JA FY21-00132 San Diego Convention Center 5.26.21_Redacted-Legal.pdf

J&A#: FY21-00132

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2)

Operation Blue Bridge PSO Services for the San Diego Convention Center

Pursuant to the requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3 and in accordance with the requirements of FAR 6.303-1, the justification for the use of the statutory authority under FAR Subpart 6.3 is justified by the following facts and rationale required under FAR 6.303-2 as follows:

1. Agency and Contracting Activity.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Procurement Operations (OPO), Federal Protective Service Acquisition Division (FPSAD) proposes to procure Protective Security Officer (PSO) services on a basis other than full and open competition in support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

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

(a) DHS/OPO/FPSAD intends limit the number of sources solicited pursuant to FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency, for the procurement of PSO services for the San Diego Convention Center in support of HHS and FEMA, To

(b) Name and address of the contractor:

(c) Contract Type: Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) with Fixed Price provisions

(d) Estimated total value of existing PSO Contract (including options).

Period Period of Performance Description Hours Rate Total

Base Year 01/01/2019 thru 12/31/2019

Basic Services/TAS 400,000 $ $ Emergency Security Services 500 $ $

COOP 1 $2,500.00

Option Year 1 01/01/2020 thru 12/31/2020

Basic Services/TAS 400,000 $ $ Emergency Security Services 500 $ $

COOP 1 $2,500.00

Option Year 2 01/01/2021 thru 12/31/2021

Basic Services/TAS 400,000 $ $ Emergency Security Services 500 $ $

COOP 1 $2,500.00

Option Year 3 01/01/2022 thru 12/31/2022

Basic Services/TAS 400,000 $ $ Emergency Security Services 500 $ $

COOP 1 $2,500.00

Option Year 4 01/01/2023 thru 12/31/2023

Basic Services/TAS 400,000 $ $ Emergency Security Services 500 $ $

Justification and Approval for Other Than Full and Open Competition

PSO Services for San Diego Convention Center

COOP 1 $2,500.00

TOTAL: $

Estimated Increase to Option Year 2 for the proposed action:

Period Period of Performance Hours Hourly Rate Total Option Year 2 04/08/2021 thru 07/15/2021 30,810 $ $

New Total Value: $

(e) Type of Funding: Reimbursable via Security Work Authorization (SWA) (Fund Code: SO)

(f) Year of Funding: 2021

(g) Solicitation Number: There is no solicitation number. Task Order number under IDIQ Contract will be utilized for this requirement.

(h) Background information about the requirement: In recent weeks the number of unaccompanied children entering the United States from Mexico has dramatically increased thereby straining detention facilities at the border crossing. Operation Blue Bridge / Brave Crossing has been established to secure the facilities sheltering unaccompanied children crossing the border into the United States. The San Diego Convention Center, located at 111 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, California was leased for services to begin on April 5, 2021 by HHS and FEMA to temporarily shelter unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border into the United States until reunification details can be arranged. The Federal Protective Service’s (FPS’) mission is to secure and protect federally owned and leased facilities and as such is charged with securing the San Diego Convention Center for this humanitarian effort. As with all other federal facilities, FPS will secure the Convention Center through contract guards as FPS does not have sufficient Law Enforcement personnel to accomplish this without contract support. Federal Air Marshalls (FAMs) and FPS Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) were initially tasked with securing these facilities while FPS worked to place contract guards to replace them. The use of FAMs and FPS LEOs is not sustainable as it severely weakens the security posture of those agencies and is not cost effective.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The requirement is to immediately provide Protective Security Officer (PSO) services for 13 posts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a duration of 99 days, April 8, 2021 through July 15, 2021, at the San Diego Convention Center, located at 111 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, California, in support of HHS/FEMA and Operation Blue Bridge/Brave Crossing, to secure the facilities sheltering unaccompanied children crossing the border into the United States. At this time, the current known requirement to support this effort is a total of 30,810 hours to support the San Diego Convention Center Unaccompanied Children (UAC) site.

Armed PSOs needed to secure this site require extensive training, background screening, health and fitness screening, licenses (firearms and state issued armed guard licenses) and permits prior to standing post under the FPS PSO Statement of Work. Providing the training, background screenings and licensing to a sufficient number of guards to fill all the required posts would take several months.

FPS has an existing IDIQ contract, with fixed price provisions, for PSO Services in San Diego, California, , with is performing in Option Year 2 of the IDIQ contract, which is from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. Option Year 2 was awarded with 400,000 hours for basic PSO services and 500 for Emergency Security Services, for a total of 400,500 hours. The proposed action is to modify contract , for PSO Services in the San Diego Area of Operations, to increase contract hours available for Option Year 2 through the establishment of a new Contract Line Item for PSO services at the San Diego Convention Center. The addition of these hours to contract will allow FPS to immediately fill critical security posts with fully trained, screened and qualified PSOs to secure and protect the facility and its occupants. There are currently not enough hours remaining on contract to support Operation Blue Bridge’s present known requirement of 30,810 hours. Without increasing the hours available for Option Year 2, supporting Operation Blue Bridge would be out of the current scope of the contract. These hours will be ordered and funded on task order number after the IDIQ contract has been modified.

4. Identification of statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(2) implemented by the FAR Subpart FAR 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency.

The requirement facilitates HHS/FEMA’s humanitarian effort to safely shelter the overwhelming number unaccompanied children crossing the border into the United States until reunification details can be arranged.

5. Identification of Exception to the Buy American Statute: Not Applicable

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

(a) Rationale for using the authority cited in section 4 of the J&A:

The sudden surge of unaccompanied children crossing the United States southern border increased at a rapid pace, creating security threats within a matter of weeks. On March 11, 2021, FPSAD received notice that FEMA had been tasked to assist Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to find locations to temporarily house unaccompanied children and to coordinate with the General Services Administration (GSA) to lease the facilities. FPSAD was advised that there would likely be locations in Region 9 and FPS would be responsible for securing the facilities. At the time of this notification, Region 9 Operations Branch in conjunction with FPSAD West Consolidated Contracting Group (WCCG) began identifying capabilities and solutions to support the Operation Blue Bridge effort by examining current PSO contracts in Region 9. On March 22, 2021, FPSAD, WCCG was notified that the San Diego Convention Center had been identified as a potential site. HHS, FEMA, care providers, medical staff and several hundred children began occupying the San Diego Convention Center on March 27, 2021. Without the use of FPS contract guards, the facility was secured by Federal Air Marshalls (FAMs) and FPS Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs).

To ensure federal law enforcement personnel are available to accomplish their day-to-day missions, FPS requires immediate contract guard support to fulfill this requirement.

Issuance of a competitive solicitation for PSO services of this complexity and magnitude would take time that this requirement does not allow for. The typical solicitation process for awarding a new FPS PSO service contract includes an estimated timeline of 400 days.

Within that 400-day timeline, there are an estimated 280 days from receipt of a complete procurement package, including funding, to contract award. Additionally, upon award, any awardee would require transition time to hire, fully train, license, qualify and arm sufficient PSOs to staff this requirement. The standard transition period to complete the process of training, licensing, qualifying, and arming any PSO force in accordance with the applicable Statement of Work is 120-days.

IDIQ Contract , PSO Services for the San Diego Area, with presently has a contract required reserve force of fully qualified PSOs that can be used for this requirement. In addition, has the ability to leverage resources from multiple contracts in neighboring areas and states and can therefore immediately fulfill this requirement. While these contracts have the staffing capacity to perform these services, the number of hours is out of scope for the current contract. In this instance, the J&A is required to allow FPS to add the 30,810 hours to the contract to support this urgent and compelling security service in support of Operation Blue Bridge / Brave Crossing. The competitive award process and transition for any new PSO service firm would severely delay securing the Convention Center and the federal government personnel, children and any visitors would be in jeopardy. Proper security of these sites is vital to the safety not only of the unaccompanied children at these sites, but also for the country. The uncertainty and often volatile nature of the current political climate combined with the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increase the security risk at these facilities. For roughly a year, FPS and other security and law enforcement-based agencies have experienced increased occurrences across the country of protests and civil disturbances. One recurring political issue is the southern border crossing by non-US citizens. For the safety of federal workers supporting the mission and the residing unaccompanied children within the San Diego site, it is imperative that highly qualified individuals, such as FPS PSOs, be tasked with securing the site. The COVID-19 pandemic poses another unique challenge in securing these facilities.

The test results of the unaccompanied children may not be known at the time of transport or during their stay. FPS armed guard contractors, such as have the proper training and protocols to not only maintain a healthy guard staff, but to also identify potential risks and provide information helpful to contract tracing. Based on FPSAD’s process, it is likely no less than 400-days would be required to solicit, award, and transition a fully qualified staff to effectively secure the San Diego UAC site. HHS and FEMA do not have 400-days to wait for proper securing of their facilities, the need is immediate and is a matter of grave importance. The current FAMs and FPS LEOs are federal agents and do not have the capability or capacity that has readily available.

Given the humanitarian nature of this requirement and the reality of safety and security threats to the facility and its occupants, unless the agency is permitted to limit competition to allow which is the only PSO vendor capable of immediately meeting this requirement, secure the Convention Center for the required 99 days, the is Government is in immediate risk of serious injury. Not only are the unaccompanied children and workers supporting this effort at risk of serious injury, but the success of Operation Blue Bridge/Safe Crossing is also in jeopardy.

(b) Details covering what events lead to the situation requiring use of other than full and open competition procedures including whether any portion of the work can be segregated to allow for competition:

The San Diego Convention Center has been leased by HHS and FEMA to temporarily shelter unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border into the United States until reunification details can be arranged. Armed PSO services are necessary to secure these facilities and protect the occupants. FPS has the capacity to do this using an

, servicing San Diego and the surrounding areas, with Paragon Systems, Inc. There are no other vendors with similarly qualified PSOs in the San Diego area and use of a vendor outside the San Diego area would result in additional transportation, per diem and lodging costs which would be passed onto FPS. Further, due to the complex nature of the services, competitive procedures to award to any new PSO service firm would severely delay securing the Convention Center and the federal government personnel, children and any visitors would be in jeopardy. Due to the extensive screening, health, training, licenses and permits to be obtained, another PSO service firm cannot immediately step in and provide these services.

The FPS PSO services Statement of Work (SOW) for armed guards is highly prescriptive and would not allow for the sharing of responsibilities by additional security firms within this requirement. The immediate need is for post-ready PSOs and supervisors. No portion of these PSO services could be segregated out for further competition. If more than one security firm were standing post within the same facilities, this may cause confusion among PSO’s and tenants/visitors regarding security authority, and it significantly complicates FPS’ ability to conduct inspections and provide proper oversight. On typical FPS PSO contracts a portion of the contract may be sub-contracted to small business, at the firm’s discretion; however, the duties typically outsourced to these small business partners are administrative in nature.

Separating duties to allow for further competition would not be feasible under the requirements of this project.

(c) Summarize alternatives considered and why they will not work:

Without taking into account relief, vacations and sick leave, staffing 13 posts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week requires approximately 63 individuals. Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) and FPS Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) are currently securing these facilities; however, the government is incurring significant cost for transportation, per diem and lodging for law enforcement officers from outside of the San Diego metro area. The 2021 GSA Per Diem rates equate to $252.00 per day for each individual; $181.00 for lodging expenses and $71.00 for meals and incidentals (M&IE)1. The use of 63 government FAMs and FPS LEOs, from out of the area, to cover the requirement would cost the government approximately $15,876.00 per day. has fully qualified PSOs who are part of their reserve force ready to stand post within the San Diego area and would require only a few additional PSOs from their other contracts. While will still incur costs to bring the PSOs from other contracts in neighboring areas and states, it will be for far fewer officers than the government is presently using to support the requirement and therefore is a more cost effective option.

1 Reference: Per Diem Rates | GSA

In addition, pulling these LEOs from their regular missions severely weakens the security posture for both the Federal Air Marshals and Federal Protective Service.

Issuance of a new request for proposal for a competitive contract would cause severe delays due to the processing time required to solicit, evaluate, and award the contract as well as to provide time for completion of transition activities. As previously mentioned, the solicitation and award process would take approximately 400 days. Since there are extensive screening, health, training, and transition requirements for PSOs under the FPS program, another guard service firm would also require time for transition activities prior to providing FPS with a PSO force that is fully qualified, security cleared, and certified in accordance with FPS’s contract standards. Due to the time necessary to accomplish this, a new contract will not be in place to fulfill the compelling urgency to provide PSO services to the San Diego Convention Center, which is mission essential. The transition time for FPS PSO contracts, to include incumbent contractors and new contractors, is 120-days from the time of contract award to the start date. Given the San Diego requirement is only 99 days, the transition period alone would exceed the amount of time this facility requires guard services.

(d) Impact to the mission that would result if the J&A is not approved and, consequently, the product or service not provided:

Currently, the number of migrants, including unaccompanied children, crossing the U.S.

border is rapidly growing. This proposed acquisition of PSO services is considered mission essential. Failure to secure the Convention Center places government personnel, children and any visitors to the facilities at risk for victimization, violence, illness, and unintended injury.

The children are being placed in these facilities to ensure that they are cared for and kept safe while in US custody and that their basic needs are met until they can be placed with a responsible sponsor. Given the humanitarian nature of this requirement and the reality of safety and security threats to the facility and its occupants, unless the agency is permitted to limit competition to allow to secure the Convention Center for the required 99 days, which is the only PSO vendor capable risk of serious injury. Not only are the unaccompanied children and workers supporting this effort at risk of serious injury, but the success of Operation Blue Bridge/Safe Crossing is also in jeopardy.

7. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited from as Many Potential Sources as is Practicable.

This action is for the sole purpose of issuing a modification for additional hours under the existing IDIQ contract for PSO services in the San Diego area. The agency is not subject to posting a synopsis based on the exception at FAR 5.202(a)(2).

8. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable.

The existing IDIQ Contract, contains established hourly rates of $ (Basic/Temporary Additional Services (TAS)) and $ (Emergency Security Services (ESS) which are based on the Contractor’s proposed rate for Option Year 2. The ESS rate is for services such as natural disasters, civil disturbances, or other unanticipated events, which is inclusive of travel costs, lodging and per diem. These prices underwent price analysis prior to award of the contract and were found to be fair and reasonable at the time of award and subsequent modifications.

The awarded rates were also made as a result of competitive negotiation at the time of award.

The Contracting Officer was in contact with to discuss the likelihood of this requirement and Paragon’s ability to fully staff the requirement.

Additionally, advised that staffing these hours would exceed their reserve force required by contract. The Contracting Officer negotiated a blended rate solely for this requirement using the established Basic/TAS rate of $ and the ESS rate of $ which took into consideration the number of hours that would be in excess of reserve force. The resulting rate of $ was found to be fair and reasonable at that time. Additionally, this rate is less than published GSA Schedule rate and is also less than hourly rate on the FPSAD established Multiple Award Contract (MAC).

9. Description of Market Research.

The agency’s market research for PSO services is on-going and the agency is familiar with other potential sources and their qualifications. None of these sources can meet the new extensive training, weapons and security clearance requirements within the time constraints associated with the required 30,810 hours needed to successfully man the San Diego Convention Center. Other firms could provide the services; but not immediately and not without incurring substantial costs transportation, per diem and lodging and without causing unacceptable delays transporting PSOs to the San Diego area, thereby jeopardizing the mission of the agency. Thus, no other contractor can provide the required PSO services without an unacceptable interruption in services at this time.

10. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The additional PSO services hours will ensure the safety and well-being of the general public and federal employees working in the San Diego Convention Center. is currently performing PSO services under the contract to be modified in an exceptional manner and presents the least amount of risk in ensuring quality PSO services are provided for the required timeframe of services needed. No other PSO vendor can provide required services within the required timeframe.

11. A Listing of the Sources, if Any That Expressed, in Writing, an Interest in the Acquisition.

None.

12. 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.

This requirement is for the sole purpose of issuing a modification to the current IDIQ firm fixed price contract, , performed by, Should a subsequent requirement be communicated to FPS in a timely manner, competitive procedures will be utilized and FPS is preparing for this eventuality by examining some competitive, but possibly streamlined procurement strategies, such as use of the FPSAD MAC or GSA Schedules.

PSO Services for San Diego Convention Center

13. Contracting Officer’s Certification. I certify that the data supporting the recommended use of other than full and open competition is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Kelly Minturn Date Contracting Officer West Consolidated Contracting Group

14. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification. I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

Ericah Riojas Date Contracting Officer’s Representative

APPROVAL:

Juan Arratia Date Procuring Activity Advocate for Competition