Northamptonshire County Council Virtual Reality Training Resources for the Corporate Parenting Service

Children First Northamptonshire seek to purchase a Virtual Reality immersive technology training resource as part of an enhanced training offer aimed at increasing the competence of Carers and professionals, improving training and selection of Carers, and Increasing ability to cope with more challenging behaviors.

The Corporate Parenting Service has secured dedicated funding through the Business Rates pilot to develop a Resilience Foster Carer scheme aimed at recruiting, training and retaining a cohort of Carers to support young people aged 10-18 years who need and want the stability and continuity of a sustained foster placement.

The Resilience Scheme will seek to help the young person to develop positive relationships to bring about long-term change. This will involve providing stability, supporting them in their education and help them develop life skills and leisure interests.

The enhanced Training Offer will be available to new Applicants but in the case where an In-house Foster Carer wanted to join the Scheme then there would be an overview of their Training Profile and relevant experience and so tailor a training package accordingly.

In addition to a separately commissioned therapeutic training course, it is envisaged that a Virtual Reality immersive technology training resource would both complement and accelerate learning for both carers and professionals.

It is anticipated that the initial use and application of the required hardware, software library and support will benefit the target cohort of 15 foster carers, and dedicated Supervising Social Workers, in the first year before being rolled out through the training of a wider cohort of social workers in the Corporate Parenting Service.

Potential suppliers should detail what hardware and software will be supplied, identifying any recurring costs such as Licence fees and any others, and what happens at the end of the contract period (exit strategy). The supplier should also confirm how the software will operate, i.e. Cloud, and where this is located.

It is anticipated that the contract will be for a fixed three year term.

Anticipated outcomes will include:

• Increased number of Carers/social workers recruited
• Increased retention of Carers/social workers
• Improved training and selection of Carers
• Increased ability to cope with more challenging behaviours
• Increased placement stability

It is not anticipated that there will be any personal data processing implications in the provision of this training resource. RFQ Document is available via ProContract.