Young Carers Service

Tender description

Kent County Council (KCC) is looking for an organisation or a consortium of organisations to deliver a countywide Young Carers Service. This includes a recurring statutory requirement for KCC, as defined under Section 96 of the Children and Families Act 2014, to ensure young carers and their families are identified and their needs for support are assessed. The aim will be to provide a dedicated service that will: 1. Increase the identification and assessment of young carers in Kent. 2. Provide young carers some respite from their caring responsibilities. 3. Help reduce the risk of their situation escalating. 4. Improve the quality of young carers’ lives. Lot 1: Kent County Council (KCC) is looking for an organisation or a consortium of organisations to deliver a countywide Young Carers Service. This includes a recurring statutory requirement for KCC, as defined under Section 96 of the Children and Families Act 2014, to ensure young carers and their families are identified and their needs for support are assessed. The aim will be to provide a dedicated service that will: 1. Increase the identification and assessment of young carers in Kent. 2. Provide young carers some respite from their caring responsibilities. 3. Help reduce the risk of their situation escalating. 4. Improve the quality of young carers’ lives. Raising of awareness will include training the wider workforce (schools, agencies and professionals that are in contact with young carers) in how to identify and assess young carers. Direct and ongoing support for young carers and their families will include developing, monitoring, and reviewing action plans for young carers, and advocating on behalf of young carers and/or their families, when appropriate. It is KCC's intention to award the contract for up to three years, to begin in May 2022. The estimated financial envelope for the Young Carers Service is £325,500 annually. A set of soft market engagement questions and an opportunity to comment on the proposals at an engagement event, held on a one-to-one basis, will be available to those who express an interest via the Kent Business Portal. Kent County Council is committed to ensuring fairness, openness, and transparency and to following EU procurement regulations. The Prior Information Notice (PIN) is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market testing. The EOI (Expression of Interest) will be open from 12.00 on the 17/12/2021 to 15.00 on the 24/12/2022.