A08_LSJ_Redacted.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF DATA OFFICER

Limited Source Justification

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1. Contracting Activity: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Acquisition Division (AD) 330 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201

2. Description of Action: The purpose of this Limited Source Justification acquisition is to procure Handshake Premium Software technology platform. This acquisition will result in a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) delivery order with a 12-month base.

3. Description of Products and Services: The proposed contract action is to procure the required Handshake Premium Software technology platform for a Base Year. The estimated amount for this award is $57,499.00.

The following table are the details of the Base Year requirement:

4. Identification of Authority and Justification Rationale: This is a sole source justification for a commercial item acquisition using the procedures in FAR subpart 13.501 in accordance with 41 U.S.C.1901. 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.

On June 25, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14035 “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce” which requires Federal agencies to cultivate a workforce that draws from the full diversity of our Nation through recruitment partnership initiatives that facilitate Federal employment opportunities for members of underserved and minority communities. These Initiatives are intended to build and strengthen partnerships with minority serving institutions, universities serving a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students or first-generation college or graduate students; community colleges, technical schools, and community-based organizations dedicated to serving and working with underserved communities.

Market Research was conducted to identify the top college recruitment products/ services and associated software. Only Handshake met the full agency requirements in support of EO 14035 as the only company and program that. :

Item Description - Brand Name or Equal Model#/SKU# Quantity Units

Talent Engagement Suite Software License N/A 5 12 Months Ambassador Program Module License N/A 25 12 Months

Mandatory Items

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-Is used by significant population of student academic and career counselors at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).

-Provides targeted recruitment at all MSIs.

-Provides campus counselor support.

-Provides unlimited event and direct engagement flexibility and support at no extra charge so that HHS OIG can plan and execute recruitment events/engagement at any MSI as the need arises.

In recent years, OIG has struggled to hire young, entry-level talent into our mission-critical positions - employees under 30 has dropped to less than 7%, while nearly 75% of our workforce is eligible to retire in the next 5 years. USA Jobs, our main source of recruiting early talent for nearly 10 years, doesn’t offer opportunities to engage early talent, their career counselors or academic advisors in a sustainable way. HandShake Premium is a key component accomplishing this goal. Its Talent Engagement Suite offers valuable tools to help increase employer opportunities to network with early talent candidates while they are still in school - expanding our pool of candidates for entry level positions. It’s Ambassador Program Module offers opportunities for ongoing communication between OIG hiring managers and students - building and sustaining a diverse pipeline of qualified entry-level talent. With Handshake Premium, OIG will be able to realize many of the Executive Order’s goals by:

1. Maximizing the OIG’s ability to recruit entry-level talent from a diverse, broad spectrum of potential applicants, across a variety of geographic regions, academic sources, and professional disciplines.

2. Casting a “broad net” at all MSIs to help ensure OIG’s student internship and fellowship programs have diverse pipelines of early talent to draw candidates from.

3. Building and strengthening outreach and recruitment partnerships with colleges and universities dedicated to working with underserved communities - many of the MSIs we contacted to establish partnerships told us they use the HandShake software platform to communicate with employers and students. This level of existing usage by staff and students at MSIs provides an instant reach to targeted student populations unavailable from any other company or program.

Due to its unique talent marketplace construction, Handshake Premium Software technology platform is the best service to help accomplish each of these goals.

5. Fair and Reasonable Determination: The Contracting Officer will ensure prices are consistent with or lower than prices already listed GSA Schedule. GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and services under schedule contract to be fair and reasonable. Additionally, the quote will be compared against an Independent Government Cost Estimate. Further, the Contracting Officer will seek additional discounts where possible.

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6. Description of Market Research: In accordance with FAR 10.002, market research was conducted by technical representative to determine the availability of the functionality required to meet OIG’s requirements (e.g. comprehensive platforms). HHS OIG conducted market research for software that provide the same capabilities and did not find any other product that met the requirements.

The functions provided by the proposed vendor cannot by substituted without extensive and extended validation studies to ensure that the products yield identical results to the product produced by the proposed vendor. This vendor allows job postings to directly reach target audiences and ensure that the most qualified applicants will have an opportunity to see our postings. Market research analysis was conducted to explore alternate options. We identified several platforms that were similar but non-comparable in that they did not offer the ability to tailor outreach to eligible students based on eligibility criteria, promote and host recruitment webinars, and analyze data to inform strategies, progress and impact. Nor did any other platforms offer the MSI reach and outreach/coordination flexibility provided in Handshake.

Other platforms that were investigated and are being utilized but don’t offer the capabilities and capacities that Handshake does include:

• LinkedIn was the most comparable platform and we are utilizing this platform. We have established our own LinkedIn Showcase page for CDC Fellowship Opportunities.

• We also post our fellowship opportunities on job search sites including, ZipRecruiter, Indeed, Dimity, Idealist, National Labor Exchange and the Student Doctor Network.

However, these sites are merely job search sites

7. Other Facts Supporting the Justification: Handshake talent marketplace connects employers with early talent (students and recent graduates), career counselors, and academic advisors at colleges and universities across the U.S. OIG currently uses Handshake Basic, a free service, to post jobs at colleges and universities that use this platform . Handshake Premium will help realize many of our core recruitment initiatives for 2021-2022 and beyond including:

1. Build and manage a digital early talent pipeline

2. Expand our current university recruitment footprint digitally outside our core schools to include minority serving institutions, predominately women colleges and universities, and tribal college and universities.

3. Increase diversity in our early/entry-level talent pipeline.

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Due to its unique talent marketplace construction, Handshake is the only technology platform that will allow us to accomplish each of these goals. Here are some definitive reasons why handshake is a demonstrated sole source platform to meet our needs:

• Handshake is the only talent marketplace in the U.S. that connects employers with students, career and academic counselors.

• Handshake’s college recruitment software platform allows us to expand increase and expand existing college and university partnerships a single database & login to reach across the entire network.

• Handshake is the only early talent marketplace that integrates with the university registrar's database and therefore the only place that would provide OIG access to verified academic data.

OIG currently uses the free Handshake Basic application across the agency. HRD’s investment in the Talent Engagement Suite and Ambassador Program Module would allow us to access additional application features and to fully engage a larger pool of students and recent graduates, including those at institutions that serve underrepresented minority groups.

Other federal agencies such as the Federal Reserve and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have also purchased Handshake’s Talent Engagement Suite via sole source after extensive market research. The purchase of a different software license would require a completely new effort to begin design and compatibility to current system and processes.

This would impact the schedule by several years and potentially increase cost for HHS OIG due to other inferior products requiring updates and additional software to meet the requirement.

8. Effort to remove barriers to/increase competition: HHS OIG will continue to evaluate technology, conduct market research and keep abreast of innovation occurring in the space to understand whether other commercial-off-the-shelf products that provides these services as a comprehensive solution.

CERTIFICATIONS

9. Technical Certification (required): I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance that are included in this Justification and Approval are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

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Signature: ________________________________ Date:

Print Name: Theresa Woodard Office:

Contracting Officer’s Representative

APPROVAL

Approval is granted subject to the availability of funds and provided, if the products/services described herein have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

10. Contracting Officer (required): I certify that the facts and representations included in this Justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and hereby determine that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. This approval represents the best value.

Signature: ________________________________ Date: ______________________

Print Name: _____Hannah Weatherford______________ Office: ___Acquisition Division________ Contracting Officer