OAMS_JOFOC_ORR_Legal_Services_Adjudicated-Redacted8.29.25.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Acquisition Title: Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) Legal Services

Agency: Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Acquisition Year (FY): 2025

Author and Title: Joseph Wilson, Contracting Officer Representative

2. Description of Action:

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Name of Proposed Contractor(s): Acacia Center for Justice

Street Address

City, State, ZIP

1025 Connecticut Ave NW Ste 1000A#

Washington DC 20036-5417

3. Description of Services or Supplies:

Basis for Approval (FAR 6.303-1(d)): Individual Basis Class Basis

Base Period: August 1, 2025 – October 31, 2025 (3 months) Option Period 1: November 1, 2025 – January 31, 2026 (3 months) Option Period 2: February 1, 2026 – April 30, 2026 (3 months) Option Period 3: May 1, 2026 – July 31, 2026 (3 months)

The Contractor shall provide legal services and other assistance to children in and released from ORR care in the sectors defined by ORR. The Contractor will use developmentally appropriate and culturally competent techniques and methods to assist children navigating the complex immigration system to the extent practicable. The contractor shall provide the following six categories of services:

Conduct Know Your Rights (KYR) presentations to inform children of their legal rights and what to expect throughout immigration proceedings.

Conduct legal screenings to identify forms of legal immigration relief available to children and to assess their need for appropriate services supportive of their legal case.

Provide or facilitate legal representation and other legal assistance for children for the duration of their immigration case (not to exceed the funded capacity).

Provide data tracking and reporting to monitor program performance and work to continually improve program service delivery.

Address the gap in representation through recruitment and retention of immigration attorneys.

Spanish language support and technical assistance training for legal service providers.

4. Authority and Rationale: Identify the statutory authority, FAR titleand FAR citation permitting other than full and open competition. It may be one of the following most commonly used citations by the operating divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), but other exceptions may apply per FAR Subpart 6.3.

Actionsother than simplifiedacquisition procedures(select onlyone and provide an explanation):

FAR6.302-1: Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements at this time, 41 U.S.C.3304(a)(1)

FAR 6.302-2:U n u s u a l and compelling urgency,41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2)

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-2, Unusual and compelling urgency.

ORR has secured legal services for UAC through various contracts since 2009, most recently under an interagency agreement (IAA) with the Department of Interior, Interior Business Center (DOI-IBC). DOI-IBC awarded the current contract, 140D0422C0009, on March 29, 2022, with a five-year period of performance (base plus four option periods). In March 2025, approved a strategy for ORR to transition to a new method of delivering required legal services.

As part of the implementation of this strategy, DOI-IBC executed a partial termination for convenience of contract 140D0422C0009 on March 21, 2025.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), Unaccompanied Alien Children Bureau (UACB) requires up to 12 months of legal services to be provided to unaccompanied alien children in ORR care, for the following estimated periods of performance:

As a result of the partial termination for convenience, a group of non-profit legal service providers filed a case in the U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of California on March 26, 2025. On March 27, 2025, the Plaintiffs filed a motion seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO). On April 1, 2025, the court granted the motion effective 11:00 a.m. EST on April 2, 2025, and ordered the injunction remain in effect until April 16, 2025, at 10:59 a.m. EST. The TRO, Docket 33, ordered that “Defendants are ENJOINED from withdrawing the services or funds provided by [ORR] as of March 20, 2025, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (‘TVPRA’), 8 U.S.C. sec. 1232(c)(5), and ORR’s Foundational Rule, 45 CFR sec. 410.1309(a)(4), particularly ORR’s provision of funds for direct legal representation services to unaccompanied children. This injunction precludes cutting off access to congressionally appropriated funding for its duration.”

To comply with this order, the Government rescinded the partial termination for convenience and provide funding to Acacia for terminated CLINs, which include direct legal representation services through the current contract period of performance, ending September 29, 2025. The TRO was extended to April 30, 2025. Then, on April 29, 2025, the court granted a preliminary injunction that replaced the TRO. The preliminary injunction continue to enjoin ORR from withdrawing the services or funds as it was prevented from doing under the TRO. In response, on April 29, 2025, DOI-IBC issued a contract modification to reinstate the terminated CLINs. The Government appealed the preliminary injunction, with the Government’s brief due to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on May 29, 2025, and the appellees’ answering brief due June 26, 2025. No date for arguments has been scheduled.

Subsequently, DOI notified ORR on approximately April 29, 2025, of its intent to terminate assisted acquisition support and informed HHS of its need to assume full responsibility for contract administration. On May 15, 2025, the DOI-IBC Head of Contracting Activity (HCA) and the HHS Office of Acquisition Management Services (OAMS) HCA agreed that DOI-IBC would continue to maintain the contract until OAMS established a new contract for the services no later than July 31, 2025. Upon the establishment of a new contract, DOI-IBC would transition the services and terminate contract 140D0422C0009. On June 25, 2025, DOI formally notified ORR that it would no longer provide contract administration for after July 31, 2025.

The underlying circumstances/nature of this acquisition justif an award under FAR 6.302-2. Due to the uncertainty of the appeal and discontinuation of DOI-IBC contract administration, ORR determined that moving forward with a contract for all services provided under the current contract s necessary to comply with ORR’s statutory responsibilities and the preliminary injunction. Also, ORR did not anticipate a decision from DOI to terminate its assisted acquisition support. ORR is therefore working with OAMS to plan a new competitive procurement. However, there insufficient time to conduct a full and open competition and award a new contract by July 31, 2025, when DOI-IBC terminated the current contract.

Legal services re required to be provided on a continuous basis and no lapse in service c because the requirement for certain legal services is part of a Congressionally mandated program as well as being subject to the aforementioned preliminary injunction. Therefore, ORR award a 12-month contract (inclusive of all options) pursuant to the authority of FAR 6.302-2, to ensure uninterrupted legal services for UAC. There re known vendors capable of performing the required UAC legal services. A proposal was requested from each. Any delay in awarding this short-term contract would result in a critical lapse in services and jeopardize ORR’s ability to provide UAC with mandatory legal information, disrupt essential program services, and compromise ORR’s mission. Therefore, an award using other than full and open competition both a programmatic necessity and a risk-mitigating imperative.

FAR6.302-5: Authorized or Required by Statute, 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(5)

Other (See FAR Subpart 6.3 for additional authority)

5. Agency Actionsto Take or Remove BarriersThat Led to Other ThanFull and Open Competition (If applicable):

The urgent need for this bridge contract stem from DOI’s decision to end assisted acquisition support.

The short-term contract is for the estimated time necessary for ORR to conduct a competitive process for an anticipated follow-on contract.

Bridge Contracts:

Actionsto Increase Competition:

The resultant legal services contract to be a one-time requirement. A competitive, follow-on acquisition package for the recompete is in development. The results of market research show that there s competition for a long-term follow-on contract and the actions taken to date demonstrate the commitment of the Government to increase competition to the maximum extent practicable.

On June 11, 2025, OAMS posted a notice of intent to award a sole source bridge contract for UAC Legal Services on SAM.gov under Notice ID OM 119028. At the time, the acquisition strategy relied on the authority at FAR

6. -1, . The notice invited responses from interested vendors and closed on June 25, 2025. No responses were received.

On June 25, 2025, the D formally notified ORR that it would no longer provide contract administration for the Acacia contract after July 31, 2025. This created an to act quickly to prevent any lapse in legally mandated services. In light of this development and

, the acquisition strategy was revised to use the authority at FAR 6.302-2, unusual and compelling urgency. This change removed Acacia as the sole source and allowed multiple vendors to be solicited.

Consistent with FAR 6.302-2(c)(2), which require agencies to request offers from as many potential sources as s practicable under the circumstances, the Government identified capable vendors and provided them the opportunity to compete. Based on the capability determinations described in Section 8, on July 15, 2025, OAMS issued solicitation

Market Research:

Per FAR 10.002(b)(1), market research conducted within the last 18 months used information still relevant. For the UAC Legal Services requirement, ORR relied on a review of proposals submitted under the competitive Post Release Legal Services (PRLS) procurement released in November 2024, as well as the outcome of the June 2025 notice of intent to sole source the UAC Legal Services requirement, which received no responses.

As part of the UAC Legal Services market research, ORR reviewed the proposals submitted for the PRLS procurement.

The PRLS solicitation was issued via SAM.gov in August 2024 and resulted in six proposals, with awards

These core services included Know Your Rights presentations, legal screenings, recruitment and retention of immigration attorneys, and Spanish language support. Although PRLS served a smaller set of regions and a post release UAC population, the service components closely aligned with the UAC Legal Services bridge requirement, making the proposals directly relevant. Because the services were within scope and the vendors’ capabilities remained current, ORR determined that this analysis of recent similar contract information, combined with the lack of responses to the June 2025 SAM.gov notice of intent to sole source, provided a valid and relevant source of market research for the UAC Legal Services requirement. Based on this determination, the Government concluded it was practicable to solicit proposals from as these vendors were identified through market research as

9. Procurement History:

Purchase order or contract number: 140D0422C0009

Was action competed?

If action was not competed, state the cited authority, summarize rationale, and describe the actions that were supposed to be taken to increase competition and the results thereof: Not Applicable

10. Additional Information to support the justification:

11. Technical / RequirementsCertification: Bymy signature below, I certify that the supporting data included in this J&A is accurate and complete.

Program Manager

Name:

Position Title:

Email address:

Phone:

Program Manager Supervisor (or one level above Program Manager)

Name:

Position Title:

Email address:

Signature:

Date:

12. Fair and Reasonable Price/Cost Determination: As Contracting Officer, by my signature below, I hereby determine that the anticipated price/cost to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

Price Analysis shall be conducted to demonstrate the price of the contract is fair and reasonable. The price will be evaluated by comparing to available historical information; additionally, the contractor will be required to provide a staffing plan to ensure the level of effort is sufficient to support the volume of work and deliverables anticipated as the current contract is time and materials and a firm fixed price must be executed.

13. Contracting Officer'sApproval (Required for proposed contract not to exceed $700,000 (value calculated including all options)): I hereby certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge. I approve this justification subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

13. Legal Review:

14. OPDIV Competition Advocate Approval (Required for proposed contract over $700,000 but not exceeding $13.5 million (value calculated including all options)):

I have reviewed this justification and find that it adequately supports other than full and open competition.

Name: Phone:

Signature:

Date:

15. Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Review: (Required for contracts exceeding $68 million (value calculated including all options)):

Concur: Non-Concur:

Name:

Shannon Jackson

Phone:

Signature: Date:

16. OPDIV HCA Approval (Required for proposedcontract over $13.5 million but not exceeding $68 million (value calculated including all options)):

Name: Quentin McCoy Phone:

Signature:

Date:

17. Department Competition Advocate (Requiredfor contractsexceeding $68 million (value calculated including all options)):

Concur: Non-Concur:

Name: Joanne Battaglia Acting Executive Director, Acquisition Policy, Legislative Oversight & Workforce

Phone:

Signature: Date:

18. HHS SeniorProcurement Executive (SPE) Approval:

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve other than full and open competition for the above stated procurement, subject to theavailability of funds, and provided that the services herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

State supplies/servicesbeing procured:

Legal Services

State the full statutory authority and FAR cite andtitle, consistent with paragraph 4, e.g. 41 U.S.C. 3304:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(2) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-2 entitled, Unusual and compelling urgency.

Name: Jennifer Johnson, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisitions

Phone:

Signature: Date:

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