Post by Leslie on Sept 1, 2021 14:45:45 GMT
Scenario #1
• What are the major (obvious and not so obvious) risks of this contract?
What experience does ESTX have in this training area? With this population?
The contract is 70% performance based. Must meet identified milestones
The number of people who are required to be trained (300); placed (150) retained/6months (90)
You will need to over-enroll by at least 20% to adjust for attrition (participants who do not complete)
The previous contractor was not able to meet the milestones if they were operating in the same space/location/demographics why didn’t they succeed?
Q - Are there inherent problems with the contract?
Q- Will training in culinary and facilities management be of interest to this population?
Q- What would be considered innovative in this programming space?
Q- Has anyone polled or surveyed the potential participants to see if this training program is of interest?
Q- Has a community needs assessment been conducted?
• What should be done early to ensure that the contract does not fail?
Ensure the Culinary and Facilities Management classes can absorb 300+ new participants
Including available teachers, space, materials
Early recruitment & linkages to job placement in Culinary and Facilities Management
Job Developers in place with leads and jobs
Retention Specialists in place who are creating relationships with participants and potential employers
Create a training track that participants understand, can follow, and gain skills and knowledge as they participate – Participant buy-in
Build in clearly articulated incentives connected to milestone attainment
Develop a major contract with a system ie: Hospital network that can absorb newly trained workforce
Identify industry standards
• What are some of the tripwires that the program director needs to be able to monitor should the company move forward? How will that measurement occur?
Enrollment #’s and daily attendance = Awareness re: completion of the program standards
Exceeding targeted enrollment and retention goals
Mitigate participant (thru programming and support services) any new involvement with criminal justice system – NO recidivism
• How can you negotiate this contract to mitigate as much risk as possible?
I might try to reduce the number of participants trained, which would reduce the number of participants who have to be placed. Maybe, we could negotiate retention on the job to include a 30-, 60- & 90-day benchmark.
Scenario #2
• Was a fraud committed? Are there any compliance issues?
I do not have enough information regarding a fraud allegation, but the dinner and gift were highly ill-advised. A gift from a colleague arriving at your home is creepy and would probably prompt me to discuss my concerns with the Contracts & Compliance divisions.
Contractually, I do not believe we could be removed from a contract or held as non-compliant without some formal notification. At the point where another not-for-profit is brought in, it appears there is a breach of the terms of the contract, and we may have legal standing. If we have a fully executed contract with the City and that contract is voided without notice, we should sue to recover monies owed us.
• What were the risks involved with this contract?
Given, the information provided, the delays in processing payments and the sense that this particular City agency is not being operated properly, I would seek advice from the contract management division.
• How could you have mitigated them?
I would not leave this contract unattended for months. There are RED flags all over the place
Creating a schedule of invoice and payment submissions and tracking all claims to be sure we are collecting payments in a timely fashion
• What specific controls should we have implemented?
Monthly check-in with my City agency counterpart
Should have been informed in writing the City agency was dissatisfied with our performance and was seeking to replace us.
The informality of it all is questionable.
• Are there any lessons learned?
Listen to your intuition
Have all contract terms reviewed and clearly identify compliance and reporting requirements
Involve others higher up the food chain, who can assess the immediate and long risks associated with any contract and respond to red flags immediately
• What are the major (obvious and not so obvious) risks of this contract?
What experience does ESTX have in this training area? With this population?
The contract is 70% performance based. Must meet identified milestones
The number of people who are required to be trained (300); placed (150) retained/6months (90)
You will need to over-enroll by at least 20% to adjust for attrition (participants who do not complete)
The previous contractor was not able to meet the milestones if they were operating in the same space/location/demographics why didn’t they succeed?
Q - Are there inherent problems with the contract?
Q- Will training in culinary and facilities management be of interest to this population?
Q- What would be considered innovative in this programming space?
Q- Has anyone polled or surveyed the potential participants to see if this training program is of interest?
Q- Has a community needs assessment been conducted?
• What should be done early to ensure that the contract does not fail?
Ensure the Culinary and Facilities Management classes can absorb 300+ new participants
Including available teachers, space, materials
Early recruitment & linkages to job placement in Culinary and Facilities Management
Job Developers in place with leads and jobs
Retention Specialists in place who are creating relationships with participants and potential employers
Create a training track that participants understand, can follow, and gain skills and knowledge as they participate – Participant buy-in
Build in clearly articulated incentives connected to milestone attainment
Develop a major contract with a system ie: Hospital network that can absorb newly trained workforce
Identify industry standards
• What are some of the tripwires that the program director needs to be able to monitor should the company move forward? How will that measurement occur?
Enrollment #’s and daily attendance = Awareness re: completion of the program standards
Exceeding targeted enrollment and retention goals
Mitigate participant (thru programming and support services) any new involvement with criminal justice system – NO recidivism
• How can you negotiate this contract to mitigate as much risk as possible?
I might try to reduce the number of participants trained, which would reduce the number of participants who have to be placed. Maybe, we could negotiate retention on the job to include a 30-, 60- & 90-day benchmark.
Scenario #2
• Was a fraud committed? Are there any compliance issues?
I do not have enough information regarding a fraud allegation, but the dinner and gift were highly ill-advised. A gift from a colleague arriving at your home is creepy and would probably prompt me to discuss my concerns with the Contracts & Compliance divisions.
Contractually, I do not believe we could be removed from a contract or held as non-compliant without some formal notification. At the point where another not-for-profit is brought in, it appears there is a breach of the terms of the contract, and we may have legal standing. If we have a fully executed contract with the City and that contract is voided without notice, we should sue to recover monies owed us.
• What were the risks involved with this contract?
Given, the information provided, the delays in processing payments and the sense that this particular City agency is not being operated properly, I would seek advice from the contract management division.
• How could you have mitigated them?
I would not leave this contract unattended for months. There are RED flags all over the place
Creating a schedule of invoice and payment submissions and tracking all claims to be sure we are collecting payments in a timely fashion
• What specific controls should we have implemented?
Monthly check-in with my City agency counterpart
Should have been informed in writing the City agency was dissatisfied with our performance and was seeking to replace us.
The informality of it all is questionable.
• Are there any lessons learned?
Listen to your intuition
Have all contract terms reviewed and clearly identify compliance and reporting requirements
Involve others higher up the food chain, who can assess the immediate and long risks associated with any contract and respond to red flags immediately
