FY2021 Child Advocate Services

Pursuant to FAR subpart 5.2, "Synopsis of Proposed Contract Actions", this is a pre-solicitation notice of a proposed contract Action. This is a notice of intent to award a contract as a sole source acquisition. Contracting Office: Department of Health and Human Services, Program Support Center, Acquisition Management Services (AMS), 7700 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20857 Acquisition Authority: This acquisition is being conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) part 15, Contracting by Negotiation. The resultant contract award will include all applicable provisions and clauses in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2021-04 / January 19, 2021. This acquisition is conducted under other than full and open competition, sole source, procedures pursuant to the statutory authority at 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(1), as set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Only one award will be made from this notice. North American Classification System (NAICS) Code: The intended procurement is classified under NAICS code 624110 - Child and Youth Services with a Size Standard of $15.0M. Competition Status: This notice of proposed acquisition is posted as an intent to award a contract on a non-competitive basis to the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, 2245 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 30, Chicago, IL 60616. Description of Requirement: The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) requires a vendor to provide Child Advocates to make best interest recommendations for unaccompanied alien children (UAC). ORR requires a contractor that can implement, coordinate, and manage a national Child Advocate program at select sites where large numbers of UAC are in HHS care and custody and/or released from HHS custody. Child Advocates will advocate for the best interest of the UAC by creating best interest determinations (BIDs) for the most vulnerable UAC. Required Capabilities: The ORR requires a contractor experienced in providing advocacy services and best interest determinations for UAC. ORR further requires a demonstrated ability to provide legal services and social work services. The contractor shall have experience managing approximately 1,000 UAC across multiple national regions. Delivery Date or Period of Performance: The POP is anticipated to include a base and 1 option period: February 26, 2021 through August 27, 2021 and one six-month option to begin August 28, 2021 through February 26, 2022. Non-Competitive Single-sole Source Determination: The Government requires a non-competitive bridge contract be awarded to the current contractor as a means to mitigate the potential for restricting competition over the long term due to the nature of the requirement, to include the geographically dispersed service area as well as the scalability requirements as a result of the fluctuations in UAC in HHS custody at any given time. The proposed bridge will provide sufficient time to conduct a full competitive acquisition process to include acquisition planning, market research and the solicitation as well as a 30-day transition period for the new contract award. Closing Statement: This synopsis is NOT a request for competitive proposals. However, interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to this notice. Responses to this synopsis must include clear and convincing evidence of the respondent's capability to fulfill the requirement. All responsible sources may submit a response, which, if timely received, will be considered by the agency. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon this notice is within the discretion of the Government. All responses must be received by February 1, 2021 at 12:00PM, Eastern Time. Responses must be submitted electronically to Robert Burdette at Robert.Burdette@psc.hhs.gov, and must reference the announcement number ACFCAS2021. FAX requests are not accepted. In addition, the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size must be included in the response. All respondents must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.