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Effective Interventions Unit Moving On: Update Employability And Employment For Recovering Drug Users
Appendix 1: Key Findings from the Original Review
Employment, Health and Drug Use
Most treatment seeking drug users are
unemployed.
There is a link between
positive physical and mental health and employment.
Employment can
aid the process of recovery from substance abuse.
Aspirations and Motivation
Agencies need to have high expectations for their clients and to focus on their
strengths, skills and interests.
Amongst some specialist services, there is
limited awareness of labour market opportunities and the need to bridge the gap between these, the aspirations of clients and the outcomes of support services.
A combination of
social and business motives (such as overcoming skills shortages or financial incentives) is likely to be most effective in engaging employers.
There is little variation between
public and private sector employers in their approach to employing recovered drug users.
Barriers to Education, Training and Employment
Fear of losing welfare benefits acts as a major barrier to entering education, training and employment. The literature and our qualitative study offer general support for a more
gradual transition from welfare benefits to 'in-work' benefits as a way of reducing these problems.
Standard
recruitment requirements and procedures of employers represent a major barrier for many recovering drug users, particularly those with any continuing problems.
Barriers will differ according to the individual but may be exacerbated by other factors, from childcare responsibilities to criminal records.
What Services are Available?
There are 3 broad
categories of support: treatment and rehabilitation services, specialist employability programmes and mainstream education, training and employment services.
Important
links and partnerships are being established between the three strands. This helps prevent gaps between services and allows services to be more responsive to the individual needs of the client.
A significant proportion of
drug treatment services are extending their provision to include promoting access to education, training and employment opportunities. The New Futures Fund has played an important role in allowing 'addiction' services to develop this capacity.
A range of specialist
'employability' provision exists. These tend to be short-term projects that cater for the needs of specific client groups.
Mainstream provision is increasingly reaching out to 'hard to help' groups such as recovering drug users. A number of opportunities and flexibilities exist within mainstream services and these are of particular importance in
rural areas where there is less specialist provision available.
Evidence of Effective Interventions
The
duration and intensity of treatment are important factors in improving employment outcomes.
The
motivation of users,
credibility of support agencies, programme
design and the
image of the project are all crucial factors in success.
The main thrust of employability support tends to be
personal development and building
self-esteem often incorporating both
individual and
group work.
Evaluations suggest that the most effective approaches are those that provide a
variety of activities at times appropriate to individuals.
A knowledge and understanding of
local labour market conditions is a key factor in designing appropriate employability interventions.
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