SKJ & Associates, Inc., B-291533, January 13, 2003

B-291533 Jan 13, 2003 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Agency did not have a reasonable basis to reject the protester's quotation under request for quotations (RFQ) for training services where the RFQ required submission of a technical proposal but gave no guidance as to its content or how it would be evaluated. The agency then rejected the proposal as "unresponsive" because it was too short and too general and failed to provide evidence that the firm understood how to perform the work or to include a plan showing how the firm would implement the substance of the work. SKJ contends that the agency's evaluation was not in accordance with the evaluation criteria. Provides funding (under the Projects for Assistance in the Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program) to states and territories to offer community-based services for people who have serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of imminent homelessness. View Decision SKJ & Associates, Inc., B-291533, January 13, 2003 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION SKJ & Associates, Inc. protests the award of a purchase order to Policy Research Associates, Inc. under request for quotations (RFQ) No. 02M000077, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for intensive training in the social security income application process. SKJ contends that the agency's evaluation was not in accordance with the evaluation criteria. We sustain the protest. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency within HHS, provides funding (under the Projects for Assistance in the Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program) to states and territories to offer community-based services for people who have serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of imminent homelessness. One of the services provided to these individuals is to assist in obtaining social security income (SSI) and social security disability income benefits for which they are eligible. This responsibility is performed by various case managers associated with PATH-funded programs and other federal agency programs. The RFQ, issued August 28, 2002, under simplified acquisition procedures as a total small business set-aside, represented a collaborative effort between SAMHSA and the Social Security Administration. The basic purpose of the RFQ was to obtain intensive training for case managers assisting in the SSI and social security disability income application process. In the statement of work, the RFQ listed the specific requirements of the work under nine separate tasks. These tasks included (1) "post-award telephone conference call and memorandum," (2) "submit quarterly progress reports," (3) "coordination with other agencies," (4) "propose preferred methods of training," (5) "develop toolkit," (6) "develop teaching guide and training material," (7) "assess the toolkit and teaching materials," (8) "conduct training," and (9) "submit material and documents for formal SAMHSA approval." RFQ at 2-4. The RFQ also included a schedule of deliverables and payments, which required the contractor to satisfy various requirements by certain specified times over a 200-day period. The cover letter to the RFQ stated that "proposals will be evaluated on price and price related factors." It further advised vendors that they were required to "submit an original and three (3) copies of their technical proposal and cost proposal." Id. The agency answered several questions about the evaluation scheme, of which the following are relevant here: What is the technical proposal based on? Is it based on the nine (9) tasks or some other basis? The proposal is based on the 9 tasks. . . . . Can you provide any guidance on the evaluation criteria and relative weights that will be used to review proposals? The criteria and weight are to be determined. . . . . [D]o you have any other requirements for the proposal, such as client references, resumes, etc.? No. RFQ, Questions and Answers, at 2, 4. No other advice as to the expected contents of the technical proposal or how it would be evaluated was provided. HHS received three quotations in response to the RFQ, including SKJ's and Policy Research's. SKJ's quoted price ($83,620) was the lowest and Policy Research's quoted price ($99,501) was next low. After evaluating the quotations, the project officer determined that SKJ's quotation was "unresponsive" and that Policy Research should receive the award because it submitted a "technically sound" quotation. See Agency Report, Tab 7, Project Officer's Letter. With regard to SKJ's quotation, we quote the project officer's findings in their entirety: The proposal for [SKJ], the lowest bidder, indicates that the firm has experience in developing policy and procedure manuals. While this is tangentially related to the development of a toolkit, the proposal submitted by [SKJ] is unresponsive to the RF[Q].