Suvot Newsletter Nº 3 (english version)

Newsletter

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SUVOT SUVOT

Number 3 December 2011

Spicing Up Vocational

Training

2011 is ending and we are really looking forward to 2012, as this will be the starting of SUVOT course! A lot of exciting new things are coming and we would like to share them with you during this New Year.

In this issue we present you the vocational training opportunities for people suffering from mental illness in Spain, Germany, Slovenia and Poland. You will realize that more chances are required like, for example, our vocational cooking course.

Moreover, we inform you about our last meeting in Slovenia and make a review of the work done during 2011.

We hope you enjoy the reading!

SuvotTEAM

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Vocational training for people with mental illness and people with mental disabilities: opportunities for them in each of the partners’ countries

SITUATION IN SPAIN As you read in our last newsletter, labour integration is the first step for the social integration of people suffering from mental illness, but it is still very complicated. In order to facilitate the employability of this target group, we need high quality training but, unfortunately, in Spain there are few services and programmes specifically adapted to their needs. We have private initiatives like workshops, some training courses, some support services focus on employment and the programme PCPI (Initial Vocational Training Program), the unique public official option.

An evidence of these few opportunities of specific training services is the lack of official statistics about training for employment of people suffering from mental illness and/ or mental disabilities. In the private sector we have some organizations like FEAFES, FSC Inserta or ONCE Foundation that promote training courses focus on the needs of our target group. In 2010 more that 500 people suffering from mental illness participated in some of these workshops and 67 of these participants got finally a job.

In the public sector, we emphasize the importance of the above mentioned Initial Vocational Training Program (PCPI); this is the official way in which the Spanish government facilitates the degree in secondary education to youngsters in risk of social exclusion (due to, for example, mental disabilities and/ or mental illness). At the same time, they obtain a professional qualification that will facilitate them the access into the labour market.

FundaciĂłn INTRAS is one of the entities that deliver this kind of training in the region of Castilla y LeĂłn. The PCPI programme run by INTRAS is addressed to young people between 16 and 21 years old with any kind of mental health problems, behavior disorders and/or learning difficulties that are not able to follow conventional training. The PCPI programme that INTRAS runs in Valladolid lasts for two years and prepares the pupils to become administrative services assistant. It is structured in several modules about technical knowledge but also general knowledge and continuous reinforcement of some basic social skills that will allow them to better adapt to a job and thus integrate into society.

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SITUATION IN SLOVENIA There are many factors that a person with mental health problems needs to consider. These factors can be either subjective or objective: job offers on the employment market, the overall economic situation, and different measures to encourage employment of this category of employees, their remaining ability to work, kind of work, prejudice (stigma) and stereotype thinking. In the present economic situation the employers are more pragmatic in the context of achieving business optimum.

Already the fact of being labelled with ‘mentally ill’ means a change in every single bit of a person’s life. Their position in the employment market also changes. The economic crisis will pass by, but the etiquette will stay for life. This is mainly the worst part of the illness, which is also often manifested in tries gone wrong to get a job. This fact then also contributes to the (overall) low self-esteem and gives a negative connotation to future plans.

Slovenian legislation which regulates this field mainly interferes with health politics and consequently with the social care of people with this kind of problems. The legislation mainly deals with: •

Systems of health and social care in the field of mental health, • Defines the actors in the field of health and social care and the rights during the hospitalisation under special control in the hospital, • Treatment in a guarded unit of a social welfare institution and in controlled treatment, • Methods of admission: • To a special control unit in the psychiatric hospital; • To a guarded unit of a social welfare institution, • To controlled treatment • To community care.

In the field of social welfare there are three important novelties for people with mental health problems: • Coordinator in the community, • Rights’ representative of people with mental health problems and • Multidisciplinary teams which are coordinated by Social Work Centres (coordinators) for each case individually.

But it does not regulate the field of the employment of people with mental health problems and it does not influence their acquisition of the status of a person with disability.

The employment of people with disabilities is regulated by the

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Law on the employment market regulation, as a general law, and the Law on vocational rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities, as a specialised law. The both mentioned laws, together with programme acts of the Government of the republic of Slovenia on active employment politics connect the field of vocational education and employment to a whole.

In addition to the mentioned acts the field of employment and vocational education of people with disabilities is also regulated in the Pension and Disability Insurance Act, in the Employment Relationships Act, which sets the employment conditions of a person with disabilities to a certain vocational education and treats people with disabilities as a special protected group of employees, where the employment relationship can be terminated only in certain circumstances which are set by the law.

The Parliament of the Republic of Slovenia passed in 2008 the Act Ratifying the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities, which is the first UN act ever on human rights of people with disabilities. Based on this in 2010 a special law was passed and it regulates the field of equal chances and the non-discrimination of people with disabilities. Together with some other specialised acts it represents a holistic and systemic approach to the elimination and prevention of discrimination due to a disability.

SITUATION IN GERMANY Regardless whether being disabled or not, German law aims to ensure the same basic rights for all people. Two of the most important rights are probably the right for self-determination and participation in cultural life. For people with disabilities this means support on a state. In the social security code there is one book (SGB IX), which aims explicitly on the rehabilitation and participation of people with disability. Here you find the responsible service provider to support people with any kind of disability. This can for example be the youth welfare office or the labor agency.

To ensure that people with disability are able to take advantage of the right to participate in working life there are vocational training centers for people with all kinds of disabilities. These are rehabilitation institutions which are specialized to respond to needs of the participants. In these institutions there are more services than in common training schools or companies.

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A capable team of trainers, teachers, pedagogues and psychologists accompanies and supports the rehabilitation process. Depending on the people and the kind of disability there is a 24/7 care and people are supported in everyday life. It is possible to live in a boarding home or to commute between home and working place.

In CJD in Frechen there are about fifteen working area, for example gardener, housekeeper, painter, building constructer, salesman, hairdresser, etc... There are about 300 young people with disability doing a vocational training here. All over Germany there are 52 vocational training centers offering trainings to people with disability (overview on http://www.bagbbw.de/).

The chance for people with disability to get a vocational training for entering in working life is quite good. Mostly the labor agency takes the costs.

SITUATION IN POLAND According to Polish National Census there are 5,4 million people with disabilities in Poland, which represents 16% of the population. 2.5 million disabled people are at the employment age, but over 80% of them don’t work. This results from barriers in the educational system. Almost 36% of people with disabilities in Poland have only basic education and the number of people with disabilities completing higher education does not exceed a few percent…

Too often individual tuition (outside of the classroom) is prescribed, which leads to isolation of disabled children from their peers and gaps in their knowledge. This results in later difficulties in getting to a college or undertaking vocational training and its completion. There is no universal system of individual paths of development in vocational training institutions in Poland, which prevents people with disabilities from obtaining qualifications. Comprehensive and vocational schools still haven’t developed special methods of education tailored for the disabled, and school buildings are often not adapted to their needs…

It is worth remembering that there is a relatively low rate of unemployment among people with disabilities who have completed higher education – only about 5.4% in Poland.

It indicates that supporting people with disabilities in their pursuit of education and skills means success in their future professional life.

Grodzki Theatre Association employs 64 people with most severe level of disability, including mental illness in its work rehabilitation units. In December 2004 the Association obtained an industrial heritage building from the Mayor of Bielsko-Biala.

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After the renovation of two floors, it established a Vocational Rehabilitation Unit there: a Printing House and a Bookbindery employing and bringing to work 42 people with disabilities from the district of Bielsko-Biała. In 2009 we established our second Vocational Rehabilitation Unit - a hotel in Laliki, Beskidy Mountains, a place for rest and rehabilitation. It provides employment and transport to work for 22 people with physical and mental disabilities from the surrounding towns and villages.

The aim of our social enterprises is to help our workers to enter the open labour market.

First year meeting in Slovenia Last 18th-20th October, SUVOT team met in Slovenia because of the first year of SUVOT project. We worked hard in organizing the tasks to be done during 2012, specially the training of the trainers in Germany and the SUVOT course that will start in Slovenia, Germany and Spain next May. Also, we discussed some details about the teacher manual and the textbook for the participants, which are almost ready. These are high quality didactical materials and we are so exciting about trying them during the pilot experience.

Luckily, we had time to visit several Ozara’s centres in Prekmurje and Maribor, like a day centre or a disability enterprise. These are very valuable experiences for all the partners; we took this opportunity to learn a lot of new things and see how professionals work in other countries.

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Review of the work done so far

2011 has been a busy year. SUVOT team has prepared all the didactical materials needed to properly perform the pilot experience next year. We have developed the curriculum of the cooking course (theoretical and practical sessions) and the specific simulation methodology that will allow the participants to improve some important soft skills.

We have planned the training of the professionals that will carry out the course and also the logistical issues that we have to foresee for the one-year vocational course.

SUVOT team has made a great effort in spreading SUVOT project at local, national and international level and we will continue doing it. You can check our website http://suvot.intras.es that includes updated information about the project but also interesting recipes from all the partners’ countries that will allow you to share our national tastes.

One of our main objectives is to finish the social stigma attached to mental illness and we are sure that SUVOT will be a major step in this challenge.

Contact You will find updated information about SUVOT project in: http://suvot.intras.es and also in our facebook page http://es-es.facebook.com/pages/SuvotProject/166486543372824

“This project has been funded with support from the European Commission (Lifelong Learning Programme, Leonardo Da Vinci sub-programme) of the European Union“. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

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