The criteria below show how we will make a decision about your
application. You should ensure that your application addresses these points.
Please refer to the guidance notes for more
information about how to meet the selection criteria.
About your organisation:
- Be a member of a network in the QDI consortium (Age Concern England,
DIAL UK, FIAC London Region, Law Centres Federation, NACAB London Region,
Refugee Council and Youth Access)
OR be prepared to become a member in order to be able to continue to
access professional support services from the relevant network after
QDI ends.
- Provide a confidential and free advice service and be independent
of local or central government control: i.e. have an independent voluntary
management committee
- Have a governing document, bank account and management committee
in place.
- Be able to identify a need for development support in one or more
of the following areas: organisational management; advice management;
service development .
- Be willing to carry out an assessment to identify your development
needs and set aside sufficient time and allocate the relevant personnel
for the assessment to be carried out.
OR if your service has recently carried out an assessment of its advice
services within the last two years be willing to carry out a review
to look at how you have progressed and to identify any new development
needs.
- Be willing to take a self-critical analysis of your service and how
your organisation operates and to provide true and accurate information
about your organisation during the assessment. This will be treated
confidentially by QDI.
- Be committed to agreeing and to implementing a development plan as
a result of the assessment with your development worker. (Not all of
which would necessarily be resourced via the QDI)
- Be willing to incorporate the Quality Assurance measures of the network
of which you are a member or aim to become a member of.
- Be willing to participate in the evaluation of the project at an
agreed time
^ up
Your service:
- Have an established, advertised advice service, which is available
to the public for at least 8 hours per week.
- Provide advice on matters related to any of the following subjects:
welfare benefits, housing, debt, consumer, employment, immigration,
asylum & nationality, health, race equality, sex discrimination,
disability rights, education and community care.
- During the selection process we will ensure that 50% of organisations
selected will be smaller organisations defined as: 2 or less full time
paid staff in the advice service side of the organisation.
- Agencies already receiving development support from another source
will only receive support from QDI to focus on other areas of development
not currently being addressed. This will ensure that QDI complements
the development work already being undertaken.
- QDI wishes to support & encourage applications that will reflect
as far as possible the particular needs for advice in the local borough
and that protects and extends access to advice:
- Organisations that are strategically placed within the local
area:
- by client group (services working with older people, disabled
people, young people or homeless people, services working with
refugees and services run for and by black and ethnic minority
communities including services for women).
- Type of service e.g. specialist subject areas of advice,
generalist advice in particular local areas.
- Links (including referrals) with other advice providers
- Services identified as priority as a result of evidence of
unmet need (for example through the local CLSP strategic plan
or local research/needs assessment)
- Agencies looking to develop their role as a second tier support
to advice agencies locally:
- Linking smaller groups to the CLSP or other network arrangements
and facilitating the independent advice sector locally
- developing referral arrangements locally
- providing second tier advice & support to advice agencies
locally
- providing technical supervision & file review to advice
agencies locally
- Strategically placed agencies in imminent danger of closing or
undergoing governance or management crisis. Which the agency has
identified it has a realistic chance of overcoming as a result of
support from QDI.
- Advice agencies which encourage user control/self help
- Borough wide or joint applications to benefit the local advice
sector as a whole: (e.g. a larger agency taking the lead on bringing
funding in to the local area for advice).
- Development that will lead to an organisation's improved understanding
of its appropriate advice role in the borough and/or improvements
in the quality of advice provided.
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