Decision to tender for the Therapeutic Support for Children Looked After - Combined Local Authority contract.

The Director of Children Family and Education Services has approved that a procurement exercise be commenced seeking tenders for a new specialist provider who will provide therapeutic support to Children Looked After in Wirral based upon the specification set out in paragraph 3.10 of the accompanying report.

As of August 2024, within Wirral there are 749 Children Looked After (CLA) and 349 children, who are subject to Special Guardianship Orders. The corporate parenting responsibilities of the Council includes having a duty under section 22(3)(a) of the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children they look after.  This includes the child’s physical, emotional and mental health and acting on any early signs of health issues.

The Council’s Children Looked After and Care Leavers Strategy 22-25 identifies emotional and physical health and wellbeing as a priority.

¾  Priority 1 - Emotional and Physical health, and wellbeing – Making sure you are happy and healthy all the way through your childhood and into adulthood.  Enabling you to build positive relationships, strengthen your sense of identity and understand your life experiences.

Children in care are four times more likely than their peers to have a mental health difficulty due to their experiences both before and during care. There is a requirement to commission a specialist provider to deliver bespoke mental health support and therapeutic interventions to support these young people to develop positive attachments with others, to develop a sense of their own identity, and a sense of safety. 

The existing contract for the provision of therapeutic mental health support for CLA ends on 31^st March 2025 and it is necessary to recommission this service

A proposal to replace the current contracts with a blend of in-house provision alongside a significantly reduced tender for some aspects of the service.  This option was explored; however, this was deemed too costly and there were concerns around the challenges of recruiting a suitably qualified clinical psychologist.