The Social Security Administration should issue statements of work that include sufficient details to enable the agency to assess the contractors’ work performance against measurable performance standards, the SSA inspector general has said following a contract review.
It said that in 2008 the agency entered into a five-year blanket purchase agreement with Booze Allen for IT services under the Federal Supply Schedule, and that it issued 91 calls and obligated $45 million, and generally was satisfied with the work. However, it found that the SSA did not always include appropriate, measurable requirements in its statements of work, did not fully comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s requirements for price reasonableness evaluations, and that the SSA accepted quotes and invoices from Booze Allen that did not meet the agency’s requirements.
Going forward, when acquiring specialized commercial advisory and assistance services through the FSS, the agency should also consider the proposed level of effort and mix of labor to perform specific tasks to determine whether the total price is reasonable before accepting a contractor’s quote. SSA agreed with the recommendations.
