USDA Child Nutrition Programs

 Procurement (purchasing rules) must apply to all purchases that are supported, in whole or in part, with non-profit food service account funds.  All procurements in the School Summer Food Service Program must be competitive and must meet all standards set forth in program regulations and OMB Cost Circulars. The Summer Food Service Program is governed by the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under 7 CFR Part 225, applicable 7 CFR Parts 3016, and 3019  Proper Procurement will:  Ensure fairness  Make the best use of federal, state, and local funds  Save money  Obtain the best products and services

 Informal Procurement (Small Purchase Threshold)  Public agencies must use the most restrictive of State, local, or Federal standards.  Must be less than:  Federal $150,  State $7,500.00, Elected Officials $20,  School Districts $25, (W.S (B)(viii)  SFAs must get competitive bids for purchases between $10, and $25,  Local (Depends on the written procurement standards)

 Solicitation documents  Describe the goods or services (should be in writing)  Before contacting any potential bidders (draft specs)  Due dates  Other relevant factors  Contact an adequate number of qualified sources  Achieve competition  Recommend at least 3 sources who are eligible, able, and willing to provide the product or service.  Written price/rate quotes  Time frames  Confirm verbal quotes  Documentation  Purchase information

 Value of purchase exceeds threshold for small purchases.  More rigorous and prescriptive:  Competitive Sealed Bidding (i.e., IFB)  Competitive Negotiation (i.e., RFP)  Allows for the identification of evaluation factors and their relative importance

 Identify allowable methods:  RFP or IFB  Prepare solicitation and contract documents. Detailed bid specs must be developed  Advertise. Bids/Proposals must be publicly solicited  Receive and evaluate submissions. Measure and document why one company’s response to a particular criterion is better than another  Award contract  Execute contract  Administer contract  Maintain documentation  Retain all required records for three years after final payments and all pending matters have been closed and completed  Program Participants and/or contractors may be required to submit any or all documents to the State Agency for review  Have written protest procedures

 Program Participants and contractors (bidders) will be responsible for the settlement of all contractual and administrative issues arising out of procurements.  Protest procedures must be in place to handle and resolve disputes.  A protestor must exhaust all administrative remedies with both the SFA, business, or organization, and the State Agency before pursuing a protest with the USDA  Review of protests by the USDA will be limited to specific instances.

Competitive Sealed Bidding  Bids are publicly solicited using an Invitation for Bid (IFB).  A fixed price contract is awarded to the best responsive bid.  Use only when clear and accurate specifications or descriptions of the product or service are available.  Responsive bids will not differ other than price. The contract will be awarded to the lowest priced, responsive and responsible bidder.  Must have more than one qualified source be willing and able to compete for the award

Competitive Proposals  Proposals are publicly solicited using a Request for Proposal (RFP).  A fixed price contract or a cost reimbursable contract is awarded to the most responsive bidder after negotiations have taken place.  Use when the request lacks specificity and is requesting goods and services that are not “one size fits all”.  Expectations can be identified, but more than one method can be used to achieve the desired outcome.  Criteria allows for the measurement of factors that differ along other dimensions than just price.  The RFP will ask respondents how they will accomplish the services requested.  Therefore, staff must have sufficient skill and expertise to evaluate proposals and conduct negotiations  Must be able to measure and document why one bidder’s response to a particular criterion is better than another.

 The Program Participant must:  Have a clear and accurate description of the material, product, or service to be procured  Identify all requirements which must be fulfilled  Cannot contain features which unduly restrict competition  A potential vendor cannot:  Develop or draft specifications, requirements, and statements of work  Invitations for bids or requests for proposals  Contract terms and conditions  Any other document for use in conducting procurement Per (b)

 Cannot intentionally split purchases to have them fall below the small purchase threshold and avoid formal procurement methods.  There may be instances in which a specific market supports the need to separate certain products from the overall procurement  For example, milk and bread are commonly procured separately because there are fundamental differences between them and other food products (i.e., shorter shelf-life, specialized pricing mechanisms, and durability)

The description and scope need to be in line with what is being procured and need to be clearly stated so that bidders will understand and can be responsive. Identify all of the requirements that bidders must fulfill. The solicitation must specify the resulting contract type (clearly state whether solicitation will result in fixed price or cost reimbursable contract) Include contract duration Include specific pricing structure What other contractual clauses does 7 CFR Part 3016, 3019 or 225 require? How all bids will be evaluated While the specification should incorporate a clear and accurate description of the technical requirements for the material, product, or service to be procured, it should not contain features which unduly restrict competition

Ensure other needed contract elements are included in solicitation: – The return of all discounts, rebates, and applicable credits – Clear and specific time periods – Clauses regarding termination for cause or convenience – Remedies for breach (i.e., negligence, nonperformance) – Financial penalties – Corrective actions or – Restitution

 Clearly develop scoring criteria in order to evaluate all bids/proposals received  Scoring criteria should identify all evaluation criteria and their relative importance  E.g., points assigned to each criteria  Note: IFBs don’t generally include preference points

 Even if there are state or local laws for geographic preference, applying a geographic preference is prohibited in Federal procurement except where applicable Federal laws expressly permit their use.  Wyoming procurement guidelines do have a geographic preference that cannot be applied when using federal funds to pay for a contract. (Buy Wyoming)

 SFSP participants must clearly develop scoring criteria in order to evaluate all bids/proposals received  Scoring criteria should identify all evaluation criteria and their relative importance  Reminder: IFB don’t generally include preference points (the agency determines who is responsive based on the solicitation and award the contract to the lowest priced bidder)  The regulations are not prescriptive as to how proposals can or should be evaluated.  A point system, percentage based system, or a different weighted system may be used. There is no set method.  The solicitation must clearly define and describe the evaluation criteria to be used.  The method chosen does not unreasonably limit free and open competition.  Federal regulations do not prescribe how to develop scoring criteria to evaluate bids/proposals or the maximum number of preference points.

 Food Service Personnel  Business Officials  Legal Representatives  State Agency  Susan Benning, Program Accountant    Amanda Anderson, Program Consultant    Tamra Jackson, Program Supervisor  