Children and Young People Participation Framework Agreement

Tender description

The Scottish Government is commissioning a Framework Agreement to respond to the growing need for children and young people’s participation in decision making and policy design across Scottish Government and to ensure approaches are meaningful, coordinated and sustainable. Specifically, the Framework is being created to establish an efficient and effective mechanism that provides the Scottish Government with a strategic, high quality and sustainable approach to meaningfully engage with children and young people as part of its decision-making and policy design process. The Framework will enable policy areas across Scottish Government to identify, recruit and engage with organisations that have the skills and expertise required to design and deliver bespoke, high quality participation activities with children and young people. It is envisaged that the appointed suppliers will be both organisations operating at a national level and those working within specific communities. These organisations will engage with and represent a broad range of children and young people, with particular representation of those identified as being furthest from their rights. The Framework will be overseen by the Children’s Rights Unit to ensure a more collaborative, streamlined and strategic approach to participation by creating a database of all work commissioned. This will be an evidence bank for policy areas to pull from when carrying out Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessments (CRWIA) and help to reduce duplication and ad-hoc engagement whilst also tackling engagement fatigue felt by stakeholders. Lot 1: A wide range of Children and Young People Organisations that work with infants, children and young people (either between a specific age range or across 0-18* years) with particular representation of those who are furthest from their rights/ seldom heard / vulnerable because of factors related to their personal development, features of their family life, or because of wider influences that impact on them within their community. Infants, children and young people may be vulnerable due to multiple factors including those described in the other lots. Organisations should apply an intersectional perspective to understand the combined factors affecting individuals and groups. This may include, although is not limited to: remote communities; those affected by multiple deprivation/ adversities such as homelessness, domestic abuse, substance misuse, poverty, parent/ carer involvement in the criminal justice system, parent/ carer imprisonment, those in conflict with the law; those affected by domestic abuse; those accessing advocacy services; and young carers. *this might, in certain circumstances, be extended to young people up to 26 years e.g., care experienced. Lot 3: Disabled Children and Young People Organisations that work with disabled children (either between a specific age range or across 0-18* years). Disability is defined in the Equality Act 2010 as a long-lasting health condition that limits daily activity. Organisations should apply an intersectional perspective to understand the combined factors affecting individuals and groups. *this might, in certain circumstances, be extended to young people up to 26 years e.g., including those making the transition to young adult life. Lot 4: Care Experienced Children and Young People Organisations that work with children and young people (either between a specific age range or across 0-26 years) who are in care, on the edge/at risk of care, and care leavers. This could include those involved in the care system, in residential care, fostered and adopted families, those who are looked after at home, in kinship care, and those involved in the Children’s Hearings System. Organisations should apply an intersectional perspective to understand the combined factors affecting individuals and groups. Lot 5: Children and Young People in the LGBTI+ Community Organisations that work with those under 18 in the LGBTI+ community. Organisations should apply an intersectional perspective to understand the combined factors affecting individuals and groups.