Kerry Clarke Strategic Commissioner Andy Witham Procurement

1. Brighton & Hove City Council, Children’s Services: Family Group Conferences - 2013 Funding Agreement Process Kerry Clarke Strategic Commissioner Andy Witham Procurement

2. Programme for meet the Commissioner EventMonday 29 April 2013 10.00 – 12.00 FGC Overview – Kerry Clarke Question time Overview of Procurement – Andy Witham Question time Open discussion

3. Process to date: Children’s Services, providers and service users have worked collaboratively to develop the details of the service specification for the delivery of Family Group Conferences (FGC). This next stage will result in a three year delivery process to implement FGC as early as possible within an integrated pathway approach, so that families who receive FGC’s are prevented from escalating further within their referral pathway, for example, children in need cases don’t escalate to child protection cases, homeless assessment referrals don’t escalate to homelessness placements. Brighton and Hove City Council is seeking expressions of interest from suitably experienced organisations to provide FGC’s and the organisation will need to be accredited to the standards piloted by the Family Rights Group, the national FGC network and supported by the DfE, or agree to work towards this accreditation.

4. Vision and priorities: Corporate Plan Priority: Children and Young People have the best start in life Children Services Performance Framework: Families are stable and nurturing. Children and young people are kept safe throughout the safeguarding pathway Housing Strategy 2009-2014: Priority 3: Improving Housing Support; one of the strategic goals is to work to prevent homelessness Vision for Family Group Conferences (FGCs): to keep families together where it is safe to do so.

5. Family Group Conferences has a key role to play in this vision as it will: Enable and empower the families (including children and young people) and professionals to be able to provide and be part of an outcomes focused, evidence based, timely and good quality intervention. Improve the robustness and confidence across the decision making process affecting families. Improve speed and timeliness of processes around decision making for children and families. Provide an independent intervention for families

6. FGC : when we would expect to see them used Family Group Conferences (FGC) can be used in any serious situation where a plan and decision needs to be made about a child or children. Typically, FGCs are used when a decision needs to be made about any aspect of a child’s future. Some of the situations where we anticipate their use in Brighton and Hove: When there are concerns about a child’s safety and well-being; To support parents and children where there has been domestic abuse, substance misuse, mental health or neglect issues that impact on parenting and families; When decisions need to be made about where a child is going to live if they cannot stay at home To enable the wider family and friends network to support the parent/parents and child to meet the needs of the child; When family decisions need to be made about how to reduce offending behaviour or to facilitate a response from the family to the victim of an offence; When a young person is a risk of being evicted from the family home; To agree contact arrangements with the family when a child is in care or supervision is required; To identify alternative family network carers; To plan for the re-unification of families.

7. Outcome: Safe plans are agreed and implemented successfully for the identified children Improved physical health Improved education and cognitive ability Improved relationship and identity Improved emotional and behavioural development Parents of children who are affected by substance misuse receive effective substance treatment Engage with young people at risk of homelessness and their significant family members to support the family to create a plan to prevent eviction and use any subsequent application, when it is safe to do so Reduced incidents of domestic violence and abuse Parent carers with mental health difficulties are supported to access appropriate treatment and support and that there is effective interaction between adult and children’s service providers to ensure their parenting role is part of the treatment context

8. How will we measure the outcome? Performance Indicator that will demonstrate effectiveness of the FGC: 90% of families who receive a FGC don’t escalate in the pathway attached to the referral, so for example: Social care referrals don’t escalate within the social care pathway, such as CIN cased do not escalate to CP CP case do not escalate to CIC Housing assessment referrals don’t escalate to homeless placements. 90% of referrals are sustained in accommodation within family/family networks or appropriately assessed situations, at the 3 month review.

9. How will we expect FGC’s to achieve these: outcomes 1? To be part of an integrated service taking referrals in line with selection criteria. To provide family group conferences in line with the standards piloted by the Family Rights Group and the national FGC network and supported by the DfE. To ensure engagement with families at initial referral includes appropriate home visiting. To adhere to a strengths based framework, e.g. using the ‘signs of safety’ approach (training and ongoing support will be provided by Clermont Family Assessment Centre). Signs of Safety April 2012 (BHCC anticipate organisations will require training to implement this process from Children’s Services) To support the family to develop an action plan that is SMART, with realistic goals, objectives and timescales, and written in a family friendly way. To be an accredited service within the national framework for the accreditation of FGC services or working towards accreditation within first six months of the funding agreement and reviewed every three years.

10. How will we expect FGC’s to achieve these: outcomes 2? To support and enable families to explore alternative placements within the family where placement with the parents isn’t considered in the child’s interests. To recruit and train a pool of sessional co-ordinators, as far as possible, reflecting the diverse population of Brighton and Hove and with all meeting the requirements of the national standards framework. To supervise and support the sessional co-ordinators on an ongoing basis to ensure standards of good practice and in accordance with the national standards framework To undertake and organise multi-agency training in Brighton and Hove for stakeholders, referrers and other relevant individuals and agencies, twice a year. To market and publicise family group conferences locally. To network with a wide range of voluntary, statutory and community agencies to publicise the service and build up knowledge of support services. To develop and produce a range of publicity materials for professionals, families and children to inform and publicise Family Group Conferences. To ensure material reflect BHCC brand and is child friendly and encourages referrals direct from children, families the community and the voluntary sector.

11. How will we expect FGC’s to achieve these: Outcomes 3: To facilitate and support the involvement of children, young people and their families in the development of the Family Group Conference Project in Brighton and Hove and to enable their views to influence service development. To ensure that the service delivered, as far as possible meet the equalities requirements of service users. To be responsible for the provision of any interpretation services required by families and the cost of such services will be included in the contract fee To promote meaningful participation of children and young people in their FGC including identifying an appropriate supporter within the family and friends network or referring for independent advocacy via YAP (Youth Advocacy Project). To Use the Patchwork multi-agency tool to indicate involvement with the family and connect to other professionals also involved or email patchwork@brighton-hove.gov.uk (BHCC anticipate organisations will require training to implement this process from Children’s Services) To understand that TUPE may apply to this agreement and you are advised to seek your own legal advice on this matter.

12. So what are we looking for? Quality of Service 70% A Provider who has experience and can ensure : achievement of the service specification and evidence of experience to achieve this delivery. families create a safe plan that will improve their outcomes and the FGC service achieves the indicator Their proposal meets the essential responsibilities of the service specification. They will facilitate and support the involvement of children, young people and their families in the development of the Family Group Conference Project in Brighton and Hove and to enable their views to influence service development. They have a good communication between all parties (i.e. users, the Council, families, care workers and agency) is a fundamental aspect of providing a high quality service. Value of Service 30% Contract price Unit cost

13. Procurement process: How to Apply Adverts placed on: South East Business Portal Family Rights Group Website

14. Procurement Process – The Application Self Assessment Checklist – the council may request these documents at a later date Section A: About your Organisation – for information only; this section is not scored Section B: Your Proposal – This section is scored and is weighted at 70% Section C: Costs – This section is scored and is weighted at 30%

15. Procurement Process - Evaluation Section B – each question will be scored out of 5 using the scoring system detailed in the funding application Section C - Maximum marks will be given to the lowest bid with other bids scoring proportionally. The formula used to score bids is detailed in the funding application

16. Evaluation Panel The evaluation panel consists of: Commissioner Procurement Social Worker Representative Youth Advocacy Project Representative Representative from RISE

17. Clarification Meetings Clarification meetings will be held after the first round of submissions from providers if necessary Providers will then have the opportunity to amend their bids in a specified time period that will be confirmed by the council After this time period has expired, providers will need to submit their final bids

18. Procurement Timetable First round of submissions to be submitted to the contact and address listed in the Funding Application by 12 noon on Wednesday 29th May 2013 Clarification meetings will be held between Wednesday 19th June and Friday 19th July 2013 Amended bids are to be submitted by 12 noon on Tuesday 27th August 2013 Funding Agreement awarded by Wednesday 25th September 2013 Start date – Tuesday 1st October 2013

19. Contact Details Kerry Clarke – Lead Commissioner – 01273 295491 or kerry.clarke@brighton-hove.gov.uk Lauren Smith – Procurement Advisor – 01273 295064 or lauren.smith@brighton-hove.gov.uk