Consultant- Lessons learned assessment on the Supported Independent Living (SIL) care modality for UAC (3 months)

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Background:

In 2018, UNICEF in Greece launched the Supported-Independent Living (SIL) project for unaccompanied children (UAC), the first community-based model of care model in the country, designed as an alternative to large scale shelters which serve as the predominant UAC reception model in the country.  The SIL model of care, houses UAC in individual apartments, with up to four older UAC – aged 16 to 18 years – in each. Each child is supported by a multi-disciplinary team which provide guidance and protection, including day to day support, helping them build life-skills, facilitating their social integration into the Greek society, and promoting their smooth transition to adulthood.

Initially, UNICEF supported and funded the SIL pilot through its internal resources. This investment included funding for downstream work  – piloting a small number of SIL apartments in Athens with partners – as well as upstream work – including advocacy with key stakeholders to get buy-in, and technical support to help government draft relevant sub-legislation, and procedural frameworks to ensure SIL was formalized into the national system. In 2018, the Greek Parliament approved new legislation on UAC Guardianship which included reference to Supported Independent Living (SIL), further paving the way for national scale up. In 2019, UNICEF and IOM secured external EC funding for the scale up of the SIL pilot, placing over 120 UAC in SIL apartments, and by early 2020, funding for the SIL model was secured under the national AMIF portfolio. As of October 2020, there are 47 SIL apartments operating across the country with a total of 188 places and 18 more are planned by year end.

UNICEF considers the SIL to be an important step in establishing viable models of alternative community-based care for unaccompanied children in Greece, and in the future hopes the model can be extended to service Greek-born children as an alternative institutional care.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF is seeking to consolidate and document the learning from the SIL pilot, in order to draw lessons from the experience. The results can inform actors working with UASC in Greece and beyond as they plan long term community-based interventions for unaccompanied children, as well as inform broader national planning for strengthening community-based care for all children in Greece. 

Specific objectives of the assessment are to:

1. Describe the SIL initiative launched by UNICEF in Greece and chart a timeline for its evolution – from conception (mid-2017) to national scale up (mid-2020). This includes identifying enabling factors for the project as well as bottlenecks and how they were addressed. The SIL initiative should be understood in its entirety – this includes downstream work (e.g. piloting the SIL apartments with implementing partners) as well as upstream work including advocacy (to generate buy in for the model) and systems building (e.g. through support to ensuring SIL was reflected in legislative and procedural frameworks, as well as systems for placement and selection).
2. Document and assess the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the SIL model of care, against its original objectives. This includes looking at the impact on the well-being of unaccompanied children involved in the project as well as their transition to adulthood and levels of social inclusion.
3. Assess the strengths/weaknesses of the SIL model against other modalities of care for UAC in Greece, both in terms of quality of programming and cost efficiency.
4. Present a set of lessons learned and recommendations for how to improve the current SIL model for UAC in Greece.
5. Present a set of transferable lessons that can be used to inform the expansion of the SIL model for Greek children living in institutional care. 

Scope:

The assessment will focus on the UNICEF-supported SIL pilot, from its conception in mid-2017 to its status as of September 2020. The assessment will look both at the SIL scheme itself (e.g. downstream investment in piloting the apartments with support from implementing partners who managed them), as well as the investment that UNICEF made in fostering a broader enabling environment, including generating buy in  and political will of key stakeholders (MoLSA, Public Prosecutor, EKKA, MOMP), supporting the drafting of the legal, policy and procedural frameworks for the formalization of SIL as a model of care in the country, and  advocating for the transfer of SIL under national funding mechanisms, that together set the stage for the scale up and evolution of the model. The assessment will also briefly take into consideration the SIL models launched by other actors in Greece for comparative purposes.

Key questions:

1. What is the SIL model of care how did the project evolve over time– from conception (mid-2017) to national scale up (mid-2020).

1. What was the context of UASC reception and care in Greece in 2017 when the SIL concept was introduced and how did the model aim to add value to existing services?
2. What was the concept behind the SIL project and what was the theory of change that informed it – taking both upstream and downstream work into account?
3. Who were the relevant stakeholders and how did UNICEF engage them in this project?
4. What where the key facilitating factors that help to foster an enabling environment leading to the piloting and scale up of the SIL?
5. What were the bottlenecks and how did UNICEF address them over time?

2. How successful was the SIL model of care in reaching its original objectives? How relevant, efficient, effective and sustainable was the intervention?

1. What were the SIL project’s original objectives and were they adjusted over time?
2. How relevant was the introduction of SIL in light of broader context of UAC care and reception in Greece? How did the SIL model compare to other reception and care modalities for UAC in Greece (e.g. shelters)?
3. How efficient was the SIL project – including value for money (compared to other care modalities)? How did UNICEF’s SIL model compare to other efforts to pilot SIL in Greece?
4. How effective was the SIL project realising results for unaccompanied children?  

• To what extent did it improve the overall wellbeing of unaccompanied children (as compared to other care modalities)?
• To what extent did it provide tailored individualized care (as compared to other care modalities)?
• To what extend did it support transition to adulthood and independent living of UAC?
• To what extent did it facilitate social and economic inclusion of UAC (compared to other care modalities)?

5. How did the SIL model take sustainability into account? How successful was the project in attempts to scale up and be a regular part of the reception system for UASC?

 

3. What are the strengths of the current SIL model of care in Greece and how can it be improved (in light of its original objectives, and beyond)?  

 

4. What transferable lessons can be drawn from the SIL pilot for the development of community-based care for UAC in Greece and in other parts of Europe/the world?

 

5. What elements of the SIL are transferable for Greek-born children living in institutional care? What legislative, normative, administrative adjustments would need to be considered to adapt it for Greek born children in the broader context of the childcare system?

Methodology:

The methodology will include a combination of desk review, a minimum of 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with key informants including policy makers, staff and management of implementing agencies, UAC experts, and UAC (including those who lived in SIL and those who aged out), observation including through minimum 5 site visits, minimum of 5 focus group discussions and a validation workshop.

Detailed assessment questions and methods, selection criteria, interview and focus group guides, will be developed by the consultant in close consultation with a Reference Group set up to oversee the assessment. The preliminary findings will be shared with stakeholders and recommendations will be refined based on consultative discussions.

In order to ensure the protection of, and respect for, human and child rights within the data collection, analysis and assessment processes, UNICEF will follow the requirements of the Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation, Data Collection and Analysis. In respect to COVID-19 public health preventative health measures, the consultant will propose specific measures to mitigate any risks while carrying out data gathering for the assessment.

Timeframe and deliverables:

1. A short inception report, including a literature review, methodology, analytical framework, detailed research questions and tools, stakeholders mapping, list of key informants, time frame and structure of final report, based on details provided in the Terms of Reference.
   • Due date: end of week 1: 23 November 2020
2. A draft report in English (maximum 20 pages) based on the analysis of the findings, in according to the outline, content and structure agreed with UNICEF. The draft report will address the research questions outlined in the TOR above. The initial draft report will be provided by the Consultancy to UNICEF for feedback and input will be incorporated;
   • Due date: end of week 5- 18 December 2020
3. A presentation of findings from the draft report (incorporating feedback from UNICEF) at a validation workshop with key stakeholders, to be organized by UNICEF
   • Due date: end of week 8- 8 January 2021
4. A final report in English that incorporates comments from UNICEF and key partners. The report will be complete, systematic, coherent, satisfactory, maximum length of 20 pages (excluding annexes) with clear, evidence-based recommendations. The report will address the questions presented in this Terms of Reference, each objective and the whole scope of work. The final report shall be developed according to the outline, content and structure agreed with UNICEF upon proposal of the Consultancy. It shall include at a minimum an executive summary (in English and Greek), presentation of the methodology, presentations of findings, recommendations and conclusion, and annexes (Terms of Reference, list of interviewees, site visits, list of documents reviewed, details on methodology).
   • Due date: end of week 9 – 15 January 2021
5. A short summary of the final report (3-5 pages) in English and Greek to be used by UNICEF and other partners for advocacy purposes for the adoption of the report’s recommendations.
   • Due date: end of week 9 – 15 January 2021

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in social policy or relevant field.
  *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in child protection and related field.
• Experience in carrying out assessments, and qualitative research on children’s programming.  Knowledge of UASC system in Greece an asset
• Excellent analytical and written skills
• Fluency in English (oral and written), Greek language skills an asset

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Management and Reporting

The consultant will report to the UNICEF Child Protection Officer.

 Duty Station, Workplace and Travel

The consultant will be home-based, and may be required to travel to Athens, Central Macedonia, and Epirus Greece for a short mission to conduct focus group discussions, site visits, and stakeholder meetings. Travel is subject to COVID-19 related restriction measures and will take into consideration COVID-19 preventative health measures.

Remuneration and Payment Schedule

Payment schedule: Payment will be made based on submission of quality agreed deliverables in line with timeline outlined in the TOR. UNICEF will cover costs related to mission to Athens in line with internal guidelines, including travel based on the most direct and economical route. 

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed will remain the copyright of UNICEF and UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future.

The financial offer should clearly indicate a) the amount for consultancy fees requested to carry out the aforementioned deliverables, b) the amount for the travel expenses required, c) any other expenses deemed necessary, d) the total amount of the financial offer.

All regulations for Consultants and Individual Contractors, including General Terms and Conditions, do apply for this contract. 

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants are invited to:

1. Attach the Letter of interest, including a plan describing your approach to the assignment, your availability and proposed fees (daily / monthly) and travel proposal to undertake the above TOR. Please note that applications without a proposed fee will not be accepted.

2. Attach CVs and/or Personal history form (downloadable from http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/P11.doc). Alternatively, if a candidate profile in the UNICEF e-Recruitment System is available, you may download it and submit it as part of application.

3. Submit a sample of similar work (in English)

UNICEF will shortlist the applications based on the following criteria:

Technical evaluation (60%): Relevance of professional and academic background, Assessment of sample of work

Financial evaluation (40%): Cost effectiveness of financial proposal

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.