Provision of the Wakefield early support, advice, information and liaison service

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council’s Family ServicesDirectorate wishes to invite tenders for the provision of thefollowing service for young people from suitably qualifiedand experienced organisations.

Wakefield Early Support, Advice, Informationand Liaison Service

The service is to meet the needs of all families in Wakefieldwho care for a disabled child or one with additional needs. Itsprimary function is to provide a ‘first stop’ for these familiesin terms of information, advice and signposting. It willprovide a robust and early response to all families caring fora child with additional needs. The service will support thewider key working service in Wakefield and directly managea dedicated key working service. It will make sure thatfamilies caring for children with additional needs who maynot need specialist services but do need support andguidance from the point of their first concerns are wellsupported. The service will do this by maintaining an up todate Information Network which will be used as a way ofensuring families have up to date and proactive informationincluding a regular newsletter. It will also provide asignposting service, facilitate child well being assessmentsand make appropriate referrals to specialist services wherenecessary. The service will support all professionals workingwith families caring for disabled children by establishingpositive links and providing an information resource servicein line with Wakefield’s commitment to the Every DisabledChild Matters Charter.

The contract period for this service is for 18 months from1st October 2009 to 31st March 2011 (with provision toextend for a further 18 months subject to annual review andavailable funding).

Tenders will be undertaken through the electronic ‘Supplierand Contract Management System‘ (SCMS). This allowsapplicants to electronically download, complete and submittender documents.

Further details on SCMS and details on how to register canbe found at http://scms.alito.co.uk –Tender Reference – WMDCSOC050

The return date for the tenderis no later than noon on5th June 2009