Pace and Remand Pilot Project

Tender description

This 3-9-month pilot project has been agreed through the Ministerial Advisory Task and Finish Group for Residential Care of Children Looked After (Pace and Remand Subgroup). The work cross cuts with other subgroups including Decriminalising Children Looked After, the Safe Accommodation Alternatives to Secure, Secure, plus the development of the Youth Justice Blueprint. The purpose of the pilot is to test solutions to reducing unnecessary overnight stays for children and young people in custody suites. The pilot proposal is to work with a residential care home provider already established in Wales and who is registered appropriately with CIW. The provider should be able to offer a retained bed available 24/7 for the duration of the pilot. The bed can be a fixed bed in a single home or a floating bed across a group of local homes. The care setting / bed must be approved to take emergency admissions by CIW. The bed must be easily accessible from the M4 Corridor in South Wales and ideally situated between Carmarthen and Cardiff to optimise location based on demand. The following Police Forces will be party to the pilot: South Wales Police Dyfed Powys Police Gwent Police A clear referral process to access the bed in emergency circumstances, with joint assessments between social services and police, will be agreed with the successful provider. Providers may receive only limited information at the point of emergency referral. Additional information on the child / young person will be shared as soon as available. In their response providers should indicate whether they would be able to transport the child/ young person from the police station to the care home and vice versa, or alternative location. A range of factors will need to be evaluated through the pilot to determine whether the model tested is successful. The successful provider must agree to collate the necessary date for the evaluation process.