CPARS Sole Source Justification SSJ.docx

CENTRAL CONTRACTS AND LEGAL SERVICES (CCLS)

Sole Source Contract Justification

TO:

CCLS

CONTRACT NUMBER

2532-61500

TODAY’S DATE

06/11/2026

SELECT CONTRACT SERVICE DESCRIPTION / SUB-OBJECT CODE

Contractor Information

CONTRACTOR’S LEGAL NAME

CPARS Consulting, Inc.

TAX IDENTIFICATION (TIN) OR UNIFORM BUSINESS IDENTIFICATION (UBI) NUMBER

000003510

ADDRESS

710 S. Myrtle Ave. 296, Monterey Park, CA 91016

Contract Purpose

Conduct four (4) Functional Exercises (FEs) associated with specific Washington State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) including Disabilities, Access and Functional Needs; Transportation from Port of Entry to Emergency Repatriation Center; Activation/Decision Making Process; and Physical Setup / Take Down of an Emergency Repatriation Center.

Contract Funding

FEDERAL FUNDING

$90,000

STATE FUNDING

$0

CONTRACT TOTAL

$90,000

Contract Dates * Start Date must be more than 15 business days from date of request to CCLS.

*START DATE

07/15/2025

END DATE

01/31/2026

AMENDMENT OPTIONS

Sole Source Definition and Guidelines What is a sole source contract?

“Sole source” means a contractor providing goods or services of such a unique nature or sole availability at the location required that the contractor is clearly and justifiably the only practicable source to provide the goods or services.

(RCW 39.26.0101)

Unique qualifications or services are those which are highly specialized or one-of-a-kind.

Other factors which may be considered include past performance, cost-effectiveness (learning curve), and/or follow-up nature of the required goods and/or services. Past performance alone does not provide adequate justification for a sole source contract. Time constraints may be considered as a contributing factor in a sole source justification however will not be on its own sufficient justification.

Why is a sole source justification required?

The State of Washington, by law and policy, believes competition is the best strategy to obtain the best value for the goods and services it purchases, and to ensure that all interested vendors have a fair and transparent opportunity to sell goods and services to the state.

A sole source contract does not benefit from competition. Thus, the state, through RCW 39.26.010, has determined it is important to evaluate whether the conditions, costs and risks related to the proposal of a sole source contract truly outweigh the benefits of a competitive contract.

Sole Source Justification

To expedite CCLS and DES review of this sole source contract, please provide clear and compelling answers to the following justification questions.

1. What is the business need or problem that requires this contract?

DSHS needs to validate capabilities in four specific functional areas of the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP). DSHS #2569-62797, Washington State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP), states: The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has authority to activate this State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP) and execute state-level emergency repatriation operations per the General Agreement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and DSHS effective 12/18/2018. DSHS may accept an activation request from HHS, which is expected to be delivered by the HHS Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR). DSHS has fiscal authority for state-level emergency repatriation operations, per the General Agreement and according to processes detailed in his plan. Refer to Chapter 8 Administration, Finance, and Logistics and Chapter 10 Authorities and References for additional details. This operational plan was approved and effectvie the data of signautre, May 7, 2025, signed by DSHS Secretary Cheryl Strange. SERP Chapter 3 Concept of Operations, explains the overall approach to state-level Emergency Repatriation operations that sets forth the groudwork that requires and supports the services under this proposed sole source contract.

2. Describe the unique features, qualifications, abilities or expertise of the contractor proposed for this sole source contract.

Contractor must have master exercise practitioner level expertise combined with detailed knowledge and demonstrated experience planning exercises specific to the U.S. Repatriation Program and WA State Emergency Repatiation Plan (SERP). CPARS Consulting, Inc. is the only known exercise planning contactor in the nation with expertise specific to the national program and the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP). Outreach to small and/or veteran owned businesses would not identify any businesses with this expertise given its highly specific nature. Many other states have SERP plans. The most actively developed plans include OR, CA, and AZ. Each of these states uses CPARS Consulting, Inc. as a sole source for this type of contract because of the level of expertise required for each states uniquely agreed up SERP.

3. What kind of market research did the agency conduct to conclude that alternative sources were inappropriate or unavailable? Provide a narrative description of the agency’s due diligence in determining the basis for the sole source contract, including methods used by the agency to conduct a review of available sources such as researching trade publications, industry newsletters and the internet; contacting similar service providers; and reviewing statewide pricing trends and/or agreements. Include a list of businesses contacted (if you state that no other businesses were contacted, explain why not), date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

Byron Mason is the Deputy Director of the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR) within HHS ACF. OHSEPR is the federal domestic lead for the U.S. Repatriation Program, responsible for federal coordination of emergency repatriation planning activities across all states. OHSEPR is the funding source for the grant. 4/22/25: State Emergency Repatriation Coordinator Logan MacGregor, as declared in the Washington State Emergecy Repatriation Plan (SERP), asked Byron Mason, Deputy Director of the HHS ACF Office of Human Services Emergency Preparendess and Response (federal domestic lead for the U.S. Repatriation Program) if there were any other known contractors with the required expertise and he indicated there were none.

4. As part of the market research requirements, include a list of statewide contracts reviewed and/or businesses contacted, date of contact, method of contact (telephone, mail, e-mail, other), and documentation demonstrating an explanation of why those businesses could not or would not, under any circumstances, perform the contract; or an explanation of why the agency has determined that no businesses other than the prospective contractor can perform the contract.

A DES search of statewide contracts was conducted resuling in a number of businesses involved in some form of Emergency Management Consulting. None of the identified businesses have specific expertise in the U.S. Repatriation Program or the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan. An emergency repatriation incident is fundamentally different from all other types of emergencies. The U.S. Repatriation Program is a very small program specific to emergency prepardness for U.S. citizens returning from abroad per Seciton 1113 of the Social Security Act. Outreach to small and/or veteran own businesses would not identify any businesses with this expertise given its highly specific nature. CPARS Consulting, Inc. is the only known exercise planning contactor in the nation with expertise specific to the national program and the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP). Outreach to small and/or veteran own businesses would not identify any businesses with this expertise given its highly specific nature.

5. Per the Supplier Diversity Policy, DES-090-06 and A.P. 13.27: Was this purchase included in the agency’s forecasted needs report?

No

6. Describe what targeted industry outreach was completed to locate small and/or veteran-owned businessman to meet the agency’s need?

The U.S. Repatriation Program is a very small program specific to emergency prepardness for U.S. citizens returning from abroad per Seciton 1113 of the Social Security Act. There is only one known exercise planning contactor in the nation with expertise specific to the national program and the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP). Outreach to small and/or veteran own businesses would not identify any businesses with this expertise given its highly specific nature.

7. What considerations were given to unbundling the goods and/or services in this contract, which would provide opportunities for Washington small, diverse, and/or veteran-owned businesses. Provide a summary of your agency’s unbundling analysis for this contract.

Unbundling would result in four contracts with equal requirements, and thus would serve no benefit to small, diverse, and/or veteran-owned businesses as these would not have specific requirements for the U.S. Repatriation Program and the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan.

8. Provide a detailed and compelling description that includes qualification of the costs and risks mitigated by contracting with this contractor (i.e., learning curve, follow-up natures)..

This contractor's extensive experience providing exercise planning services for multiple states, including Washington State, as required in the U.S. Repatriation Program, reduces risks caused by lack of compliance with program requirements unique to the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response. Emergency repatraiation is a non-Stafford incident, which means that it differs substantially in complexity from typical emergency management planning.

9. Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of special circumstances such as confidential investigations, copyright restrictions, etc.? If so, please describe.

|_| Not applicable.

10. Is the agency proposing this sole source contract because of unavoidable, critical time delays or issues that prevented the agency from completing this acquisition using a competitive process? If so, please describe. For example, if time constraints are applicable, identify when the agency was on notice of the need for the goods and/or service, the entity that imposed the constraints, explain the authority of that entity to impose them, and provide the timelines which work must be accomplished.

|_| Not applicable.

DSHS did not know whether Standard Operating Plan (SOP) development would be possible until the SERP was promulgated with no way to predict in advance when the Governor’s Office would authorize promulgation. SOPs cannot be developed without a plan. The Governor’s Office provided final approval on 5/7/25, and the DSHS Secretary signed and authorized the SERP on 5/7/25 and it was promulgated the same day. The exercises depend on having SOPs because an exercise cannot be developed without the SOPs. Per the WA SERP Cooperative Agreement, all grant activities must be completed no later than January 31, 2026. These functional exercises depend on DSHS first developing Standard Operating Procedures that serve as the basis for validation of capabilities in the operations-based exercises. The fourth and final workshop in the SOP development process completes June 18, 2025; it was not clear until near the end of May 2025 that DSHS would even have the option of conducting a series of functional exercises specific to the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan (SERP). Grant requirements are imposed by HHS ACF Office of Human Services Emergency Prepardness and Response.

11. The agency proposing this sole source contract because of a geographic limitation? If the proposed contractor is the only source available in the geographical area, state the basis for this conclusion and the rationale for limiting the size of the geographical area selected.

|_| Not applicable.

12. What are the consequences of not having this sole source filing approved? Describe in detail the impact to the agency and to services it provides if this sole source filing is not approved.

DSHS would likely not be able to complete these functional exerices, and would need to return unspent funds back to the federal govenrment. Lack of performance in the SERP Cooperative Agreement grant will likely negatively impact future federal grant approvals. DSHS will miss an opportunity to be prepared for emergency repatriation incidents described in the WA State Emergency Repatriation Plan.

13. Since competition was not used as the means for procurement, how did the agency conclude that the costs, fees, or rates negotiated are fair and reasonable? Please make a comparison with comparable contracts, use the results or a market survey, or employ other appropriate means calculated to make such a determination.

State Emergency Repatriation Coordinator Logan MacGregorconsulted California and they reported similar costs for their recent SERP exercise planning process. The amount of effort detailed in the contract is consistent with the required processes outlined in the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, FEMA's guidance for exercise development. The hourly rates for this labor is consistent with national averages used by emergency management planners without this level of program-specific expertise.

SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT JUSTIFICATION Page 4 of 4

DSHS 27-231 (REV. 02/2025)

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