Case Study: Children and Young People’s Therapeutic Support Service

Overview

The Therapeutic Support Service (TSS), funded by KCC Public Health, supports children and young people with mild to moderate emotional wellbeing needs. The service design and procurement process has embedded the i-THRIVE principles, with clear expectations for the new provider to apply the framework in delivery.

The service is in early mobilisation, and opportunities for involving children and young people are currently being explored. Learning from their involvement in developing the specification and evaluation has been shared within commissioning to inform future work.

One key learning point was the need to consider consent procedures during engagement, as this was a barrier to the inclusion of direct quotes in the specification.

i-THRIVE in Action

Seeking Support and Getting Help: The service supports children and young people aged 4–19 who live in Kent or attend a Kent education setting.

Proactive Prevention and Promotion: In response to rising national and local need, the service was designed to complement existing provision and avoid duplication. Consultation data helped ensure the model reflected the needs of children, young people and families.

Partnership Working: The end of the previous contract prompted a full review of local arrangements and the future NHS offer. Draft ideas were tested through consultation, which led to further engagement with young people.

Needs-Led: The specification was only finalised after engagement with children and young people. Over 50 young people from a range of backgrounds contributed views on what good first contact should look like, including pre-information, venue, presentation and practitioner skills. Their key priorities were included in the specification, with those bidding requested to consider these in their responses.

Accessible: Young people’s voices were captured through multiple methods, including spoken and written feedback, scribing and images.

Common Language: The specification embeds and expands on the i-THRIVE principles, with providers expected to understand and implement them.

Shared Decision Making: Young people, families and practitioners are expected to shape the service at both operational and strategic levels, supporting its integration into Kent’s wider emotional and mental health offer.

Conclusion and Next Steps

In conclusion, the adoption of i-THRIVE principles both to support the activities of procurement, and to place expectations on providers has been a positive experience with some learning which can be built upon and shared wider.

Next steps are the continual sharing of learning amongst commissioners and i-THRIVE implementation in the service, while seeking opportunities to engage with children and young people not only about their own care but about the service itself.