Decision details

Councils have a responsibility to provide a range of support services to children who have a Special Guardianship Order and their families. This includes, but is not limited to, counselling, advice, information, financial support.
As of April 2016 children who are cared for by a Special Guardian and who were previously in care are eligible to be assessed for a bespoke package of therapeutic support. This support is paid for by the Department for Education via the Adoption Support Fund.
This decision to approve the contract that Bristol City Council officers will use to purchase Adoption Support Funded packages of therapeutic support.
(Please note that this decision only relates to packages of support for children cared for by a special guardian, and not adopted. Adoption support services have been regionalised to Adoption West)

This decision is to approve the creation of an open framework of accredited providers, for the provision of therapeutic support. The contract will be used by the Special Guardianship Service (Bristol City Council social care team) to purchase packages of therapy to support children and young people who are cared for by a special guardian who were immediately previously a child in care. The Council has a statutory duty to provide support to these children/young people.

No other options where considered. A multi-provider contract (also known as a framework contract) ensures that young people are able to access bespoke and tailored packages of therapeutic support that best meet their needs. The value of the contract is based on analysis on past and current needs of young people and the amount the council spends to meet these needs.