Notice of Intent to Sole Source: Technical Assistance for Indian Health Service (IHS) Maternal and Child Health Program

This synopsis is hereby issued in accordance with FAR Part 5.203 and FAR Part 13.5 in response to the mandatory requirement for a 15-day notification. The purpose of this synopsis is to announce the Indian Health Service’s (IHS) intent to negotiate a Firm Fixed Price sole source contract with Reach Out and Read located at 89 South St., Boston, MA 02111 to provide technical assistance for the Indian Health Services’ (IHS), Office of Clinical and Preventative Service (OCPS) Maternal Health Program to establish a program to implement a clinic-based early child literacy program.

Under the anticipated acquisition, the contractor shall provide site-based training for providers to implement the intervention, provide technical assistance to the Indian Health Service/Tribal/Urban (I/T/U) healthcare sites, and provide quality improvement for I/T/U healthcare facilities serving children and their families to promote literacy.

Only one (1) source, Reach Out and Read (ROR), is capable of fulfilling the Government’s requirement for these services. ROR currently is the only source with knowledge of the current IHS program that incorporates books into pediatric care (known as the IHS Child Literacy Program) to encourage families to read together and has a unique fidelity of the national literacy program and resources, inclusive of books that have Native American themes and/or are written in Native languages to promote early literacy skills. In addition, ROR has a unique experience in training pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and public health nurses in implementing the early child literacy program.

IHS has a long-standing history with ROR in recruiting and maintaining more than 220 active I/T/U ROR sites that served more than 58,000 children through clinics. Should another source be considered, it would require restarting the Child Literacy Program, resulting in a substantial duplication of costs to date for work already performed to date, as well as result in unacceptable delays to the program during reestablishment.

The anticipated period of performance is inclusive of one (1) base period, and four (4) 1-year option periods.

The total estimated value of this action is $867,320.00 for the base period, and a potential ceiling amount of $4.46M over 5 years should all options be exercised.

THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS, however, interested firms may submit a capability statement in response to the above requirement by 1:00 PM Eastern Time on August 1st, 2025 to Christopher McGucken, Contracting Officer, Phone: (240) 478-3347, Email: Christopher.McGucken@ihs.gov . A determination not to open competition-based responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.