Tenders Are Invited For Un Regulated Accommodation and Support Pathway Alignment

Expression of Interest Un Regulated Accommodation and Support Pathway AlignmentKent County Council the Council is the largest county council in England covering an area of 3 500 square kilometres It has an annual expenditure of over 1 7bn on goods and services and a population of 1 6m The Council provides a wide range of personal and strategic services on behalf of its residents operating in partnership with 12 district councils and 309 parish town councils The Council is working to redesign and align the accommodation and support pathway for Care Leavers Children in Care and homeless 16 and 17 year olds This includes purchasing a good range of stable safe and well maintained accommodation and support services in Kent that are flexible to meet individual and changing demands The specifications for the proposed new services and pathway are currently being developed with key stakeholders and will be shared later However the key principles of each of the new services we foresee will remain the same but could be subject to change Current ServicesYoung People Support Accommodation Floating Support YP SAFS The YP SAFS contract is due to end on 30 September 2022 Accommodation ranges from large purpose built services with a mixture of self contained bed sits with shared facilities to dispersed one or two bed properties The service is predominately used by Children in Care Children in Need and Care Leavers between 16 25 The scheme is designed for accommodation for up to two years and aims to build independence in young people through support sessions and tackle any health or wellbeing issues that may be preventing them achieving this through a holistic assessment Within this context the primary aim of the YP SAFS service is to provide suitable accommodation that is stable safe and well maintained and support for the quantity of time required The service has three main aspects nbsp 1Supported Accommodation the provision of units of accommodation in the required locations with support2Floating Support Support to those moving on 3Emergency Beds a one two night bed for emergency useThe Provider s will also be expected to manage anti social behaviours that occur in any accommodation that it provides to service users on behalf of the Council by way of reporting all incidents to the Council to action accordingly Transitional and Outreach Support Floating Support The current Floating Support service is commissioned within the YP SAFS contract This service provides housing related support for a maximum duration of three months Within this context the primary aim of floating support is to provide a support worker to aid independence within the accommodation nbsp Shared AccommodationThe current Shared Accommodation contract is due to end on 31 October 2022 Shared Accommodation is short term accommodation in a residential property where the Council buys units to accommodate individual young people nbsp The current service is a Countywide service and is based on a four bed property only model no support The service is predominately used by Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children UASC and Asylum Care Leavers The Council wants to ensure that young people can benefit from the supportive impact of stable and successful housing on the other aspects of a young person s life Housing is a critical component for securing education employment and training and sustaining good health and providing important stability to young adults which is often critical in managing effective transition nbsp Within this context the primary aim of the Shared Accommodation service is to provide suitable accommodation that is stable safe and well maintained This accommodation is an important part of the pathway to independence The service has three main aspects nbsp 1Accommodation Brokerage the provision of units of accommodation in the required locations including contingency accommodation 2Property and Facilities Management Accommodation maintenance services including the management of damages3Move In Arrangements Young Person Induction outlining roles and responsibilities and expected behavioursThe Provider will also be expected to manage anti social and violent behaviours that occur in any accommodation that it provides to young people on behalf of the Council by way of reporting all incidents to the Council to action accordingly nbsp Current and Potential DemandWe require all of the accommodation to be within Kent High Needs AccommodationThe Council s Sufficiency Strategy identifies the need for the authority to source suitable accommodation and support for those children and young people who have been assessed as having high and complex needs Historically the Council has relied on making placements via spot purchased semi independent accommodation which can be costly to procure and not deliver the desired outcomes for the young person It is anticipated therefore that the Council will seek to include the capacity to support this cohort within the new commissioned service by providing intensive support service model Supported AccommodationThere are 170 commissioned units with four emergency beds providing from five to24 hours per week housing related support This does not meet the current demand and it is anticipated that the Council will require approx 180 units under the new service across the districts 12 providing a range of support Transitional and Outreach supportWe anticipate requiring approx 31 000 hours of support per annum providing a range of support suchas transition into new properties which may include but not limited to guidance on cleaning budgeting cooking rubbish removal behaviours roles and responsibilities and expectations We would also expect aiding integration into the community through signposting young people to multi agency opportunities Shared AccommodationThere are currently 600 service users accommodated in this provision and it is anticipated that this figure to increase to approx 976 by the year 2024 The Provider must consistently ensure that demand is always met For any unstaffed accommodation it is excepted un announced visits out of hours to be completed regularly to ensure the safety of our young people and prevent anti social behaviour nbsp Expressions of InterestThe Council is seeking expressions of interest from suitably experienced appropriately located providers who could deliver Specialist Children s Services in all or one of the following services and would be interested in tendering for this opportunity at a later date to assist us with understanding the current appetite of the marketplace The Council may arrange to meet with interested organisations either individually or at an open market engagement event depending on levels of expressions of interest Any meeting that takes place as result of this Expression of Interest will be for the purpose of market engagement and information gathering or to help inform the service specification and will not form part of the formal tendering process which will follow later If your organisation is wishing to express and interest in tendering for any of the options below and this opportunity at a later date please Register an Interest in this Expression of Interest and complete the form here https forms office com r 8mhKgHxrEs High Needs AccommodationSupported AccommodationTransitional Outreach SupportShared AccommodationExpression of Interest Deadline 14 September Midday IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ACCESS THE FORM PLEASE ADVISE WITHIN YOUR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE EMAIL ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NUMBER LISTED AS YOUR INFORMATION NOT BE TRANSFERRED nbsp 1 Organisation Name2 nbsp Sector TypePublic Sector Private Sector Charity Third sector nbsp 3 Contact Name nbsp 4 Email Address nbsp 5 Which services are you wishing to express an interest in High Needs Supported Accommodation Transitional Outreach Support Shared Accommodation6 Do you already provide any of the services listed High Needs Supported Accommodation Transitional Outreach Support Shared AccommodationPLEASE NOTE The tender will be released in due course but likely to be late 2021 or early 2022 please do not contact the KCC buyer regarding any further information as they will be unable to advise you of any further details until the specification and market engagement events have occurred All of those who express will be invited to these Finally please do not call or email the listed contact with an introduction to your services as we will not action these Thank you

Refer document

FileName	File Description
Global Tender Document	Tender Notice