Country Led Formative Evaluation of the Child Protection Models at the Decentralized Level in Thailand   UNICEF Thailand Country Office (TCO) is seeking an institutional contractor for the provision of Country Led Formative Evaluation of the Child Protection Models at the Decentralized Level in Thailand    Background Thailand is a country with a well-established child protection institutional framework which includes laws and regulations to protect children from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. However, this comprehensive body of legislation is not matched with the proper organizational infrastructure and human capacity to ensure systematic implementation of the law and monitoring of its enforcement. Fragmented services are compounded by lack of coordination and clear division of roles and responsibilities between and among child protection service providers in different social sectors. This often leads to opportunities lost to provide children with a continuum of care and protection. The baseline assessment findings on provincial-level case management procedures indicate that 23.8% of Provincial Shelter for Children and Families1 (Shelter) and 0% of Provincial Social Development and Human Security Offices2 (PSDHS) had standard case management procedures, in which most case management were informal and based on flexibility. In the risk assessment process, social workers understood the need to respond immediately to high-risk cases and could prioritize urgent cases, but none could explain a formal, standardized risk screening system, which might result in severe cases not receiving a response. The case management planning process was highly individualistic: social workers decided how to respond to cases but rarely reviewed their plans (handwritten notes for personal use) periodically or adjusted them after implementation/as number of cases increased. A concerning issue is monitoring and review, where 57.1% of Shelter’s staff and 19% of PSDHS staff reported that they "always" follow up on cases and review work; 38.1% of Shelter's staff and 28.6% of PSDHS staff followed up on "most" cases; but worryingly, more than half of PSDHS staff did not follow up on cases at all. Most cases were gradually closed informally - with social workers gradually reducing their involvement/case monitoring. Regarding provincial mechanisms, for Provincial Child Protection Committees, 6 out of 21 (28.6%) had annual work plans in the past fiscal year, and 1/3 (7 out of 21) maintained a child case database.   Objectives, Purpose & Expected results With the imminent endorsement of the revised Child Protection Act and its mandate of LAO on child protection, the purpose of this formative evaluation is to inform the strengthening and roll-out of the child protection system at the decentralized level in Thailand to enable planning of support in existing sub-districts - and expansion to new sub-districts - with appropriate models of child protection, and to inform DCY and partners’ planning for the implementation of the revised act. As a follow up of the baseline assessment completed in 2018, and building on the 2017 Strengthening Child Protection Systems Thailand Case Study Report, the specific objectives of the formative evaluation are: - To assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of Department of Children and Youth (DCY) child protection systems strengthening efforts at the decentralized level. - To assess the impact of various models on community-based child protection at the sub-district level. - To draw lessons and recommendations that improve and enhance DCY’s support to LAOs in strengthening child protection systems according to Draft Child Protection Act emphasizing current and future focus areas.   Location and Duration -  The assignment is expected to be completed within 5 months after the signing of the contract, tentatively from April 2025 to September 2025, including time for review of deliverables by the evaluation management team and the ERG. - A detailed workplan and work allocation will be agreed between UNICEF and the awarded contractor. - The assignment will be completed at the contractor’s premises. The contractor will be responsible for acquiring resources and facilities required for its completion, including any travel arrangements. - Regular virtual or in-person meetings are expected. - Travel is expected for this assignment   For full details, please refer to the attached Terms of Reference   This tender will be run through the UNICEF e-submissions system (UNGM). By clicking on the blue ‘Express Interest’ button in the UNGM tender notice, the full UNICEF e-submission system instructions to bidders document (including instructions on how to access the tender documents and submit an Offer) will be automatically emailed to the ‘contact persons’ included in your UNGM registration. Alternatively, the full UNICEF e-submission system instructions to bidders document is publicly available on the UNICEF supply internet pages here: https://www.unicef.org/supply/index_procurement_policies.html . In the tender management site, if you navigate to the documents tab and opt in to confirm your intention to submit a Bid – you will then see the mandatory placeholders for documents that must be attached prior to submitting your Offer (you will also see if there are any mandatory questionnaires to complete). As such, you are recommended to `opt in` well before the submission deadline so you are clear exactly what documents are required to be uploaded prior to completing your submission.  Please note that in order to access the full-set of tender documents through UNICEF’s e-submissions system, vendors must: (1) be registered with UNICEF in UNGM as a company/NGO; (2) have successfully completed all mandatory information currently required by UNGM when registering. Please ensure that any files submitted as part of your bid are not corrupt or damaged in any way. Please exercise caution when using compressed files. Any corrupt or damaged files may lead to your Bid being invalidated. All vendors are strongly recommended to regularly log-in to the UNICEF e-submissions system to check for any deadline extensions, new clarifications, new correspondence or updated tender documents relating to this tender. Should you have any questions against this solicitation, please submit your queries to [email protected] no later than 13 March 2025  so that all queries could be clarified and circulated to all bidders before the deadline. We look forward to receiving your proposals within the given timeline. Best regards, UNICEF Supply team