Justification_&_Approval_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION > SAT

Sole Source

Personnel Security Operational Support

HS0021-16-C-0006 P00008

Control Number: 19-018JA

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

PROCUREMENT SENSITIVE

SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE

The procurement strategy is to modify contract HS0021-16-C-0006 through the restructuring of CLINs 3001 - 3004 into six (6) one-month option periods:

HS0021-16-C-0006 Base Award CLINs 3001 - 3004 15 Dec 18 – 14 Dec 19

P00008 Option Period 11 CLINs 1101 - 1104 15 Jun 19 – 14 Jul 19 P00008 Option Period 12 CLINs 1201 - 1204 15 Jul 19 – 14 Aug 19 P00008 Option Period 13 CLINs 1301 - 1304 15 Aug 19 – 14 Sep 19 P00008 Option Period 14 CLINs 1401 - 1404 15 Sep 19 – 14 Oct 19 P00008 Option Period 15 CLINs 1501 - 1504 15 Oct 19 – 14 Nov 19 P00008 Option Period 16 CLINs 1601 - 1604 15 Nov 19 – 14 Dec 19

The total estimated cost of the six (6) one-month option periods is The first option will be exercised immediately. The GAO protest will be resolved 01 July 2019. The restructured options would allow for continued service through that period. This restructure will ensure there are no unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Government’s requirement until the new effort is released from the GAO protest. Currently, there are no DoD civilian resources to provide the necessary support services for this effort.

(3) A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

The objective of this effort is to maintain the essential operational support to assist in the personnel clearance oversight and management as prescribed by the DoD Personnel Security Program, Industrial Security Program and National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) in support of National Security, DoD Readiness and Military Operations. These support services from the contractor will enable to achieve its vital mission as defined by Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSD (I)). Option periods will only be exercised if the protest is upheld by the GAO and contract cannot begin immediate service as of 1 July 2019.

(4) An identification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) authorizes the Department of Defense (DoD) to contract without full and open competition under certain circumstances. For this acquisition, other than full and open competition is permitted per FAR 6.302- 1(a)(2)(iii)(B).

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

As detailed above in section 3, the has a critical need to maintain the support services to assist in the personnel clearance oversight and management. Without the support services sought through this justification, many personnel security management office for industry actions will remain untouched until a competitive procurement process can be completed, which is currently delayed by the current protest which will be completed 01 July 2019

While other entities may have the ability to perform the critical services obtained under this contract, the period of performance limits their ability to do so within the required timeframe. DSS has already completed a competitive action for the required services in January 2019. Once the protest is resolved services will be obtained under competitively awarded contract . It is highly unlikely that another contractor could step in for this short period of just one – six (potential) months to accomplish the required tasks. The current contractor is performing acceptably under the terms and conditions of the contract and has the necessary people and skills to complete the requirement.

Soliciting this effort under full and open competition would take approximately six months. This timeline is based on DSS Procurement Acquisition Lead Time (PALT) guidelines and timelines of recently awarded acquisitions of similar

SOURCE SELECTION SENSITIVE

size and scope. This process would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements by negatively impacting the Government’s access to critical Services. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the current contract and continue with the current service provider until the protest is resolved and DSS is able to proceed with the competitively awarded contract. It is not realistic to expect another contractor to perform the required services for a one to six month period of performance at the same level of quality and at reasonable price.

The restructure of this contract with the incumbent results in minimal logistical costs to the Government, as the incumbent’s resources are already in place. Additionally, the incumbent’s continued support will negate any learning curve costs, as no learning curve will exist. Failure to bridge this current contract could result in an unacceptable interruption of critical services.

(6) A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is 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.

The current contract HS0021-16-C-0006 was solicited as an open market Request for Quote (RFQ) issued through FBO in accordance with FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items on 24 June 2016 as a Combined Synopsis/RFQ. Four (4) quotes were received on 8 July 2016. The quotes were evaluated and the contract was awarded on 11 August 2016 with a base plus four (4) option years with a period of performance of 15 August 2016 - .

14 December 2020.

In 2018, a decision was made to combine the requirements of contract HS0021-16-C-0006 with two other contracts, to form contract . As a result of this decision, CLINs: 5001 – 5004, 6001 – 6004, 7001 – 7004, 8001

– 8004, 9001 – 9004, were exercised in accordance with (IAW) FAR 52.217-8 Option to Extend Services, with a period of performance of 15 December 2018 – 14 June 2019. The Government did not believe it was in their best interest to exercise a full year option period (Option Year 3) with the follow-on contract award being estimated to occur within a few months timeframe. Therefore, the two remaining option years 3 & 4 remain unexercised, and this modification HS0021-16-C-0006 P00008 falls under the FAR 5.202(a)(11) exception which states- the proposed contract action is made under the terms of an existing contract that was previously synopsized in sufficient detail to comply with the requirements of 5.207 with respect to the current proposed contract action.

The follow-on contract, was competed amongst many potential sources and was synopsized at time of award, 12 March 2019. Due to a protest filed with the GAO, contract HS0021-16-C-0006 needs to be restructured to maintain the vital support, until the GAO makes a ruling on 1 July 2019. As a result, the original CLINs 3001 – 3004 are restructured into the following CLINs: 1101 – 1104, 1201 – 1204, 1301 – 1304, 1401 – 1404, 1501 – 1504, and 1601 – 1604. These CLINs will be exercised IAW FAR 52.217-9 – Option to Extend the Term of the Contract on a monthly case-by-case basis, pending the GAO resolution of the protest of contract award

(7) A determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

As a result of this action being a restructuring of an existing contract, the pricing should not change. In determining a fair and reasonable price, the Contracting Officer will evaluate the proposed price against what is currently on contract.

If the proposed price is different than what is on contract than the formal Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) will be used in comparison. The detailed estimate provides a breakdown of what the Government believes are the potential labor categories, as well as estimated labor rates and the estimated fixed monthly price for providing the required services. The estimated monthly price will be compared to established pricing on other DSS contracts and other Government contracts.

(8) A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

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Market research was not conducted for this action, as it was conducted within the previous six months for the competitive action , which will be awarded immediately on the resolution the GAO protest.

Extensive market research was conducted for the competitive award to include posting a request for information on FBO. Based the level of competition received for the follow-on acquisition DSS understands there is ample competition for this requirement.

(9) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition, such as:

Awarding a new contract for this period of performance would still require an extension beyond 14 June 2019 to complete the procurement process. At this time, the incumbent vendor, is the only source to possess the unique skills, the technical capabilities and the personnel already positioned to immediately perform the services required. Any attempts to secure another source would result in unacceptable delays and create high risks of failure due to DoD possessing reports containing potential derogatory information on the cleared population, the people entrusted with classified information and given access to persons and property, but unable to mitigate the risk associated with the potential derogatory information due to the lack of support services. This represents a grave risk to the Government.

This is an unclassified requirement; however, the work being conducted is at the Top Secret classification level. All work will be conducted by the incumbent and the proposed subcontractors, all of whom currently hold the necessary facility clearances and the capability to provide cleared personnel. All personnel must possess a Secret clearance at a minimum, but certain labor categories may require a Top Secret clearance.

(10) A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

A synopsis (FAR 5.201(b)(ii)) is not required for this particular effort due to exception stated in section 6 above (FAR 5.202(a)(11)). This Justification and Approval document will be posted IAW FAR 6.305(a).

(11) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

The requirement has been recently competed and subsequent award of the new contract will be made to the competitive awardee upon conclusion of the current protest action.

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CERTIFICATION

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this justification and which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate.

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I hereby determine that the anticipated cost for this contract action will be fair and reasonable. I certify that this J&A is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

ACTIVITY COMPETITION ADVOCATE