Single Source Procurement: Early Intervention Monitoring Services

Pursuant to New York State Finance Law § 163.10(b), The New York State Department of Health is presenting the following summary of relevant circumstances, and material and substantial reasons why a competitive procurement was not feasible

The Department of Health (DOH) is requested and received approval of a Contact Reporter Exemption Request (CRER) to extend the existing Early Intervention Program (EIP) contract (C022988) with Island Peer Review Organization (IPRO). The approval allow DOH to extend this agreement for eight months through December 31, 2015

The Department is responsible for the administration, supervision, and oversight of the New York State's EIP. Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 34 Code of Federal Regulations Section 303.120 (2) and the New York State Public Health Law (PHL) Section 2550 (2) (c) requires the Department of Health (Department) to provide general administration, supervision and monitoring of the EIP to ensure compliance with Part C regulations and PHL. One way that the Department meets these requirements is through a statewide quality improvement initiative that includes monitoring of providers of early intervention services and municipalities responsible for local implementation of the program. IPRO is responsible for maintaining monitoring tools and reports in electronic format and is reimbursed by the Department. It is expected that this monitoring program, which began in 2001, will continue via this extension

IPRO has been providing monitoring services for BEI since 2001 through a series of competitive procurements with the most recent contract extension ending April 30, 2015. Awarding this funding to the existing, well established and experienced contractor through single source procurement ensures that monitoring activities continue beyond April 30, 2015. Due to federal and state requirements, the EIP cannot have a lapse in monitoring services while conducting another competitive procurement process. It is in the best interest of the State and the Department to extend the current contract until December 31, 2015. This will allow sufficient time for a seamless transition to the new contract

IPRO is uniquely qualified to perform the scope of work under this contract. IPRO has developed an onsite monitoring tool that effectively measures the compliance of providers with current Early Intervention regulations. This tool and the hardware that supports it are maintained by IPRO on a regular basis to ensure integrity of the review process. Transition of this tool to another vendor during the time of this extension would be cost prohibitive and not feasible. Furthermore, IPRO staff has the training and expertise specific to Early Intervention regulations and their enforcement which makes them uniquely qualified to perform the deliverables in the timeframes required.

Procurement / Program Name	Early Intervention Monitoring Services
Contractor Name(s)	Island Peer Review Organization (IPRO)
Contract Period	5/1/15 – 12/31/15
Contract Number(s)	C022988