Evaluation of Service 2010
Report and Recommendations
Introduction and Background
Moving On Employment Project Ltd was established in 1997, it is now in its thirteenth year of assisting people aged 16 and over with barriers to employment such as physical or mental health problems, learning disability, sensory impairment or other barriers into employment, education, volunteering or work experience.
Following last year’s evaluation there have been service developments such as an increase in the number of job crew days offered, number of work placements and increase in types of practical skills that clients can develop.
This is the fifth audit and the aim is to review and evaluate the service identifying how it can be further improved and developed.
A questionnaire was given to clients who received support, employers and volunteers who have had contact with the project for the period 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010. Feedback was gained from multi-agencies via e-mail and telephone. There was a 39% response rate.
Objective - To evaluate and review the services of Moving On, analyse results and make recommendations for future service development.
Findings -
Clients
97% of clients who responded stated they have benefited from the service offered from Moving On and 91% were satisfied with all aspects of the service provided. 82% felt they had been given a choice of employment opportunities. 88% felt in control of decisions made and 97% felt they had been treated fairly and with respect.
82% felt their confidence and 84% how they feel about their self has improved. Gaining employment has also resulted 72% feeling an improvement in their relationships with others and 79% their ability to express and communicate their feelings. 82% feel more part of the community, improved skills and were more confident about work. It is significant that 63% feel an improvement to their health problems because many client have long term health problems or disabilities.
70% of clients who have been discharged from service are still in employment, education or training.
It appears that clients are satisfied with the service provided with responses such as ‘It is brilliant help to me and has helped me a lot in terms of getting placement which I enjoy and how I feel about myself’, ‘Keep developing as you have done’, ‘You are all doing a fine service which is a good benefit to the community, keep going you do a lot of people a lot of good,’ ‘I very much enjoy and value the opportunity I have which is provided by Moving On Employment Project’.
Service improvements and developments suggested include separate Support Workers for job crews and for helping clients find employment, additional Support Workers. Also suggested is client’s having more say in selecting their Support Worker, more training, expand the criteria (of service) and search area and having access to more real vacancies so clients could be matched up through Moving On to fill the vacancy or do a work trial or probationary period.
Employers
Of employers who responded, 84% stated 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 all following their experience.
All who responded state that Moving On has made to a difference to enabling people with disabilities and mental health problems to seek employment / voluntary opportunities and 84% enabling people with long term health problems. All stated they had been assisted in providing safe and supportive work placements for clients that they feel Moving On has made a difference to raising clients self esteem and confidence. 67% feel the project has promoted positive images of disability and mental health within the labour market and the Shetland Community. Half stated that supporting a client through Moving On has helped to influence the way that they provide their service and that they had increased diversity and equal opportunities in their workforce.
All employers state that the aims and objectives of the project were communicated excellently or very well and that the client was adequately prepared for the placement. All felt that they as employers, and client, were adequately supported prior to, and during the placement.
The benefits of employing a client through Moving On were detailed as 50% feeling that they and 67% their employees better understood disabilities / mental health problems. Half stated that it had helped improve the image of their organisation and 34% had a greater understanding of their disabled customer’s needs. 67% felt they have benefited from employing a person who has appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to bring to the post. One employer detailed that their benefit is that it changed public and employer’s perspective.
Two employers felt that there had been negatives about employing a client of Moving On. Reasons given were that although the placement was what the client wanted but they felt that the client was not ready for placement. Other employer detailed the commitment and time required to be given by them as an employer was a learning opportunity.
Service improvements suggested by employers include possibly attending staff meetings before placement, being prepared to discuss client’s ‘moving on’ might be a positive move for the employer and workplace.
Other comments received from employers include ‘We really enjoy and appreciate all that you do’, ‘It’s mostly been a very positive experience, I’ve enjoyed and value these placements, as have the majority of my staff’.
Volunteers
Volunteers who responded feel that Moving On has made a positive difference to enabling people with disabilities, long term and mental health problems seek employment / voluntary opportunities. They also felt that self esteem and confidence of clients has increased and that the service has influenced service provision for clients. Volunteers feel that diversity and equal opportunities had increased and positive images of disability and mental health had been promoted within the Shetland workforce. They agreed that Moving On had assisted employers provide supportive placements and had communicated the aims and objectives of the project effectively.
The volunteers felt that the support and training given to them was adequate. There were no volunteer suggestions for improving service. Comments include ‘Happy with working relationship’.
Multi Agencies
Feedback from multi-agencies is very positive and also highlights unmet need.
One agency stated job crews work well giving clients taster of practical skills, team working and a chance to ascertain their ability and have led to clients they refer going on into employment, volunteering and permitted work. Another agency stated that they felt that their organisation works in partnership and complements each other service, achieving the best outcomes for individual clients.
Two agencies involved in delivery of mental health services responded that both the one to one and job crew service assisted people with mental health issues to ‘move on’ into employment, education and training. They both stated this helps reduce stigma of mental health in the community and has increased the options for individuals with mental health issues.
Other agencies reported that they were very happy with the services provided, pleased with the throughput of people using the service and that thought is being given to future service development.
Service improvements suggested by multi-agencies are about increasing and sustaining resources to meet growing need within the community. This includes importance of Transition Support Worker for young people with additional support needs, increasing options for types of job crew work and making these attractive for young people. Also querying how Moving On will sustain services after current funding expires given current financial climate.
Analysis and Recommendations
It appears that Moving On is providing an effective service with 97% stating that they benefitted from the service provided and 70% of discharged clients still in employment, education or training.
Regarding separate Support Workers for job crews and for helping clients secure employment, during the job crew project each client is allocated their own Support Worker whom they work alongside during the job crew. Having the opportunity to work together enables Support Workers to get to know each client and identify the type of support they will require to make transition into employment, education or training. The Support Worker is then ideally placed to help support each client. Because of the small size of the organisation flexibility is needed in order to cover both core and job crew service.
Last year there was a 24% increase in number of referrals received by Moving On and there is currently a waiting list for core service. For these reasons, it is not easy to offer each client a choice in about selecting their Support Worker. However, if a client requests to work with a particular Support Worker, we will endeavour to accommodate their request.
Concerning more training, all clients undertake core training such as manual handling, health & safety prior to commencing placements or job crew. Training such as first aid, food hygiene, adult support and child protection, disability awareness are provided for individuals undertaking specific placements e.g. care. We plan to further develop the way in which there training opportunities are offered to clients.
Expanding the criteria of service and search areas, Moving On changed the constitution two years ago to enable people with any barrier to employment to access services. Referrals from this group have been significant (approximately 25% of total referrals). Moving On strive to support people from all geographical areas of Shetland and have successfully set up work placements in the most remote and rural areas. However, the current financial climate means that business and public sector organisations have been negatively affected. Supported work opportunities are dependant on economic climate as other employment opportunities. Moving On Team search and review local employment opportunities on a daily basis. It is becoming more common for employers to contact Moving On with work opportunities for clients. It is hoped that with the launch of our new website and ongoing awareness raising that this will continue to grow.
Moving On sets up work placements for clients and we also work closely with partnership agencies such as Jobcentre Plus and Lifeskills Ltd to ensure that all clients can access work trials or vacancies.
Regarding clients not being ready for placements, there is an assessment process once an individual is referred to service. If a clients is on sickness benefit such as incapacity relevant health professional e.g. GP or CPN is contacted with the person’s consent to ascertain if the individual is ready to ‘move on’. We work in partnership with clients and partnership agencies to ensure that a suitable and supportive work opportunity is sourced. However, due to the long term health issues of many clients it can be difficult to ensure every person is ready for work when the opportunity arises.
Support Workers are free to, and do attend staff meetings where appropriate. All placements have regular progress reviews where clients and employers needs are thoroughly discussed. Clients do move on from placements, last year forty-nine people were taken onto caseload and fifty people discharged.
Increasing resources, Moving On have recently secured funding and are presently recruiting for a Transition Support Worker. This is a new, additional post providing additional capacity predominately for young people with additional support needs who are leaving school and requiring support to access employment, training or education. Need for the post was identified by Moving On due to increase in number of referrals from young people.
Other partnership agencies providing services to client group are now offering in-work support for clients with complex barriers and needs. This is a very positive development for Moving On as will enable us to increase the number of placements. Moving On Support Workers will still continue to oversee placements to ensure that client and employer support needs are met, which takes time and expertise.
Increasing types and options of job crew work and making these attractive for young people. We listen to feedback from people that have taken part and use this to develop the job crew service. New projects developed include car maintenance and confectionary.
Sustainability of service, Moving On has a four year service level agreement with Shetland Island Council and the costs of providing the job crew are offset by the income generated from the work undertaken by job crews including contacts. The contracted work is growing each year and it is planned the service level agreement income will grow in next financial year with new Transition Worker post. Moving On is in process of reviewing and updating business plan to ensure that the resources are in place to deliver future service.
Conclusions
Following the feedback from service users, the service has been reviewed and an action plan produced to further develop the service to meet the needs of clients, employers, partnership agencies, volunteers and the Shetland Community. An audit will be performed again in a year to ascertain progress and identify further service developments. There will be continuous monitoring and evaluation during the year.
The feedback this year is that the service has continued to develop, improve and grow. There continues to be an increase of numbers of people supported through the project in both core and job crew service. To ensure that Moving On can continue to meet the growing need for its service within the community, it is essential that the additional financial and human resources required for service delivery are in place.
Thank you
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all clients who have used the service and to all employers, volunteers, partnership agencies, funders and the Shetland Community for supporting us over the past year.
Kellie Naulls – Project Co-ordinator
&
Moving On Team
July 2010
