Redacted_JOFOC_Carrizo_Springs_Redacted_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

JUSTIFICATION FOR

OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION AUTHORITY:

FAR 6.302, 41 U.S.C.3304)

RFP 140D0422R0022

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

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for other than full and open competition.”

This document is a Justification and Approval (J&A) for other than full and open competition for the Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate, Division 1 on behalf of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). This justification applies to direct care and supervision requirements in support of Unaccompanied Children (UC) at the ORR Influx Care Facility (ICF) in Carrizo Springs, Texas.

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

This is a Justification & Approval (J&A) in accordance with FAR 6.303-1(d) and 6.302-2, Unusual and Compelling Urgency for a contract to continue providing for direct care and supervision support services for up to 900 UC aged children and youths between 13 to 17 years. The Government has an existing leased facility located in Carrizo Springs, Texas, where these services will be operated. Based on Market Research and a review of past contract actions, a limited competition with no set-aside to three (3) businesses that have provided similar services at other locations is recommended.

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

ORR houses unaccompanied children (UC) referred to its care in a network of state-licensed shelters throughout the United States. By law, UC may only remain in DHS custody for 72 hours following their apprehension at which time UC must be transferred to the care and custody of HHS. Due to a surge in the number of UC apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since early 2021, and bed capacity challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, ORR’s available bedspace has been insufficient to accommodate the number of children referred to its care. In March 2021, upwards of 5,000 UC were held in DHS custody for several weeks as no beds were available within ORR’s network, creating an urgent humanitarian crisis with the potential for a catastrophic loss of life. In Spring 2021, ORR established emergency intake sites (EIS) to immediately decompress overcrowded border patrol stations. These EIS were established in short order under an urgent and compelling basis and ORR’s access to these sites is limited to one year. EIS provide a safer and less crowded environment than CBP facilities while ORR works to process children as quickly and safely as possible for release to a sponsor.

While ORR has been able to increase the number of beds that were previously off-line due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those increases are insufficient to provide the bed capacity necessary for the surge in UC referrals in 2021. In May 2021, ORR received 11,795 children with an average rate of 393 referrals per day. This is the highest level of referrals compared to any previous May and follows record breaking referral numbers in March and April 2021 with 13,832 and 19,154 children referred respectively. In order to respond to the 2021 UC surge, ORR added capacity at care provider facilities, re-opened an influx care facility and opened EIS locations to achieve sufficient UC bed capacity to respond to this urgent humanitarian crisis. The average daily UC referrals in June totaled 402 per day, with a record high of 901 referrals on April 7, and the seven-day referral average as of June 30, 2021, was 445 per day. As of August 4, 2021, the 7-day referral average was 615 UC per day.

Currently, monthly referrals to ORR continue to dramatically outpace historical averages and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ORR’s licensed bed network continues to hamper ORRs available bed capacity. In September 2021, there were 13,399 UC referrals to ORR and in October 2021, there were 10,656 UC referrals, both months far exceeding UC referrals in previous years. The high number of referrals has increased for the Carrizo Springs location to ensure that the facility has a minimal lapse in service in preparation to support up to 900 UC children on/near May 1, 2022. As mentioned above, ORR anticipates an urgent need for UC shelter beds in the spring 2022.

Utilization of a standard competitive process for such a large requirement will result in an estimated award timeline that would incur significant risk to the Government. This is because the numbers of UC in Government care may at any point during the procurement timeline exceed the capacity at other ORR facilities and cause a humanitarian crisis pertaining to how to care for the UC population that exceeds ORR facility capacity. Utilization of a short-term limited competitive procurement will shorten the procurement timeline, and thereby reduce the duration of a lapse in service at the Carrizo Springs site and again provide capability to support up to 900 UC.

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.

As mentioned above, the government intends on competing this award with the three

(3) businesses that expressed interest to the Sources Sought Notice, mentioned above and have had experience, as a prime contractor, in successfully providing these services at similar levels.

The exception at FAR 5.202(a)(2) applies. A notice shall not be publicized due to it resulting in serious injury if the Government complies with the time periods specified in FAR 5.203. The publication time would add significant time and result in a serious lapse in services being provided at the Carrizo Springs location.

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

Since there will be a limited competition, the government shall be able to utilize information received in response to the solicitation to help establish fair and reasonable pricing. If needed, the Contracting Officer will also have historical pricing information from previous and/or recent similar procurements to assist in that determination. Per FAR 15.404-1, the Contracting Officer will perform price analysis to determine whether the price is fair and reasonable.

If only one offer is received, the Contracting Officer will include a comparison of the offered price to market pricing as part of the price reasonableness, in accordance with DOI-AAAP-0024, Enhancing Competition.

This requirement is for commercial services and is exempt from cost analysis per FAR 15.403-1(b)(3). Other than certified cost or pricing data may be requested for further