SCC IC Return Home Interviews for Missing People

This is a notice for social and specific services in accordance with Directive 2014/24/EU Article 74 Surrey County Council is tendering for the provision of an independent return interview service for Surrey children who go missing from home or care.

This is being commissioned by Surrey Children’s Services and we are seeking a single provider to deliver this service.

This service will align with the Surrey protocol for missing children and the Department for Education statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care (2014).

It is a statutory requirement that local authorities offer an independent return interview to children who go missing from home or care.

Independent return interviews provide an opportunity to uncover information that can help protect children from the risk of going missing again, from risks they may have been exposed to while missing or from risk factors in their home.

The interview should be carried out within 72 hours of the child returning to their home or care setting.

This should be an in-depth interview by someone who is trained to carry out these interviews and is able to follow-up any actions that emerge.

Children sometimes need to build up trust with a person before they will discuss in depth the reasons why they ran away.

The interview and actions that follow from it should: identify and deal with any harm the child has suffered, understand and try to address the reasons why the child went missing, help the child feel safe and understand that they have options to prevent repeat instances of them going missing and provide them with information on how to stay safe in the event they go missing again, including helpline numbers.

Interested parties can download all the relevant tender documentation from the SE Shared Services Portal at http://www.sesharedservices.org.uk/esourcing