AID-OAA-I-15-00022 AID-660-TO-16-00002 Justification and Approval.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION (J&A)

To: Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate

From: Kevin Pieters, Program Officer

SUBJECT: JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (J&A)

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying the use of other than full and open competition, in accordance with AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5), Impairment of foreign aid programs requiring the continued provision of highly specialized services.

This document was prepared by Kevin Pieters, USAID/DRC Program Officer supervising the Contract Officer Representative for Task Order No. AID-660-TO-16- 00002, which is a Task Order under Contract No. AID-OAA-I-15-00022 with IBTCI.

This contract provides technical and advisory services for strategic implementation, data capture and analytics, capacity building, evaluations, and third-party monitoring.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This is a request to extend the period of performance and total estimated cost for the Monitoring, Evaluation, Coordination Contract (MECC), Task Order No. AID-660-TO- 16-00002 awarded to International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. The time increase requested is for 10 months from the current end date of January 12, 2021 to a revised end date of November 12, 2021. The current ceiling of $24,743,698.34 also increased by an additional $2,300,931.70 to a revised ceiling of $27,044,630.04 to fund the additional work requested. The contract was awarded on January 13, 2016 with a 5-year period of performance. This increase in time and cost will allow IBTCI to continue providing highly specialized and Mission critical support to 1.) finalize the ongoing accelerated new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) development processes required by agency policy, and 2.) ensure no break in necessary monitoring and evaluation services for the Mission portfolio primarily in non-permissive environments.

3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value:

In recent years, USAID revamped its ADS 201 Program Cycle Development Policy with a greater focus on sustainability, ownership, and knowledge transfer where learning from monitoring and evaluation is key. USAID/DRC has been applying these principles in its development work, including in its Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) efforts between 2016-2020, through the Monitoring, Evaluation and Coordination Task Order (MECC) contract AID-660-TO-16-00002. Over the past four and a half years, MECC has provided the Mission with performance management services to monitor, evaluate, and assess implementation of the Mission’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) as well as the Central Africa Regional Development Cooperation Strategy

(RDCS).

The USAID/DRC Mission’s new strategic CDCS development process is well underway at an accelerated pace with a mandatory completion date by the end of 2020. The new strategy is dedicated to advancing the Government of DRC (GDRC) along the journey to self-reliance and the broader Agency organizational learning and development policy efforts. The proposed extension of this contract with IBTCI is central to supporting the completion of the Mission’s new CDCS, Results Framework, Associated Performance Management Plan (PMP), and third-party activity monitoring. Completion of the new CDCS will require continuous data analytics, data quality assessments, baseline surveys, and support for the development of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning plans (MELPS). This proposed extension would also support the CDCS rollout to the GDRC and implementing partners within six months after completion of the new CDCS as required per agency policy.

Finally, this contract is also the primary support option available to monitor Mission activities operating in non-permissive environments. The recent Ebola response efforts and allegations of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment in the DRC have greatly amplified the need for third party monitoring of USAID activities. The estimated cost of this extension is $2,300,931.70 increasing the ceiling to $27,044,630.04 to fund the additional work requested. The list of tasks required under the limited scope of work for the proposed extension is as follows:

Activities required under this extension period

1. Develop the CDCS Performance Management Plan (PMP).

2. Conduct the baseline survey for the new CDCS.

3. Rollout of the PMP to implementing partners.

4. Develop Project MEL Plans (MELP).

5. Review MELPs for new activities.

6. Up to 16 learning events, including 2 PMP roll-out workshops.

7. Conduct up to 20 Third Party Monitoring Events.

8. Conduct up to 30 Data Quality Assessment (DQA).

9. Conduct up to five assessments.

The follow-on award to replace MECC has already been approved by the Mission, with an anticipated award date of October 2021 for the new contract. The proposed modification will allow for a smooth transition to the new contract, rather than a ten-month break in these critical Mission support services if the contract is not extended.

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5), “An award for the continued provision of highly specialized services when award to another resource would result in substantial additional costs to the Government or would result in unacceptable delays.”

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited:

The MECC contract with IBTCI is already in place and available to provide the Mission’s new accelerated CDCS process and continued third party monitoring of USAID activities for the Mission as outlined above in Section 3. An extended break in services will greatly impair the Missions foreign aid programs. In the absence of an extension, the Mission would, for example, lose the ability to provide timely responses to the allegations mentioned above in Section 3. A break in services would also delay the

Mission’s ability to finalize the new CDCS and associated monitoring plans. The Mission is satisfied with the contractor’s performance and views the proposed extension of this contract with IBTCI as the only viable option to continue the activities of the contract. If this MECC contract is not extended as proposed, the Mission’s foreign assistance objectives will be harmed in the absence of monitoring and evaluation of Mission programs. No other contractor could practically compete for requirement without unacceptable delays and associated unnecessary start-up costs.

Additionally, the Agency Program Cycle Policy requires the completion of the associated PMP and MEL plans within six months after the CDCS completion. This process will also require baseline surveys to be conducted and additional time to rollout these plans within the Mission, among implementing partners, and within the GDRC after completion. IBTCI has performed third party monitoring services for all three Mission operating units over the past several years. These services took substantial time to successfully refine the requirements and access the non-permissive environments in which the Mission operates. No other options exist that would provide the regional knowledge and continued quality coverage before the new award is online.

Further, Mission staffing patterns are about 60 percent of capacity and Mission staff are also limited in their ability to take on the additional workload themselves. The administrative cost of soliciting and requiring offerors to bid is not feasible for the ten-month period. Finally, a direct award to a local contractor with the existing capacity and qualification to fulfill the scope of work required is not feasible and would either lead to unacceptable delays or further impair mission programming.

6. Description of the 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 Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2 [AIDAR 705.2].

A notice of contract action was publicized to beta.sam.gov on October 13, 2020, in accordance with FAR 5.2.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The cost associated with this cost-plus fixed fee contract related to the limited level of effort requested as part of the proposed extension are in line with rates already approved on the contract as fair and reasonable. No new staff will be introduced. The extension period estimated monthly expenditures are planned to be below current average monthly expense rates. Therefore, the anticipated cost is determined to be fair and reasonable based on established contractual rates.

8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

Based on the Mission’s knowledge of the market situation in DRC, there is not a contractor able to overcome the rapid learning curve required, acquire the necessary start-up office space, and perform the needed services across this proposed extended period of performance.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

The follow-on award to replace MECC, which is planned as a small business set-aside with an anticipated award date around October 2021 will provide the critical support needed and allow for a seamless transition between contractors. Lack of staffing in the DRC A&A and Program office, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing accelerated CDCS process have all led to a longer than anticipated procurement lead time. This bridge in services will allow for services to be continued while the new procurement process takes place.

Lessons learned from the Mission’s previous five-year CDCS pointed to failures in implementation and monitoring due to a near two-year delay in developing this award and finalizing the Mission’s previous PMP. The current MECC contract was not onboard in time to support the previous CDCS process and finalize necessary data analytics and associated plans. The current IBTCI is already midway through supporting these Mission requirements previously described. The accelerated process, COVID, and short timeframe to completion date will not allow for any other partner to onboard and get up to speed. The complexities of the Mission’s three operating units involved in developing the integrated strategy and effectively providing monitoring support across multiple countries within the region are substantial. Without the continued support of IBTCI, the mission will not meet Agency policy and deadlines resulting in a repeat of failure identified in the previous strategy. Additionally, the Mission’s $350 million annual budget would be vulnerable to insufficient oversight, substantial performance risk, and possible fraud.

10. Sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition:

No expressions of interest were received in response to the posted notice of the contract action referenced in Section 6.

11. The actions the Agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

The Mission is moving forward with a competitive follow-on contract, which has received approval from the Mission with an anticipated award date of approximately October 2021.

12. Technical or requirement personnel certification:

In accordance with FAR 6.303.1(c), I hereby certify that the technical statements included above, and which form a basis for the justification are complement and accurate.

10/5/2020 Kevin Pieters, Program Officer Date

13. Contracting Officer Certification:

I hereby certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

11/3/2020 Sarah Bueter, Contracting Officer Date

14. Approved:

Approving Official Date Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate

DEBORAH RYAN

BRODERICK (affiliate)

Digitally signed by DEBORAH RYAN BRODERICK (affiliate) Date: 2020.11.05 16:41:52 -05'00'

Clearances:

11/3/2020

Patricia Doutriaux, Legal Counsel Date