ASBCA 58752

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of -- ) ) Optimization Consulting, Inc. ) ASBCA No. 58752 ) Under Contract No. W9I33L-10-D-0002 ) APPEARANCE FOR THE APPELLANT: Sheridan England, Esq. S. L. England, PLLC Washington, DC APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Raymond M. Saunders, Esq. Army Chief Trial Attorney Robert B. Neill, Esq. · Trial Attorney OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE SCOTT Appellant Optimization Consulting, Inc. (OCI) has timely appealed under the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7109, from the contracting officer's (CO's) denial of its claim under the captioned contract for psychological healthcare and related data management services issued by the National Guard Bureau (NGB) on behalf of the Air Nationai Guard (ANG). OCI seeks reimbursement for increased costs it alleges it incurred when the government did not accept its proposed Management Information System (MIS) or provide a government-furnished MIS. The Board denied the government's motion for summary judgment. · Optimization Consulting, Inc., ASBCA No. 58752, 15-1 BCA, 36,106 (Optimization I). Thereafter, the Board conducted a one-day hearing on entitlement only (tr. 11). For the reasons set forth below, we deny the appeal. FINDINGS OF FACT Solicitation and Contract 1. On August 10, 2018 NGB issued commercial item solicitation No. W9I33L-10- R-0099 for an indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for mental health counseling and associated support services for members of ANG and their families. The acquisition was set aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. (R4, tab 2 at 1, 9, 41) 1 The Performance Work Statement (PWS) 1 Rule 4 citations are to the consecutively-stamped numbers unless otherwise indicated.  imposed two broad categories of performance obligations, the first concerning psychological health services (PHS) and the second, related records management and reporting (R4, tab 2 at 45-103). 2. The contract and solicitation included Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.212-4, CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS- COMMERCIAL ITEMS (JUNE 2010), which provides that "(c) Changes. Changes in the terms and conditions of this contract may be made only by written agreement of the parties" (R4, tab 1 at 13; tab 2 at 24). 3. With respect to PHS, contractors were expected to staff 89 psychological healthcare subject-matter experts (PHSMEs) at facilities throughout the United States and its territories who would, among other things, oversee and coordinate mental health services; provide a network of mental health clinicians to provide mental health support to service members and their families; and undertake activities to promote psychological wellness (R4, tab 2 at 3, 56, 78-80, 85-88). 4. The second category of performance obligations, records management and reporting, is addressed primarily in PWS Section III.A, "Security and Records Management," which describes the contractor's obligations relating to a "system of records" and an MIS (R4, tab 2 at 94-103). 5. The parties' obligations with respect to the MIS are at the heart of this dispute. The solicitation does not specifically define "MIS" but it refers to the MIS as a data collection mechanism throughout Section III.A. as well as in other PWS provisions, intermingled with discussions about how and what type of information was · to be collected, maintained and reported to ANG. (R4, tab 2) 6. The most detailed discussion of the MIS appears in the following subsection of Section III.A: a. Management Information System () (Portions are Optional for award) The ANG is currently investigating a comprehensive multi-layered tracking and data collection system for many ANG personnel functions. The ANG may/may not elect to utilize the total capability of Contractor's comprehensive MIS system, butexpects the offeror to provide and manage hardware necessary to accomplish and effectively communicate as well as track activity of the PHSME program.