Supported Employment

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Supported Employment

• Bente Igland
• Tromsprodukt as
• www.tromsprodukt.no

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Definition of SE

• Supported Employment means
• Paid employment in community jobs
• Individualised, ongoing support for long term
  success
• Clear opportunity for ongoing integration
• Interaction with people without disabilities in
  the work place

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Supported Employment

• Individual support to people with vocational
  disabilities and employers
• Ordinary working life
• Vocational profiling and planning
• Job acquisition
• On the job training
• Ongoing support

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The SE process

• Making contact and exchanging information
• Vocational profiling and planning
• Job search
• Learning and development
• Ongoing support

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New Target Groups

• Change of target groups
• 1995 32 learning disabilities, 19 mental
  health problems, 6 social maladjustment
• 2002 30 mental health problems, 12 learning
  disabilities, 9 social maladjustment

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Research projects

• SE in 2002
• Description and analysis of job seekers,
  employers and job coaches experiences
• Case study (4 AB initiatives)
• Survey (questionnaire 437 job seekers, 217
  employers, 283 job coaches)

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Employees experiences

• Most participants achieve their goals
• 80 had established a link to the open labour
  market (mostly in the private sector and SME)
• They enjoy their work (93)
• They find the amount of work okay
• They have improved their chances in the open
  labour market (71)

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Employees experiences

• They get support according to their needs
• Good contact with their job coaches
• They get support from their colleagues
• Negative experiences with AB service are rare
• Many are dissatisfied with their pay

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Employers' experiences

• Participants do a very good or satisfactory job
  (96)
• Employers who both need manpower and want to help
  are also more willing to offer permanent jobs
• Participants are on average seen as 1/3 less
  productive than other employees

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Employers' experiences

• Little correlation between the employers
  assessment of employees productivity and their
  chances of being taken on permanently
• Employers reluctant to permanently employ link
  this to financial issues
• 80 have not experienced an increase of costs
• Minor problems 65.Significant problems 8

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New Tasks for Job Coaches

• New tasks for job coaches
• Less support on work sites
• Mobilising social and health services, support
  groups and networks (case management)
• Focus on motivation, cognitive and generic skills
  
• Direct intervention (if other responsible bodies
  fail to solve a problem)

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Postgraduate Training and Education in Vocational
Rehabilitation Supported Employment

• A multidisciplinary part time study
• 30 accreditation points (ECTS)
• Built on the principles of Supported Employment

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3 topic areas

• The Perspective
• The SE process
• Professional and Organisational Quality Assurance
  and Future developments