Authority/Reference(s) State of Texas Procurement and Contract Management Guide; Texas Government Code §2262, §2260, §2155.077; 2155.089; 1TAC §391.205; 34TAC §20.509; 34TAC §20.115
Revision Date December 2, 2024

Policy

State agencies, including the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), must submit vendor performance reports to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA) through the Vendor Performance Tracking System (VPTS) within 30 calendar days of a critical performance incident, required reporting event, completion, or termination of the contract for:

  • Contracts with a value greater than $25,000
  • Purchase of goods or services through the CPA's Statewide Procurement Division (SPD) or the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), including Shared Technology Services (STS), with a value greater than $25,000; and
  • Purchases of goods or services through an HHS master contract with a value greater than $25,000 (reporting vendor performance must be coordinated with HHS-PCS).

Contracts that exceed $5 million

If the value of the contract exceeds $5 million, vendor performance must be reported for any critical performance incident and:

  • At least once each year during the term of the contract; and,
  • At each key milestone identified for the contract.

Contract staff must complete DFPS form 0147 Vendor Performance Reporting and submit the form to Contract Oversight and Support (COS) within 15 calendar days of the required reporting event. COS has 15 calendar days to submit the report through VPTS.

Coordinate with COS if the 15-calendar day timeframe does not allow for a comprehensive review and approval of the vendor performance report. Incomplete forms will not be entered into VPTS and will be returned.

Contract Management

Contract staff must make reasonable efforts during the management of the contract to work with the contractor and applicable stakeholders, including the program areas and Contracts Legal, to resolve negative performance issues before the required reporting event. All relevant documentation regarding the performance issue and resolution must be uploaded to SCOR and maintained as part of the contract file in accordance with the contracting area’s internal policies and procedures. If contract staff are unable to communicate with the contractor for any reason, documentation of the attempted contacts should be maintained.

Documentation must be sufficient to justify selections made on form 0147.

Critical Performance Incident

Vendor performance reporting is required by DFPS when critical performance incidents arise and are not remedied, regardless of exemption status.

A critical performance incident is defined as any of the following:

  • Conducting business in an unethical manner or otherwise violating procurement or contracting laws, rules, or policies.
  • Terminations for cause.
  • State or federal debarments.
  • Substantiated fraud, in coordination with Internal Audit and the State Auditor’s Office (SAO), including incidents where the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) or Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has provided a final report to DFPS.

Transactional Purchase Orders for Information Technology Services

Information Technology Services (ITS) submits vendor performance for Transactional Purchase Orders (TPOs) using the ITS Vendor Performance Reporting form 0147M. However, when ITS must select negative performance factor statement they submit the vendor performance on form 0147 instead.
The form 0147M is available to ITS due to the high the volume of vendor performance reports they must submit.

Exemptions to Vendor Performance Reporting

The following contracts and agreements are exempt from mandatory vendor performance reporting; however, contract staff may report performance regardless of exemption status:

  • Open enrollment contracts
  • Interagency (Texas Government Code 771) and Interlocal (Texas Government Code 791) contracts
  • Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs)
  • Grant contracts (subrecipient/recipient relationship on form 438, Contracting Relationship Determination)
  • Single Source Continuum Contracts (SSCC)
  • Subcontracts
  • Competitively bid contracts under $25,000
  • Child-Specific Contracts

HUB VPTS Reporting

The contract staff and the HUB Coordinator determine whether HUB Subcontracting Plan (HSP) noncompliance should be submitted to VPTS. A single issue of HSP noncompliance that was addressed and remedied will not be reported. If two or more issues were addressed, the HSP noncompliance is evaluated for reporting to VPTS.

See HUB Subcontracting Requirements, Changes, and Compliance: HSP Noncompliance Process and Vendor Performance reporting sections.

Required Performance Reporting on Form 0147

Contract staff must make a minimum of one selection that best applies for each of the performance factor categories on the form 0147. These selections drive the final grade on the A-F scale calculated by VPTS Grading System; DFPS staff do not award a specific letter grade.

The statements relating to each performance factor and the resulting calculated grades align with the grade descriptions in the Texas Administrative Code §20.509.

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