CN220350 - Therapies: SEN, Adoption Support Service and VSK (previously SC21032)

Tender description

SEN Therapies (Lot 1) The Council recognises that SEN therapy service providers have an important role in improving a child or young person's (CYP's) participation in learning experiences and access to curriculum opportunities and outcomes for our children who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council aims to establish a relational contracting approach with providers on the Qualified Provider List (QPL) that will: • recognise the interdependencies between local authorities, service providers, Ofsted and other stakeholders; • facilitate co operation, shared learning and improvement; • enable the Council to anticipate and respond quickly to the changing needs of CYP with an EHC plan; • support joint working between the Council's education services and therapy service providers to help improve outcomes for CYP with an EHC plan; • help ensure sufficiency and suitability of therapy provision tailored to the current and anticipated needs of CYP with an EHC plan; and • ensure fairness in commercial arrangements between commissioners and providers, with transparency of prices. Adoption Support Service (Lot 2) The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) has been established to help adoptive families access the services they need more easily. The ASF provides funds to local authorities (LAs) and Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) to pay for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive families and families with a Special Guardianship Order (SGO). The aim of the ASF and the support it funds is to: • improve outcomes for young people and families; • improve the core adoption/SGO support offered to families; and • build the evidence base so that interventions demonstrate their effectiveness and value for money. Virtual Schools Kent (Lot 3) Virtual School Head Teachers (VSHs) are responsible for promoting the educational achievement of children looked after by the local authority. For some young people, a therapeutic approach or intervention may be required to support access to, or engagement with, education. Kent Children in Care (CiC), aged 3 to 18, are supported by Virtual School Kent (VSK). Pupil Premium Plus (PP+), Post 16 Pupil Premium Plus (P16PP+), or Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) funding can be used to pay for activities that: a) improve the learning targets in children's Personal Education Plans (PEPs); and b) encourage CiC to be more involved in and interested in their education. Lot 1: SEN Therapies Lot 1 This lot relates to SEN Therapies that are looking to commission: • Speech and Language (SLT) • Occupational Therapy (OT) including varying OT approaches to addressing sensory processing differences. • Physiotherapy (PT) Lot 2: Adoption Support Service Lot 2 Adoption Partnership South East commissions the following therapeutic services: • Therapeutic parenting training • Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy • Theraplay • Filial therapy • Creative therapies, e.g. art, music, drama and play • Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) • Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) • Sensory integration therapy/Sensory attachment therapy • Multi Systemic Therapy • Mentalisation Based Therapy • Psychotherapy • Extensive life story work with a therapeutic intervention, where therapy is used to help the young person understand and cope with the trauma and difficulties that their life story work might revisit • Short Breaks, where these include a substantial element of eligible therapeutic therapies • Specialist Assessment that meets all of the following criteria: o an in-depth assessment of the child and family's needs, with a focus on trauma and attachment and links to the assessment of support needs; o led and undertaken by a suitably qualified clinician(s); o for the purposes of the ASF, a qualified clinician is someone who diagnoses and treats patients, is suitably qualified and is licensed to practise via an appropriate regulator, such as the Health and Care Professions Council, for example a trained Clinical Psychologist or Attachment Psychotherapist; and o results in a therapeutic support plan for the child(ren)/family. Lot 3: Virtual School Kent Lot 3 Virtual School Head Teachers (VSHs) are responsible for promoting the educational achievement of all children looked after by the local authority. For some young people, a therapeutic approach or intervention may be required in order to support access to, or engagement with, education. Kent Children in Care (CiC), aged 3 to 18 years, are supported by Virtual School Kent (VSK). Pupil Premium Plus (PP+), Post 16 Pupil Premium Plus (P16PP+) or Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) funding may be used to pay for activities that: a) improve the learning targets set out in children's Personal Education Plans (PEPs); and b) encourage CiC to be more involved in and motivated by their education. Therapeutic support provided under this lot should not be regarded as an alternative health provision or a replacement for therapy services that may be commissioned through the NHS. Services provided to support PEP targets often involve intensive specialist interventions or approaches required to maintain educational placements and promote progress.