Abt lands VA Data & Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Services contract

This global leader in research, evaluation and program implementation for over 50 years, has been awarded a 5-year contract by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide VHA Data & Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) services, leveraging their expertise in health, social policy, and data collection.

Awardee Name: ABT GLOBAL LLC
Unique Entity ID: C9S1NLQ67626
Total Contract Value: $1,865,002.84
Action Obligation: $382,112.08
Department Name: VETERANS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF
Funding Office: ACQUISITION CENTER – F
Number of Bidders: 1
Award ID: 36C10X25C0006
RFP ID: 36C10X25Q0021
NAICS: 541611
Award Type: Definitive Contract
Start Date: 2025-04-21
Ultimate Completion Date: 2030-04-20

Justification for Non-Competitive Action

The Strategic Acquisition Center – Frederick (SAC-F), on behalf of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Homeless Programs
Office (HPO), proposes to enter into a sole source contract with ABT Global, LLC under
simplified acquisition procedures.

This Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition proposes to award a firm
fixed price non-competitive award with ABT Global, LLC who is a Large Business
located at 6130 Executive Blvd. Rockville, MD 20852. HPO has a crucial mandate
under Section 309 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. This mandate
requires the establishment of an information-sharing system between Homeless
Management Information System (HMIS) and Housing Operations, Management, and
Evaluation System (HOMES) within three years of implementation. This legislative
framework not only guides but also compels collaboration with Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) to ensure timely and effective implementation within the specified
timeline. It underscores the Government’s unwavering commitment to enhancing
services for homeless veterans through structured and coordinated efforts.

The VA requires a contractor to deliver comprehensive HMIS services, including an
HMIS Boot Camp for VA Homeless Program Staff to enhance their proficiency in
correctly utilizing the HMIS system, which is a database system used by community
homeless service providers to collect and store data on individuals experiencing
homelessness. Additionally, the contractor shall be responsible for ongoing HMIS
Use/Disclosure Inventory Maintenance, creating a HUD VA Supportive Housing (VASH)
HOMES to HMIS Data Transfer Tool (HVTT), maintaining an HMIS Dashboard for
Homeless Programs Office staff, offering Business Intelligence (BI) Dashboard
Consultation services, providing expert technical assistance to meet Cleland Dole
legislative requirements, and delivering robust Data Analysis services to ensure
compliance with the Strong Act. These specialized services are critical to support the
VA’s commitment to rapidly expand programs that prevent homelessness among
Veterans and assist those currently experiencing homelessness. ABT Global, LLC has
specialized knowledge and experience with HMIS systems that are directly related to
these tasks outlined by Section 309 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023,
Division U, Joseph Maxwell Cleland and Robert Joseph Dole Memorial Veterans
Benefits and Health Care Improvement Act of 2022.

The anticipated contract will be a twelve (12) month base plus four (4) twelve (12)
month option periods. The work started in the base period may be exercised at the
discretion of the Government.

Expertise in Data Systems and Compliance:
ABT Global, LLC, possesses unique qualifications that make them the sole choice for
this acquisition. Their expertise in data systems, particularly in the HMIS and the
HOMES, is essential for the project at hand. ABT Global, LLC has a proven track record
of managing sensitive Veteran data through HMIS systems, as a sub-contractor, and
ensuring compliance with federal regulations specific to VA programs. HMIS
implementations exist at the Continuum of Care (CoC) level and are used locally to
collect information about people experiencing homelessness. ABT Global, LLC is the
only firm with the technical expertise to ensure VA grantees upload HMIS information to
the VA’s repository to measure the extent of Veteran homelessness.
Moreover, ABT Global, LLC has extensive knowledge and expertise in managing data
uploads to the VA data repository, which will be essential for implementing the
requirements in the Cleland-Dole Act and Section 309 of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2023. The process to capture HMIS data for the purpose of
uploading the VA Repository was created by and has been solely implemented by ABT
Global, LLC staff since the inception of the Supportive Services for Veteran Families
(SSVF) program and expanded to support Grant and Per Diem – Case Management
(GPD-CM) to upload HMIS data to the VA’s Repository beginning in 2023. Given ABT
Global LLC’s unparalleled experience with HMIS data uploads and the VA’s Repository,
no other vendor can match their capability to deliver these services. The VA Repository
is written in Microsoft Structured Query Language (MS SQL) and can only be accessed
by persons with two forms of identity clearance: a Personal Identity Verification (PIV)
card and a National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) account, both issued by a
local VA Medical Center (VAMC) after extensive background checks and fingerprint
analysis. Two of ABT Global, LLC staff have both levels of clearance, which take
months to achieve, to provide redundancy and quality assurance for all data analyses.
ABT Global, LLC has unique expertise in the technical and functional aspects of the
Repository system, with the capacity to perform back-end coding support, provide full
support for data uploads, manage technical changes, and monitor required program
data from each VA grantee’s HMIS to the VA’s Repository. Utilizing ABT Global LLC’s
already cleared personnel is crucial to avoid several months of delay in starting the
implementation of the required legislation, which has already experienced setbacks.

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