6 FAH-5 H-030
SERVICE PROVIDER’S 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 provider’s 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 provider’s 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 agency’s subscription level and to refuse requests that go beyond the subscribed level from either service recipients from that agency or that agency’s 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 post’s 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