(90) It is DLA policy not only to cooperate fully with the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled (the Committee), its Central Nonprofit Agencies (CNAs) (namely, the National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and NISH - formerly, the National Industries for the Severely Handicapped), and the individual nonprofit agencies (previously known as workshops and/or work centers) in accordance with statutory mandates, but also to provide the maximum practicable opportunity by which these Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act (JWOD) entities may become full partners in DLA's reengineered business processes at either the prime or subcontract level.
(91) Contractor participation in a program of support for JWOD entities shall be the focus of an evaluation factor to be included in solicitations or other announcements for contracting arrangements which use source selection procedures. The contracting officer shall use an evaluation factor encouraging the maximum practicable use of JWOD entities as subcontractors (i.e., beyond statutorily mandated use of these entities by prime contractors; see FAR 8.001(c)). This factor shall apply to all source selections where the resultant contract is expected to exceed $500,000, unless omission is approved by the chief of the contracting office. (Inclusion of this coverage in solicitations below $500,000, though optional, is encouraged in all appropriate circumstances.) Proposals that demonstrate a strong commitment to affording JWOD entities a real opportunity to participate in the Government contracting arena, including prime vendor and virtual prime vendor arrangements, shall be rated more favorably than those that demonstrate little or no such commitment. See 15.304(c)(91).
(i) The contracting officer should consult with the local office of counsel prior to making this evaluation factor more important than other socioeconomic factors, to ensure that it does not displace any other factors required by statute or overall DoD policy.
(92) In making decisions whether to exercise options on contracts, the contracting officer shall evaluate whether a firm has or has not performed in accordance with its commitment to use of JWOD entities. Field elements of the Defense Contract Management Agency shall be used to assist in assessing a contractor's compliance with these requirements.
(93) See 15.304(c)(91) for the prescription for use of solicitation provisions 52.215-9004, Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act Entity Proposal, and 52.215-9005, Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act Entity Support Evaluation.
(94) For applicable contract actions, the contracting officer shall provide incentives for prime contractors to subcontract with JWOD entities, even when they are not statutorily obligated to do so. These include:
(i) evaluation of current or proposed participation in this program of support for JWOD as an independent factor (separate from any overall past performance evaluation factor) in source selection;
(ii) use of JWOD entities under previous contracts as part of the overall past performance evaluation factor in source selection;
(iii) evaluation of present performance regarding subcontracting with JWOD entities in determining placement of orders under multiple-award contracts; and/or
(iv) consideration of contractor present and past performance with reference to JWOD entities in the exercise of options for the follow-on years of long-term contracts.
(95) In order for determinations to be made regarding the efficacy and viability of this coverage, each contracting activity shall, ten days after the end of each fiscal quarter, submit a report to J-71 indicating the percent change in the extent of non-mandatory prime contractor support (i.e., percent of total subcontracting dollars) for JWOD entities.
