Social work and related services

Tender description

At its simplest the Care Leaver Covenant is a promise made by an organisation in the business, public or voluntary sectors to support care leavers aged 16 to 25. That promise is more than easy warm words of a well-meaning support but is a commitment backed up by a specific offer of something the organisation can realistically provide and which will help care leavers live more independently. Those offers will relate to one or more of the five outcomes and could be in the form of paid apprenticeships or internships and other work-related opportunities, volunteering, mentoring, discounts, financial support and personal and life skills development. Just over 200 organisations have already made a commitment to the Care Leaver Covenant. 3) Where next for the Care Leaver Covenant? 3.1) Some 200 organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors have made a commitment to support the Covenant. Signatories include further and higher education providers, organisations such as Accor Hotels, Action for Children, Amazon, the British Army, Barnardo’s, Become, Compass Group, E.ON, Engie, Greater London Authority, the Grand Hotel, Brighton, Heathwatch Lewisham, London Fire Brigade, Metro Bank PGL, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, office for Students, Reed, Remploy, Salvation Army, Sky, Social Mobility Foundation, and Tuckers Solicitors. Published offers from signatories range from paid apprenticeships and voluntary work experience to support for looked-after children and Care Leavers aspiring to university. 3.2) The first wave of Care Leaver Covenant opportunities to be unlocked from signatories rightly concentrated on providing meaningful and practical offers of help for Care Leavers across all five keep on caring outcomes. That should continue to be the case in the second wave of Care Leaver covenant activity. All five outcomes are inter-related; 3.3) However, the second outcome (education, employment and training) is particularly important because ministers see the Care Leaver covenant to be a primary vehicle for delivering 1 000 apprenticeship and other work-related opportunities, including internships across the public sector. The next phase of covenant activity will need to focus in particular on securing signatories from organisations, particularly in the public sector, who can work to deliver that aspiration. This is at the heart of the second outcome (education, employment and training) Care Leavers need to achieve to live stable and independent lives. 4) What must the successful delivery partner(s) demonstrate 4.1) The successful delivery partner(s) will recognise the importance of building on what the Care Leaver covenant has achieved since its launch and the department is looking for bids that do that in innovative ways; 4.2) The successful delivery partner(s) will demonstrate strong proposals reflected in the narrative of their delivery plans across the following areas: Vision 4.3) A strategic vision for the next phase of Care Leaver covenant activity. That vision will: 4.3.1) be imaginative and ambitious for what they want to achieve for Care Leavers through the Covenant and show ‘outside the box’ thinking; 4.3.2) show why their vision is the one that’s needed to meet Care Leavers’ needs and persuade organisations to sign the Covenant so as to build on the first 2 years of the Care Leaver covenant. Experience and understanding 4.4) The successful bidder will have a track record of negotiating successfully with other organisations and persuading them to do something meaningful and tangible for the benefit of a vulnerable group of young people, preferably Care Leavers. The preferred bidders(s) will demonstrate: 4.4.1) a successful track record, backed up with at least three convincing examples, of strong partnership working with major businesses, voluntary and public sector organisations to achieve objectives and promote a vision that inspires others to improve outcomes for Care Leavers; 4.4.2) an excellent track record of understanding how commercial organisations operate and how to work with them to secure desired outcomes. In other words, how do you persuade them to give you what you want? 4.4.3) a strong understanding of the issues Care Leavers face based on direct experience of what Care Leavers have told them and how the organisation has supported Care Leavers to find solutions, including those related to identified gaps in provision; 4.4.4) a sound understanding of the central and local government context in which policy such as the Care Leaver covenant is located. The strongest bids will show experience and understanding of utilising the opportunities and overcoming challenges in this context, includi