 |
|
Office of Contract Administration
Introduction
The City Nonprofit Contracting Task Force submitted its final report to the Board of Supervisors in June 2003. The report contains thirteen recommendations to streamline the City’s contracting and monitoring process with health and human services nonprofits. These recommendations include: (1) consolidate contracts, (2) streamline contract approvals, (3) make timely payment, (4) create review/appellate process, (5) eliminate unnecessary requirements, (6) develop electronic processing, (7) create standardized and simplified forms, (8) establish accounting standards, (9) coordinate joint program monitoring, (10) develop standard monitoring protocols, (11) provide training for personnel, (12) conduct tiered assessments, and (13) fund cost of living increases. The report is available on the Task Force’s website at http://www.sfgov.org/site/npcontractingtf_index.asp?id=1270. The Board adopted the recommendations in February 2004. The Office of Contract Administration created a Review/Appellate Panel (“Panel”) to oversee implementation of the report recommendations in January 2005.
The Board of Supervisors strongly recommends that departments establish a Dispute Resolution Procedure to address issues that have not been resolved administratively by other departmental remedies. The Panel has adopted the following procedure for City departments that have professional service grants and contracts with nonprofit health and human service providers. The Panel recommends that departments adopt this procedure as written (modified if necessary to reflect each department’s structure and titles) and include it or make a reference to it in the contract. The Panel also recommends that departments distribute the finalized procedure to their nonprofit contractors. Any questions or concerns about this Dispute Resolution Procedure should be addressed to purchasing@sfgov.org.
Dispute Resolution Procedure
The following Dispute Resolution Procedure provides a process to resolve any disputes or concerns relating to the administration of an awarded professional services grant or contract between the City and County of San Francisco and nonprofit health and human services contractors.
Contractors and City staff should first attempt to come to resolution informally through discussion and negotiation with the designated contact person in the department.
If informal discussion has failed to resolve the problem, contractors and departments should employ the following steps:
- Step 1 The contractor will submit a written statement of the concern or dispute addressed to the Contract/Program Manager who oversees the agreement in question. The writing should describe the nature of the concern or dispute, i.e., program, reporting, monitoring, budget, compliance or other concern. The Contract/Program Manager will investigate the concern with the appropriate department staff that are involved with the nonprofit agency’s program, and will either convene a meeting with the contractor or provide a written response to the contractor within 10 working days.
- Step 2 Should the dispute or concern remain unresolved after the completion of Step 1, the contractor may request review by the Division or Department Head who supervises the Contract/Program Manager. This request shall be in writing and should describe why the concern is still unresolved and propose a solution that is satisfactory to the contractor. The Division or Department Head will consult with other Department and City staff as appropriate, and will provide a written determination of the resolution to the dispute or concern within 10 working days.
- Step 3 Should Steps 1 and 2 above not result in a determination of mutual agreement, the contractor may forward the dispute to the Executive Director of the Department or their designee. This dispute shall be in writing and describe both the nature of the dispute or concern and why the steps taken to date are not satisfactory to the contractor. The Department will respond in writing within 10 working days.
In addition to the above process, contractors have an additional forum available only for disputes that concern implementation of the thirteen policies and procedures recommended by the Nonprofit Contracting Task Force and adopted by the Board of Supervisors. These recommendations are designed to improve and streamline contracting, invoicing and monitoring procedures. For more information about the Task Force’s recommendations, see the June 2003 report at http://www.sfgov.org/site/npcontractingtf_index.asp?id=1270.
The Review/Appellate Panel oversees the implementation of the Task Force report. The Panel is composed of both City and nonprofit representatives. The Panel invites contractors to submit concerns about a department’s implementation of the policies and procedures. Contractors can notify the Panel after Step 2. However, the Panel will not review the request until all three steps are exhausted. This review is limited to a concern regarding a department’s implementation of the policies and procedures in a manner which does not improve and streamline the contracting process. This review is not intended to resolve substantive disputes under the contract such as change orders, scope, term, etc. The contractor must submit the request in writing to purchasing@sfgov.org. This request shall describe both the nature of the concern and why the process to date is not satisfactory to the contractor. Once all steps are exhausted and upon receipt of the written request, the Panel will review and make recommendations regarding any necessary changes to the policies and procedures or to a department’s administration of policies and procedures.
|
|
|