DCSA launches $495M background check support solicitation
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By
Ross Wilkers
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency moves ahead on the next iteration of a contract that supports continuous vetting efforts.
The Defense Department agency responsible for conducting background investigations on people seeking security clearances has unveiled the final solicitation for a new contract supporting intake and other functions in those processes.
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency conducts roughly 2 million of these checks per year in support of 100 civilian and defense agencies, plus 10,000 cleared companies.
DCSA awarded the current Case Processing Operations Center effort in 2020 to ASRC Federal for facility monitoring, program management and implementation support as the agency worked to set up a new system for continuous vetting and adjudication.
The CPOC 2.0 recompete will have a $494.7 million ceiling over up to five years. Bids are due no later than 10 a.m. Eastern time on May 8, DCSA said in a Tuesday notice to release the final solicitation.
One key aspect of the new contract will involve continuous vetting, an approach DCSA is seeking to evolve into with an eye toward near real-time monitoring of cleared federal employees and contractors.
DCSA sees that as a way to analyze evolving threats and other issues surrounding those holding clearances and a central pillar of the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative to reform how the government vets personnel.
Lindy Kyzer, vice president of ClearanceJobs.com, previewed the CPOC 2.0 recompete in a March 30 article for our partner publication Government Executive and outlined some concerns over how DCSA set up the contract as a total small business set-aside.
The final solicitation characterizes CPOC 2.0 as a non-personal services contract with a scope of work that includes telephone and switchboard services, application ingestion, case maintenance, item level processing and post-closing support.
DCSA has obligated roughly $315 million in task order volume to ASRC Federal under the current contract ahead of its scheduled July 31 sunset date, according to GovTribe data.
Work under the new contract will take place over one initial base year and up to four individual option years.