Blackburn with Darwen City Employment Strategy
Case Study - Jane*
Jane struggled within the education system. She missed considerable amounts of schooling because of bullying and, despite receiving learning support through the school's SENCO, did not secure any GCSEs at grade 'C' or above. After school she undertook several work placements on e2e with varying degrees of success.
In February 2007 Jane was approaching the end of her e2e programme and at the time was facing a number of problems in her personal life. At this point, she was referred to the Borough Council's Supported Employment service (one of the City Employment Strategy partners) under the NRF-funded partnership between Supported Employment and Training 2000.
Supported Employment carried out a person-centred 'Profiling' assessment. During this process Jane showed an interest in, and an aptitude for, 'caring' professions, particularly childcare and care of the elderly. Jane's Support Worker, Jenny, encouraged Jane to meet her regularly to undertake job search activity together at Blackburn Jobcentre Plus. Jenny also worked with Jane's Connexions (CXL) Advisor and Dawn, the Disability Employment Advisor (DEA) at Blackburn Jobcentre Plus, in a co-ordinated approach to the challenge of supporting Jane into work.
Together, Jane and Jenny created an up to date CV, wrote covering letters and filled out application forms. Jenny also helped Jane with her application for Job Seekers Allowance.
Initially, Jane was reluctant to apply for any 'training' jobs, and was adamant that she simply wanted a paid job. As she worked alongside Jenny to find a way into the world of work, however, Jane became more open to the prospect of 'work with training', and to the idea of a developing career.
As a result, in April 2007 Jane was supported to make an application for Modern Apprenticeships. This required her to undertake a Genesys assessment for which Supported Employment negotiated reasonable adjustments on the grounds of Jane's dyslexia and general learning disability. As part of this adjustment, for example, Jane was permitted to have sections of the assessment read to her during the assessment - a crucial intervention without which the Genesys assessment would have been an insurmountable barrier to Jane.
In May, as part of the joined up approach to the support for Jane, her CXL Adviser negotiated an interview for her for a Childcare Modern Apprenticeship with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council through CXL's Public Sector Apprenticeship Project, a project set up through the local Public Service Board. Jenny worked intensively with Jane on interview preparation and confidence building, and accompanied Jane to the interview venue for moral support.
As a result of the interview, Jane won her place on the Modern Apprenticeship with the pledge of a job from the Council at the end of it, but the 'single employment service' approach adopted by the City Employment Strategy partners recognised that, for the overall strategy of sustainable employment for Jane to succeed, the support needed crucially to continue beyond the point of the job offer.
As a result:
(*the client has opted to keep her real name anonymous)
Case Study - Tim Kerr
Tim Kerr works at GGI Office Furniture UK in Darwen. He is a popular and well-respected employee. He does a responsible job well, and he enjoys it. The fact that he has a disability is an irrelevance.
It hasn't always been plain sailing. Not too long ago, Tim was one of an estimated one million people in this country who want to work but still find that their disability, and more importantly people's attitudes towards it, are barriers preventing them from working.
Tim was referred to us in 2005. The emphasis from the start was on Tim's abilities, his potential and his ambitions, rather than on the things he couldn't do. Tim had a great attitude and a set of marketable skills. The challenge was to find the right job with the right employer.
Since his referral, he has successfully completed Fork Lift Truck training in Reach, Counterbalance and Pedestrian Lansing. He has been supported into jobs with a printing firm and then a retail superstore, before transferring into his current job at GGI as a warehouse operative.
Tim's new job suits him perfectly. GGI are a progressive and successful company who were already signatories to the Borough's Employment Charter, a scheme which encourages and supports employers to recruit local people including those from underrepresented groups. For the first couple of weeks Tim had a job coach to help him settle in, and the company were happy to be flexible and innovative in finding ways to help Tim learn the job. GGI's reward now is to have an independent and highly competent employee with a strong sense of loyalty to the company.
Tim's boss at GGI Judy Halstead says, 'Tim has become one of the most helpful members of our team. Nothing is to much for him. He is always polite and his smile brightens everyone's day.'