The Scope Framework

Sharing and Collaboration Offering Practice Exchange- Strategic Partnership Supporting the Exchange of Good Practices                                              

Introduction

The Scope project was brought together to exchange best practices on methodologies for engaging with job seeking young people, aged 18-24, who face barriers to entering training, education and the labour market due to issues of addiction. The Scope Project is as an Erasmus + Exchange of Practice, being led by Ballymun Job Centre in Dublin, with participating partners Ciofs FP (Italy), EU Rom Consultancy (Romania), Lawaetz Foundation (Germany), Jobbtorg Stockholm (Sweden), and APDES (Portugal). A core aim of this exchange was to create a framework of best practice to engage these marginalised clients in the most appropriate way.

Over the past 24 months, through a combination of partnership exchange, study visits, desk research and focus groups with clients, stakeholders and practitioners, the Scope partnership have synthesised the leading methodologies for engaging with clients. Using these findings the partnership have created their own framework and methodology for engagement of young job seeking clients with issues of addiction. This framework is presented as a methodology that can be accessed by any VET organisation and implemented in their work to support their client group who face these barriers. The framework is also supplemented by 20 case studies of best practice. This acts as an inventory of reference projects and approaches that VET organisations can reference if they are coming across barriers of implementation within their own organisation. The Scope partnership hope this framework is a useful resource for the VET organisations across Europe who work to support marginalised job seeking clients on a daily basis.

Development of the Scope Framework

The aim of the framework is to motivate and encourage high support clients to engage with employment, education and training support services while acknowledging that it is often very difficult for those clients to find the motivation to take part in any type of programme/training. Often when clients do make the decision to link in with a particular service or participate in a training programme it becomes a real challenge for them to maintain the commitment. The Scope partnership recognised the barriers that faced this client group and understanding that their difficulties are often compounded because of an inappropriate referral to a specific programme. The evidence gathered over the lifetime of Scope through focus groups, study visits and transnational meetings showed the need for a framework of principles working with corresponding recognised thresholds. This framework would direct the client into an appropriate service thus reducing the chances of the client disengaging.

The Scope partnership used several methods to gather the information required to compile a best practice framework with the essential elements needed for the delivery of a successful service for clients using or recovering from drug use. Through a combination of partnership exchange, study visits, desk research and focus groups with clients, stakeholders and practitioners, the Scope partnership have explored the most successful methods for engaging with clients. Using these findings the partners have created their own framework and methodology for engagement of young job seeking clients with issues of addiction.

1.         Focus Groups

The six partners of the SCOPE project conducted 42 focus groups divided into 24 Client Focus Groups, 12 Practitioner Focus Groups and 6 Stakeholder Focus Groups. The aim of the focus groups was to examine and explore the following:

1. State unemployment services
2. Unemployment services for high support clients.
3. Specialist addictions services.
4. Vocational, Educational & Training Programmes
5. Pathways to Employment
6. Barriers to employment

The project found that there were significant similarities in the client experience across partner countries and that divergences were identified within the national systems that clients engage with. The client group of the partners present with very similar issues and barriers preventing them gaining sustainable employment. Barriers such as: addiction, criminal background, mental health, low level of education, low confidence. All partners agreed that the fundamental part of the practitioner’s work is building up a relationship, this was common across the partnership and applied particularly to those practitioners working directly with high support clients. The apparent variances applied mainly to the different national state agencies’ criteria i.e. training allowance payment, availability of social employment, unemployment payment, and support services.

2.         Study Visits

The study visits were an integral part of The Scope Project. At all of the transnational meetings the host partner presented at least two best practices services delivered within their country. Combined with these presentations the host country also organised two study visits. The presentations coupled with study visits gave the partners an opportunity to explore and evaluate the services that were being delivered and the progression made by the clients that used the services.   At the transnational meeting the partners evaluated both presentations of best practices and study visits under the following headings:

 Objective  

1. Support for young job seeking clients with issues of addiction
2. Assisting clients to gain employment despite having a criminal background
3. Integrating clients into society
4. Supporting social inclusion

Activities

1. Supportive service for high support clients
2. Caring and non-judgemental staff
3. Relevant threshold
4. Practical activities

Participants  

1. Who were the agencies making the referrals
2. Voluntary participation
3. What was stage of drug use

Funding

1. Who were the funders
2. Was the funding mainstream

Good practice

1. Outreach approach
2. Informal approach
3. Structured processes
4. Individual work
5. Continium of care

Together with the best practice visits and presentations at the transnational meetings, the partners also provided additional best practices from their respective countries for analysis for the purpose of construction of the Scope best practice framework.

Incorporating the feedback from all of the focus groups, the evaluation of the best practices presentations, study visits and the desk research the partners discussed and debated the results at each transnational meeting. At the final meeting in Porto the partners analysed all of the findings, reached consensus on the transferability of the practices presented and using this information created the new Scope Framework.

The Scope Framework

The Scope methodology provides an underpinning for a sustainable method of working with young clients recovering from or with ongoing drug/alcohol through implementation of the five core principle framework developed by the partnership. It is essential that best practices address the discrimination attached to young people recovering from or with ongoing drug/alcohol use. The framework must be considered in accordance with the different thresholds and the distinctiveness of clients’ character, lifestyle, home-life, environment, motivation and commitment. The principles should take account of collaboration with employers, raising awareness amongst employers and social welfare organisations. VET /public employment /guidance services need to be cognisant of the need for suitable and relevant matching to course/programmes.

The principles are the guiding mechanism for engaging with the client. Practitioners identifying the correct programmes that contain the essential elements of the model will give the best possible support to the client. Used in tandem with the thresholds it will serve to encourage and motivate him/her to commence and continue with their training and or treatment.       

The five Scope principles are:       

1. Networking. 2. Fitting threshold 3. Flexible modules 4. Pro social community modelling 5. Tailored intervention

 

There needs always to be a fitting threshold, to support with treatment, training in the work context, paid training, protected work in supported environment, locally based, and always client centred policy.   

There are four thresholds ranging from low to high.

The idea of the thresholds are, whilst we recommend that all programmes/training contain elements of the five suggested principles there needs to be an awareness of the clients’ individual status.

The initial meetings with the client are crucial, therefore if it could be determined what threshold that client fits under early on in the guidance process (using the thresholds below as a measure) the correct intervention could be identified. Coupled with the five principle framework and the four thresholds the clients’ needs could be met at a much earlier stage. Therefore referrals would be more appropriate and retention on programmes could be much higher for these clients.

Case studies

The case studies presented below serves to bring the reader through the framework and principles as they would be implemented in practice. All names and main identifying features have been changed for anonymity

Case study 1

“John” is an 18 year old male, an early school leaver and is involved in criminal behaviour. He was referred by the courts to The Probation Service. The Probation Service referred him to The Ballymun Job Centre.

Family background

He is living at home with his mother, step farther and two brothers; one younger and one older. This is not a good environment for him as his father is heavily involved in drug use and criminal behaviour, so not a very good role model for this young person. John’s relationship with his family is good if somewhat chaotic. John is immersed in drug use and criminal activity, his friends and associates are also involved in drug use and criminality.

Education/ Training

John did not complete his Junior Certificate (EQF Level 2) while in school; he did attend Ballark Community Training Centre for a short period. Initially he got on well and commenced studying for a FETAC^[1] accreditation, Junior Certificate equivalent curriculum.  John fail to maintain any real interest and he subsequently lost his place in the training centre due to his regular absences and disruptive behaviour.

Profiling

Upon presenting to The Ballymun Job Centre he was registered as a client and had a brief assessment which indicated that he would benefit from a referral to the High Support team in the job centre. The high support guidance officer profiled him using the Equal Youth^[2] profiling system. John was referred to Equal Youth thus giving him the benefit of support from these goals are of an academic nature, it is therefore less stressful for the participant, thus giving the client the space needed to grow in confidence. Combined with multi-agency involvement, low threshold, high support, part time and very little classroom based activities this was the most appropriate programme for John. Many of the elements contained in The ^3]Ballyrunners come under the Scope recommended five principled framework. John has benefited from having his barriers and needs identified early on in guidance process, he also benefitted from the close inter-agency collaboration within Equal Youth approach. These were the best models of work and best possible approach for working with John. He profited from early recognition of the issues and barriers that were preventing him progressing on with his life, the interventions could be put in place quickly and effectively thus preventing him from sliding even further away from the labour market.   Understanding and identifying the most appropriate programme was vital in John progression. His confidence grew, and this encouraged him to continually challenge himself and progress.

 Case study 2

Ambra is a 16 year old student in a Ciofs-fp VET center. She attends a course to become an administrative secretary. In the last six months she started to smoke cannabis very heavily and the class teacher’s council’s decided to keep in charge her situation and try to help her.

Family background

She lives at home with mother, father and a four years older brother. Her family is a worker class one without criminal background. Both the parents work and the brother works and pays by himself the university. The neighbourhood where the family live is peripheric and with a high rate of disadvantaged people. Ambra has been dating bad company for some time.

Education/ Training

Ambra attends the second year, of three, in a Ciofs-fp VET centre. She was a good student with medium grades until six months ago. In this last period her academic performance became lower. Always more often she seats in the classroom astonished by the cannabis.

 Profiling and intervention plan

The class council has dedicated a whole meeting to analysing the case of Ambra and deciding what actions to put in place to counteract the real risk of leaving the vocational training center and interrupting the training path. It seems obvious to everyone that the restlessness typical of the age of Ambra has led her to date some girls in the neighbourhood who do not go to school and who move around in the neighbourhood doing some bullying. These girls are all bigger than Amber for a few years. Teachers do not know what exactly the situation is in the family. Amber’s mother almost always participates in meetings with teachers, but since the crisis began she has never come to talk to them.

They decide, therefore, that they will convene the parents to understand how things go at home and what their perception and opinion is about Ambra’s crisis. If parents are willing to collaborate and willing to work with teachers to distract Ambra from the seduction that substances are currently exercising on her, they will jointly consider the possibility of turning to the services that deal with youth drug addiction.

Moreover, they also agree that it is counterproductive during this period to keep Amber sitting in the classroom dazed and without participating in the work that is being done. Therefore they decide that the tutor of the centre will propose to Ambra to prepare and work together on some research related to the topics that the class is studying during this period. So it will be possible calibrate the work to be done so that Amber can manage it and not experience a sense of failure that would further remove it from the study.

Finally, they decide to talk with the two friends that Ambra has in the course, to gather their opinion on what is happening in Amber and suggest them to involve her as much as possible during free time, in an attempt to distract her from the companies she is attending.

In summary, the plan includes:

• collaboration with the family and through this the possible contact with the appropriate local services
• a personalized study program to prevent Amber from “dispersing” permanently
• the attempt to reinforce positive bonds and to support adherence to a healthier network of friendships.

Ciofs-fp is a VET organisation and, as such, does not have services dedicated to people who use or abuse drugs. On the other hand, working with young people, usually coming from socio-economic disadvantaged situation, is often faced with this problem. In addition to a generalized information and awareness-raising activity, it has developed the modality described above that relies on some elements that we also find in the principles identified by SCOPE, such as: Tailored intervention, Holistic approach, Coaching programs, networking with family, services and relationship networks .

Case study 3

Mr. Mueller is a 46 years old male. He is a former heroin user. He is now on a medically supervised substitute for heroin.  Mr Mueller has a number of other medical conditions  including diabetes, previously he  suffered a heart attack and is also on medication for this condition.

As a result of the previous illnesses he is physically impaired, the paranasal sinuses and mucous membranes are defective. It is only able to withstand limited strain. Mr Mueller’s medical problems impede his ability to work fulltime.

Family background

Mr. Mueller is currently living with his partner. He has a lot of support from his partner who was instrumental in him seeking support with his drug addiction, she encouraged him to consider medical assistance. She also was a strong support when he made that decision to seek the help he needed.

Education/ Training

Mr Mueller has participated in a training programmes in the past, however these proved to be too demanding in view of his health difficulties. He therefore ended his participation prematurely.  He does not have any real educational qualifications. Mr Mueller’s confidence was at a very low ebb and his inability to maintain a place on a training course had a very negative effect on him.

Career plan

Mr Mueller’s lack of qualifications or experience were an obstacle to him getting a job also his health issues are a real barrier to him obtaining and sustaining full time employment. In the past, he has received several publicly funded jobs through private contacts, none of these jobs lasted any real length of time.  He has also over the years applied for several jobs, but for health reasons he was not successful in any of these applications. He was in need of a high level of support, therefore any application he made was destined to failure. All of these failed attempts only succeeded in reducing his confidence even further.

Through assistance from support workers Mr Mueller managed to secure a part-time position in a in a social enterprise funded retail bicycle shop, the shop repairs and sells bicycles. He secured this position five years ago and is still employed there. This supportive setting is the ideal environment for Mr Mueller, and it allows him the dignity of earning his own living without being dependent on the state.

Mr Mueller has not been supported by the state employment agency for more than five years now. The employer’s decision to entrust Mr Mueller only with tasks that correspond to his limited abilities which in turn has given him a measure of self-respect and confidence encouraging him to continue on his path of a heroin free live.

Recognising what the client’s needs were and identifying the accurate programme for him was crucial in his recovery and progression from a dependency on illegal drugs. It also ended a reliance on a state allowance payment to a system whereby he could contribute to society and earn his own living. When taking into account the recommended five principle framework and tiered thresholds of The Scope project Mr Mueller’s journey to the stable life he lives today might have been a much shorter and smoother expedition.

Case study 4

Tom came into contact with the SIG (Social activity group)^[4] in one of the suburbs in Stockholm and was assigned a guide. G was involved in a criminal lifestyle and needed support to get out of this lifestyle. Since finding a way to enter a job and to be able to support himself was central to Tom, the guide helped him be subscribed with   Jobbtorg Stockholm^[5] for youth.

Profiling

At Jobbtorg a mapping of Tom’s personal needs and preconditions was made to assess the best methods of supporting Tom towards work. Tom had not finished school and lacked work experience. He also lacked some of the social skills to adjust to an ordinary workplace and was easily conceived as being aggressive. A job on the open labour market was not an option, so he needed an activity on a low threshold level. At the same time, he had a great need to gain an income in order to break with his criminal lifestyle and get a chance to gain experience, and work with his social skills. The coach at the Jobbtorg and Tom agreed that a paid job training in a shielded environment would be the best approach and together they made a study visit to “Arbetslagsanställningar” at Nytorgsverkstan^[6]. After the study visit, they agreed that he would enter the activity.

Education/ training

At Arbetslagsanställningar each individual gets a chance to do things in their own pace and the focus is not only on work and study. Instead, a holistic approach is used. Apart from work training and social skills training Tom entered into CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) to work with issues regarding his way of communicating and being perceived as aggressive. He trained at working in a team, took part in different study visits to workplaces as a part of guidance and trained in taking contact with employers on his own to plan study visits.

Career plan

After the planned six month, an assessment was made and the conclusion was that Tom needed a longer time within the activity. The placement was extended with another six month during which Tom could continue to work on his social skills and to plan his future. After the additional six month, Tom was able to take the step to a subsidized and supported position in an ordinary workplace within the city of Stockholm. This job was transferred to a nonsubsidized job where he worked for three month. Since the employer did not have the possibility to keep Tom in the position, the coach from Jobbtorg Stockholm stepped in and gave support and matching and Tom received a job with a private company dealing with cars where he is still working.

During the entire process, many of the SCOPE principles have been applied:

• Fitting threshold: Individualized, Easily accessible, safe transition from welfare to training and work and the services tailored to the client’s needs
• Flexible modules: Paid training and training in the work context, flexible schedules, soft skills, Work in a supported environment
• Pro social inclusion: Promote social inclusion, Participatory process
• Tailored intervention: Holistic approach, empowerment, one to one relationships with the practitioners
• Personal development and coaching programs

Many factors has been important to support Tom on his way from a criminal lifestyle outside of the society to a position where he has obtained a job and is able to keep it and engage in a functional way with others in the workplace. The most important factors being the holistic approach, the way the support has been individually tailored, flexible, and continuously adapted to Toms own needs, wishes and motivation and that he has had the possibility to gain support when needed even after entering the labour market.

[1] Further Education and Training Awards Council

[2] Equal Youth, as an interagency model of working was developed in 2005 and was adopted by the services working with young people in the Ballymun area.  Based on best practice in the EU (including Ireland) that recognises the complexity of needs being presented by young people and the need for a range of services networking to establish inclusive progression pathways for young people The Equal Youth Project arose from this concern and recognised that while individual agencies were providing a good service they were not always working together to provide an integrated service and as a result some young people were slipping through the net.  Equal Youth aims to work with young people in an attempt to identify and overcome barriers, both intrinsic and extrinsic, to sustainable career development.

^[3) The objective is to engage young people at risk in constructive activities that alleviated boredom and promoted life skills and pro-social attitudes and activities on group work programme to engage hard to reach young people, who are out of training/employment, and are involved in criminal behaviour, drug use and are generally apathetic. The aim is that this leads to a reduction in anti-social and criminal behaviours, decreased drug use, increased engagement with services and improved self-worth. Encouraging those clients to progress onto further training/education and employment

[4] The social activity groups offer support to youth who wants to leave a criminal lifestyle. Each youth that enters the program is assigned a guide that supports them in all areas of life such as contacts with different authorities, getting basic practicalities sorted like getting an identification documents etc.

[5] Jobbtorg Stockholm works as a job Centre for unemployed people on social welfare and do outreach work to find and offer support to NEET.s.

[] Arbetslagsanställningar offers paid work training in a carpentry in combination with support to obtain social skills, managing timekeeping, taking instructions etc. The activity also offers training, recreational, and cultural activities, as well as working to inspire the participants to take a part in the democratic life, such as supporting them to vote etc.

Conclusion

The Scope Project aimed to create a framework of best practice to engage these marginalised clients, who have ongoing or potential drug misuse problems, in the most appropriate way through VET services. Using exchange of best practice, study visits, along with focus groups with jobseekers, practitioners and stakeholders, the Scope partnership have developed a new methodology for engaging these clients. This methodology focuses on five principle is best practice in which VET service should always seek to utilize when providing services to these at risk clients. These principles are bolstered by a full framework of implementation, along with a client threshold which identifies the most appropriate level of intervention according to the client’s profile. The framework outlined above is also demonstrated through client case studies to outline the use of the Scope framework in practice.