Training for Personal Progression
Interim evaluation report June 2010
Report to:
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Contents Page Executive Summary
Introduction Methodology Key findings
Achievements
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Progression – counselling clients Progression – other clients Progression – volunteers Leverage of funding - £280, 466 Counselling Accreditation and in-kind £90,000 Additional services SWAN Case Studies Progression towards Matrix Accreditation
Targets and outputs
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Understanding clients’ progression needs
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Courses and Training
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Refocusing training
Marketing and Communications
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Organisational Issues
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Board and Trustees Residential Planning Sessions Staff handbook and Policies WHAC Manager sick leave and Board response
Case Studies
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Executive Summary Introduction This interim evaluation has been produced as a mid-point review of the Working Neighbourhoods Fund project, Training for Personal Progression. A full evaluation will be produced at the end of the project and should be available publicly by May 2011. This report seeks to highlight in brief: o o o
the strengths and benefits that WHAC brings to the County’s employability support programme how WHAC has performed in terms of delivering the outputs and targets, aims and objectives how this project manages to overcome a wide range of barriers experienced by clients and helps them to progress to training, volunteering and employment
Methodology Declan Baharini, a WHAC Trustee, lead Board member for Employability and former Manager of Wansbeck Initiative, agreed to produce the interim evaluation free of charge. This involved information gathering from the Board, staff and volunteers, as well as reviewing all documents produced by the WHAC on behalf of the delivery consortium and all monitoring information and data relating to the project, as well as client feedback.
Key findings Essential part of the infrastructure
It is clear both from the documentary evidence and interviews that this project is not only valuable, but an essential part of the partnership employability infrastructure in South East Northumberland, dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who require a series of interventions and support to enable them to progress
Leverage of additional funding and in-kind
WHAC has levered in £280,466 from other funding sources to complement the core costs provided through WNF (approximately £160,000 WNF at the revised level). In addition, over the 18 months of the project £90,000 in-kind support through counselling will have been delivered The range of interventions and the approaches taken is enabling and effective, with the mix of professional and highly trained volunteer counsellors providing mental health support and the education and training officer and tutors delivering a ladder of courses and training, with referral agencies involved as required depending on the circumstances This project complements the work of the wide variety of voluntary and community sector activities and organisations delivering employability services and support in the area and provides a key interface with referral partners and support agencies and provide a seamless and quality service to clients. Clients who are unemployed have a strong opportunity to progress into training or volunteering and even employment, but this can be a long journey due to their often difficult personal circumstances and there are no quick fixes with this client group. There are also many clients who are currently employed and need support to remain in work.
Enabling and effective
Builds bridges and interface with partners
Supports clients on the long journey for their personal progression
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Opportunity to refocus and boost LSOA impact
Although the project has achieved or exceeded all seven the targets for unemployed people of working age, it has not achieved the 60% of these coming from LSOA target and the project will focus new activities in key Super Output Areas to seek to address this
Achievements The staff, volunteer counsellors, clients and partners involved in the Training for Personal Progression project, all stress the value which is placed on the service. WHAC, as a small voluntary organisation plays a key role within the employability infrastructure, providing a vital service to women over 14 who are experiencing a wide range of difficulties which affect their mental and physical health and affect their ability to seek or retain work, as well as to have a fulfilling life. This project is significant, as it delivers a broad range of quality counselling support, combined with referrals to the key partners involved in financial advice/debt (DAWN), housing advice (Stonham), health (Health Trainers, Care Trust) and also a range of wider partners through the NEWS network. It also delivers training on a number of levels to aid the progression of all of the groups cited in the original proposal: volunteer counsellors, counselling clients and other clients from the most deprived areas of Northumberland. Some key achievements are represented in summary below.
Progression – Counselling Clients All clients seeking counselling are assessed and then move on to counselling sessions with volunteer counsellors to help them address their issues Many counselling clients then receive support from partner agencies to overcome challenges in their life Counselling is now being delivered in the evenings and weekends Clients often move on to the softer courses (tai chi, creative writing, healthy lifestyles) and then to the six session training courses which are designed to be a ladder of progression, moving the client through these in a supportive way, providing action planning and critical thinking skills and confidence Counselling clients receive support to access further training, employment advice and volunteering opportunities
Progression – Other clients Many people self refer or are referred to WHAC for shorter term interventions and support -all clients are assessed and then the appropriate support suggested, either through WHAC or through partner agencies Clients are encouraged to access the soft courses (tai chi, creative writing, healthy lifestyles) or the six session training courses , depending on their situation and needs All clients receive employability support through advice about accessing further training, employment advice and volunteering opportunities
Progression – Volunteers The main group of volunteers with WHAC are the counsellors, who must meet stringest quality standards to join the team and are recruited on an ongoing basis and managed by the Volunteer Co-ordinator , Linda-Jaine Clair. Volunteers will already have some qualifications and they are able to progress through the training offered by WHAC as well as through gaining valuable work experience working with the clients Volunteers often either gain employment or progress within their
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employment as a result of volunteering with WHAC WHAC also offers a range of volunteering placements within the office, to provide help and support, but also it affords them an opportunity to gain confidence in a working environment and additional employability skills
Leverage of funding - £280,466
Big Lottery Ministry of Justice Fair Shares Care Trust
Because of the funding from Working Neighbourhoods supporting core costs, WHAC has been able to lever in £280,466, which includes multi-annual funding as well as establishing Service Level Agreements with the Care Trust £223,466 over four years (2008-12) £25,000 for 2010-11 for SWAN ex-offenders service £12,000 for 2010-11 for Seaton Valley, Blyth £20,000 per year for three years under a Service Level Agreement
Counselling Accreditation and in-kind contribution £90,000 Accreditation
In-kind contribution
NCFE Accreditation WHAC Volunteer Counsellor Training is a major achievement for WHAC as well as for the county, as this high level qualification ensures and validates the quality of the service provided by the Counsellors who are volunteering and who also are able to progress in their own training and employment. This was a key milestone for the project and has been achieved on target in June 2010. The cost of an equivalent counselling service would be £75 per hour if it had to be bought (as recognised in the Service Level Agreement with the Care Trust). Over the 18 months of the project, WHAC will have delivered around 1200 counselling sessions with an in-kind cost of £90,000
Additional services - SWAN Supporting Women in Northumberland is a Ministry of Justice supported project which is delivered by a consortium of VCS partners (Escape, Fourth Action, WHAC) and working closely with Probation and others to help women ex-offenders overcome the challenges and barriers they face in settling back into life outside prison Often women will be unemployed and may be stigmatised, but may also have serious mental health issues, as well as a variety of other problems around housing, debt, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, life and employability skills Lorraine Burley was employed as WHAC-based support for the women and now has a full caseload with 10 clients receiving longer term support
Case studies Staff have written their first case studies to demonstrate the type of issues clients and volunteers face and the range and depth of support they receive. They are useful in terms of being able to show progress and how the clients have moved on following the range of interventions. There are many such cases and WHAC will be demonstrating more case studies in future quarterly reports and for the evaluation of the project.
Progression towards Matrix Accreditation WHAC is now progressing towards Matrix accreditation, which is a major step
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for the organisation being recognised by this quality standard This is a condition of grant and WHAC has been delayed in achieving this due to the Manager being seriously ill. The application has now been submitted and the evidence gathered for the Assessor. The accreditation process can take some time, but it is expected that this should be achieved within the life of the training project
Targets and Outputs The project has been running from September 2009 to June 2010 and was a progression from a previous successful Working Neighbourhoods Fund project. At the midway point of the project (9 months), it is achieving or exceeding all of its targets. The target on employment and the target on accredited training are new targets for the project which were added after it began. In June, WHAC reviewed all the clients since the start of the project and ensured that there are appropriate records of their outputs across the range of targets. This involved a sweep of all clients and records and as well as new people coming into the centre. Given the unavoidable delays in recruiting Counsellors at the start of the project and sickness of key staff over the last six months, this level of achievement is a credit to the WHAC team and WHAC is confident that the project will be able to meet all targets. All outputs relate to the number of unemployed clients and not to the total number of clients who receive services in WHAC, some of whom are employed, students or retired. The mix of funding support highlighted in the Achievements section (Leverage), ensures that all clients are catered for. Output
Q3 actual
Q4 actual
Q1 actual 113
Total 9 month ACTUAL 141
9 month output TARGET 135
End of project target 300
T1 engaged
9
19
T2 receiving employability support
9
19
113
141
135
300
T3 progressing to training/learning provision T5 progressing to volunteering
5
8
55
68
50
110
0
0
10
10
10
20
T6 attaining accredited qualifications/part q T8 securing paid self/or employment
0
1
3
4
3
12
0
0
6
6
3
6
T11 referred to other services
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19
49
78
75
150
For WNF, clients from the targeted Lower Super Output Areas are also counted as a proportion of the total. The number of these is not as high as the 60% rate of all unemployed clients required, but this is being addressed. One issue is that people are being helped to stay in employment or are students and they are from SOAs, but cannot be counted.
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There is a need to ensure that there is more work delivered physically in these areas and a greater effort to engage them. The information in the report on courses, training, marketing and communications shows how this is being addressed. The actual number of people who are helped through the project is far higher than the number of people counted in these outputs and this anomaly is discussed in the next section.
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Understanding clients’ progression needs There has been a lot of learning during this project and its predecessor projects. In particular about the nature of the support required for employment and training to be achieved with the client group of vulnerable women with multiple issues and needs. The following issues will be raised with the County Council appointed WNF evaluation team.
Clients who need multiple interventions to progress The key issue that most clients need multiple engagements and interventions to progress. This project is called ‘Training for personal progression’ and was established to provide a range of support and training which enabled vulnerable women with multiple barriers and challenges to progress along a path. This incorporates a range of referrals to different services and a range of training courses specifically designed to move people along a path towards volunteering, further training and employment. The employability partnership needs to recognise that the Hanlon system and the way that targets and outputs are recorded does not reflect the delivery of this type of project. A Training for Personal Progression client progressing through a series of four or five 6-week training sessions would be counted once by the NCC system under the T3 target, equivalent to someone who may receive a one-day training session who would also be counted once. Since September 2009 TPP has had 194 places available on courses. 119 of these were taken by clients returning to the Centre or attending more than one course at any given time. Life coaching, Labyrinth, It’s my Life, My future in my hands are follow on courses from the Confidence Building and of the 52 places available 43 were taken by clients already on our system. 2 courses (20 places) were completely filled by the same 10 clients returning. It is recommended that there should be recognition of the distance to travel and the time it takes for those with the greatest challenges to progress.
Client groups who need support to remain in or progress in employment Not everyone who needs training, employability support and referral is unemployed. Many of the clients who are referred or self-refer to WHAC are people in danger of losing their employment due to mental health issues as well as multiple challenges around domestic violence, debt, housing and financial pressures. One of the case studies demonstrates the fact that she had lost her employment due to the stress she was under and through WHAC was able to progress back into employment. Many women are retained in employment by this support and this should be recognised in some way through the monitoring. Without the service they would be adding to the unemployed figures. It is recommended that there should be some recognition of this client group and their needs, especially in the current economic climate, where retaining employment could be as important as moving people into work.
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Courses and Training The project is a training and support project predominantly for the purposes of WNF, which seeks to also encourage people into other opportunities such as further training, education and employment. The counselling service provided is not classed as training and is mental health support, but it does provide the engagement and the impetus for people to be able to move on and access courses, training, volunteering and employment. Soft courses which can run up to 10 weeks, such as tai chi, creative writing and relaxation and enable women to take small steps into being involved in a course structure and to have opportunities to build confidence and socialise. These courses have attracted on average 12 people, which is a suitable number for the type of clients. The other courses are structured to support the progression of the women and tend to run as 6 two hour sessions in consecutive weeks.
Building confidence and self esteem Healthier Life Style, Healthier You! Life Coaching Labyrinth Managing stress and anxiety It’s my life My future in my hands
The healthy lifestyles course is run to address the poor health of many women and families and there are a range of ways that these can be run. WHAC is now considering running it differently ( e.g. individual workshops) and the health trainers are being asked for their input as this may have more impact. There is success in getting the two new courses off the ground in and for Managing Stress and Anxiety, and My Future in My Hands, the participants have said how useful it is already. My future in my Hands is the follow on course to It’s my life. Sue Saunders the trainer consistently attracts good feedback.
Refocusing training Following the discussions with the County Council’s monitoring officer in June, the staff and Board considered undertaking a review of some of the training to ensure that there were more courses which could be delivered with taster sessions off site (not in WHAC premises so men can be involved) and follow on progression courses. These would be marketed more extensively to ensure that more people are engaged and have the opportunity to receive support. This is described under Marketing and Communications.
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The new courses will all have taster sessions in the summer and be slightly refocused to highlight employability aspects and run over a shorter period of time to encourage more people to be involved: Refocused Taster sessions and Training Building Confidence To Find Work
People looking for work, whose confidence needs a boost, or whose lack of confidence stops them from finding a job, or find it hard to present themselves positively
It’s My Life, Preparing For Employment
Helps people to set realistic goals that move them forward into employment. Learn to believe in themselves and discover what they really want from work. Design a positive future for themselves and gain personal independence.
Managing Stress Whilst Seeking Work
People who feel stressed or anxious about looking for work are taught to use practical tools and techniques to help them resolve or cope with stress and have the skills and abilities to seek work with confidence
Coaching for Employment
People learn how to use coaching to examine their attitudes to work, identify their qualities, set future employment goals, motivate themselves and communicate effectively and use positive action to gain employment.
Marketing and communications In terms of marketing, there has been success in gaining permission to go ahead with some marketing ideas and the Board have developed a marketing strategy following on from the residential with staff, volunteers and Trustees in January. This is now rolling out and Trustees, staff and volunteers are gearing up to undertake promotional and engagement activities over the summer months to engage people who do not use community centres and are not coming over the threshold of WHAC. The Board has been exploring new ways of engaging and using all staff, Trustees and Volunteers to attend events in the communities, sign people up and also think of new ways of marketing and communicating the services, e.g. through social networking sites. In addition, the Education and Training Officer has approached the NEWS team based in Ashington to support a Jobs Fayre which will encourage people. WHAC is thinking about inviting employers to display the jobs they have, the job centres, and other agencies, who offer support to people seeking work or training, to take part. WHAC would advertise the fayre locally at the Masonic Hall or similar, to attract as many people to meet organisations and get advice. NEWS would assist with engaging support services and organisations, advertising to the clients on their records and also sharing information through the NEWS Network.
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Organisational Issues Board and Trustees WHAC has revised its Board membership over the last 18 months to engage a range of Trustees (volunteers) who are professionals in their own fields and add value to the strategic planning for the service and link to key partners. Specialisms range from the law, to programming, mental health, mentoring and coaching, training, employability physical health, housing, financial inclusion and there are also women who have personal experience which can give insight into the needs of the clients. Board members promote and profile WHAC through a wide range of county, regional and national networks relating to all of these areas and bring their contacts and experience to maximise the benefits of the service and ensure it is embedded but also influencing policy and strategy. Board members take responsibility for key areas of policy and actions and report monthly on progress and issues, to ensure that development is continual and that there is strong management and leadership between the staff and the Board.
Residential Planning Sessions WHAC staff, trustees and volunteers participate in two residential planning sessions per year, to join up front line delivery with strategy and policy and to jointly agree priorities and actions for forward plans and delivery. In January the session focused on monitoring and evaluation, as well as marketing and communications and had led to a revised and improved system for monitoring and a new marketing strategy. This demonstrates good organisational management and development.
Staff handbook and Policies Trustees have completed the Staff Handbook which is a comprehensive document shared with all staff and trustees and which contains all the relevant policies and procedures. It is regularly reviewed and monitored by the Board and will be updated bi-annually or as the need arises due to legislative or policy change.
WHAC Manager sick leave and Board response Cath Carnaby, Manager of WHAC, has undergone major surgery and has been ill for some time and has not been able to oversee the work of WHAC. The Board of Trustees put in place an action plan and robust series of actions to: support the staff and volunteers through weekly staff meetings ; pairing staff with a Trustee to provide mentoring and support on an individual basis; Trustees taking on roles which would have normally be carried out by the Manager including representing WHAC at key meetings, providing expertise and additional management support; and to ensure that the Finance Officer was able to take on additional duties in the interim period to help support the organisation achieve its outputs.
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Case Studies Case studies bring the service to life for those who are not closely involved. WHAC staff have produced a range of case studies to demonstrate the type of issues which the client group are facing, how they are helped and how they progress. Personal information has been removed to protect the identity of the client. These case studies are important as they demonstrate the significant issues the women are facing and how over a sustained period they are supported in a variety of ways and from a variety of different partner organisations.
Case Study 1
Client L
Demonstrates
Support, referrals and progression to employment
Client L aged 31 lives on her own in Blyth. She had previously gone through a divorce. She worked part time and had 3 children under the age of 5, she found it a struggle to take care of the children on own whilst also working part time. She had very little input from her ex husband. She decided to approach the school to discuss the fact that she was finding it a struggle to be the sole carer for the children. She hoped that they would be able to give her some advice on how to access some additional support. It was at this point that social services became involved. As a result of social services becoming involved full custody of the children was awarded to her ex husband. During the time that social services became involved client L also lost her part time job. Losing custody of her children came as a huge shock and something that the client had not anticipated. She felt that she had been let down and dismissed by everyone. The client was initially brought to WHAC by a sure start support worker. WHAC’s Counsellor Lead worked with this client supporting her emotional needs during counselling session as well as addressing her additional needs and making appropriate referrals. There were times when Client L was unable to attend the WHAC centre due to financial struggles, on these occasions the lead Counsellor would find a venue within walking distance from the clients home (usually a sure start building) or if that was not an option WHAC would finance her travelling expenses. Whilst attending WHAC the client has been referred to DAWN for financial and family law advice. Since coming to WHAC Client L has:
moved out of the marital home secured premises of her own progressed into paid employment looked at obtaining shared residency of her children in the future
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Case Study 2
Volunteer C
Demonstrates Progression from unemployment to training and employment C came into the centre in April 2008 for an initial Volunteer interview; she had been unemployed for several years due to her personal circumstances and was looking to take a different path. C was successful in her interview but initially because of childcare issues she felt unable to attend the training course. C and I discussed the possibility of WHAC paying for some childcare so that she could attend the course, this was agreed and she progressed onto the 6 week WHAC Volunteer Counsellor training course. Upon completion of this C attended a final interview and began client work in August 2008. Before C started the NCFE Counselling Course she had gained several qualifications, and part of her course requirement was to gain experience through client work at WHAC. As C progressed she became more confident and she was competent enough to take on more ‘complex’ issues. During the time C was at WHAC she produced a book which was specifically to help clients with Panic Attacks and Anxiety available via her website. She also looked to the possibility of providing a training course to WHAC and outside organisations. Key achievements of C following on from the support of WHAC are that:
C successfully gained her Foundation Degree in Counselling in July 2009 Due to C’s increasing confidence and skill she was offered some paid assessment work whilst looking for paid employment C applied for several positions and was successful in securing a position as a ‘Community Family Support Worker’ in June 2010
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Case Study 3
Volunteer A
Demonstrates Progression from disability benefits to accredited training and volunteering Volunteer A aged 54 lives in Ashington with her partner. Her last employment was as an Auditor for the NHS 13 years ago, but due to stresses and difficulties at work she was unable to continue and stopped working. A began claiming DLA and income support. A applied to be a Volunteer at WHAC in 2004; she came with general office skills which included auditing and finance. Her primary aim at that time was to gain more skills and knowledge, have more confidence, to meet new people on a social level and to do something useful. Initially A started with general admin tasks which included computer work, dealing with telephone enquiries and processing expense claim forms. Over a period of years A enrolled on several WHAC courses for her own personal development, and as a result of this felt able to approach another Voluntary Organisation to gain further experience, whilst still offering time at WHAC. The following are a few examples of the courses she attended at the centre: Confidence/Self Esteem, It’s My Life, Eat Well For Less, Labyrinth, Life Coaching, Anger Management, My Future in My Hands A began working with Debt Advice clients when WHAC undertook partnership working. This required a higher level of expertise and training. In addition to that A has gained academic qualifications supported by WHAC to further her learning –
NCFE Level 1 Certificate in Interpersonal Skills NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Adult Literacy NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Adult Numeracy OCR Entry Level Certificate in using ICT (entry 3) (displaying information using ICT) OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT users (new Clait – 3 levels) (File management and e-document production) OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT users (Creating spreadsheets and graphs) OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT users (Databases)
In A’s review she identified that she felt that she was working towards the final stages of gaining employment which she hoped would be initially 16 hours, giving her time to contribute to WHAC. A has been offered temporary employment with WHAC to work specifically with Debt Advice clients
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