IDHS Shows Support for the Fair Practice in Contracting Act

August 22, 2018

Dear Vendor:

At the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) our mission is to, "strengthen Illinois by building up lives and communities." In addition to pursuing our mission through social service programs, IDHS recognizes that the communities we serve are also built through access to business and employment opportunities. For these reasons, IDHS is in full support of the Fair Practice in Contracting Act which seeks to improve representation of African-American owned businesses in all state contracts.

In demonstration of our commitment to the Fair Practice in Contracting Act, we are working with our vendors to enforce the following guiding principles:

  • All vendors seeking to contract with IDHS for more them $100,000 must submit cl Business Enterprise Program (BEP) Utilization Plan or a full and complete Good Faith Effort with their bid. Bids submitted without a Utilization Plan or Good Faith Effort, completed in accordance with the solicitations' instructions, will be rejected and are not curable.
  • Vendors doing business with IDHS through our contracting partners in Central Management Services (CMS), Department of Innovation and Technology (DolT), and other centralized state agencies via Master Contract must also meet BEP goals. When these contracts lack participation with a BEP vendor, IDHS will work with our partners to remedy or seek to contract with vendors who also support BEP.
  • IDHS will encourage our partner non-profit providers to also use BEP vendors when purchasing goods and services using grant funds.

Providing access for under-represented business owners to state contracts promotes self-sufficiency and meets human needs in ways that dependency cannot. This value is at the core of what we do at IDHS and we are looking forward to working closely with our vendors and providers who share this value. Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

James T. Dimas

Secretary