Children’s Residential Personalised Block Contracts - Phase 2

Please find below a summary of the Council’s key requirements for this lot:

The Council did not mandate precise details of how a provider should support a Child in Care, instead trusting in the specialisms, knowledge, and expertise of this market. This personalised specification approach was designed to allow providers (both fostering and residential) full autonomy and freedom around their individual model using their bids to detail how they will meet the individual needs of a Child in Care and the expected outcomes of this contract.

Exact details of Children in Care requiring a placement were individually outlined in each output specification, each of which formed a Lot within this procurement. Each of these output specifications were anonymised referrals of a Young Person who were in an unregistered placement, or at risk of being in an unregistered placement, who required a registered placement.

The Council would have considered all registered children’s home/foster care placements so long as they were in accordance with the child or young person’s care plan, the Council were therefore able to consider solo, dual or group homes.

The Council were not mandating required minimum support hours (unless in accordance with a DoLS order) instead opting to hear from providers about how they best feel they can meet needs. Placements for children and young people included those:

• With emotional and behavioural difficulties.
• With EHCP plans.
• With a history of disrupted familial relationships and/or have experienced break down of placements in foster care or children’s homes.
• Who have been at risk of harm.
• Who have experienced neglect.
• Who have experienced emotional abuse.
• Who have an identified or suspected neurodiversity.

Additional children and young people referred if / once the initial placement has ended were likely to include those aged 10-18 years old with behaviours including but not limited to:

• Self-harm, including suicidal thoughts.
• Offending
• Sexualised behaviours
• Fire setting
• Absconding

The placement was not required to accommodate children and young people with:

• Physical disabilities.
• Severe Learning disabilities.
• Acute mental health needs who require inpatient treatment.
• Clinical / nursing needs.
• Severe drug dependency not on a treatment support program.

In addition, the provider would have been required to operate within Children’s homes / fostering regulations, Ofsted requirements, and ensure Regulation 44 visits are in place as applicable. Criteria for providing the provision included, requiring the provider to have a registered children’s home vacancy or foster care placement which could be offered within the timescales detailed within the tender.

Furthermore, this service was due to be provided in accordance with the following conditions:

• The placement must be delivered in Essex or within 20 miles.
• The provider must aspire for an Ofsted rating of good or outstanding.

This service specification was drafted in accordance with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 (“the Regulations”) and accompanying guidance. The provider must adhere to the quality standards as set out within the Regulations when delivering children’s residential placements under this provision. These requirements include but are not limited to the provision of appropriately trained staff.

The service specification was also drafted in accordance with Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations Volume 4 Fostering Services, the Care Standards Act 2000, the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the Children Act 2004 and the Children and Young Persons Act 2008. Please be advised that the full scope of the Council’s requirements for this service was detailed in the overarching service specification which needs to be read in conjunction with the anonymised personal profile for this lot.

These documents form part of the tender pack for this procurement which was published on ProContract and accessible to registered users via: procontract.due-north.com ↗

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