Pre CMH (CAFCASS) Delivery Partner

The services relate to the Department's aim to procure a delivery partner for a pilot aimed at reducing delays in public law proceedings in the family court. The pilot will specifically introduce a pre-Case Management Hearing (CMH) meeting between the Cafcass Guardian (CG) and Local Authority social worker to facilitate mutual understanding about the case, to ensure a smoother process through court. This is an information-sharing meeting, taking place after the issuing of care proceedings, but prior to the first Case Management Hearing. This will allow the Cafcass Guardian to gain a better understanding of the case and be better informed on the social work analysis of the timing of the application and reason for type of Order applied for. We would expect, for example, that that this increased clarity may reduce uncertainty that leads to requests for new expert assessments at the case management hearing, and facilitate a more effective process through court.

• A proof of concept pilot of this work is currently underway (August to December 2023), testing the pre-CMH meeting in 22 local authorities. We are now seeking a Delivery Partner to facilitate the national roll out of the substantive pilot from March 2024 to April 2025 . All local authorities across England will be encouraged to participate through an open expression of interest process.
• While we will work closely with the successful Delivery Partner to design the specifics of a programme of work, there are four main areas we expect the Delivery Partner to service:
• Implementation and change management;
• Supporting effective working relationships;
• Spreading of learning; and
• Oversight and monitoring

The DfE are seeking to contract the Delivery Partner to:

• Establish and maintain relationships with the key stakeholders and professionals involved in the pilot, including professionals from LAs, Cafcass and HMCTS to ensure successful delivery of the pilot.
• Set up and deliver workshops to provide training to professionals involved in the pilot, to support them in testing this meeting.
• Set up drop-in sessions and communications to enable regular access to support and feedback. Feedback may include any recommendations to refine the meeting structure.
• Provide ongoing support, training, information and advice for local authorities and partners through a range of methods of support.
• Collect qualitative and quantitative data and monitor progress of the initiative to the department, including regular reporting to the DfE.
• Support the Evaluation Partner to enable an effective independent evaluation of the pilot.

Alongside the Delivery Partner, an Evaluation Partner will also be commissioned to independently evaluate the implementation, delivery, and impact of the pilot on its intended outcomes.