Schemes to help disadvantaged people find work are under threat – but this is the very time they are most important
The plight of school-leavers and university graduates has suddenly become the single most important priority for the government. The fears of a ‘lost generation’ of young people with shattered hopes and dwindling motivation has already prompted a quick and costly policy response through the Future Jobs Fund and Backing Young Britain schemes.
Youth unemployment has been one consequence of recession, deep enough to send ripples through every level of society. Another has been the cuts in funding for schemes to help people who already know what it means to have few options for the future, for far longer, and with far less chance of turning their situation around.
Initiatives such as the FJF, which aims to create 47,000 jobs, refer to help for long-term unemployed people, but accompanying statements made by ministers are all focused on young people. While the recession might be merely a blip for young people, and an opportunity for travelling, voluntary or undemanding low-paid work, it is having far more serious consequences for those who were already facing problems building any kind of career.
Some of the first casualties of the downturn have been employment schemes for people who have disabilities, learning difficulties, a lack of skills or mental health problems. They have suffered from funding cuts and have been unable to find any new sources of finance.
Services of this kind are particularly vulnerable in a recession because they could take the brunt of cuts – despite their added importance in these times. Schemes suffer from a low overall level of resources and the need to seek funds constantly and from more than one source. Much of their funding is obtainable only for time-limited or what are considered to be ‘innovative’ projects. Another issue is that the money is often linked to targets – which are sometimes unrealistic or do not fit with the aims or spirit of the organisation itself.
Funding is just one of the issues highlighted in the newly published report Smoothing the path from the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development and CfBT Education Trust. The report offers important evidence for policy-makers in their plans for the launch of the national Adult Advancement and Careers Service in 2010 – in particular, what can be achieved with helping disadvantaged adults into fulfilling and useful work.
This a tough area for getting results, and some of the most important outcomes are the ‘soft’ ones, the increased confidence and sense of direction that people gain. Action for Blind People runs regional teams to provide careers advice, helping around 500 people each year. A project at Havering College, Realistic Opportunities for Supported Employment, has placed 37 people with disabilities into long-term work since it was launched.
The report is important in identifying why a scheme has a real impact in changing people’s lives, with some lessons for the government in its plans for the new adult careers service.
Factors for success include: allowing personal relationships to develop; understanding the world that the ‘client’ has come from and speaking their language; asking clients to make a commitment to their own progression; the good use of volunteers, many of whom were previous clients, and recruiting staff with a real empathy and experience of the client groups; an ability to convince employers of the value of their clients; and network arrangements with other local agencies, or agencies with expertise in the needs of the target group.
When the economic climate is good, unemployment is a minor issue and disadvantaged adults are forgotten. The tragedy is that when unemployment is headline news, the situation is even worse. The new adult careers service needs to learn from the outstanding work already being undertaken in difficult circumstances – and the value for society as a whole from a network of mutually supportive schemes with a sustainable funding regime.
Tony McAleavy is director of education at the CfBT Education Trust
