Health and social work services

Tender description

The Council requires a provider to supply statutory services to Bradford population of looked after children and young people in the form of Independent Advocacy Services, Return to Care Interviews for Looked After Children who have been absent or missing and Independent Visitor Services. These services are divided into 3 lots. Interested organisations may bid for one, 2 , or all 3 lots. The initial contract will be for a period of 2 years with 3 one year extension options. Independent Advocacy Services. The overarching objective of the Independent Advocacy Service is to provide Independent Advocacy that enables children and young people to be heard in matters that affect them, (UN Convention on the rights of the Child (Article12)) and for them to understand and and be empowered to exercise their rights. The Independent Advocacy provided will fall into three categories: - — advice and guidance on rights, — support with regular meetings or — making a complaint and liaison between care and the young person by speaking on behalf of the child or young person. The objective for this service is to offer the child or young person, on their return from a missing/absent episode, an independent interview to understand the reasons for the missing/absent episode and find ways of reducing risks and repeat missing instances in line with The ‘Statutory guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care’ updated January 2014. The Service Provider will offer an independent person to carry out an interview for children and young people in these circumstances. By offering an interview the service provider will aim to: — Discover the contributory factors that led to the young person going missing. — Work with young person, the home/care setting and social care to prevent further absences. — To inform any future missing person investigation should that person go missing again. — To learn of the activities, associates, risks and victimisation involved in the missing episode, and where possible to address those risks. An Independent Visitor's role is to visit and befriend a looked after child or young person who has little or no contact with their birth parents and would benefit from having an adult in their lives who can give them support, advice and take an interest in their affairs. The objective of the Independent Visitor Service is to recruit, train, match and manage a pool of volunteer Independent Visitors for the population of Looked after Children covered within the scope of this specification. The Service Provider shall provide an Independent Visitor Service as described in the Children Act 1989, Schedule 2, paragraph 17; Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Chapter 7, Volume 3 — Family Placement; and Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Chapter 6, Volume 4 — Residential Care. The Independent Visitor Service shall make contact and offer this service to all children and young people who are looked after, or continue to receive support from the Council under the Leaving Care Act 2000. The service provider will work to ensure that those placed out of area are also offered service. The service provider will work with the Council to establish the most vulnerable looked after children and young people as well as care leavers who should be offered Independent Visitors as a priority. This process of prioritisation will take place throughout the contract. The service provider will work with the Council to establish effective matching of volunteer visitors with looked after children and young people (for example through promotion of ‘ready to go’ volunteers to social workers). It will require the collation of information regarding the volunteers and their skills/attributes so matching can occur. The Independent Visitor Service complements the work of social workers, foster carers, staff in residential units and others. An Independent Visitor's role is to visit and befriend, ideally giving a long-term commitment to spending time with a child or young person. They encourage children and young people to develop their full potential, exercise their rights and participate in decisions that affect them through spending time and leisure activities. Referrals to the Independent Visitors scheme may be made by Looked After Children and young people themselves and on their behalf by Council Staff, with the consent of the Child or Young person. The need for an Independent Visitor may be identified, discussed and agreed between the young person and their IROs/social worker; or identified, discussed and agreed at a statutory review for the child or young person; or considered when care plans are first negotiated. The child or young person must agree to the appointment of an Independent Visitor. The Service Provider shall establish and maintain effective policies and procedures to safeguard the welfare of children and young people receiving service. The Service Provider must recruit, train and provide sufficient Independent Visitors that reflect the diverse needs of children and young people. They must work to ensure that new and evolving needs are catered for in a responsive and effective manner. For example a sudden increase in a particular age group requesting visitors. The Service Provider shall aim to match children and young people with an independent visitor within 2 months of receipt of referral. The Service Provider shall aim to keep withdrawals of Independent Visitors from an arrangement to visit a child or young person with whom they have been matched to a minimum. They should follow up withdrawals with both the Independent Visitor and the child or young person matched to establish the reason. Children and young people will be involved in the improvement of these services through qualitative feedback on a regular basis.