The Executive Office (TEO) Communities in Transition (CIT) Youth Programme in the North Down CIT Area

Tender description

TEO is seeking to appoint a Contractor for the provision of a Youth programme in the North Down CIT Area; this relates to Kilcooley and Rathgill and, Annex A of the Specification provides a map of the designated CIT area. The Contractor will design and deliver a programme that will seek to deliver early intervention work with compulsory school aged youth at an early age who are vulnerable and in danger of recruitment from paramilitary organisations. The Contractor will provide direct support to young people through working in collaboration with relevant stakeholders such as youth services, schools, colleges, etc, to improve the educational, employment and life aspirations for compulsory school age children, as well as providing additional support for families and communities who are raising young people within the CIT area. This tender is linked to the Communities in Transition (CIT) Project which had been due to end in June 2021, however the Executive made a commitment within ‘New Decade New Approach’ to continue its delivery with a renewed focus and additional funding up to 31 March 2024. The CIT Project is therefore being delivered in two phases, with Phase 1 to be completed by 30 June 2021 and Phase 2 to be completed by 31 March 2024. Phase 1 of the Project provided a firm foundation for continuing to address the issues that allow Paramilitarism, criminality and coercive control to persist within communities. Phase 2 presents an opportunity to further refine the work as we move forward. This Contract falls under Phase 2 and will support the Department in its overall delivery of the CIT Project. The Contractor’s Youth programme will include the active participation of individuals already recruited to the programme through the Phase 1 intervention. This programme will therefore seek to build upon the experience and learning of the intervention delivered through Phase 1 of the CIT Project, helping to meet the identified needs of the area and taking positive action to address barriers impacting young people through providing opportunities for them to increase their educational attainment and aspirations for the future. It will also deliver access to appropriate support within the local community which can be accessed beyond the life of CIT supported intervention, together with building the resilience of the local community to reduce paramilitary groups’ ability to exploit communities. The Contractor’s Youth programme will incorporate and deliver a number of programme activities, described at paragraph 6.5 of the Specification. Full details of all the requirements for this Contract are provided for within the Specification of Requirements Schedule. The core purpose of this programme is multi-fold: • To raise educational attainment, employment and life aspirations • Improve learning outcomes for young people • Build the capacity of parents, families and the wider community to support the young people to achieve the necessary skills and qualifications to enable them to aspire to a better quality of life. All activities which the Contractor proposes to carry out must clearly link to the objectives listed above. The Contractor must not be delivering general youth activities as part of this programme, activities must be clearly linked to addressing the needs of children and young people which have arisen as a result of living in a community with high levels of paramilitary activity, criminality and organised crime. The Contractor will be expected to start delivering the Contract in July 2021 for an initial period of one year. There are options to extend the Contract by two further periods up to 31 March 2024, subject to need and satisfactory performance.