Department Of State Health Services

Department Of State Health Services, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a U.S. state government entity that operates as a prime recipient of federal grants and a prime contractor on federal service and supply contracts across public health, food safety, disease surveillance, and vital records administration. DSHS competes in full-and-open federal procurements without set-aside designations, serving as the principal public health authority for Texas in executing federal programs and regulatory mandates on behalf of civilian agencies.

DSHS delivers concrete public health capabilities grounded in its role as Texas's lead agency for disease surveillance, laboratory testing, food and environmental safety inspection, vital statistics management, and emergency preparedness. Recent contract work includes a $2.9 million definitive contract with the Food and Drug Administration (awarded September 30, 2026) for human food inspections across Texas through March 2032; a $9.97 million definitive contract with the Social Security Administration (July 24, 2024) for electronic death records management through December 2028; and a $13.5 million Social Security Administration contract for enumeration at birth and race/ethnicity records through June 2029. DSHS also holds a $7.3 million indefinite delivery contract (HHSD200200100092I) with CDC Pittsburgh supporting the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project 2022-2027, from which it has issued five annual delivery orders at $1,059,600 each for immunization program improvement and post-licensure vaccine safety monitoring. Grant work is substantial and recurring: the agency is the recipient of a $6.7 million CDC Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant (CFDA 93.991, awarded September 2026), an $98.3 million HHS Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant (CFDA 93.994, October 2025), and an $18.3 million USDA cooperative agreement for state meat and poultry inspection (CFDA 10.475, October 2025).

Federal customer concentration is broad but concentrated in health and human services agencies. CDC Pittsburgh leads by potential value at $71.5 million across 54 awards, followed by the Social Security Administration at $54.5 million across 36 awards and the Food and Drug Administration at $29.5 million across 43 awards. The top five customers by potential value account for 25% of the combined portfolio. Awards span 90 distinct federal agencies, reflecting DSHS's role as a delegated state health authority supporting federal regulatory and public health objectives across environmental protection, food safety, disease surveillance, vital statistics, and emergency preparedness.

DSHS operates five primary parent vehicles: an indefinite delivery contract (HHSD200200100092I) with CDC supporting vaccine safety work under 10 task orders totaling $9.7 million; a Basic Ordering Agreement (HHSD200201250843I) with 8 task orders at $7.4 million; and three Social Security Administration indefinite delivery contracts (SS000860062, SS000660067, and SS001260060) supporting electronic death records and vital statistics work across 22 task orders totaling $10.9 million. Recent activity shows 42 awards (combined potential value $15.4 million) reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, signaling recompete opportunity for competitors and recompete exposure for DSHS across vital records management and emergency preparedness programs.

DSHS operates almost entirely as a prime (97% of awards), with minimal sub-award engagement (3% of recent awards). Across SCI-reportable federal service contracts, DSHS reported $6.4 million in invoiced revenue over FY2022–FY2025, with workforce scale ranging from 5.7 FTEs in FY2022 to a peak of 22.9 FTEs in FY2024, settling to 10.3 FTEs in FY2025. On federal services contracts captured in SCI, government-paid rates ranged from a tenth-percentile floor near $39/hr to a median of $57/hr, with senior labor and specialized labor (laboratory testing, regulatory expertise) commanding rates through $340/hr. DSHS reports negligible subcontractor engagement (0% average sub-hours share across its prime contracts), reflecting its posture as a direct service delivery organization leveraging state workforce rather than external teaming.

Teaming footprint is limited: DSHS appears in the source as a sub-recipient on federal grants issued through the Texas Division of Emergency Management and on cooperative agreements with the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, signaling its role as an operational partner in collaborative federal initiatives rather than a vendor ecosystem player. DSHS's federal footprint is characteristic of a state health authority executing delegated federal functions—surveillance, inspection, vital records, and emergency response—rather than a commercial contractor pursuing business development through teaming or subcontracting relationships.