1 of 7 level: 6 credit: 6 planned review date: June 2006 sub-field: purpose: Social Services People credited with this unit standard are able to: negotiate with service providers for provision of services; negotiate the contract for service provision; monitor and evaluate the contract for service provision; and manage termination of the contract for social services provision. This unit standard is a specialist unit standard for people in the social services who are responsible for negotiating for and purchasing services under contract. entry information: accreditation option: moderation option: Open. Evaluation of documentation and visit by NZQA, industry and teaching professional in the same field from another provider. A centrally established and directed national moderation system has been set up by Community Support Services ITO Limited (Careerforce). special notes: 1 People awarded credit in this unit standard are able to implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the social services according to the authority and resources available to them, and are able to demonstrate application of this competence to the context of assessment for this unit standard (for further clarification, please refer to Unit 7928, Implement Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the social services).
2 of 7 2 Glossary Contract means "a mutually negotiated agreement under which one organisation undertakes to fund defined welfare activities, and the other organisation (or individual) undertakes to provide them according to specified terms and conditions". Source: Department of Social Welfare. 1980. Contracting for Social Services: Principles and Guidelines. Wellington: Department of Social Welfare: p 5. "A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between [two or more parties]. It is an exchange of promises by each party to do something of value for the other. A contract must involve: 1 Offer and acceptance; 2 Performance; 3 Intention to create a legal relationship; 4 Certainty as to the terms of the agreement; 5 Capacity to contract." Acknowledgements to: New Zealand Community Funding Agency. 1995. Contracting: Information for community-based social and welfare service providers on contracting with the New Zealand Community Funding Agency. Wellington: New Zealand Community Funding Agency: p 7. Cost and funding of the service may include administration, education and training, equipment, furnishing, salaries and expenses of paid and unpaid personnel, publicity, quality systems, running costs, and adequacy of funding for pay and conditions for employees. Non-monetary resources may include education and training, legal services, premises, managerial or professional supervision, monitoring and evaluation services, personnel. Service provider standards include but are not limited to: service provider strategic plans, kaupapa, governing legislation, staff manuals, kawa, or tikanga.
3 of 7 Service users is used as a generic term to denote people from user groups of the social services, who may be individuals, couples, families or whānau. They may be referred to by various descriptive terms in the range of social services settings. Terms and conditions that are essential to the contract may include measurable social service objectives, rights and responsibilities of all parties to the contract, minimum standards for provision of social services, monitoring and evaluation of the service delivery, cost and funding of the services, payment for services, including progress payments, provision of nonmonetary resources by either party to the contract, employment practices in salary related agreements, sub-contracting, use of capital resources during performance and termination of the contract. 3 All communications are treated confidentially. The scope and limits of confidentiality are defined through negotiation and informed consent, and criteria established by legislation, ethical practice, and service provider guidelines. In the context of this unit standard, sources of criteria established by legislation, ethical practice, and service provider guidelines include but are not limited to: Official Information Act 1982, Privacy Act 1993, service provider codes of conduct, codes of practice issued by the Privacy Commissioner, social service codes of ethics, and service provider guidelines, protocols, staff manuals, strategic plans, kawa, or tikanga. 4 People awarded credit in this unit standard show that their actions are guided and supported by valid theory for social service practice. Evidence is required of social service theory that is derived from authoritative sources, which may include but are not limited to: body of knowledge related to social service work; cultural theory; practice research.
4 of 7 Elements and Performance Criteria element 1 Negotiate with service providers for provision of services. 1.1 Services negotiated match identified service needs. 1.2 Negotiations are conducted on all issues that are essential to the conclusion of a contract for service provision. issues that are essential to the conclusion of a contract for service provision may include but are not limited to - Te Tiriti o Waitangi issues, identified service needs, measurable service objectives, rights and responsibilities of all parties to the contract, minimum standards for service, monitoring and evaluation of the service delivery, cost and funding of the service, payment for services, provision of non-monetary resources by either party to the contract, term or length of time of the contract. 1.3 The term or length of time of the contract is negotiated according to relevant criteria. relevant criteria may include but are not limited to - the period of time for which funding can be guaranteed, the period of time for which the service provider can guarantee provision of services, the nature of the service as developmental or ongoing, estimated time for completion of delivery of service. 1.4 Negotiations are conducted according to service provider standards.
5 of 7 element 2 Negotiate the contract for service provision. 2.1 All parties to the contract are identified according to their legal status, capacity to contract, and authority to sign on behalf of their party and commit their party to the contract. 2.2 The contract records agreement on all terms and conditions that are essential to the contract to provide social services. terms and conditions that are essential to the contract to provide social services may include but are not limited to - measurable social service objectives, rights and responsibilities of all parties to the contract, minimum standards for provision of social services, monitoring and evaluation of the service delivery, cost and funding of the services, payment for services, provision of non-monetary resources by either party to the contract, employment practices in salary related agreements, sub-contracting, use of capital resources during performance and termination of the contract. 2.3 The contract records agreement on commencement, termination, and review dates for the provision of services. 2.4 The contract records agreement on procedures for managing performance of the contract. procedures for managing performance of the contract may include but are not limited to - time frames and procedures for evaluation and monitoring of the contract; the nature and accessibility of records to be kept for monitoring and evaluation; liaison and contact people; progress payments; time frames; procedures for dealing with difficulties in implementation, breach of contract, renewing the contract, and terminating the contract. 2.5 The contract is negotiated according to service provider standards.
6 of 7 element 3 Monitor and evaluate the contract for service provision. 3.1 The contract is monitored and evaluated according to the terms of the contract. 3.2 Contract evaluation includes evaluation of the contracted service provider's response to service users. responses may include but are not limited to - welcome, respect, affirmation, support of service users; attention to physical comfort, safety, and privacy of service users; response to social service needs of service users; response to characteristics of service users; use of language in verbal and written communications with service users. 3.3 The contracted service provider is evaluated in terms of their service accessibility and availability. 3.4 Any difficulty in implementation or any breach of contract is managed according to the terms and conditions of the contract and agreed procedures for managing performance of the contract. 3.5 The contract is monitored according to service provider standards. element 4 Manage termination of the contract for social services provision. 4.1 Termination of the contract is managed according to the terms and conditions of the contract and the agreed procedures for managing performance of the contract. 4.2 Any proposals for renewal of the contract are managed according to the terms and conditions of the contract and the agreed procedures for managing performance of the contract.
7 of 7 Comments to: Careerforce PO Box 2637 Wellington 6140 Please Note: Providers must be accredited by the Qualifications Authority before they can offer programmes of education and training assessed against unit standards. Accredited providers assessing against unit standards must engage with the moderation system that applies to those unit standards. [Please refer to relevant Plan ref: 0222]