Adoption and Kinship Specialist Support Services

Essex County Council and Suffolk County Council is seeking to procure a new framework for the provision of Adoption and Kinship Specialist Support Services. Local Authorities have a statutory duty to provide these services as outlined in the Children and Families Act 2014, and in the Kinship Care Statutory Guidance published in October 2024. The framework will meet this duty by providing adoptive and kinship families access to therapeutic services, assessment services and training to assist both children and adults to deal with the long-term effects of abuse, and trauma across Essex County Council and Suffolk County Council. The framework will be for an initial period of three (3) years and there will be an option to extend the framework for up to one year.

The framework will have the following 3 Lots to support adoptive and kinship order families:

• Lot 1 Training - To enable parent/carers to develop their skills to support their children effectively meet their full potential.
• Lot 2 Therapeutic Intervention- To address emotional and behavioural challenges for children and their families stemming from negative early life experiences.
• Lot 3 Specialist Assessments- To assess and identify a child's support needs that will enable the and subsequent planning to meet those needs.

The contracting authority is Essex County Council and any Successor Body meaning one or more entities which assumes any of the Council's functions (as applicable) as a result of Local Government Reform (LGR). Such successor body or bodies may be, without limitation, a local authority, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a strategic authority or any other status determined pursuant to the Devolution and LGR Legislation.