SSJ_FY170177_Signed_Redacted.pdf

Sole Source Justification (SSJ) Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items exceeding the Simplified Acquisition

SSJ No.: FY17-0177 -1-

SSJ No.: FY17-0177

Date: May 25, 2017 PR Number: NSC170065

Pursuant to the requirements under the authority of Simplified Acquisition Procedures at 41 U.S.C. 1901 or the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1903 Special emergency authority as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 13.501 and consistent with the content requirements of FAR 6.303-2.

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), has prepared this sole source justification for other than full and open competition with the intention of awarding a Sole Source Indefinite-delivery Indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) Contract.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

USCIS intends to award a Sole Source Indefinite-delivery Indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) Contract to VitalSmarts, LC., 282 West River Bend Lane, Suite 100, Provo, UT 84604 using commercial procedures without seeking competition for Toolkits for the Crucial Conversations Course and the Crucial Accountability Course. This action is being taken pursuant to FAR 13.501.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

USCIS has a requirement to provide Toolkits for the Crucial Conversations Course and the Crucial Accountability Course to be taught by USCIS instructors.

Crucial Conversations Training teaches skills for communicating when the stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. Participants learn the dialogue skills demonstrated by top performers skills that help you talk with anyone about anything to reach alignment and agreement on important matters. These skills turn in to behaviors that improve decision making, commitment to action, productivity, and relationships.

Consistent behaviors lead to organizations, teams, and individuals developing high-performance cultures based on trust and respect.

Building on the skills taught in Crucial Conversations, the Crucial Accountability course teaches a step-by-step process and new skills to enhance accountability, improve performance, and ensure execution. Participants learn how to talk about violated expectations in a way that yields two-way accountability and allows further progress to be made. Consistent application of the skills leads to faster problem solving, decision making, and conflict resolution. When issues are resolved and focus is restored, productivity increases, relationships are strengthened, and high-performance cultures are formed.

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It is estimated that USCIS will teach approximately 30 sessions of Crucial Conversations and 15 sessions of Crucial Accountability per year and each session has a maximum of 24 students. Based on the estimate, USCIS requires approximately 1,080 Toolkits per year.

Description Quantity Unit Unit Price Amount

Base Year Ordering Period

Crucial Accountability (CA) Participant Toolkits

360 EA

Crucial Conversations (CC) Participant Toolkits

720 EA

Estimated Shipping 45 EA Base Year Total:

Second Year Ordering Period

Crucial Accountability (CA) Participant Toolkits

360 EA

Crucial Conversations (CC) Participant Toolkits

720 EA

Estimated Shipping 45 EA Option Year One Total:

Third Year Ordering Period

Crucial Accountability (CA) Participant Toolkits

360 EA

Crucial Conversations (CC) Participant Toolkits

720 EA

Estimated Shipping 45 EA Option Year Two Total:

Fourth Year Ordering Period

Crucial Accountability (CA) Participant Toolkits

360 EA

Crucial Conversations (CC) Participant Toolkits

720 EA

Estimated Shipping 45 EA Option Year Three Total:

Fifth Year Ordering Period

Crucial Accountability (CA) Participant Toolkits

360 EA

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Crucial Conversations (CC) Participant Toolkits

720 EA

Estimated Shipping 45 EA Option Year Four Total:

Total Value:

4. Identification of the authority. This action is being taken under the authority of the Simplified Acquisition Procedures, 41 U.S.C. 1901.

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

The VitalSmarts Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability courses are an integral part of our Leadership Development Program here at USCIS. The curriculum was vetted and approved through USCIS Management Directorate before being sent to DHS for approval. DHS has not only approved this content, but has encouraged continuous integration of the concepts into the Continuous Supervisory Development requirement for Performance Management.

What began as a workforce development course, offered to help supervisors and employees with their communication skills in 2012, has become a foundational component of our mandatory Cornerstone (Supervisors) and Keystone (Managers) programs. The Leadership Development Program introduces the skills and a common language for communicating on difficult topics, such as Performance Management, Communicating for Results, Misconduct and Discipline, and Managing Conflict. These skills are mapped directly to the Executive Core Qualifications and to the DHS Leader Development Program. Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability have been identified as key elements of the USCIS Leadership Development continuum.

Supervisors and managers across the agency have endorsed the class because of its applicability to the issues that they face every day. They are able to apply the models to managing performance and conduct – as per the recent Executive Order. The behavioral science research behind the content has been proven time and again at offices that have compared Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) scores before and after having their supervisors take the class. Field Office Directorate (FOD) Associate Director Dan Renaud has, specifically, requested that all 960 supervisors and managers in FOD be trained in Crucial Conversations and Crucial Accountability. Three of the five Service Centers have rolled out Crucial Conversations for their supervisors and the Nebraska Service Center has just requested Crucial Accountability for all of their supervisors.

The Crucial Conversations Toolkit and Crucial Accountability Toolkit are copyrighted products which are available only from the copyright holder VitalSmarts. The trainer agreement with VitalSmarts states that all future students taught by the USCIS instructors must receive their own original and purchased copy of the Crucial Conversations Participant Toolkit which cannot be copied, duplicated or re-used in any way.

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Over the last few years each time a class was scheduled, the program would request these toolkits and an SSJ was written for each one. This IDIQ will take care of the agencies’ needs so we do not need to justify each purchase. Without this award we will have to go back to justifying each action. This will cost the agency more time and money because of the redundancy of doing the justification for each action.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

Prior to award USCIS will post a notice of intent in order to comply with FAR Part 5.2 synopsis requirements. USCIS will then make this justification publically available pursuant to FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii) and 6.305(a) within 14 days after contract award.

7. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The contracting officer will utilize VitalSmart published pricelist, the independent government cost estimate and prior acquisition history for the same service to determine that the anticipated price(s) will be fair and reasonable.

8. Description of market research.

Market research was conducted pursuant to FAR Part 10 for this effort. The market research analysis demonstrates that this is a proprietary product that cannot be duplicated or purchased from another vendor. It is standard for this type of training product to be sold under this kind of licensing agreement. Competitors in this market have the same requirements for their programs. Market research was performed by comparing three other vendor training programs to VitalSmarts: Fierce Conversations, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Situational Leadership II. VitalSmarts offers many benefits to USCIS versus the other vendors, such as an Instructional Platform, high-quality video content, structured rehearsals, theory-based content, uses researched best practices and skills for engaging in dialogue that secures results, provides processes, lower pricing, customizable, and more.

The other programs would require all new trainings for the USCIS instructors to become certified and then require a new agreement to purchase the toolkits. Market research showed that Vitalsmarts program is cheaper overall than the other vendor’s programs.

9. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The most recent FEVS showed there is a concern among employees that supervisors are not communicating effectively. While USCIS supervisors are technically proficient with conducting interviews and communicating around matters directly related to their respective functions, they lack the skills to communicate when conversations become crucial.

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Toolkits for the Crucial Conversations Course standardizes the curriculum amongst USCIS supervisors so they “speak the same language” and understand the expectations in handling situations similarly. As a standard for supervisors, USCIS can also hold course graduates accountable for using this content when working with employees and other colleagues across the organization. Crucial Conversations also provides the basis for further USCIS provided training on conflict resolution that is part of the DHS-mandated supervisory curriculum.

There are three ways to receive this training: send employees to a VitalSmarts location, bring VitalSmarts to USCIS or train USCIS trainers to deliver the training.

Prior to 2013, USCIS was consistently sending supervisors to this training. These classes were approximately per person in addition to the travel costs. In order to send 24 people to local classes the estimated cost would be per class and an estimated per year.

The alternative was for an office to bring in a VitalSmart’s trainer at a cost of per day, per student for the toolkits, plus travel for the trainer.

Typically a class would cost about if VitalSmarts came to a USCIS location. In order to accommodate 45 training sessions for FY17 this would cost an estimated .

In 2013, USCIS invested in getting 14 USCIS trainers to become active certified trainers for these courses. The overall cost to do this cost USCIS about

. In order to meet the USCIS demand for the training there are nine (9) more individuals scheduled for certification in FY17 for another . The total for toolkits for FY17 is estimated to cost an additional .

By having Vitalsmarts train USCIS trainers to perform the same training, the overall cost to the government amounts to a substantial savings to the government over the other options.

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

Offers will not be solicited from other sources as the requirement is proprietary to VitalSmarts, LC.

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 supplies or services required.

In 2013, USCIS made a significant investment as Human Capital and Training (HCT) began receiving train-the-trainer training and began teaching these classes internally.

Demand for these classes has remained constant and is not expected to change in the near future. The class is now scheduled to be provided to 960+ supervisors and managers in Field Operations Directorate (FOD).