Tendering Opportunities

TENDER SPECIFICATION: MARAC review specification

The VRU, in partnership with the West Midlands Domestic Abuse Board, seeks to appoint an individual who has a good understanding of domestic abuse and multi agency working to undertake a review into the process and impacts of MARACs (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences) in the West Midlands.

MARACs were first introduced in 2003 and quickly were adopted across the UK as a means to coordinating the support needed for high risk domestic abuse victims by gathering a full understanding of risk through sharing information held across organisations.

The overarching aim is to review how the MARAC process contributes to reducing the risk facing domestic abuse victims assessed as ‘high risk’ of being seriously harmed or killed. This should include assessing what benefits can be attributed to the process, as well as any limitations or potentially negative consequences together with providing recommendations on how the process can be improved. The full details are available in the attached document.

To apply, please submit a proposal of how you would approach addressing points 1-5 outlined in the specification. In your application please include a CV or equivalent (including company name, registered address and full contact details) with your proposal.

Applications should be submitted to vru@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk by 12 noon Tuesday 4^th January 2022 with the email subject title ‘MARAC evaluation proposal.’

Any questions can also be sent to vru@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk   with the email subject title ‘MARAC review query’ (queries sent after 22^nd December will be responded to on 29^th December).

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted on January 5^th and invited for an online interview to be held on Thursday 6^th or January 7^th 2022.

Tender Specification: Mentoring in violence prevention (mvp)

Introduction

Combining educational programmes with community outreach with mass media campaigns, is more effective than any singular approach.

The West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit use a risk index based on deprivation affecting children, rates of mental health and lack of educational development in early years to identify key risk areas to assign place based community approaches.

Alongside the West Midlands OPCC, the West Midlands VRU are a delivery partner for the Home Office Safer Streets 3 Violence Against Women and Girls Fund aiming to reduce and prevent harm both in public places and empower wider societal change in attitudes towards gender inequality and discrimination.

The VRU deliver the Mentoring in Violence Prevention Programme (MVP), and as part of funding from SSF3 – VAWG fund have funding to include an MVP Ending Male Violence Against Women and Girls (EMVAWG) in public spaces. This place-based programme addressing harmful sexualised attitudes with boys’ pilot in schools/colleges, aims to reduce harmful attitudes, misogyny and peer based sexual harassment which in collaboration with PHSE leads through the RSE agenda (2020) will ensure a bigger impact on attitudes. The participants will be identified through the MVP EMVAWG programme as above and through the participating schools in the place-based areas. This mirrors the work of the Everyone’s Invited Ofsted report and will support joint priorities across the agenda.

Project Background

This pilot will target schools involved with seven of the nine original VRU place based pilots, which will ensure equal coverage across the region. The VRU place based pilots were developed to enhance and support community interventions to reduce violence. 

The pilot will be run by two Young Person’s Advisors with backgrounds in sexual health and RSE. They will also be supported by the EMVAWG EIA’s in the running of the programme to allow capacity for one to one work.

Subject of this Specification

We are seeking to appoint a provider who will run groups of 6 boys at a time over a 1-2 hour weekly session over 6 weeks. The provider will tailor elements of the group work around the areas of – misogyny, challenging behaviours, pornography, peer pressure and upstander approaches to tailor the reduction in attitudes or behaviours of sexual harassment and harmful sexualised attitudes from the participants who will be identified through the Designated Safeguarding Lead/PHSE lead for the school. The focus on these groups will be to instil a safe circle atmosphere for free discussion and the challenge of myths and stereotypes.

There will be elements of group work and elements of reflection and one-to-one work within the timetable and it will link in strongly with other work within the school environment around MVP, PHSE and other schemes.

Based on a 6 week rolling programme, there would be three cycles due to commence directly after Christmas. Funding for the programme is £20,000.

The initial pilot will run through the VRU placed based pilots and targeting one local authority area for each 7 (and associated schools) across the West Midlands. Further details below –

Coventry, Hillfields

Walsall, St Matthews

Solihull, Chelmsley Wood

Dudley, St James’

Wolverhampton, Heath Town

Birmingham, Lozells

Sandwell, Smethwick

Whole regional delivery is preferable however proposals for a coordinated collaboration with other agencies in a consortium approach are also acceptable.

Response to this Specification

Expressions of interest in this specification are requested in the first instance by COP Friday 26^th November 2021, along with completion of the attached expression of interest form which should then be returned to Chelsea Lloyd – chelsea.lloyd@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk    

Given the short timescales on this piece of work, please contact Nikki Penniston with any queries related to the EOI or specification on n.penniston@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk.

The project steering group will inform organisations of the outcome in the week commencing 6^th December 2021.

Core Principles for Commissioned Services

The VRU is committed to working effectively with partner organisations to deliver services that reduce and prevent violence. Providers delivering services do an outstanding job in supporting those in need and addressing risk and harm but are often themselves unsupported.

We have developed a set of core principles and ways of working which outline what an effective service seeking to reduce and prevent violence should look like. This is based on the evidence base, and on the research and delivery experience built up over the first 2 years of the VRU’s work. We don’t have all the answers and we don’t expect you to either. This document sets out our commitment to effective co-production of local services.

These core principles are not intended to be a checklist. Instead they outline our expectations for those providers working with us to protect young people.

The VRU is here to help. We deliver/can facilitate access to a range of training offers and CPD opportunities for frontline practitioners including:

• Trauma informed training
• Anti-racist training
• Awareness and identification of exploitation
• Mentors in Violence Prevention,
• Understanding Inequalities
• Understanding the Public Health approach to violence

If you are interested in learning more about these CPD opportunities, please email the VRU directly on vru@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk