Kent Social Work and Related Services Tenders & Contracts

Kent County Council (KCC) wishes to inform the market of its intention to extend the current Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for a maximum period of 9 months. The purpose of the Service is to provide accommodation, care, support and stimulation to those people in the client group for whom it is not appropriate, either in the short or longer term, to live in their own homes. The Service Providers should offer Residents the opportunity to enhance their quality of life by providing a safe, manageable and comfortable home environment.

This is a notice following a competition under the Competitive Process under the Provider Selection Regime 2023. The Council is looking to commission a Therapeutic Support Service (‘the Service’) to support children and young people aged 4-19 who have mild to moderate emotional wellbeing needs. The national and local context calls for a refreshed system-wide approach within Kent, which is now underway. The Therapeutic Support Service will be a key element within a wider transformation programme being led by NHS Kent and Medway to deliver high quality, responsive and better-connected emotional wellbeing and mental health support for children and young people in the county. The system vision is for future Services to operate as a ‘Mental Health Collaborative’, underpinned by a set of contracts to be led by NHS Kent and Medway from 2025/6 onwards, providing specialist, education-based and therapeutic Services. This third element will be known as the ‘Therapeutic Alliance’, and will support children and young people with predominantly moderate emotional wellbeing and mental health needs. The Council is commissioning the Service to complement the Therapeutic Alliance, by offering similar creative and therapeutic approaches, but which are tailored to meet mild to moderate needs and offer a preventative and early intervention model, rooted in the local community. Although this is being commissioned independently by the Council, it will share a common set of principles and values with the wider Therapeutic Alliance, to create a mutual framework for collaboration and partnership working between commissioners, Suppliers and stakeholders. At the heart of this commission is the recognition that supporting children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health requires a partnership approach. Through our contribution to the wider county model, the Council will aim to create space for collaboration, strengthen connections between Services, and build resilience within families and communities so that more children and young people can receive the support they need at the earliest opportunity. Our vision for the Service is that children and young people (CYP) aged 4 (from entry to Reception) up to their 19th birthday who are experiencing mild to moderate emotional wellbeing difficulties are able to access timely, flexible support that helps them to meet their goals through a choice of creative and therapeutically-informed support delivered as part of the Family Hub network and connected to their local community; in co-ordination with the emerging children’s mental health Therapeutic Alliance in Kent.

The Place-Based Infant Feeding Peer Support Service will support prospective and expectant parents and carers, and parent and carers who reside in Kent with infant feeding through local accessible sessions. The Service will work with local communities to change attitudes towards breastfeeding. The Service will be non-judgemental and understanding towards a family’s feeding choices. The Service is for prospective parents and carers, expectant parents and carers, and parent and carers of infants up to approximately one year of age. This is a universal Service with open access. The Service will work with local communities, especially in areas with lower breastfeeding rates and/or where a specific need is identified for example; younger mothers, geographically isolated communities, faith groups, non-English language groups or mothers of twins and multiples and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. The Service will align with four Health and Care Partnership areas in three distinct lots: • Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley AND Swale • East Kent (Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Canterbury and Ashford) • West Kent (Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling and Sevenoaks (excluding Swanley)

Speech, Language and Communication Needs - Delivering Inclusion within the Curriculum for Education (DICE) Service : Tender Notice Kent County Council is seeking to commission a Speech, Language and Communication Needs - Delivering Inclusion within the Curriculum for Education (DICE) Service, that supports children and young people in mainstream schools and across community settings, such as Family Hubs, during both term time and school holiday periods. The service will hold a key role in supporting those children and young people who are either in mainstream schools and those who for various reasons are not attending school regularly (e.g. such as those home educated, non/low-school attendance, living in Refuges, etc) and have Speech and Language needs. This will be referred to as place-based settings. This service will initially sit alongside the wider Community Services provided by the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) with an ambition for the services to be seamless provision to those accessing the Services. The Balanced System® Framework is a framework for commissioning Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) for children and young people. The aim is to use the framework to understand, plan and evaluate services to support children and young people with SLCN within place-based settings across Kent. The Framework has been developed in line with both national policy and legislation, as well as professional guidance for Speech and Language Therapists, to deliver integrated services for children and young people. Subject to acquiring approval, it is Kent County Council's intention to commission a Speech, Language and Communication Needs - Delivering Inclusion within the Curriculum for Education (DICE) Service, commencing 27 October 2025. Service delivery will be in partnership and working with the wider stakeholders, including, but not limited to NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB), 12 District and Borough Councils, Medway Council. This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.

Speech, Language and Communication Needs - Delivering Inclusion within the Curriculum for Education (DICE) Service : Tender Notice Kent County Council is seeking to commission a Speech, Language and Communication Needs - Delivering Inclusion within the Curriculum for Education (DICE) Service, that supports children and young people in mainstream schools and across community settings, such as Family Hubs, during both term time and school holiday periods. The service will hold a key role in supporting those children and young people who are either in mainstream schools and those who for various reasons are not attending school regularly (e.g. such as those home educated, non/low-school attendance, living in Refuges, etc) and have Speech and Language needs. This will be referred to as place-based settings. This service will initially sit alongside the wider Community Services provided by the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) with an ambition for the services to be seamless provision to those accessing the Services. The Balanced System® Framework is a framework for commissioning Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) for children and young people. The aim is to use the framework to understand, plan and evaluate services to support children and young people with SLCN within place-based settings across Kent. The Framework has been developed in line with both national policy and legislation, as well as professional guidance for Speech and Language Therapists, to deliver integrated services for children and young people. Subject to acquiring approval, it is Kent County Council's intention to commission a Speech, Language and Communication Needs - Delivering Inclusion within the Curriculum for Education (DICE) Service, commencing 27 October 2025. Service delivery will be in partnership and working with the wider stakeholders, including, but not limited to NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB), 12 District and Borough Councils, Medway Council. This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.