Legal Family Support Service

The department wants to ensure that families receive, via internet or telephony, impartial, expert advice on family, child or education law. The provision of such advice and support benefits both children and their families by helping to prevent the avoidable escalation of issues; and by improving engagement of and experience with statutory children's services. The department is looking to procure a service that provides:

• information and guidance to users to enable them to resolve issues at the earliest possible stage,
• creating more positive interactions for users, and enhancing the likelihood of positive outcomes;
• independent, impartial, up to date, personalised and specialist advice on issues of child and family law and how to access support;
• effective information and sign posting to families to sources if support; and
• effective outcomes, whilst enhancing long term sustainability for families, making them less dependent upon central funding.

Additional information: The department is looking to procure a service that provides

• information and guidance to users to enable them to resolve issues at the earliest possible stage, creating more positive interactions for users, and enhancing the likelihood of positive outcomes;
• independent, impartial, up to date, personalised and specialist advice on issues of child and family law and how to access support;
• effective information and signposting to families to sources of support;
• effective outcomes, whilst enhancing long term sustainability for families, making them less dependent upon central funding;
• support for harder-to-reach groups who might be less likely or less aware of their entitlement to these services. The service will identify these groups and have plans in place to address and overcome barriers and issues; and
• a service which engages local authorities (England) and remind them of their responsibilities to promote and provide advice to families.

The service must also

• offer a strong digital presence that allows, wherever possible, individuals and families to 'self-serve';
• be delivered online and/or through telephony;
• be staffed by appropriately trained staff with an advocacy level 3 and who keep up to date with legislative changes and topical issues that impact on local services; and
• allow users to be signposted to the right agencies (including statutory services) according to their needs;