Children and Young Peoples Domestic Abuse Safe Accomodation Support Service (SASS)

Kent County Council (KCC) is seeking to ascertain whether there are interested providers for a countywide Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Support Service and for feedback on the proposed service model. This service is a statutory requirement for KCC, as defined in Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

The scope of the service is to provide specialist domestic abuse support to children and young people aged 0-19 (up to 25 with additional needs) residing in safe accommodation.

Kent County Council (KCC) is seeking to ascertain whether there are interested providers for a countywide Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Support Service and for feedback on the proposed service model. This service is a statutory requirement for KCC, as defined in Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

The scope of the service is to provide specialist domestic abuse support to children and young people aged 0-19 (up to 25 with additional needs) residing in safe accommodation. The service will fund a children’s therapeutic worker post which will deliver:

· Play therapy

· 1-1 counselling

· Group work, including peer support groups

The support will be in locations that best suit the child which includes community venues (such as children’s centres), in the child’s home if appropriate, refuge and virtually. If the child or young person requires different types of support the service will have the capability to purchase external therapeutic support and also activities with a maximum budget for child. Outcomes will be measured by Goal-based outcomes, the service will be required to evidence that all purchased support (external therapeutic support and activities) will assist the child to meet their goal-based outcomes.

The service will fund three types of roles to fulfil all of the duties required by the service:

· Children’s Therapeutic Worker

· Participant and Engagement Worker

· Support Coordinator

It is KCC’s intention to award the contract for a two-year period. The estimated maximum financial envelope for the Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Support Service for Children and Young People is £760,446.50 annually.

A copy of the service proposal and a set of soft market engagement questions are available to view in the attached documents. We would welcome your feedback and views on the service, an opportunity to comment on the proposed service design will be held on a one-to-one basis for those who express an interest via the Kent Business Portal. Providers will have the opportunity to meet with commissioner to offer feedback on the service proposal and questions on 11th and 12th October 2022.

Kent County Council is committed to ensuring fairness, openness, and transparency, and to following procurement regulations. This is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market testing.

If you have any questions relating to this Prior Information Notice (PIN) then please raise your questions directly through the ‘messaging’ facility on the Portal and we will respond as soon as possible.

The detailed specification is not available to view at this stage.

Key provisional dates for the planned procurement are as follows:

Procurement Stage Date

PIN Published for EOIs 23/09/22

PIN Closes 7/10/22

ITT Issued 31/10/22

ITT Deadline 28/11/22

Evaluation and Moderation Begins 30/11/22

Evaluation and Moderation Ends 15/12/22

Contract Award Notification 22/12/22

Standstill Begins 22/12/22

Standstill Ends 13/01/23

Provider Planning Meeting w/c 16/01/23

Contract Start Date 30/01/23

NB: These dates are subject to change.