GSA to devise new contract to continue counseling services for troops

Federal contracting officials who decided recently not to renew a contract to provide mental health and counseling services to U.S. military forces are crafting a plan to continue the program uninterrupted. Last month, the General Services Administration decided not to renew a contract with Titan Corp., a weapons systems manufacturer, to run Military One Source, an online mental health and counseling resource through which service members and their families can obtain counseling and employment-related advice. But GSA may award a new contract to Titan's subcontractor, Ceridian Corp., a human resources services firm that has provided the counseling work since last year, according to officials and executives involved in the planning.

Karl Reichelt, GSA's chief acquisition officer, said only that a solution is being devised to ensure that the counseling services continue. But other GSA and Defense Department officials, as well as Ceridian executives, indicated that a plan is taking shape under which the company could receive a temporary contract to continue working on One Source. Such a move could lead to renewed complaints about the contracting process for the program, which has been controversial. GSA's Federal Technology Service, which awards technology contracts primarily for the Defense Department, granted Titan the One Source contract in August 2003. Counseling companies complained the defense contractor had no experience in their industry. An FTS regional office in Denver handled the deal, making the award through a contract designed to buy technology systems. Titan was one of 11 companies on that contract. FTS leaders have said they chose that route because the counseling services are largely provided via the Internet to deployed troops. But some GSA officials have questioned that interpretation. The agency's inspector general reviewed the contract during a nationwide audit of FTS activities and expressed concerns over how it was crafted, according to Jack Lebo, a spokesman for the IG. The Denver office also is handling the One Source contract's replacement, and "will award a sole-source contract…preferably of one year or less, to the existing subcontractor, Ceridian, to serve as a bridge contract" until a longer-term solution is crafted, wrote Patrick Mulcare, the director of information technology solutions in the Denver office,in an e-mail to senior GSA leaders June 20. Mulcare said he had discussed the arrangement with Bob Suda, FTS' assistant commissioner for information technology solutions, and other FTS officials. Mulcare said the bridge contract would stay in place until a new award was made, possibly using a GSA schedule contract, one of a set of deals through which agencies across government buy goods and services. Mulcare indicated FTS could tap a schedule used for human resources services known as 738X, under which Ceridian is authorized to compete. That would likely draw protests from Ceridian's competitors, some of whom aren't qualified to compete under that schedule. In June 2002, the Defense Department issued a solicitation for the counseling program using the 738X schedule, but officials rescinded it amid protests that it unfairly excluded Ceridian's rivals. Months later, Defense officials brought the procurement to the FTS Denver office, which awarded the contract to Titan and Ceridian. A Defense official helping manage the counseling project, which assists troops deployed in Iraq, said the military views the services as "vital, especially with the global war on terrorism continuing and with one deployment to Iraq behind us, one ongoing and others in the planning stages." "This is not the time to tinker with a contractual effort that we worked on for years before we brought it to GSA for contracting support," Dave Mitchell, a manager in Defense's Quality of Life office, said in an e-mail to GSA and Defense officials in March. Ceridian executives have indicated that they expect to continue to work on the One Source program. "The DoD has provided us with written and verbal assurance that the contract will be awarded to Ceridian by Aug. 8," Norene M. Miller, a Ceridian vice president, told company employees in an e-mail last week. CEO Ronald Turner wrote, "I have been personally advised by representatives of the Department of Defense that they are 'elated' with the services provided by Ceridian." Ceridian's involvement in the contract award process was questioned last year when a draft copy of a request for proposals for the counseling program, obtained by Government Executive, indicated that it had been at least partially written by a Ceridian employee. A Ceridian spokeswoman didn't elaborate on the executives' e-mails. A Defense Department spokesman said, "This is a contracting issue, and all questions on this matter are deferred to GSA. DoD has been assured that there will be no break in service." GSA's Reichelt wouldn't say when the agency would settle on a final plan, or how it might issue a temporary bridge contract. But he emphasized that eventually the agency would conduct some form of competitive procurement.