The Moving On Employment Project was established in 1997 to help people with learning disabilities to gain and maintain paid employment or voluntary work in Shetland. With a growing demand for services from those with mental health and physical problems and the implementation of new disability legislation the project has developed over the years. The current workload comprises of adults with physical, sensory or learning disabilities and mental health problems.

A new Co-ordinator was recruited in April 2006 and it was decided by the Moving On Committee that an audit of clients, employers, multi-agencies and volunteers should be performed to identify further action plans for the project.

A questionnaire was given to all clients who received direct support, employers, multi-agencies, employers and volunteers who have had contact with the project for the period 1st May 2004 to 1st May 2006. These were sent out by post on the 31st May 2006 and returned by the 9th June 2006 with the final report prepared for end June 2006.

79 questionnaires were handed out to clients, employers, volunteers and multi agencies, 34 of which were returned (43%).

Objective: To ascertain the Projects baseline and to identify how the service could be further developed in the future.

Findings:

Clients

Clients appear to benefit greatly from the service offered from Moving On with 84% of those who responded stating they were helped a great deal or quite a bit by the advice and support given with 92% fairly or very satisfied with all aspects of the service provided. 92% felt their initial assessment was just right and 84% that the training and employment opportunities were also just right. 77% felt in control of decisions made and 92% felt they had been treated fairly and with respect.

92% of clients stated that gaining employment has resulted in much or some improvement in how they feel about themselves and their self confidence. 75% had self esteem improved and also their relationships with others. 83% felt their ability to express and communicate their feelings had improved and felt more part of the community. 75% felt that their skills had improved and 83% were more confident about work. 31% had much or some improvement to their health problems.

The other comments made indicate that clients are in general happy with the service provided with positive responses such as "staff are exceptional", "keep up the good work" and "you are doing just fine at the moment". However, the need for additional staff is affirmed by suggestions for service improvement including employ more workers of the same calibre. One respondent details that if Support Worker is sick or on holiday their work experience is not covered and another that staff changes can be difficult. Although it is appreciated that increasing capacity is dependant on additional funding. It is suggested that work placement opportunities are expanded for example approaching employers such as the SIC to encourage them to take on people to do jobs that are not easily filled.

Employers

70 % of employers who responded state that they would have offered an opportunity to an individual with a disability or mental health problem before being approached by Moving On, this increased to 90% following their experience.

80% state that Moving On has made to a difference to enabling people with disabilities seek employment / voluntary opportunities which increases to 90% for those individuals with mental health problems. 70% stated they had been assisted in proving safe and supportive work placements for clients. All of those who responded stated that they think that Moving On has made a difference to raising their clients self esteem and confidence and has promoted positive images of disability and mental health within the labour market and Shetland Community. Moving On has also helped to influence the way that employers provide their service with 50% stating that they had increased diversity and equal opportunities in their workforce.

Employers responses indicate that more work is required to support them in the early stages with 40% stating that the aims and objectives of the project were communicated fairly or poorly and 50% the same for support given to them prior to the placement. However, 70% stated they felt that the client had been sufficiently prepared.

70% of employers felt that the support given during the work placement to themselves and the client was excellent, very good or good. 80% stated there were no negative, with one stating the negative in fact a positive as it made them think about flexible work patterns.

The benefits of employing a client through Moving On were detailed as 70% felt they and 60% their employees better understood disabilities / mental health problems. 30% stated that it had helped improve the image of their organisation and they had a greater understanding of their disabled customer’s needs.

The other comments received and suggestions for improving the service provided appear to reinforce the need for more preparation for employers. They include ensuring that the scheme is explained prior to placement and being given more information about the individual being placed. Raising awareness in schools and colleges is also advised.

Multi-Agencies and Volunteers

81% of multi-agencies and volunteers who responded stated that they had heard about Moving On prior to 2004 with most of these being informed about the project by the project team or another statutory agency or department.

72% state that Moving On has made a difference to enabling people with disabilities seek employment / voluntary opportunities, increasing to 82% for those individuals with mental health problems. All of those who responded agreed that clients self esteem and confidence were increased. 36% felt that the service has influenced service provision for their clients. 45% stated that diversity and equal opportunities had increased and positive images of disability and mental health within the Shetland workforce. 54% agreed that Moving On had assisted employers to provide safe and supportive work placements for clients.

54% felt that the aims and objectives of the project had been communicated effectively and that clients had been supported prior to the work placement. 45% felt that staff had been very good or good at identifying and assessing work placements, with 72% stating that clients had been supported during the work placement.

When asked how the project could improve its working relationship with you 27% stated they were satisfied and happy with this. Issues relating to the referral process were highlighted for example to have more clarity and feedback on referrals made. Promoting the project by giving more information on services, to be copied into annual reports and better feedback on the projects objectives and outcomes were specified. Communication issues for example keeping clients more regularly informed of work possibilities and better inter-agency working were also detailed.

Service improvements to meet the needs of clients also included communication for example ensuring the outcomes such as the length of support is offered and more liaison with referring agencies. Liasing with employers to increase the work opportunities is detailed by 63% of respondents including working pro-actively with NHS Shetland and SIC. Job analysis, training and career progression are required to assist clients to reach their full potential as is providing services to those clients out-with Lerwick for example in the country and isles.

Other comments included positive responses such as "carry on the good work", the project has grown and developed over the years and of good past experiences of the help and support provided by Support Workers. The capacity of the project is mentioned by many respondents, for example the project is too small to meet everyone’s needs, suggestions include the utilisation of more volunteers. A higher profile of the project is also advised as is increasing the employment opportunities offered perhaps by working more closely with COPE, NHS Shetland and the SIC.

Analysis and Recommendations

Moving On appears to be providing an effective service according to the feedback from the clients. The main point raised is the need for additional staff. The project has recently recruited an additional part-time Support Worker to expand the capacity and to allow the full-time Support Worker to work on the ‘job crew’ approach to supported employment. This will ensure that there is additional capacity to cover work placements during staffs’ annual leave and sickness absence and also aim increase our volunteer base

We have established links with the SIC’s Training and Skills Co-ordinator Doreen Thomason and we have been working together closely to develop further the placements offered and liase regarding the 54% of our client caseload who currently have placements there. We also aim to increase the different types of work opportunities offered to clients by working closely with organisations and employers to effectively identify their human resource needs and to job match to our clients.

We are in the planning stages of an open event for employers for next Spring, the aim is to raise the profile of the project and to provide education and training about issues surrounding disability at work.

We plan to ensure that we work more closely with employers in the planning stages of work placements to ensure they feel fully informed and supported before taken on a client.

The promotion of Moving On services is being addressed by raising awareness by articles in the local press and radio and to feedback results of this evaluation to relevant groups for example Social Forum, Community and Mental Health Partnerships amongst others. It is also planned that information about the projects services and new initiatives are shared with all clients, relevant individuals, statutory and voluntary agencies and employers to ensure that feedback is improved. We are working with Employability Orkney to establish how we can work towards a Northern Framework of the Scottish Union of Supported Employment (SUSE). This would ensure that we are represented at national level with a seat on the SUSE Board.

The new Co-ordinator has met with personnel who may potentially refer an individual to the project such as the Learning Disabilities Nurse, Eric Gray Resource Centre, Link Up, and Community Mental Health Team to identify how Moving On can work more closely with their agency and to clarify the referral process. Procedures have been streamlined to ensure that all those who refer clients receive feedback.

An eight pilot project ‘Rocks to Roses’ of the work crew approach to supported employment is planned for September. This is an environmental project based in the North Mainland comprising of a small team of disabled clients, Support Workers and Volunteers working together as a group. We plan to evaluate this and aim to roll this out to other areas of Shetland by the Spring of next year and recruit two additional full-time Support Workers subject to securing additional funding.

Conclusions

We have used the information ascertained through this audit to review our service and plan how we can effectively develop our services meet the needs of clients, employers, multi-agencies and volunteers. It is planned to re-audit in one year’s time to ascertain progress and identify further actions required to develop our service.

Our aim is that our project will continue to grow, promoting diversity and equality within the workforce and continue to increase the economic benefit to the Shetland economy. Most importantly to help individuals to develop work skills, knowledge and experience to contribute to and feel valued within their community. As one person who had used the service recently said of Moving On ‘What you are doing is giving people like me, hope for now and for the future’.

Kellie Naulls
Moving On Project Co-ordinator
June 2006