6 FAH-5 H-030
SERVICE PROVIDERS ROLE
(CT:ICASS-64; 11-17-2017)
(Office of Origin: CGFS/ICASS)
6 FAH-5 H-031 SERVICE PROVIDER RIGHTS
(CT:ICASS-64; 11-17-2017)
(Applies to participating ICASS agencies)
a. As partners with the customer agencies in the
administrative support platform abroad, service providers have the right to
express views regarding the delivery of service and needs of service provider
employees as well as the service providers capacity to provide potential
levels of service. As a partner in a transparent, consensus-based
relationship, the service provider has the right to expect that its views will
be considered seriously in the development of a consensus although the result
may not accommodate completely all the service providers expressed desires.
b. Service-provider representatives, as ex-officio post
ICASS Council and ICASS Budget Committee (BC) members, have the right to attend
all post ICASS Council and BC meetings.
c. Depending on economic viability, the service
providers have the right to offer, or not offer, services. The service
provider also has the right to evaluate requests for new or different services
based on cost, efficiency, and interests of the service provider. The service
provider has the right to decline to offer services that are not
cost-effective, do not improve efficiency, or do not meet service provider
interests.
d. The service provider has the right to deliver
services to customer agencies only at that agencys subscription level and to
refuse requests that go beyond the subscribed level from either service
recipients from that agency or that agencys representative. Service providers
can begin delivery of additional services once the agency has changed its
subscription rate and, if necessary the post receives the additional resources
associated with that subscription change that will provide a higher level of
service.
e. Service providers have the right to expect that
customers with unresolved complaints will first bring complaints to the senior
service provider and that customers will follow the established disputes
policy (see 6
FAH-5 H-462).
f. Service providers have the right to participate
with the Council Chair in a collaborative annual review of posts ICASS
platform using the annual ICASS customer satisfaction survey, eServices
dashboard, prior-year cost savings initiatives, and local sources of
input/feedback.
g. Having obtained post ICASS Council consensus on the
annual budget, priorities for the coming year and requested new positions,
service providers have the right to manage their operations without post ICASS
Council micro-management.
h. The service provider has the right to cease
providing the service (except to its own agency) by providing 12 months notice
in writing, with the 12-month period commencing on the next April 1 or October
1, whichever is closer. See 6 FAH-5 H-016.5.
i. Service providers have the right to expect full
customer agency participation in ICASS meetings, including the reading of
materials provided in advance of the meeting.
j. Service providers have the right to expect that the
target objectives and evaluation methods of any study of service delivery will
be negotiated with the service provider in advance and in detail.
6 FAH-5 H-032 SERVICE PROVIDER
RESPONSIBILITIES
(CT:ICASS-20; 08-31-2011)
(Applies to participating ICASS agencies)
a. As partners with the customer agencies in the
administrative support platform abroad, service providers have a responsibility
for the long-term health and stability of the administrative support platform
abroad and for protecting the interests of the U.S. taxpayer in providing
effective interagency administrative support at the lowest overall cost. The
service provider is responsible for the actual delivery of service for each of
the cost centers it has offered to provide.
b. The service provider is responsible for ensuring its
active and positive participation as an ICASS partner, including attending
meetings and reading materials in advance. The service provider also is
responsible for providing the post ICASS Council and post ICASS BC with regular
communications (at least twice per year) on service delivery accomplishments,
challenges and the potential impact of alterations in available resources, post
service recipient population, or other systemic factors.
c. Senior service provider(s) should attend post ICASS
Council meetings. If the senior service provider is unable to attend a post
ICASS Council meeting, the service provider is responsible for designating a
representative. The designee should be another U.S. direct-hire employee with
at least Secret clearance who has the ability and authority to approve
agreements on behalf of the provider.
d. The service provider(s) should attend post ICASS BC
meetings. If the service provider is unable to attend a post ICASS BC meeting,
they are responsible for designating an appropriate representative. The
designee should be another U.S. direct-hire or LE Staff employee who has the
ability and authority to approve agreements independently on behalf of the
provider.
e. The service provider is responsible for drafting the
subscription of services portion of the post Memorandum of Understanding and
for negotiating with the post ICASS Council for services provided.
f. The service provider is responsible for
communicating to all of its employees the level of service that each customer
agency has signed up for to ensure that customer agencies get no less, and no
more, than the level of service they have subscribed to and agreed to fund.
g. The service provider is responsible for establishing
costs for services, developing budget and staffing requirements, and presenting
them to the post ICASS Council and BC for review and possible negotiation. The
service provider is responsible for participating in post ICASS Council and BC
initial and mid-year budget reviews and approvals.
h. The service provider is responsible for conducting
workload counts of distribution factors for individual ICASS cost centers and
providing these to post customer agency representatives per the schedule
established annually by the Washington ICASS Working Group.
i. The service provider is responsible for allocating
the time of its employees to specific ICASS cost centers at least once every
other year. The service provider, in recording how its employees spend their
time, must follow the schedule established by the Washington ICASS Working
Group. The service provider must also establish a service provider review
process that will promote accuracy in time allocations. The service provider
also is responsible for providing these time allocations to the post customer
agency representatives according to the schedule established by the ICASS
agencies at the headquarters level, and for justifying the allocations made by
service provider personnel.
j. The service provider is responsible for
communicating the Uniform Service Standards to all its employees and holding
service provider employees accountable for their performance against the
standards.
k. The service provider is responsible for providing
customer agency representatives the following six ICASS reports at least 10
workdays prior to the date on which the customer agency representatives must
sign their post ICASS bills (either initial or final):
(1) Budget Summary Worksheet;
(2) Cost Center Detail by Agency: Includes Unit Cost;
(3) Agency Invoice Summary;
(4) ICASS Data Summary;
(5) Time allocation worksheets; and
(6) Workload Summary.
Where post has nonresident customers, the service
provider must agree with them in advance about the means for delivering their
six reports and ensure that nonresident customers also have 10 work days to
review the reports and return signed post ICASS bills. Customer agency
representative requests for additional or special reports are subject to
negotiation with the service provider. In case of disagreement between the
service provider and customer agency representative over additional requested
reports, both parties must follow the established disputes procedure (see 6 FAH
5 H-462.1 and H-462.5) in resolving the disagreement.
l. The service provider, at the headquarters level, is
responsible for providing U.S. direct-hire personnel who have ICASS training.
At the post level, the service provider is responsible for identifying the
training needs of ICASS service provider personnel, proposing a training
program to the customer agency representatives, and implementing the program to
the level funded by the customer agencies.
m. The senior service provider is responsible for
bringing unresolved complaints about customer agency representatives or service
recipients first to the agency head at post and to follow the established
dispute procedure (see 6 FAH 5 H-462.1 and H-462.5) in resolving issues that
cannot be worked out between the senior service provider and the customer
agency head.
6 FAH-5 H-033 through H-039 UNASSIGNED