Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kay Coles James recently approved a plan to establish multiple Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) for Federal background investigation services, helping alleviate the backlog of pending investigations.  The purchase agreements have been established with five investigative firms as part of a long-term plan to expand the nation's investigative capacity.

"Investigative resources are critical to securing America and her Federal workforce against those that seek to do us harm.  Right now the governmentwide demand for investigations exceeds the industry's ability to accomplish the work.  In light of current demands and the potential for further increases in the future, it is essential these resources become available sooner rather than later," stated James.  "OPM is helping to lead the way for a more secure future for the nation and its citizens by establishing greater capacity to perform this critical work.  The BPAs are designed to change the industry practices of sharing resources by establishing more readily available services that are needed for the security of the country."

OPM's strategy of increasing the national investigative capacity will be achieved through the award of multiple Blanket Purchase Agreements to the following qualified contractors: CACI-PTI, Kroll, inc., Mantech MSM Security Services, Inc., Omniplex World Services Corp., and Systems Application and Technologies, Inc.

The procurement could provide up to 2,000 new jobs in the next three years. Combined with the resources now in place and their expected growth the new contracts will increase the national capacity to 8,000 field investigators, the number needed to meet the demand.  OPM will maintain close oversight and provide training to ensure all companies meet OPM standards.  The start-up of the contracts will also be staggered in order to provide necessary OPM resources to assist in the system set-up as well as training and quality assurance oversight.