North Northamptonshire Council - North Northamptonshire Council - Supportive Steps - Early Parenting and Child-Parent Relationship

Description

North Northamptonshire Council (hereafter referred to as the "Council") wishes to invite Tender Responses for a 2 + 1 year Service to support early parenting and child-parent relationships. This service builds upon the two-year test-and-learn pilot, Supportive Steps, which Family Action has successfully delivered as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme. Initially commissioned in June 2023, the Pilot aimed to support parents with early parenting within the 1001 critical days, enhance parent-infant relationships, and provide early intervention for mild to moderate perinatal mental health challenges and parent-infant relationship difficulties. During the pilot phase, the service supported more than 150 families through targeted and universal interventions focusing on integrated, evidence-based parenting programmes and peer support. Given the success of this approach, we are now transitioning from a test-and-learn phase to a longer-term model. This next phase will embed key learnings from the pilot and align with North Northamptonshire's broader early intervention strategy, ensuring continuity of support while enhancing service effectiveness The Service will provide early parenting and child-parent relationship support for mothers, fathers, and co-parents with children under two years old, including children up to the age of five, to engage in evidence-based programmes, e.g., the Solihull Approach. The Council proposes to enter into one (1) Contract for an initial period of 24 months with the preferred Potential Supplier for each Lot, with an option to extend for 12 months, making 36 months in total. This is subject to further funding from DFE (Department for Education) Family Hub funding. The contract for this project will be awarded via the Open Process, 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.