Invitation to Tender:

Kerry CYPSC Children and Young People’s Plan for 2024-27

Kerry Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) invites tender submissions from suitably qualified candidates to develop a 3-year Children and Young People’s Plan (2024 – 2027).

Children and Young People’s Services Committees (CYPSC) are a key structure identified by Government to plan and co-ordinate services for children and young people in every county in Ireland. Their age remit spans all children and young people aged from 0 to 24 years. The purpose of CYPSCs is to ensure effective interagency co-ordination and collaboration to achieve the best outcomes for all children and young people in their area.​ The Committees are responsible for improving the lives of children, young people and families at local and community level by improving provision and delivery of key services. ‘Young Ireland: National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028’ is a key policy document for CYPSCs which provides a structure for planning and actions. “CYPSC: Shared Vision, Next Steps” provides the road map for the further development of the CYPSC initiative over the period 2019-2024.

Kerry CYPSC was established in September 2010 with membership from statutory, community and voluntary providers of services to children, young people, and families Kerry. Kerry CYPSC provides a forum at county level for joint planning, integrated service delivery and co-ordination of activity to ensure the delivery of improved and effective services for children, young people and their families.

Kerry CYPSC is inviting tenders from individuals or companies with expertise in scoping and designing to develop their next 3-year Children & Young People’s Plan (CYPP) drawing on data sources, policy frameworks, research, consultations with children, young people and parents and service providers, as relevant.

All local CYPSCs must follow a standard template for CYPPs. Please contact Kerry CYPSC Coordinator Claire O’Toole for a copy of the CYPP Template at claire.otoole@tusla.ie

Aim and Objectives

To develop a 3-year CYPP for the period 2024-2027 to target the needs of children, young people (0-24 years) and families in Kerry, aligned with National Policy and the Lundy Model of Child and Youth Participation.

• Develop and apply a suitable methodology and framework aligned with the National CYPSC Planning and Reporting Framework, the Children and Young People’s Plan template and Young Ireland: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028.
• Review and collate national/EU policy and strategies, local documents / plans, Local Economic Community Plans, research, reviews and data as relevant to children, young people and families to inform the new CYPPs. This may include the impact on children’s lives of events such as the recent pandemic, the war in Ukraine, etc.
• Conduct consultations (focus groups, online surveys, etc.) with relevant stakeholders /population groups including seldom heard voices (children, young people, service providers, parents) and Comhairle na nÓg to inform the new plans. The successful candidate will be expected to refer to recent consultations undertaken with children, young people and parents in Kerry to inform the Kerry CYPP. A combination of online and in-person meetings, as necessary, is envisaged for the purposes of this project.
• Update a socio-demographic profile of county Kerry, informed by Census 2022 and all other relevant national and local data sources.
• Produce a local needs analysis based on findings from consultations, census data, and other data sources. Local research is available to support this element of the Kerry CYPP.
• Identify and document the needs, gaps, issues, and barriers in meeting needs of children, young people and families in Kerry and outline the priority needs of children, young people and families in the county.
• Work collaboratively with the Kerry CYPSC coordinator to develop an interagency action plan with an agreed set of objectives and actions to respond to identified shared priorities.
• Develop an agreed set of targets, indicators and timeframes for actions with lead agency and partners.
• To produce a final Children & Young People’s Plan with key priority areas of focus, across the national outcomes, objectives, and key performance indicators (KPIs).

Outputs

• A final draft report/plan (CYPP) for county Kerry that documents needs and gaps for children and young people, parents and families and includes:
  
  • Contextual overview to include relevant national/EU policy and strategies, research and local documentation and data.
  • Description of methodology (how the plan was developed).
  • Updated socio-demographic profile, and collated analysis of data related to children and young people.
  • Updated Overview of Services section from the previous CYPPs.
  • Thematic local needs analysis of consultations with stakeholders, aligned with Young Ireland: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028 outcome areas.
  • Development of an agreed set of actions to respond to identified shared priorities.
  • Development of an agreed set of targets, indicators, and timelines for actions with lead agencies and partners for each action.
  • Identification of priority areas of focus for the plan, based on needs/gap analysis with recommended objectives and KPIs as agreed and approved by both CYPSCs.

Reporting

The Kerry CYPSC Coordinator will work closely with the successful candidate(s) to ensure a seamless process, support with consultations, access to data sources etc.

Timeframe

The project will commence by late May/ early June 2024, with a mid-term report on the Children and Young People’s Plans (CYPPs) available for the September meetings of Kerry CYPSC. The final plan should be ready for presentation to the CYPSC committees at their Quarter 4 meeting in 2024.

Budget

An overall budget for the project is €15,000 (inclusive of VAT). This is inclusive of all expenses and associated costs incurred by the successful applicant in undertaking the project. The currency and invoices in which all prices and rates shall be quoted and which payments under the contract will be paid shall be in Euros (€).

A payment schedule will be agreed prior to beginning the project.

Submissions

Submissions should be emailed to the Kerry CYPSC Coordinator claire.otoole@tusla.ie by 5pm on Friday 10th May 2024 and include the following information:

• A brief overview of organisation/consultancy and suitable personnel for project lead (this should include reference to Garda Vetting of individual personnel for the project).
• Outline of relevant experience (e.g. managing projects of similar scale and size, and in particular demonstrated understanding of consulting with children/young people). Please include links to similar reports.
• Detailed description of methodology and timeline for proposal plus any associated information for fulfilment of contract.
• 2 Referees, including contact details.
• Evidence that the proposal has been clearly costed and that the cost is realistic and deliverables achievable for the proposed cost, including breakdown of costings.
• Tax clearance access number details.

The review of tenders will be completed by Friday 17th 2024. Please note that shortlisted proposals may be called for interview.

Criteria for assessment of tenders

• Relevant experience as related to this project: 20%
• Clear methodology for proposal / manage consultation / final plan outline: 40%
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of consultation with wide variety of stakeholders, particularly children and young people, including seldom heard groups: 20%
• Proven ability to complete the work in agreed timeframe: 10%
• Costings and value for money: 10%

Enquiries are welcomed, please contact Kerry CYPSC Coordinator Claire O’Toole at claire.otoole@tusla.ie Consultation reports undertaken with children, young people and parents in Kerry are available to support this work, please contact Claire for details.