Texas Nonprofit Hires Biden Transition Official – Then Lands Half-Billion Dollar Contract To Manage Border Crisis

A Texas nonprofit landed a federal contract worth up to $530 million to manage the influx of migrant children at the southern border – after recently hiring a Biden transition official.

The organization, Family Endeavors, won the no-bid contract just months after hiring Biden transition official, Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, as its senior director for migrant services and federal affairs, according to Axios, which notes that the deal is the second largest ever awarded by the agency overseeing the migrant child program. It’s worth more than 12 times the group’s most recently reported annual budget.

The news comes as the Biden administration scrambles to handle over 21,000 unaccompanied minors currently in government custody.

More via Axios:

• Lorenzen-Strait, a former official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, previously advised the Biden-Harris transition team on Department of Homeland Security policy and staffing matters.
• He also ran a consulting firm advising companies on federal procurement practices, according to his LinkedIn page, with specific expertise on agencies that include the Administration for Children and Families — the division of the Department of Health and Human Services tasked with detaining and processing child migrants.
• The Washington Examiner first reported on Lorenzen-Strait’s role at Family Endeavors, in the context of an $87 million DHS contract awarded to the group last month.
• ACF officials did not respond to a request for comment from Axios. Family Endeavors said its contracting work on the border is “a continuation of services we have delivered to the migrant population since 2012.”

What’s new: ACF contracted Family Endeavors last month to provide “emergency intake” and “wrap-around care” services at a temporary facility in Pecos, Texas.

• According to federal procurement records, ACF has disbursed $255 million to the nonprofit under the new contract, which has a maximum potential value of $530 million.
• Family Endeavors’ most recent publicly available annual tax filing, covering calendar year 2018, showed its annual budget for the year was just $43 million.
• Before last month, it had never received a prime contract award from HHS, though, according to a source familiar with Family Endeavors’ operations, it did provide staffing services at migrant intake shelters run by another HHS vendor, BCFS, in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2019.

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The only contract larger than Family Endeavors’ was a March award of $719 million to Deployed Resources – which does extensive work for the Defense Department and DHS.

Now let’s watch the media’s reaction to this, vs. the manufactured lie that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis awarded a vaccine distribution contract to a campaign donor.