Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition FAR Part 6 Redacted_Redacted Final.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

FAR PART 6

November 2022 1

Identification Number (purchase request/solicitation number):

1. Identification of the agency and contracting activity.

A. Agency: Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

B. Contracting activity: Office of Acquisition and Relocation Management (FA)

C. Requiring activity: Customized educational effort that will educate students, teachers, parents, and the business community about the true impacts of drugs, both legal and illegal.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. (e.g., new contract award or modification expanding the scope of an existing contract)

Justification for the use of Discovery Education as the contractor to provide a customized educational effort that will educate students, teachers, parents, and the business community about the true impacts of drugs, both legal and illegal. Discovery Education will continue to implement a comprehensive in-school initiative that provides resources and experiential opportunities for students, educators, and parents to understand the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, (STEM), of addiction and the effects of other drug classes not covered in the current Operation Prevention curriculum. The program would include the following elements:

Operation Prevention Program continuity; Anchor Activations: Digital lesson bundles, videos, self-paced modules, virtual field trip, and activities, and relevancy updates. Discovery Education will also continue with a strategic outreach and PR campaign. Discovery Education will also utilize DEA’s subject matter experts and existing prevention/education content to develop and deploy the additional drug content for students in grades 3-12 to help combat drug misuse and illegal drug use.

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

(inclusive of all options)

The Drug Enforcement Administration/ Office of Public Affairs/Community Outreach & Prevention Support Unit requires the services of a company that can provide an engaging National educational outreach program and resources that has the capability to provide interactive/digital lessons, microsite, and a parent toolkit to educate students in grades three through twelve, as well as parents, and people in the workplace on the dangers and effects of drugs, through a web-based solution platform that allows for easy classroom implementation, as well as supporting lesson plans and activities for learners, and educator support necessary to implement the resources.

By contracting with Discovery Education, substantial funds will be saved by using sucessful and existing education content and frameworks previously created by Discovery Education to build the new content for all the other drugs. The estimated savings is approximately as the base content and framework have already been created from previous contract work.

Period of performance or Total estimated value: final delivery date: 6/1/2024-5/31/2025 (base year) End Date for all five years will be 5/31/2029

*This estimated value is based on the assumption that would be spent each year of programming.

However, it is possible that more or less than the assumed value could be spent. Program implementation will be based on the availability of funds and other factors of PAO’s control.

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

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Check the appropriate box. Only one box may be checked.

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) and FAR 6.302-1 “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) and FAR 6.302-2

“Unusual and compelling urgency”

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3) and FAR 6.302-3 “Industrial mobilization; engineering, developmental, or research capability; or expert services”

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(4) and FAR 6.302-4

“International agreement”

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(5) and FAR 6.302-5 “Authorized or required by statute”

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(6) and FAR 6.302-6

“National security”

41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(7) and FAR 6.302-7 “Public interest”

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

Discovery Education, Inc. has a proprietary platform that has over 4.5 million educators currently using their system. Also, unlike any other potential vendor, discovery Education’s platform reaches over 45 million students through the platform and many through their current school districts. This platform has ready-to-use support for educators that will allow for digital lessons and teacher-led activities that provide educator guides.

Additionally, this platform provides equitable access for 100% of school populations to all resources.

This unique and exclusive proprietary platform is being used throughout the United States at Title I Schools.

Title I is a federal education program that supports low-income students throughout the nation. Providing alternative applications would require extensive testing, not only for functionality but for effective system interface testing with several other software applications. Substitutes for the Discovery education, Inc.

applications would create an unacceptable level of risk and prohibitive costs for failed interoperability and diminished system performance for each system in use at the school districts and current users of the discovery Education, Inc.’s platform and systems. Content created with social impact partners is shared both via their proprietary online platform and via free websites created by Discovery for their partnership, ensuring that equitable access can be provided even to those who do not subscribe to the platform.

Discovery Education is also part of the Discovery network, and thus has access to a wide range of digital properties through which to market content to educators. Discovery Education has an in-house marketing expertise and a long history of promoting educational content both through their own platforms and via other channels. This also sets Discovery Education apart from other educational content creators – every aspect of creating and promoting content can be in-house, and Discovery Education has a unique ability to reach educators all across the country in numbers not possible for DEA alone. Discovery Education's existing unparalleled reach will provide DEA instant access to today's 21st Century learners and educators with a media-rich program that educates students about the dangers of prescription opioid misuse and all other

November 2022 3 drugs. All other drugs will include, but are not strictly limited to: stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, marijuana/cannabis, steroids, and inhalants

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 subject justification for other then full and open will be posted on Sam.gov 15 days prior the release of the solicitation.

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

The anticipated cost to the Government will be determined fair and reasonable in accordance to the FAR prior to award.

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

Market Research revealed only one qualified source for these educational services, Discovery Education, Inc., which is the exclusive provider of the proprietary platform and services required by the Government. No other company can provide these educational services to DEA. Discovery Education, Inc. is the only service and platform that complies with DEA’s complete list of requirements.

Researched GSA Advantage and found that were no companies with the qualifications and multimedia presence/outreach that Discovery has.

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

i. Explanation of why technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work, or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition have not been developed or are not available.

A full SOW has been created for the services requested from Discovery Education

ii. When 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1) is cited for follow-on acquisitions as described in 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), an estimate of the cost to the Government that would be duplicated and how the estimate was derived.

In order to ensure that content is accessible to a substantial portion of U.S. educators, the contractor must be able to demonstrate an existing user base including a minimum of one million U.S. based educators. This requirements stems from audience research, which indicated that having resources available via a familiar platform that has previously been approved for use in schools, lowers barriers for educators adding content to their classroom. Additionally, having a significant existing user base verifies the capability of the vendor to scale program reach through their channels, which is central to achieving the agency’s strategic goals.

By contracting with Discovery Education, substantial funds will be saved by using existing education content and frameworks previously contracted by Discovery Education to build the additional content and framework for the new material.

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Discovery Education has proven it can rapidly execute a program that fulfills DEA's impact vision and powerfully disseminates critical messaging to the K-12 community and beyond on breaking the cycle of abuse and addiction. By partnering with Discovery Education, DEA's vision is to disrupt the cycle of drug abuse and activate communities nationwide with a multi-platform prevention initiative, designed to educate students and corporate workforce about the true impacts of drugs, both legal and illegal, and start lifesaving conversations in the home, classroom, and businesses about drug free living.

This partnership will be an enhancement to the Operation Engage Initiative as it has the capability to reach billions with their global reach and brand power. Discovery Education has an average of 10 channels in 220 countries and territories, 3 billion cumulative worldwide subscribers, 375 million monthly streams online, 189 international HD markets, top ranked family brand trusted by consumers, a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Discovery News, TestTube, and Revisions3, that deliver over 70 million+ million unique monthly visitors. DEA will benefit from this partnership by gaining immediate access to 4.5 million educators and 45 million students and their families, powerful direct to educator communication vehicles, including one of the largest social media followings in education. This contractor provides access to every US school via the millions of unique visitors who come to DiscoveryEducation.com for dynamic free teaching tools. The expertise of Discovery Education's in house team of seasoned educators and administrators who, combined, have over 200 years of K-12 experience.

Discovery Education’s direct affiliation with the Discovery Channel and the Discovery Communications family of businesses, as well as other Fortune 500 businesses, make it uniquely situated to connect the Operation Prevention materials that they developed for DEA in FY2016-2018 for use by leaders and educators in the business community.

iii. When 6.302-2 is cited, data, estimated cost, or other rationale as to the extent and nature of the harm to the Government.

By contracting with Discovery Education there is a substantial cost saving of approximately as the base content and framework have already been created from previous contract work

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

No other capable sources have expressed an interest, in writing, in the proposed acquisition

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.

Market research has determined there are no other commercial applications available that are capable of fulfilling the current requirement for the materials. Discovery Education, Inc. is the only vendor capable of fulfilling this requirement. The Government will base their acquisition strategy on future requirements on this market research and will continue to conduct market research for future procurements that enter the commercial market place.

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CERTIFICATIONS

November 2022 6

Competition Advocate ____________________________________ Date _______________ (if over Signature

Chief, FAC _______________ _________ Date _______________ (if over Signature

Bureau Procurement Chief (if over ____________________________________ Date _______________ per JAR 2806.304) Signature

Head of the Contracting ____________________________________ Date _______________ Activity (if over Signature

Senior Procurement Executive (if over ____________________________________ Date _______________ Signature