6 FAH-5 H-020
THE CUSTOMERS ROLE
(CT:ICASS-72; 03-27-2018)
(Office of Origin: CGFS/ICASS)
6 FAH-5 H-021 CUSTOMER RIGHTS
(CT:ICASS-20; 08-31-2011)
(Applies to participating ICASS agencies)
a. As partners with the service provider(s) in the
administrative support platform abroad, customer agencies have the right to
express views regarding programmatic needs and the needs of service recipients
belonging to that agency as well as the agencys ability to afford potential
levels of service. As a partner in a transparent, consensus-based
relationship, the customer agency 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 agencys expressed desires.
b. Cabinet level and independent agency customer
representatives fulfilling the criteria in 6 FAH-5
H-222.3, have a right to a seat on the post ICASS Council. Customer agency
representatives fulfilling the criteria in 6 FAH-5
H-222.4 have the right to a seat on the post ICASS Budget Committee (BC).
c. Customer agencies have the right to receive
services at the level to which they have subscribed on a basis equal with other
customer agencies that subscribe to the service at that level.
d. Customer agency representatives have the right to
suggest modified work counts, where the customer agency believes it receives,
or wishes to receive, partial services, for post ICASS BC consideration and
approval.
e. Customer agency representatives have the right to
receive a full budget briefing to hear about budget priorities in advance of
post invoice preparation. Customer agency representatives, as post ICASS
Council members, have the right to review the budget and new ICASS positions
requested.
f. Customer agency representatives at post have the
right to receive the following six ICASS reports at least 10 workdays prior to
the date on which they must sign their post ICASS bill (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. Additional or special
reports are subject to negotiation with the service provider. In the case of
disagreement between the customer agency representative and service provider
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.
g. Customer agency representatives have the right to
get a copy (via diskette or some other electronic medium) of the ICASS post
software for use of the agency. Customer agency representatives have the right
to electronic copies, if they request, of the six ICASS reports listed in
paragraph f of this section.
h. A customer agency has the right to withdraw from an
ICASS service by providing six months' notice in writing, with the six-month
period commencing on the next April 1 or October 1, whichever is closer.
i. Customer agency representatives have the right to
expect full service provider participation in ICASS meetings, including the
reading of materials provided in advance of the meeting.
j. Customer agency representatives have the right to
receive an electronic copy of the Uniform Service Standards for the services to
which they are subscribed.
k. Clients have the right to propose for negotiation
with the service provider new ways of doing business, contracting out, or
analysis of current service delivery methods for possible reinvention.
l. Customer agencies that also provide ICASS services
have the right to designate the chief service provider from that agency as the agencys
representative for those cost centers where the agency is solely a customer and
not a provider of service. For cost centers where the agency is both a
customer and provider of service, the agency must designate another individual
as its customer agency representative.
6 FAH-5 H-022 CUSTOMER AGENCY
RESPONSIBILITIES
(CT:ICASS-72; 03-27-2018)
(Applies to participating ICASS agencies)
a. As partners with the service provider(s) in the
administrative support platform abroad, customer agencies have a responsibility
for protecting the interests of the U.S. taxpayer in effective interagency
administrative support at the lowest overall cost.
b. Customer agency representatives are responsible for
ensuring their active and positive participation as ICASS partners, including
attending Budget Committee and/or Council meetings and reading materials in
advance. Customer agencies are responsible for sending to meetings, the chief
of agency or for designating as the agency ICASS representative another U.S. direct-hire
employee with at least Secret clearance who has the ability and authority to
commit agency funding independently and to approve agreements on behalf of the
agency.
c. Customer agency representatives are responsible for
ensuring that, when they take official positions at post ICASS Council or post
ICASS BC meetings, they have the authority to commit that level of the agencys
resources, and that the agency will subsequently provide those resources to the
service provider. Customer agency representatives also are responsible for
standing behind and supporting the post ICASS Council and post ICASS BC
consensus with their service recipient community and their Washington
headquarters. This includes abiding by commitments made by their predecessors
or themselves regarding cost-center workload counts and service-provider time
allocations.
d. Each customer agency is responsible for ensuring
that its representative is trained appropriately and is familiar with the
basics of the ICASS system prior to appointment as agency representative.
e. At post, each customer agency representative is
responsible for signing that agencys post-level invoices and responding to the
service provider within established deadlines, especially when it comes to the
initial, final and NSDD-38 payments. At headquarters level, each customer
agency representative is responsible for signing and returning inter-agency
memoranda of agreement, issued by the service provider agency, within
established deadlines.
f. Each customer agency is responsible for providing
the post financial management office and/or the Washington ICASS Service Center
with accurate billing information, including name, address, telephone and fax
number of the headquarters office point-of-contact/representative responsible
for authorizing payment(s). Each customer agency representative is responsible
for reviewing and updating this information annually.
g. The customer agency representative at the post level
is responsible for taking any actions necessary to ensure prompt approval of
the interagency reimbursement agreement at the headquarters level. That might
mean that the customer agency representative at post would forward a copy of
the signed, post-level invoice, to the headquarters office authorizing
official. At the headquarters level, the customer agency representative
authorizing the inter-agency reimbursement agreement is responsible for taking
any actions necessary, such as forwarding a copy of the signed interagency
reimbursement agreement, to the agencys accounts payable office to ensure
prompt payment of the headquarters-level agency ICASS bill either by check or
an intra-governmental payment and collection (IPAC) transaction.
h. Each customer agency representative is responsible
for bringing unresolved complaints about service first to the senior service
provider representative and to follow the established dispute procedure policy
(see 6 FAH-5
H-462.1 and H-462.5) in resolving issues concerning service
quality/timeliness.
i. Each customer agency representative is responsible
for communicating fully to their agencys service recipients the level of
services the agency signed up for, the affordability decisions the agency made,
and the service levels the agency approved. Each agencys Council and BC
representative is responsible for communicating post ICASS Council and post
ICASS BC decisions accurately and completely, and the justifications for those
decisions, to their agencys service recipients.
j. Each agencys Council representative is responsible
for participating in the review of the ICASS customer satisfaction survey, myServices data and other resource data in
collaboration with the Management Counselor and Council Chair to assist them in
the preparation of their annual performance assessment of posts ICASS
platform. Review should be based on the mutual understanding of
roles/responsibilities and mission priorities that are clear and well known to
all before the beginning of the year.
6 FAH-5 H-023 through H-029 UNASSIGNED