FULL TIME CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME FOR ALTERNATIVE CARE

FULL TIME CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMME FOR ALTERNATIVE CARE

FULL TIME CONSULTANT to support implementation programme for Alternative Care

LOCATION: New Delhi

DURATION OF CONSULTANCY:  11.5 months

CLOSING DATE:   14 April 2020

1. BACKGROUND / RATIONALE

 The UN CRC stresses the importance of family in children’s lives and makes clear Governments’ responsibility to promote family care and reunification and to provide appropriate alternative care for all children who have lost the care of their parents.

The “UN Guidelines for the Appropriate use and Conditions of Alternative Care for Children” confirm the value of a family upbringing over institutional care. Child welfare practice and social policy should aim to help families remain together, promote family reunification or legally secure and stable placements with an alternative family (referred to as permanency), and show preference for family-based alternatives when separation is unavoidable.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 of the Government of India, includes the following relevant principles: the principle of best interest of the child (including ensuring permanence); the principle of family responsibility; the principle of institutionalization as a last resort and of minimum duration; and the principle of restoration/family reunification.

The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) includes objectives, principles, and approaches on a variety of relevant matters, including: the establishment of a continuum of services; priority towards supporting a child to remain in the care of his/her parent(s)/families; institutionalization as a last resort; promote and increase family-and community based alternative care options (such as kinship care, foster care and adoption); promote case assessment , case management and case review; promote reunification of institutionalised children with their family when in their best interest; increase standards of care of services;, and monitoring of child protection services.

In India, the majority of children in need of care and protection are placed in institutions for lack of non-institutional care options, lack of support to family to prevent separation, lack of functioning gate keeping mechanisms, and a large number of un-registered un-regulated institutions. Once in institutional care, a lack of case management practices (including case assessment, planning, and regular review and a lack of permanency planning (to ensure a stable home, secure environment, and continued attachment to caregivers) often keeps children institutionalised..

2.  PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT

Under the overall supervision of the Child Protection Specialist, the proposed consultancy has been designed to provide expert technical advice, operational support and technical oversight to the implementation of the UNICEF programme states and at the National level. It will also include support to programme planning and communication with key partners.

There is a need for further understanding of alternative care and the practices to implement child care reform. There are important government reform initiatives and a range of guidelines are being adopted but different states are at different levels of implementation and there is a lack of information about what is being done and what is working and where - there is a need for greater knowledge sharing and coordination nationally. Further, prevention of unnecessary separation and appropriate alternate care responses need to be promoted. Stakeholders are looking for guidance on how to operationalize the various policies and guidelines. There is an absence of expertise across government machinery working on child rights and protection issues. Therefore, there is a felt need for sharing of information and national coordination.

The current Country Programme includes a priority area of strengthening family based care and promoting alternative care with a focus on non-institutional care.  There is a need to strengthen systems and build capacities in this area of work.

3. OBJECTIVE/S

• The consultant will support UNICEF India, Child Protection’s priority area of programming in the Country Programme around strengthening family-based care and alternative care especially non-institutional alternatives.
• Support the key partnerships on alternative care through oversight and technical expertise
• Prepare policy briefs/advocacy notes on various aspects of alternative care in India and share these across various platforms
• Document and disseminate the work on non-institutional alternative care
• Support the setting up of the knowledge sharing programme in coordination with Better Care network and India Alternative Care Network

4. MAJOR TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED

 Main responsibilities and tasks:

Planning and Implementation of the programme:

• Provide technical support to build the capacity of state government functionaries and key stakeholders to promote and deliver at national level, quality services and protection programme for prevention of family separation, alternative care and restorative justice
• Provide support to the CP section of UNICEF, Delhi, India Country office for technical oversight in planning, implementation and monitoring of the programme activities in the states
• Build and sustain effective working partnerships with relevant stakeholders, academia, civil society partners and donors through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge and expertise and to reinforce cooperation on alternative care
• Arrange/coordinate availability of technical experts to ensure timely/appropriate support to the program.
• Technically support the program through field visits, and/or exchange of information with colleagues, partners, and stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Organise and contribute to strategic meetings on family strengthening and alternative care
• Prepare regular program reports, briefs, communication material and other strategic program materials for reporting, advocacy, awareness raising, etc. in close collaboration with UNICEF CP Specialist
• Keep abreast of development trends to enhance program management, efficiency and delivery
• Documentation of practices on non-institutional alternative care
• Support the setting up of a knowledge sharing platform
• Organise and coordinate any meetings/workshops/events as may be needed to support the above.
• Based on the state plans, support the design and delivery of advocacy and communication package and tools at the national level for influencing policies and programmes, strengthening capacities of delivery structures and to engage and mobilise communities.
• Coordination with Ministry of Women and Child Development as required

Monitoring, Evaluation and Documentation

• Regular update of the programme progress and support to CP Specialist in budget monitoring by states.
• Travel to programme implementation sites across UNICEF states to monitor quality of programme implementation and suggest corrective measures.
• Facilitate consolidation of programme documentation initiatives at state-level for scale-up advocacy purposes.
• Draft donor reports and progress reports as required

Others

Provide any other need based support to the CP section in relation to child protection and specifically on children on the move.

5.DUTY STATION

New Delhi with travel to states

6. SUPERVISOR

CP Specialist ,CP Section, UNICEF India

7. OFFICIAL TRAVEL INVOLVED

Official travel to all UNICEF programme states

8.ESTIMATED DURATION OF CONTRACT ( FULL TIME)

Full time-11.5 months

9.   QUALIFICATIONS / SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE / EXPERIENCE/ COMPETENCIES (CORE/TECHNICAL/FUNCTIONAL) / LANGUAGE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR THE ASSIGNMENT

Education: Master’s degree in social sciences or other relevant fields

WORK EXPERIENCE

Technical knowledge:

• Technical knowledge and at least 5 years of experience in the area of child protection and specifically on alternative care related programs
• Knowledge on juvenile justice and restorative justice is preferred
• Ability to engage with a wide range of people, including government partners, academic centers, formal and in-formal Networks & Collectives, NGOs/CSOs and technical experts if required to collate all relevant information.
• Understanding of research and monitoring, participatory learning methodologies will be preferred
• Demonstrates high level of writing and editing skills, budget analysis and reporting
• Experience in working with Government or UN agencies

LANGUAGES

• Fluency in English, Hindi (written and verbal) is required

COMPETENCIES

• Passion for the mission
• Strong analytical mindset
• Drive for results
• Effective communication and networking skills
• Diversity and inclusion

10.   TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA

• Educational Qualification (8/10)

       An Advanced University degree in development, sociology and other social science field.                        

• Relevant Experience (16/20)

A minimum of five years of professional experience in the area of child protection and alternative care related programs

• Technical proposal on the following (8/10)

a. Please explain what you understand by Alternative care and the current scenario in the country (one page only)

b. Briefly mention 2 examples of your work in the area of the alternative care or related work               

• Technical knowledge and skills (8/10)

Experience and Ability to engage with a wide range of people, including government partners, formal and in-formal Networks & Collectives, NGOs/CSOs and technical experts if required to collate all relevant information.Understanding of research and monitoring, participatory learning methodologies will be preferred.

The candidates who meet the minimum cut off under each sub criteria and also get an overall score of 40 marks and above to be shortlisted for an interview (40/50)

• Interview          (24/30)

 OVERALL TECHNICAL SCORE (64/80)

• Financial           20

11.   PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payments will be made against monthly progress report on activities undertaken in that month.

 HOW TO APPLY: Your online application should contain three separate attachments:

1. 1. 1. A Cover letter explaining the motivation for applying and also explaining how the qualifications and skill-set of the candidate are suitable for this position (to be uploaded online)
      2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) (to be uploaded online)
      3. Please provide Technical Proposals (to be uploaded online)

                    a. Please explain what you understand by Alternative care and  the current scenario in the country (one page only)

                     b. Briefly mention 2 examples of your work in the area of the alternative care or related work

4. 4. 4. A financial proposal indicating deliverable-based lumpsum fee as per template attached below.  Please do not forget to specify your name in the file and include your signature, while saving. (to be uploaded under financial proposal section). Financial Template National Consultant-Alternative care.docx                              

Without the financial proposal template your application will be considered incomplete.

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.
• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.
• Please note, UNICEF does not charge any fee during any stage of the process. 

For any clarifications, please contact:

UNICEF

Supply & Procurement Section

73, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003

Telephone # +91-11-24606516

Email: indconsultants@unicef.org