Combined Synopsis Solicitation updated background screening.docx

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation RFQ ID #70Z03926QCGA00038

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation

i. This is a Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for services in accordance with the format in FAR Part 12, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotes are being requested, and a written solicitation will not be issued.

ii. Solicitation number 70Z03926QCGA00038 is being issued as a Request for Quote (RFQ).

iii. This solicitation document and the incorporated provisions and clauses reflect those in effect through Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Revolutionary Overhaul https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul

iv. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) number is 561611 and the business size standard is $25.0 million. The proposed acquisition is being conducted as 100% Small Business Set-aside on a restricted basis.

v. Product Service Code PSC is R615 and can be found at: https://support.outreachsystems.com/resources/tables/pscs/

vi. The Contract Line-Item Number (CLIN) structure shall include a total of five (5), with anticipated CLIN structure for each ordering period is shown in the table below:

September 15, 2026, through September 14, 2027 Dollars, US

September 15, 2027, through September 14, 2028

September 15, 2028, through September 14, 2029

September 15, 2029, through September 14, 2030

September 15, 2030, through September 14, 2031

vii. Description of Requirement:

The contractor shall provide all labor, materials, equipment, supervision, and secure online systems necessary to conduct background screening services for U.S. Coast Guard Academy volunteers and prospective cadets, including Cadet Sponsor Program participants, Academy Admissions Partners, annually appointed applicants, and other campus-related positions. Required checks include SSN validation and address verification, national criminal file searches, five-year felony checks across applicable county, state, and federal records, sex offender registry searches across all 50 states, and other relevant database searches, without conducting individual interviews. The contractor must comply with applicable federal and state laws, NDAA requirements, ethical standards, and security requirements to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of personal data. Prospective volunteers and cadets must be able to submit required information online, and completed results must be available in a secure online location within 72 hours of request, accessible 24/7 by designated users, with archival capability. The contractor must notify the Academy stakeholder when checks are complete, provide reports only to designated Division Officers, attend a post-award conference within seven business days of award, and perform the work remotely with no contractor travel required.

viii. Anticipated dates and service period of performance will be outlined in the SOW

ix. The provision at FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors – Commercial Items (Aug 2025) (DEVIATION 25-21) applies to this acquisition and is further tailored in the ADDENDA of this combined synopsis/solicitation.

x. The provision at FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation – Commercial Items (Aug 2025) (DEVIATION 25-21) applies to this acquisition and is further tailored in the ADDENDA of this synopsis/solicitation.

xi. Clause at FAR 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Aug 2025) (DEVIATION 25-21) is applicable to this acquisition and additional addenda are contained herein.

xii. Additional terms and conditions applicable to this acquisition are contained herein.

xiii. The Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) is not applicable to this acquisition.

xiv. It is the offeror’s responsibility to ensure their quote is received and complete by the QUOTE DUE DATE OF September 24, 2026 by 08:00am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Offerors are hereby notified that if your quote is not received completely by the date, time, and location specified (see below) in this announcement, it may not be considered as compliant to the due date referenced above. Quotes shall be emailed to the following addresses: Jerome.R.Manuel@uscg.mil

xv. All questions shall be submitted on a PDF or Word document and submitted by email to Jerome.R.Manuel@uscg.mil no later than September 22, 2026 by 08:00am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Questions received after this deadline may not be addressed.

All questions and corresponding answers will be compiled and issued as an amendment or attachment to this RFQ so that all potential Quoters receive the same information.

Individual responses to questions will not be provided. It is the responsibility of all quoters to monitor for any amendments to this solicitation.

xvi. The Government reserves the right to cancel this notice at any time.

xvii. Contract type: Firm Fixed Price (FFP).

xviii. The lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) approach will be used to determine the Government’s best interests. Award will be made to the responsible offeror whose quote conforms to the solicitation, is determined technically acceptable, and has the lowest evaluated price. Technical acceptability will be evaluated on an acceptable/unacceptable basis. No tradeoff will be conducted.

Offerors understand that their quote is ranked by price and technical acceptance; however, pursuant to applicable acquisition regulations and/or departmental guidelines, Buyers may use criteria other than price to evaluate offers. Accordingly, please note that, to the extent required by applicable regulations and/or guidelines, award will be made to the offeror responsible whose offer conforming to the combined synopsis/solicitation will be most advantageous to the Buyer and Government on the basis of price, technical capability, delivery.

Addenda

Addenda to FAR 52.212-1 Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Aug 2025) (DEVIATION 25-21) and FAR 52.212-2 Evaluation—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Aug 2025) (DEVIATION 25-21).

The Government intends to award without discussions. Therefore, the offeror’s initial proposal should contain the offeror’s best terms from a price and technical standpoint. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines them to be necessary.

A cover sheet (not to exceed one (1) page) shall be included for all submissions. The cover letter shall be included on Volume I and include the quoter’s name and address; U.S. Coast Guard solicitation number; Unique Entity Identifier (UEI); CAGE number; quoter’s point of contact including their phone number and e-mail address, and the date the quoter’s submission expires. Minimum acceptable font size is no smaller than eleven (11) point and no smaller than ten (10) point for tables, charts, or graphs.

It is the quoter’s responsibility to ensure sufficient time is provided for electronic submissions to be processed through the Government’s electronic point-of-entry. The quoter shall acknowledge the solicitation and all amendments thereto.

Site visit information: Not required to quote.

If you would like to visit the site contact Technical Rep to schedule a date/time. William.J.Anderson@uscg.mil

Access to the Facility: Personnel are required to have “real” ID (Driver’s License) with the star.

Evaluation Criteria

Basis of Award

The Government intends to award one order resulting from this solicitation to the proposer responsible whose offer conforming to the solicitation represents the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable LPTA.

Technical Acceptance:

The offeror will be technically acceptable if they can demonstrate the capability to provide complete background screening services that meet all PWS requirements, including SSN validation and address verification, national criminal file searches, five-year felony checks using county, state, and federal records, 50-state sex offender registry checks, and required database searches for prospective cadets, volunteers, sponsor families, and other designated Academy participants. The offeror must show that it can provide a secure online system for applicant data entry, 24/7 access by designated Government users, result archiving, stakeholder notification upon completion, and return of completed background checks within 72 hours. The offeror must also demonstrate compliance with applicable federal and state laws, NDAA requirements, ethical standards, and data security requirements protecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of personal information. An offeror will be rated technically acceptable only if its proposal clearly confirms the ability to perform these requirements without contractor travel and to participate in the required post-award conference; proposals that fail to meet any material requirement may be rated technically unacceptable.

Lowest price.

Note: ALL QUOTES ALL BE COMPLIANT TO THE SCOPE OF WORK

- Offerors understand that their quote is ranked by price and technical acceptance. However, pursuant to applicable acquisition regulations and/or departmental guidelines, Buyers may use criteria other than price to evaluate offers. Accordingly, please note that, to the extent required by applicable regulations and/or guidelines, award will be made to the offeror responsible whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Buyer on the basis of price, technical capability, delivery, compatibility to meet the specification within the SOW.

Clauses

52.252-2 Clauses Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This contract incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. Also, the full text of a clause may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul

(End of clause)

Source Clause Number

Clause Title

Date

FAR

FAR

52.203-5 52.203-6 Covenant Against Contingent Fees Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government

MAY 2014

JUN 2020

FAR

FAR

52.203-7 52.203-17 Anti-Kickback Procedures Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights

JUN 2020

NOV 2023

Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality

FAR

FAR

52.204-19

52.204-23

52.204-25

52.211-5 Incorporation by Reference of Representations and Certifications Prohibition on Contracting for Hardware, Software, and Services Developed or Provided by Kaspersky Lab Covered Entities Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment Material Requirements

DEC 2014

NOV 2021

AUG 2000

FAR

FAR

FAR

FAR

52.212-4

52.222-19 52.222-50 52.226-8 Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies Combatting Trafficking in Persons Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving

AUG 2025

APR 2026

NOV 2021

MAR 2024

FAR

FAR

52.232-1 52.232-33 Payments Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management

APR 1984

OCT 2018

FAR

FAR

FAR

FAR

52.232-39 52.232-40

52.233-3 52.233-4 Unenforceability of Unauthorized Obligations Providing Accelerated Payments to Small Business Subcontractors Protest After Award Applicable Law for Breach of Contract Claim

JUN 2013

MAR 2023

AUG 1996

OCT 2004

FAR

FAR

52.246-2 52.247-34 Inspection of Supplies-Fixed-Price F.O.B. Destination

AUG 1996

JAN 1991

Invoicing Instruction Addenda 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (Aug 2025) (DEVIATION 25-21)

Payment Info: Electronic Submission of Payment Requests:

(a) Definitions. As used in these instructions –

(1) “Payment request” means a bill, voucher, invoice, or request for contract financing payment with associated supporting documentation. The payment request must: comply with the requirements identified in FAR 32.905(b), “Content of Invoices” and the applicable Payment clause included in this contract. In addition, discount offerings and small business status if available shall be stated. If travel was allowable and approved, components in accordance with FAR 31.205-46 shall be provided.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this clause, the Contractor shall submit payment requests electronically using the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). Information regarding IPP, including IPP Customer Support contact information, is available at www.ipp.gov or any successor site. Combined Synopsis/Solicitation RFQ ID 70Z03926QCGA00038.

(c) The Contractor may submit payment requests using a method other than IPP only when the Contracting Officer authorizes alternate procedures in writing in accordance with Coast Guard procedures.

(d) If alternate payment procedures are authorized, the Contractor shall include a copy of the Contracting Officer's written authorization with each payment request.

(e) IPP enrollment information is at https://www.uscg.mil/fincen/IPP/.

(End of clause)

52.203-17 Contractor Employee Whistleblower Rights (April 2024) (DHS-USCG DEVIATION 14-01, Revision 1)

(a) This contract and employees working on this contract will be subject to the whistleblower rights and remedies established at 10 U.S.C. 4701 and Homeland Security Acquisition Regulation (HSAR) 3.900 (DEVIATION) through 3.905 (DEVIATION).

(b) The Contractor shall inform its employees in writing, in the predominant language of the workforce, of employee whistleblower rights and protections under 10 U.S.C. 4701, as described in HSAR 3.900 (DEVIATION) through 3.905 (DEVIATION).

(c) The Contractor shall insert the substance of this clause, including this paragraph (c), in all subcontracts.

(End of clause)

Provisions

52.252-1 Provisions Incorporated by Reference (FEB 1998)

This solicitation incorporates one or more solicitation provisions by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Upon request, the Contracting Officer will make their full text available. The offeror is cautioned that the listed provisions may include blocks that must be completed by the offeror and submitted with its quotation or offer. In lieu of submitting the full text of those provisions, the offeror may identify the provision by paragraph identifier and provide the appropriate information with its quotation or offer. Also, the full text of a solicitation provision may be accessed electronically at this/these address(es):

https://www.acquisition.gov/far-overhaul

(End of provision)

FAR

FAR

52.212-3 52.225-18 Commercial and Government Entity Code Reporting Place of Manufacturer

AUG 2025

AUG 2018

NOTE: Some provisions contain disclosures that must be completed and returned with Offeror’s response.

52.233-2 Service of Protest (AUG 2025) (DEVIATION 25-25)

(a) Protests, as defined in section 33.101 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, that are filed directly with an agency, and copies of any protests that are filed with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), shall be served on the Contracting Officer (addressed as follows) by obtaining written and dated acknowledgment of receipt from IAW Cover Sheet Notice for Filing Agency Protests.

(b) The copy of any protest shall be received in the office designated above within one day of filing a protest with the GAO.

(End of provision)