Social work and related services

Tender description

This Invitation to Tender provides exciting opportunities to support the development of child and family social workers at two levels and is split into 2 lots, the 1st for the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) and the 2nd for the Practice Supervisor Development Programme (PSDP). ASYE currently in its sixth-year, is an employer-led, induction programme, helping newly qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) transition from initial qualification into frontline practice. It is key to growing confidence amongst NQSWs and influences the quality of support and service provided to vulnerable children and their families. PSDP is intended to be a leadership and management development programme for child and family social workers in local authority employment. Practice Supervisors play a pivotal role in delivering good quality services to children and families through their support and oversight of frontline practitioners. The department wishes to establish a new approach to ASYE which brings together the national management of ASYE and ensures that all ASYE participants receive a good-quality experience and are effectively supported and assessed against the KSS. We are looking for a contractor to: — develop and manage an efficient and user-friendly system to administer approximately GBP 5 600 000 in payments to employers per financial year and associated administrative activity, — support employers to develop and implement best-practice in the delivery of the ASYE programme, — establish a programme/mechanism that will provide greater assurance of effective local delivery and that participants receive the support expected for the receipt of funding. We envisage that the successful contractor will need to include a combination of technical and logistical expertise as well as experts with a social work background, and be able to work within a flexible context. The programmes will help participants develop the skills set out in the Knowledge and Skills Statement and ensure they are well prepared for subsequent assessment against this. Bidders will be expected to have expertise in delivering efficient management solutions and a strong knowledge of child and family social work practice, display expertise in the design and delivery of training, in particular relating to leadership and management and have good links to other partners. This contract is to develop and deliver a national Practice Supervisor Development Programme for those starting their practice supervisor career. We envisage that the successful supplier will arrange/deliver high quality continuous professional development (CPD) to approximately 350 newly promoted practice supervisors each year. We are looking for a contractor that can deliver a development programme for practice supervisors who, on completion of the programme, will have the skills required to successfully lead and manage frontline child and family practitioners to implement child and family interventions that result in the best outcomes for children. We envisage that the supplier will design, develop and deliver a programme to new practice supervisors that includes: candidate selection by local authority (not a universal programme); using the KSS to identify candidates’ development needs and then matching those needs to high-quality CPD. The programmes will help participants develop the skills set out in the Knowledge and Skills Statement and ensure they are well prepared for subsequent assessment against this. Bidders will be expected to have expertise in delivering efficient management solutions and a strong knowledge of child and family social work practice, display expertise in the design and delivery of training, in particular relating to leadership and management and have good links to other partners.