Support Services for Young People involved in or at risk of Exploitation - short term contract opportunity

Tender description

<p>We are inviting expressions of interest from qualified and experienced Providers, to compete in a quotation exercise for the above named service, which will be funded for a period of 12 months. A full Service Review is to be undertaken during the interim contract period, resulting in a full Tender exercise leading to the award of a long term contract. An overview of the requirements of the contract are as follows, to inform Providers of the general need, but a full specification would be issued at the time of the issue of a formal Request for Quotation. The contract Budget is &pound;50,124.00. The aims and objectives of the service are to; &bull; provide a comprehensive support service to children under the ages of 18 (or in the case of Looked After Children (LAC) up to the age of 25), who may be at risk of or who are being Exploited or need support having run away from home or care. &bull; be available to all children who live within the Stockton on Tees area and also those placed in accommodation outside the Borough by Stockton Borough Council, irrespective of where they are being exploited; &bull; contribute to Stockton Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) Arrangements, attending both scheduled and emergency panels as a core member; &bull; attend Teeswide strategic groups relating to the delivery of these services and support on behalf of Stockton on tees Borough Council as required; &bull; engage identified children and work with them and, where appropriate, their families and carers to reduce risk, increase their protective factors to improve their outcomes; &bull; help reduce incidence of children running away, sharing data where required to support this process; &bull; assist and support children and, where appropriate, their families and carers, in developing exit strategies from associated behaviour; &bull; help develop both prevention and exit strategies for children and, where appropriate, their families and carers who are being sexually exploited or at risk of other forms of exploitation; &bull; assist in the detection, prosecution, and disruption of those involved in the exploitation of children including identification of locations; &bull; increase awareness amongst Social Care professionals, about the issues in respect of children and exploitation (this includes child abuse and information communication technology (ICT) and child victims of trafficking) through the provision of, or the attendance at, appropriate training events and programmes; &bull; attend multi agency meetings in relation to this service as required by the purchaser. The service is required to be available at times appropriate to the needs of the client group: this may include evenings and weekends, seven days per week and could, at times include the need to provide support on Bank Holidays It is felt that TUPE may apply in respect of the current provider&rsquo;s staff. Information would be issued relating to qualifying staff at the point that the Request for Quotation is issued. The contract would commence 1 April 2022 for 12 months.</p> Keywords: Risk, Children, Awareness, Sexual Explotation, Young People, Exploitation