Commissioning of the Kooth online counselling system (FOI)

​Request

Please can you advise the process by which Government commissioned Kooth for a 14 month pilot of their mental health app. Also please advise the full cost of commissioning this service.

Response

The process for commissioning Kooth on a 14 month pilot of their online counselling and support is as follows:

• a mental health redesign program enabled review of existing children and young people's mental and emotional wellbeing

• a questionnaire for children and young people identified over 50% of those who responded would like to access support online

• COVID-19 accelerated the need for mental health aid and reduced availability for face-to-face support

• researching Kooth as the market leader and accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and what they could offer in relation to Jersey's needs and requirements

• discussing a delivery model with the Isle of Man who have recently procured Kooth and have a similar demographic identifying issues and lessons learnt.

• ensuring key performance indicators can be monitored to ensure the product meets the needs of Jersey's children and young people

• ensuring the model is in line with local procedures including safeguarding

• completion of a full Data Protection Impact Assessment and Non-Functional Requirements assessment

• research team including representation from commercial, legal, IT and information governance

The full cost of commissioning the service is £52,200 for 14 months.