J and A TRLECE_Additional Info.docx

3. Research and Evaluation services (60 month period of performance from the date of award): The work under this contract will continue work completed on the previous contract awarded in 2019 (HHSP233201500034I) and will explore how key features of CCEE licensing systems are related to CCEE quality and outcomes for children, families, and key partners (e.g., CCEE providers, CCEE licensing agencies, and CCEE program administrators and staff). This task order seeks to: synthesize the literature and refine conceptual frameworks about CCEE licensing; build research, data, and evaluation capacity to support CCEE licensing agencies; build new evidence through primary data collection and analysis, as well as secondary analysis of data; and disseminate to the field through data visualization, data archiving, and other products formatted to support and inform efforts by licensing agencies operating across State, Territory, Local, and possibly Tribal levels, as well as the Federal Government. The contractor shall furnish the necessary qualified personnel, equipment, materials, supplies, services, facilities, and otherwise do all that is necessary for, or incidental to, the performance of the work set forth below.

4. Child Trends, Inc. is a large business that is the incumbent contractor for the development of the prior effort. Through its work on the previous contract (HHSP233201500034I; awarded in 2019), it has developed the necessary experience, knowledge, and expertise to carry out the proposed work, positioning it as uniquely qualified to successfully complete the work outlined in the new solicitation. For example, it has content area expertise with CCEE licensing, such as current knowledge and understanding of CCEE licensing, including approaches to licensing across the US, current issues in CCEE licensing from varying perspectives (e.g. licensing administrators, licensing staff who monitor and support CCEE programs, providers) and experience conducting research about CCEE licensing. It has experience and expertise partnering and/or working with State, Territory, and/or Tribal licensing agencies, licensing staff who monitor and support CCEE programs, CCEE providers, families of young children, as well as professional associations and working groups for CCEE licensing, such as regulatory professionals, providers, and researchers. Additionally, Child Trends, Inc. has expertise collecting data with licensing administrators (State, Territory, and/or Tribal), licensing staff who monitor and support CCEE providers, CCEE providers, and families with young children and with analyzing local, State, Territory, Tribal and/or national licensing administrative data. Furthermore, Child Trends Inc., has experience communicating complex processes and information about state and territory approaches to supporting CCEE licensing for various audiences (i.e. Federal, State, Territory and/or Tribal lead agencies, researchers, policy makers, licensing staff who monitor and support CCEE programs, CCEE providers) and skills with using innovative formats including experience preparing, designing, and hosting interactive web-based data visualizations and data dashboards, particularly with licensing data and in adherence with Government requirements for web-based content. Finally, Child Trends, Inc. has a successful record of executing projects of a similar size, scope, and complexity.

These experiences, knowledge, and expertise also position Child Trends, Inc. as being uniquely able to immediately begin work on the new solicitation. In contrast, it would take a new contractor 9-12 months to establish the partnerships, knowledge, and education necessary for carrying out the proposed work. Such delay would cost the government undue time and financial resources that would be detrimental to achieving the research results contemplated under this award. In addition, the results of two rounds of market research (through GSA's Market Research as a Service and Sam.gov) bolstered the Government’s determination that Child Trends is uniquely qualified to carry out the research needed by the Government to understand the role licensing plays in childhood care and education.

5. To promote competition and remove barriers, two rounds of market research were conducted, each of which included a posted draft of the Performance Work Statement. We solicited sources in multiple different ways through different market research services. The first round of market research, conducted through GSA's Market Research as a Service (using HCATS 8A POOL2, HCATS SB POOL2, HCATS U POOL2, OASIS 8A P1, OASIS POOL1, OASIS SB POOL1), from 3/28/24-4/4/24, yielded two responses. One, from Child Trends, Inc. (the incumbent), included a full capability statement that provided detailed responses to each market research question and evidence of the contractor's experience with and capability to perform the proposed work. The other response, from The Millennium Group International, LLC, provided no capability statement. Rather, they offered a link to their company website. Upon review of both the capability statement from Child Trends, Inc. and the website from The Millennium Group International, LLC, it was determined that Child Trends, Inc. was capable and The Millennium Group International, LLC was not. A second round of market research, conducted through Sam.gov (using NAICS codes 541611 and 541720), from 4/16/24-4/24/24, yielded one response, from Child Trends, Inc. Again, Child Trends, Inc.'s response included a full capability statement that provided detailed responses to each market research question and evidence of the contractor's experience with and capability to perform the proposed work.

Once market research was complete, the program team did an analysis of the PWS to ensure that all work required under the requirement was necessary. It was confirmed that no tasks were able to be removed without jeopardizing the mission of the project and thus the requirements released during market research were accurate. As noted above, market research was conducted on both GSA OASIS and SAM.gov to elicit the most competitive environment possible. As part of the RFI’s released, the Government posed the following questions:

• What information, details, or items would your company need in a Request for Quote (RFQ) in order to provide a quote?

• What, if any, risks or other factors does your company foresee that may deter your company from submitting a quote on this requirement?

No vendors responded to these questions signaling to the Government that there were no barriers to entry for interested parties.

Despite the scale of market research conducted, only two firms responded, and one found capable. As no qualifications within the requirements document could be removed without risking mission success, there are no other capable vendors in the marketplace able to perform this work other than Child Trends.

6. Not applicable, this is not a bridge contract.

7. The notices required by FAR 5.201 was published prior to the release of the solicitation and any bids or proposals received were considered by the Government's project team. The Contracting Officer posted a Notice of Intent (NOI) on 7/5/24 with a closing date of n 7/20/24. There was one response to the NOI, submitted on 7/17/24; however, after reviewing the Capability Statement it was determined that the vendor was not capable of completing the work under the requirement. A thorough review of the provided capability statement yielded insufficient information to determine the respondent's experience, skills, and expertise specific to the services being procured under this contract, namely research and evaluation services. In addition, the vendor did not provide any indication of having broader organizational capacity to complete work of the size and scope of the project. To further understand the vendors capability, on 7/24/24, GCS requested the vendor provide responses to questions in order to understand the vendors relevant experience. The vendor did not provide a response to the questions ; therefore, the Contracting Officer and OPRE team deemed the vendor not capable of completing the work under Continuing to Understand The Role of Licensing in Early Care and Education. In order to increase competition, there were two rounds of market research conducted, and it was determined that only one contractor is capable of doing the work as discussed in the Market Research section below.

8. As such, two rounds of market research have been conducted for this acquisition and all responses were reviewed by the Government's project team. The first round of market research, conducted through GSA's Market Research as a Service (using HCATS 8A POOL2, HCATS SB POOL2, HCATS U POOL2, OASIS 8A P1, OASIS POOL1, OASIS SB POOL1), from 3/28/24-4/4/24, yielded two responses. One, from Child Trends, Inc. (the incumbent), included a full capability statement that provided detailed responses to each market research question and evidence of the contractor's experience with and capability to perform the proposed work. The other response, from The Millennium Group International, LLC, provided no capability statement. Rather, they offered a link to their company website. Upon review of both the capability statement from Child Trends, Inc. and the website from The Millennium Group International, LLC, it was determined that Child Trends, Inc. was capable and The Millennium Group International, LLC was not. A second round of market research, conducted through Sam.gov (using NAICS codes 541611 and 541720), from 4/16/24-4/24/24, yielded one response, from Child Trends, Inc. Again, Child Trends, Inc.'s response included a full capability statement that provided detailed responses to each market research question and evidence of the contractor's experience with and capability to perform the proposed work. These market research results indicate no viable competition for this solicitation, thus justifying pursuit of a solicitation that is "other than full and open competition" with Child Trends, Inc. as the contractor. See accompanying market research results and materials.