The Council of the European Union (2009) has as a key strategic objective the promotion of equity, social cohesion and active citizenship. It outlines that 'education and training policy should enable all citizens, irrespective of their personal, social or economic circumstances to acquire, update and develop over a lifetime both job-specific skills and the key competencies needed for their employability and to foster further learning, active citizenship and inter cultural dialogue' (pg. 119/4). It also sates that all learners including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with specific needs complete their education through second chance systems and more personalised learning. This project seeks to share best practice methods and approaches which could be adapted to meet the needs of job seekers, particularly those aged 18-24yrs who are engaged in varying levels of drug use. The SCOPE project aims to develop a transnational partnership with organisations working in an employment, guidance and/or VET setting with client’s who have drug misuse problems, and who are currently providing services to enable them to re-integrate into society through education, training and employment progression pathways. The overarching aim of this partnership will be to share current practices, methods and experiences with similar EU organisations, with a view to establishing a model of best practice and guidelines for implementation, that could potentially be piloted in VET associated organisations.A core objective will be to document and strengthen quality standards in career guidance and job seeking support for this extremely marginalised group. Partners will use appropriate opportunities to disseminate, create awareness, start dialogue and highlight best practices with the main objective of improving the VET and employment focused services delivered to clients engaged in some level of drug use, from the young unemployed to clients recovering from misuse. These clients should be able to access services which can respond to their needs and enable them to avail of VET and employment, and ultimately improve their quality of life and income. The will be achieved through the following actions:1. Sharing knowledge, visiting/understanding best practice approaches: partners will identify best practices in their own country which could a) be transferred from drug services into employment services and b) be transferred geographically to other EU countries. Partners will learn about these best practices at each transnational meeting through visits to the organisation providing the service, through observation, or through a presentation. 2. Identifying elements of each approach which could be replicated in partner countries: Partners will discuss if the practice is transferable, what elements could be transferred and what types of adaptations would be required for the practice to be replicated in the employment service and in the various partner countries. 3. Building a model of best practice in terms of approach, activity, skills of practitioners, specific interventions: Partner will discuss not only the transferability of the practice but also the skills required by the practitioner to implement the approach.4. Building a network: a group of relevant stakeholders from each partner country, including guidance practitioners, job seekers, service managers and other interested organisations will be invited to participate in focus groups so as to inform the model of best practices from the bottom-up. A total of forty two focus groups will take place across the lifetime of the project.5. Identification and review of quality standards in terms of guidance provision for this client group: Quality standards in Guidance provision e.g. EGUIDE QA, European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN) will be reviewed and their appropriateness for this client group will be established. Recommendations for adaptations to existing quality standards in Guidance will be made. 6. dissemination in partner countries (Website, publication, seminar): a website and dissemination materials will be produced outlining the best practices and justification for their incorporation into employment services Six organisations representing six countries (Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, Germany and Italy) will participate including VET providers, employment services, community based organisations, and research consultancies. The Impact of this project will be at service delivery level, most specifically in terms of career guidance and VET. Partner organisations will gain increased capacity in terms of appropriate services and understanding of client needs. The potential impact on job seekers in the longer-term is increased well-being both physical and psychological, and improved support enabling access to VET and quality sustainable employment.
The Council of the European Union (2009) has as a key strategic objective the promotion of equity, social cohesion & active citizenship. It outlines that 'education & training policy should enable all citizens, irrespective of their personal, social or economic circumstances to acquire, update & develop over a lifetime both job-specific skills & the key competencies needed for their employability and to foster further learning, active citizenship and inter cultural dialogue' (pg. 119/4) The SCOPE project aimed to develop a transnational partnership with organisations working in an employment, guidance and/or VET setting with client’s who have drug misuse problems, & who are currently providing services to enable them to re-integrate into society through education, training & employment progression pathways. The overarching goal of this partnership was to share current practices, methods & experiences with similar EU organisations, with a view to establishing a model of best practice & guidelines for implementation, that could potentially be piloted in VET associated organisations .A core objective was also to document & strengthen quality standards in career guidance and job seeking support for this extremely marginalised group The activities carried out by the project partnership to achieve theses aims & objectives were: • Focus groups with jobseekers, stakeholders and practitioners: In total 42 focus groups were carried out across the partnership. These focus groups acted as a knowledge exchange & gathering exercise, to appreciate the current VET provision of services for high support, drug dependent jobseekers, along with the clients experience of engaging with these services. • Transnational meetings & study visits: these study visits and meetings were an opportunity for partners to engage with the best practice models for supporting the target client group through the VET system. Over 12 best practice study visits were arranged during these meetings. • Case study compilation: the partners carried out local desk research to establish alternative best practices that could not fit into the meetings agendas. This bolstered the numbers of case studies to collate appropriate information for, ensuring a broad range of client, practitioners and stakeholder experiences were accounted for. • Widespread dissemination activities took place through local, regional, national and transnational target groups. This dissemination has resulted in long term impacts and ongoing sustainability of the project results. The project also created a website https://scope.home.blog/, 2 project newsletters and a project leaflet to support this dissemination. Throughout these activities the project has achieved a number of deliverables and resulting impact: • Scope Best Practice Framework: a framework of best practice has been created to engage marginalised clients, who have ongoing or potential drug misuse problems, in the most appropriate way through VET services. Using exchange of best practice, study visits, along with focus groups with jobseekers, practitioners and stakeholders, the Scope partnership have developed a new methodology for engaging these clients. This methodology focuses on five principle of best practice in which VET service should always seek to utilize when providing services to these at risk clients. These principles are bolstered by a full framework of implementation, along with a client threshold which identifies the most appropriate level of intervention according to the client’s profile. • Scope Website: the website acts as an ongoing dissemination tool and information resource for VET organisations who aim to implement the results of the Scope project • Implementation: a number of organisations have already begun to pilot the results of the Scope project; in 2018 the City of Stockholm adopted a new program surrounding policy’s regarding alcohol, narcotics, doping and tobacco. The program contains different goals and activities for the entire city. Amongst them is creating a strategy for the city regarding young adults using drugs where Jobbtorg Stockholm will be one of the partners. It is planned that the results of the Scope Project, including the framework will be utilized, directly impacting the program design. 6 organisations (Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, Germany and Italy) participated including VET providers, employment services, community based organisations, and research consultancies. The Impact of this project is evident at delivery level, most specifically in terms of career guidance and VET. Partner organisations have increased capacity in terms of appropriate services and understanding of client needs. The potential impact on job seekers in the longer-term is increased well-being both physical and psychological, and improved support enabling access to VET and quality sustainable employment.