Text for NCCER sole source.docx

For NCCER sole source

NOTE TO THE DIVISION OF PURCHASING: This is a sole source authorization request for the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). With this sole source authorization request we are asking Purchasing to cancel SSA20232024 and SSA20240525. SSA20232024 is a sole source authorization for purchasing certain things from NCCER, and we need more than what that SSA covers. SSA20240525 is a sole source authorization to purchase NCCER textbooks from Savaas Learning Company, and we recently learned that NCCER no longer authorizes Savaas to sell NCCER textbooks (see attached email). Those textbooks are now only available through Pearson Education. We will be sending a separate request for a Sole Source Authorization with Pearson Education for textbooks and other things.

Anticipated total cost: $20,000.00 for the first year. It may be less in subsequent years.

Property (describe the property you are seeking):

Our scope of work consists of:

A.1 Annual virtual audits at IDJC’s three (3) Juvenile Correction Centers (JCCs) and headquarters. NCCER and IDJC shall mutually agree upon the scheduling of the audits each year. These audits shall be a review of the following: program fidelity, site safety, overall adherence to NCCER Standards, whether or not training is being provided in adherence to NCCER Standards, whether or not instructors are NCCER certified and whether or not juveniles are completing the projects that are a part of the NCCER program and in accordance with NCCER Standards. (Reference NCCER Accreditation Standards for Training, 2023 Edition.)

A.2 Training of a Training Program Director representing IDJC.

A.3 Certification of IDJC’s teachers to enable and authorize them to teach NCCER course.

A.4 Use of the digital NCCER testing platform.

A.5 Accreditation for IDJC.

Business need (describe the agency’s business need for the property):

IDJC has a need to provide educational opportunities to juveniles at its Juvenile Correction Centers (JCCs), including the opportunity to obtain job training and certifications, including construction-related certifications, which can be obtained from NCCER.

Description (describe what makes the property unique. Why is it the only property that will meet your business need?):

NCCER’s program is unique because it is the only known nationally recognized program with most construction unions, community colleges, and others in construction employers. NCCER allows our students to complete the different modules at their own pace. As they complete an assessment of proficiency, it goes into a national database. This database is accessed by community colleges, construction foremen, and Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC). When a juvenile (student) leaves IDJC, they can go to a community college and pick up where they left off in their studies without having to start all over again. They can also go to a foreman of a construction site, give their NCCER number, and the construction foreman can look up the student and see where they are proficient to determine what crew to put a student on to join their crew. If, unfortunately, the juvenile is committed to IDOC, they can continue their studies in NCCER.

Alternatives (describe the research you conducted to identify other potential property/sources. What potential alternatives did you find and why will they not meet the agency’s needs):

NCCER is more recognized than Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses in the construction field. While the students can take what they learn in high school CTE courses to community colleges, it does not necessarily translate to the field. NCCER ensures that unions, community colleges, and IDOC understand the type of construction-related training our juveniles have received. This allows our students to go straight to work. Before we chose NCCER, we looked at other options. We looked at what the CTE coursework was that was provided by the state and its expectations. In our secure setting with indeterminate sentences (juveniles could be here for 6 months to 2 years), CTE was not able or willing to understand how to approve programs when students start school on any day and leave on any day and not follow a traditional school calendar. We then visited IDOC and they showed us their NCCER program and what it would look like in a secured setting. It is valuable to have a similar program in IDOC because if one of our juveniles is committed to them, the juvenile can continue in the same program and continue learning their craft. We also visited with unions around 2019 to learn about their apprentice program. While they could not provide anything to our juveniles until they are released, they agreed that NCCER had elements that support what they provide in apprenticeships, which includes a construction math course, construction safety training, and other elements that once our juveniles are released would put them at the top of their list for entering apprenticeship programs. We could not find another program that provided all of these things for us.

Per an October 10, 2025 statement from IDJC’s Education Program Director regarding whether or not she recently researched alternatives, “I have. I researched all educational CTE sites that I could find through CTE Educational Conference vendor links and there were not any comparable companies.”