Intent to Sole Source: Pursuant to the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), the Contracting Officer may solicit from one source if the Contracting Officer determines that the circumstances of the contract action deem only one source is reasonably available. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Program Support Center (PSC), Acquisition Management Services (AMS) on behalf of PSC, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) intends to sole source to: Pearl Consulting, LLC 1629 K Street, Ste. 300 Washington, DC 20006-1631 The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) is an important implementer of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in Vietnam, where a key driver of the epidemic is drug abuse. SAMHSA has been in the country since 2003 and has played a pivotal role is helping the Government of Vietnam (GVN) in its ongoing shift from compulsory detoxification to medication assisted drug treatment. SAMHSA is now an implementing agency within the PEPFAR structure and its activities, budget, and program results are managed through the interagency Country Operational Plan. SAMHSA's work has always been at the "above site" level, mainly in capacity building, policy development, and systems strengthening. SAMHSA has not been a direct services provider over the years and had not been required to collect data on its above site activities. As the Vietnam PEPFAR program transitions from direct services to technical assistance, the strategic information focus is also shifting to measuring the impact of the kinds of TA activities that SAMHSA has traditionally supported. Other agencies have developed a robust strategic information infrastructure for direct services reporting, which they will now leverage in the shift to technical assistance. However, through a leader in the provision of technical assistance, SAMHSA has a significant learning curve in strategic information. SAMHSA Vietnam will be required to measure the progress of its activities through a combination of central monitoring and evaluation indicators; country specific measurements; and data collection efforts at the SAMHSA-implementer level. It is SAMHSA VN's goal to collect data on all its efforts, whenever possible. As such, SAMHSA VN seeks to procure the following services: • Close review of SAMHSA's implementing mechanisms, including discussion with implementing partners, to determine opportunities for data collection; • Development of specific indicators to measure SAMHSA's activities in Vietnam; • Development of data management strategy, including spreadsheets and data entry tool. • Development of strategic information capacity in the SAMHSA Vietnam team through meetings, trainings, and one on one consultation with SAMHSA Vietnam staff. • Creation of syllabi and learning materials to train a group of change champions for strategic information of drug abuse, especially amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use. The overall goal of this contract is to support the capacity building efforts of PEPFAR SAMHSA specific to the strategic information of drug abuse, with an eye towards documenting the contributions of the agency to reducing the HIV epidemic among drug using populations. The following specific objectives will be met: • Determination of data collection opportunities across SAMHSAs efforts in Vietnam. • Creation of specific measures to be utilized by implementing partners to report their SAMHSA-supported activities. • Creation of specific data management tools to be utilized by SAMHSA staff in the analysis of SAMHSA's programmatic data. • Building of SI capacity for drug abuse at the agency and implementing partner levels. Pearl Consulting, LLC is the only organization capable of undertaking the work described under this contract. The Principal at Pearl Consulting, LLC has over 11 years of increasingly more complex experience in strategic information specific to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Her experience spans PEPFAR 1.0, where the focus was on establishing the strategic information infrastructure, including designing indicators and reporting tools, to PEPFAR 3.0, where the emphasis now is on using data to drive programming. Ms. De Leon of Pearl Consulting, LLC holds a Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and is currently pursuing a Certificate in Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice. She has both headquarters (Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator from 2006-2014) and field (PEPFAR Tanzania from July-November 2013; full assignment from 2014 through 2016). Ms. De Leon of Pearl Consulting, LLC has a solid track record as a health diplomat, with a clear focus on strategic information. Her skills encompass reporting on PEPFAR programs; engaging in policy and strategic planning; fulfilling analysis and data requests; and providing technical program implementation support. Ms. De Leon has five years of experience as a university-level lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services. She has also lectured on evaluating the impact of PEPFAR at the U.S. Foreign Service Institute. Moreover, she is located in the Southeast Asia Region, based in Quezon City, Philippines. She can provide consulting services (up to a maximum of 32 hours per week) using a combination of on-site visits and remote efforts from the same time zone facilitating just-in-time communications. Her support to the PEPFAR Vietnam team would be both perfectly suited and cost-effective. This is not a solicitation for competitive proposal. No solicitation document is available. All responsible sources that have determined that they can provide the same services may submit product information and a capabilities statement addressing their specific abilities regarding this requirement. The email subject line must reference SAM203042. All responses are due by August 30, 2017, 8:00 AM Eastern Time and can be sent to Sharranne Johnson at
[email protected]. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract base upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government.