Employment Verification and Unemployment Compensation Services

The purpose of this amendment is to; (1) Update paragraph references in Section 5 Deliverables of Attachment 1 - CLINS and SOW-002, as attached via track changes; and (2) Provide responses to vendor questions, as attached. The closing time for receipt of vendor questions is closed. No further vendor questions will be accepted or responded to. The closing time for receipt of offers has not been extended. _____________________________________________________________________________________ The purpose of this amendment is to extend the closing time for receipt of vendor questions to no later than 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard (ES) on Thursday, May 14, 2020. The closing time for receipt of offers has not been extended. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The Government intends to award a Firm-Fixed Price contract under Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP) using FAR Part 13 and 13.5 to the responsible Offeror whose quotation conforming to this synopsis/solicitation will offer the best value to the Government, price and other factors considered. (ii) The Request for Proposal (RFP) or Reference Number is: 70RDAD20R00000007. (iii) This RFP and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2020-06. (iv) This acquisition is NOT set aside for Small Businesses. The NAICS code is 541612. (v) The Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINS), Description, Quantities, and Units of Measure are: See Attachment I (Schedule of CLINS and Statement of Work). (vi) The Contract shall provide for full service Employment Verification (EV) and Unemployment Compensation (UC) in support of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer. (vii) Date and place of delivery and acceptance: To be determined at time of contract award for a base term of twelve months (12) months followed by four (4), twelve (12) month option periods as outlined in Attachment 1 (Schedule of CLINS and Statement of Work). (viii) The provision at Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors - Commercial applies to this acquisition. The following addendum has been attached to this provision: Offerors' submission shall include the following information: DUNS Number; Primary Point of Contact Name; Primary Point of Contact Phone Number; Primary Point of Contact Email; and Complete Business Mailing Address. The Government will not pay any costs incurred by any Offeror in the preparation and submission of an offer in response to this RFP, to include associated amendments. Each Offeror shall submit their offer in two (2) Volumes. Volume 1 consists of Criteria One - Technical Capabilities and Criteria Two - Past Performance. Volume 2 consists of Criteria Three - Price. Volume One and Volume Two shall be submitted as separate electronic attachments. Volume One shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages, excluding Attachment 2 Past Performance Information Form responses. The Offeror's Technical Capacities shall demonstrate the offeror's capability to perform the requirements outlined in the RFP. Offerors shall provide the information outlined in Attachment 2, Past Performance Information Form by identifying not more than three (3) recent and relevant ongoing or successfully completed projects performed by the Offeror. Volume 2 shall contain all information necessary to allow for a comprehensive evaluation of the proposed prices. All price proposals shall fully describe all assumptions made by the Offeror. Volume 2 has no page limitation. (ix) The provision at 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: 1) Technical Capabilities, 2) Past Performance and 3) Price. Criteria One- Technical Capabilities: The Government will evaluate the Offeror's Technical Capabilities in meeting this requirement relative to the Offeror's knowledge, understanding, and technical ability to perform each of the requirements set forth in the RFP including proposed methods and techniques for completing each task (as well as Section 4.4), the Offeror's ability to anticipate and manage difficulties and problem areas, along with potential recommended approaches for resolution and mitigation; and the Offeror's level of technical knowledge for each of the functional areas outlined in the SOW and how that knowledge will result in successful performance. The evaluation will include an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, deficiencies, omissions, and risks of the offer. Criteria Two - Past Performance: The Government will assess the Offeror's capability to perform under the resultant contract by evaluating the Offeror's past performance on other similar contracts or programs. The past performance evaluation will examine the extent to which the Offeror's past performance demonstrates their capability to deliver high quality service and solutions. Only recent (or ongoing) and relevant past performance data regarding work will be evaluated. Recent is defined as ongoing or within the last three (3) years. Relevant is defined as work similar in size, scope, and complexity to the work identified in the SOW. The Offeror shall NOT submit more than three (3) past performance references. If the offeror submits more than three Past Performance References, DHS will randomly select which three past performance references to evaluate. Offerors submitting fewer than three past performance references will be evaluated on the recent and relevant references received. Past Performance evaluations will be based on: (a) Offeror's submission describing not more than three (3) projects previously or currently performed in Attachment 2; (b) Information obtained in Government past performance reference checks related to the project descriptions submitted as well as other inquiries on Offeror's past performance, and (c) Information obtained from Government past performance databases. If no relevant, recent, or if past performance information is available neither a favorable nor unfavorable (neutral) evaluation rating will be provided. Criteria Three - Price: The Government will determine whether the price, inclusive of all years, is fair and reasonable, and whether the price, in combination with all other factors specified in the RFP, represents the best value to the Government. Technical Capabilities is more important than Past Performance which is more important than Price. Past Performance is more important than Price. Technical Capabilities and Past Performance, when combined, are significantly more important than Price. The Government will not make an award at a significantly higher overall price to achieve a marginal increase in superior technical capability. The Government will conduct a tradeoff analysis that involves the assessment of benefits of superior technical proposal features (i.e., benefits clearly attribute to increased productivity, increased probability of successful contract performance, and unique or innovative approaches or capabilities) versus the added price. Overall price to the Government may become the ultimate determining criterion for award of the task order as proposals become more equal based on other criteria. It should be noted that award may be made to other than the lowest priced proposal if the Government determines that a price premium is warranted due to technical merit. The Government may also award to other than the highest technically rated proposal, if the Government determines that a price premium is not warranted. The Government reserves the right to award without discussions; therefore, each Offeror should include the most favorable and advantageous price, technical, and past performance that the Offeror can submit to the Government. (x) FAR 52.212-3 Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items. The Offeror shall complete their representations and certifications through the System for Award Management and provide verification with their quotation submission. The Offeror shall complete only paragraph (b) of this provision if the Offeror has completed the annual representations and certification electronically via the System for Award Management (SAM) website accessed through www.sam.gov. If the Offeror has not completed the annual representations and certifications electronically, the Offeror shall complete only paragraphs (c) through (v)) of this provision. (xi) The clause at 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. There are no applicable addenda attached for this clause. (xii) The provision at 52.212-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items, applies to this acquisition. Additional FAR clauses cited in this clause that are applicable to this requirement are; 52.204-10 Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards, 52.209-6 Protecting the Government's Interest When Subcontracting with Contractors Debarred, Suspended, or Proposed for Debarment, 52.222-3 Convict Labor, 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies, 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities, 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity, 52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Representation, 52.222-3 Convict Labor, 52.222-19 Child Labor-Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies, 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities, 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity, 52.222-35 Equal Opportunity for Veterans, 52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities, 52.222-37 Employment Reports on Veterans, 52.222-40 Notification of Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act, 52.222-50 Combating Trafficking in Persons, 52.223-18 Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving, 52.224-3 Privacy Training (Alternate I), 52.225-13 Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases, 52.232-1 Payments, 52.232-7 Payments under Time-and-Materials and Labor-Hour Contracts, 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management, 52.239-1 Privacy or Security Safeguards. (xiii) The following additional clauses apply to this requirement; FAR 52.204-7 System for Award Management, 52.204-13 System for Award Management Maintenance, 52.204-21 Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems, 52.209-2 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations-Representation, 52.209-10 Prohibition on Contracting with Inverted Domestic Corporations. The following clauses apply to this acquisition and are included via full text in Attachment 1; HSAR 3052.204-70 Security requirements for unclassified information technology resources, HSAR 3052.204-71 Contractor Employee Access, HSAR Class Deviation 15-01 Safeguarding of Sensitive Information (MAR 2015), HSAR Class Deviation 15-01 Information Technology Security and Privacy Training (MAR 2015) 52.217-8 -- Option to Extend Services - The Government may require continued performance of any services within the limits and at the rates specified in the contract. These rates may be adjusted only as a result of revisions to prevailing labor rates provided by the Secretary of Labor. The option provision may be exercised more than once, but the total extension of performance hereunder shall not exceed 6 months. The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days. (End of Clause). 52.217-9 -- Option to Extend the Term of the Contract - (a) The Government may extend the term of this contract by written notice to the Contractor within 30 days; provided that the Government gives the Contractor a preliminary written notice of its intent to extend at least 60 days before the contract expires. The preliminary notice does not commit the Government to an extension. (b) If the Government exercises this option, the extended contract shall be considered to include this option clause. (c) The total duration of this contract, including the exercise of any options under this clause, shall not exceed 66 months. (End of Clause). Full text of FAR clauses and provisions incorporated by reference can be found at www.acquisition.gov and HSAR Clauses at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/. (xiv) Rating under the Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS) - None. (xv) Any questions concerning this combined synopsis/solicitation must be received via email to the point of contact noted in section "xvi no later than 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard (ES) on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Offers are due no later than Friday, May 22, 2020 - 12:00 p.m. ES and shall be submitted via email to the point of contact noted in section "xvi". (xvi) The Contracting Officer is Bryan Harden and can be reached at Bryan.Harden@hq.dhs.gov.