§1619. Social service contracts

A. Social services include:

(1) Rehabilitation and health supports include services rendered by a contractor with special knowledge or service available to assist individuals in attaining or maintaining a favorable condition of physical and mental health. These services include but are not limited to:

(a) Health-related counseling.

(b) Alcohol or drug abuse training and treatment.

(c) Training to support emergency medical services.

(d) Services to support family planning.

(e) Counseling, delinquency prevention.

(f) Genetic disease evaluation and counseling.

(g) Community-based medical support services.

(h) Evaluation and training for persons with physical or mental disabilities.

(i) Other services in support of same.

(2) Habilitation and socialization include services rendered by a contractor with special knowledge to assist specified client groups to enhance their self-sufficiency or alleviate their dependency or isolation from the community. These services include but are not limited to:

(a) Day care.

(b) Work and training.

(c) Early intervention for persons with intellectual disabilities, developmental delays, or physical disabilities.

(d) Transportation for service access.

(e) Homemaker, home management, and housing improvement services.

(f) In-home and out-of-home respite care.

(g) Socialization services for low income and other special needs groups.

(h) Nursing home ombudsman.

(i) Nutritional, employment, case management, senior center activities, or other services to aid independent living by the elderly.

(j) Training and community planning services for same.

(3) Protection for adults and children include services rendered by a contractor to provide therapeutic intervention for adults or children who are in danger or threatened with danger of physical or mental injury, neglect, maltreatment, extortion, or exploitation, including victims of family violence. These services include but are not limited to:

(a) Community planning for neglect/abuse.

(b) Adoption.

(c) Substitute care.

(d) Education and training.

(e) Crisis intervention type services.

(f) Emergency shelter for victims of rape/family violence or services in support of same.

(g) Training and evaluation services for same.

(4) Improvement of living conditions and health include services rendered by an authorized contractor with special knowledge or services available to assist individuals to attain or maintain favorable conditions in which to live. These services include but are not limited to:

(a) Distribution of foodstuffs either purchased or that are made available from government-owned commodities.

(b) Determining the needs of the poor, and development of programs to distribute the available resources.

(c) Determining the needs of the poor and identifying programs to alleviate these poverty conditions.

(d) Providing services to respond to the educational/employment needs of eligible individuals in the communities needing these services. The primary purpose of this service is to provide the participating individuals with the skills necessary for them to advance socially, academically, and occupationally.

(e) Providing training and evaluation of services for any of the above services.

(5) Evaluation, testing, and remedial educational services for exceptional nonpublic school students with physical or learning disabilities include services rendered by a contractor with special knowledge or services available to provide special educational and related services for exceptional students or students with disabilities voluntarily enrolled in approved nonpublic schools of Louisiana who are not otherwise provided with such services through either their local school program or through other services afforded to them by local school boards or other public agencies. These services include but are not limited to:

(a) Identification, assessment, appraisal, and evaluation of exceptional children and children with disabilities.

(b) Development of individualized educational programs.

(c) The providing of instructional and supportive services to such eligible students in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 17:1941 et seq. and P.L. 94-142 and their regulations.

B. Contracts for social services may be awarded without the necessity of competitive bidding or competitive negotiation only if the state chief procurement officer determines that any one of the following conditions is present. The using agency shall document the condition present and such documentation shall be part of the contract record submitted to the office of state procurement.

(1) The services are available only from a single, or sole, source. Sole source procurement shall be determined by the state chief procurement officer. A contract shall also be considered as sole source if a request for proposals is issued in accordance with R.S. 39:1595(B) and only one or no proposals are received.

(2) The state legislature has made an appropriation for that particular contractor or contractors via the appropriation bill or other statutes.

(3) A quasi-public or nonprofit corporation, such as a parish voluntary council on aging, an area agency on aging, an affiliate of The Arc of Louisiana or equivalent, an organization serving persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, an organization serving children, youth, or families, or an organization promoting independence from public assistance has been established in coordination with the state to provide the particular service involved in the contract.

(4) Local matching funds of greater than ten percent of the contract amount are required to be contributed by the contractor. Such matching funds may be in the form of cash, certified expenditures or in-kind contributions, where applicable to the funding source.

(5) The nature of the services being provided necessitates that a continuity of contractors be maintained as in but not limited to therapeutic and crisis support to clients and employment and training programs.

(6) An emergency exists which will not permit the delay in procurement necessitated by the request for proposal procedure given in R.S. 39:1595(B). Such emergency shall be determined by the state chief procurement officer.

(7) The total contract amount is less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars per twelve-month period. Service requirements shall not be artificially divided so as to exempt contracts from the request for proposal process.

(8) The contract is with another governmental entity or governmental body.

(9) Funds are specifically designated by the federal government for a particular private or public contractor or political subdivision.

(10) The contract is with a social service contractor who supplies services under a contract in existence as of November 30, 1985, as long as such contractor continues to supply substantially the same services and the using agency certifies:

(a) The services are satisfactory.

(b) They intend to continue contracting with that contractor.

C. If none of the conditions given in Subsection B of this Section are determined by the state chief procurement officer to be present in a contract for social service, then that contract shall be awarded through a request for proposal process in accordance with R.S. 39:1595(B) under rules and regulations issued by the office of state procurement.

D. This Chapter shall apply to interagency contracts as defined in R.S. 39:1556(30), and to contracts or grants between the state and its political subdivisions to procure social services.

Acts 2014, No. 811, §21, eff. June 23, 2014; Acts 2014, No. 864, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 2015.