Advocacy Service and Support for Looked After Children and Young People

The City invites Quotations for the provision of Advocacy Service, and support for Looked After Children and Young People.

This is a Single Service with three areas of provision. The scope of the service includes Advocacy provision, an Independent Visitors Service, and a Return Home Interviews Service. All three areas of provision adhere to the national standards for advocacy, and providers will employ suitably qualified, and trained staff to support young people across the key areas of provision outlined above. Prospective providers will offer an independent professional service; providers should clearly outline how they intend to deliver the key areas above as part of an overall service model.

The service is designed specifically for young people who are identified as 'Looked After' by the City of London who would benefit from being allocated to one of the stated services to help support them depending on their presenting need. It will cover a range of support areas which include one to one support, ongoing contact support, and support for children and young people that may have been missing.

The service provider will be expected to make appropriate matches to meet the diverse cultural needs of the City's looked after children population. All children and young people have a right to services, which are appropriate to their needs, and sensitive to their religious, racial, cultural and linguistic background and gender. The service provider will recruit and train advocates that reflect the ethnographic profile of service users within the city.

All of the services provided will be supported by the principles of the Equality Act 2010, and are required to provide effective support to those children and young people that are most in need, and those that may traditionally be less likely to access services; this includes children and young people with learning difficulties and / or disabilities, unaccompanied asylum seeking minors, children and young people from black and / or diverse cultural, ethnic or religious backgrounds, those from LGBT communities, those living outside of the City of London, children/young people who experience language barriers, and younger children.

The Advocacy Service will be culturally sensitive and properly equipped to meet the needs of children and young people who may have been subjected to physical and emotional abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking and extreme forms of violence.

The duration of the contract is two years, subject to the right of the City (at its sole discretion) to exercise its right to extend the Contract by up to a further year. The maximum length of the contract is therefore 3 years.