap program developed for Cohort 1 as explained above.

Cohort 2 - The estimated value for this acquisition is for 48-month period of performance.

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

FAR 13.501(a) Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items - 41 U.S.C. 1901- Sole Source (including brand name) Acquisitions.

5. DEMONSTRATION THAT PROPOSED C

QUALIFICATIONS OR NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES USE OF

AUTHORITY CITED:

Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc, the current Contractor, is best suited to complete this task, as this project requires documents and the data systems programmed and owned by Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc. Additionally, Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc understands the unique relations between the grantees, the requirements of the grant program and the residents. The data collection system REDCap was created and programmed by Healthy Housing Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc for HUD. It specifically allows the grantees to use the appropriate data for their

Because the data is collected via a HIPPA secured system this allows the grantees to collect the information on resident health as well as the data on the ADL/IADLs from recipients and grantees. This database currently used by grantees is a secured database and non-transferable to another contractor given the security requirements for HIPPA compliance and HUD cannot gain access to this individual level information. Given that Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc has obtained OMB clearance for the data collection instruments and has designed a unique proprietary data collection MIS system, it is beneficial to HUD to award this to procurement to Healthy Housing Solutions Inc.

To measure the impact on the recipients, data collected from recipients will need to be matched to Medicaid and Medicare data to understand the impacts on the modifications on seniors. The data collected by Healthy Housing Solutions can not be used by a different contractor and thus only partial data by another contractor can be used for match providing HUD with incomplete impact data. Given that Healthy Housing Solutions keeps the data they need to complete the project, allowing them to conduct a thorough match with Medicare/Medicaid for the impact analysis.

Healthy Housing Solutions, Inc to collect data for the additional 27 grantees. It is the fastest, most efficient and cost effective method of collecting all the data to meet mandates listed in the Congressional Joint Explanatory Statement

(JES).

Cohort 2, the government will similarly benefit if the current Contractor is able conduct the study. First, the government will benefit from efficiency and cost benefits from the reduced work needed on the RD/DCP and data collection instruments. Cohort 2 has to follow the same procedures as used for Cohort 1. Second, the government will benefit with reduced costs and time associated with the creation of a HIPPA complaint data collection software. Healthy Housing Solutions has programmed REDCap to collect data for Cohort 1 and can be used for Cohort 2 with minor changes for the new grantees.

Based on the above, the awards to Healthy Housing Solutions will result in costsavings and will be the best value for the Government.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE

SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE,

INCLUDING WHETHER A NOTICE WAS OR WILL BE PUBLICIZED AS

REQUIRED BY SUBPART 5.2 AND, IF NOT, WHICH EXCEPTION UNDER 5.202

APPLIES:

A Notice of Intent (NOI) was posted on SAM.GOV on May 12, 2023, with a closing date of May 26, 2023. See paragraph 8 for results of the Notice of Intent.

7. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE

ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE:

The Contracting Officer will ensure that the price received is deemed fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a)(2). It is anticipated that the government will receive a fair and noncommercial customers.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH EFFORTS CONDUCTED AND THE

RESULTS OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASON MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT

CONDUCTED:

The market research that was conducted by both PD&R and the Contracting Office concluded that based on the unique or specialized nature of the work, Healthy Housing Solutions is the only source is capable of providing the services for the Evaluation of Older Adult Home Modification Grants for Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 grants.

Healthy Housing Solutions is a small business.

A Notice of Intent (NOI) was posted on SAM.GOV on May 12, 2023, with a closing date of May 26, 2023. The purpose for the notice was to determine if there were other vendors who could provide the services required.

No responses were received.

9. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION: (i) Explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available. (ii) When 6.302-1 is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in 6.302- 1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived.

(iii) When 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government.

There are no other facts other than the facts stated above.

10. LISTING OF THE SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED, IN WRITING, AN

INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION:

No other source expressed interest in this acquisition.

11. STATEMENT OF ACTIONS TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO

COMPETITION BEFORE ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITIONS:

The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) will work closely with PD&R to monitor the commercial market for new sources that become available.

12. CONTRACTING OFFICERS CERTIFICATION:

I certify that the facts contained in this justification are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Prepared/Approved By:

Cathy J. Baker Contracting Officer