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Main Findings

• The Key Worker element of Inclusiveness offers a qualitatively different type of service for disengaged young people:

• the service is intensive when it needs to be - almost three quarters of clients when they first come into contact with their Key Worker see them fortnightly or more frequently
• the service offers long-term support when required - around a third of clients in our baseline survey had already been seeing their Key Worker for a year or more
• young people often need one-to-one support - over 90% of clients identified this as an effective way of building a relationship with their Key Worker
• This is an employability service - 90% of clients had discussed training, education and employment with their Key Worker and identified assistance in terms of accessing training, education or employment as the most important form of help... but an employability service which recognises employability in its widest sense including emotional and personal support offered by the Key Worker
• This approach is successful in winning client confidence - well over 90% of clients felt involved in decisions and planning regarding their employability options... however, over three quarters of clients had not discussed the circumstances under which they might no longer need support from their Key Worker suggesting that managing client relationships requires further attention
• Clients show considerable progress in terms of soft skills e.g. after a year clients are generally more confident (88% of clients) and possess greater employability e.g. show significant improvements in self-esteem, leadership, time management, motivation and emotional control... however, a significant minority of clients can also be seen to 'slip-back' in some of these criteria
• Very significant improvements in terms of reduced barriers are evident including reading and writing, numeracy, qualifications, and alcohol or drug use amongst others
• In spite of the clear strides taken, moving into and sustaining positive outcomes nevertheless continued to elude many clients
• A major factor in this is the proportion of those leaving training to become unemployed (16% down to 12% over 12 months) and Get Ready for Work, or GRfW, (10% down to 4%).

Introduction

The Beattie Committee was established in April 1998 with a remit to review the needs and provision of services for young people with additional support needs. The Committee identified the lack of 'joined-up' service provision for 16-24 year olds as a fundamental weakness of the existing infrastructure and called for a more inclusive approach which placed client needs at the centre of service provision. In response to the Beattie Report, the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department (SEETLLD) allocated just over £15m in April 2001 to implement a programme of Inclusiveness Projects in each of the then 17 Careers Service areas.

Following the completion of the Interim National Evaluation Report on the Inclusiveness Projects in August 2003, the Scottish Executive provided a further two years of funding to the Inclusiveness programme. This was allocated through Careers Scotland which is now responsible for the continuing delivery of the Inclusiveness Projects and the mainstreaming of the Inclusiveness approach within its own All Age Guidance service.

Methodology

The National Evaluation was to take place over a 32-month period from January 2002 through to September 2004. The establishment of Careers Scotland resulted in a revised approach to the study. Changes were necessary to reflect the new agency's role in providing an all age guidance service and the development of its own internal monitoring systems. As a result, the original approach was revised and the key elements of the methodology included:

• case studies of all 13 Careers Scotland Projects
• a longitudinal survey of over 600 clients and in-depth interviews with eighteen clients and parents/guardians
• a telephone survey of 30 partner organisations involved at a local level with the Inclusiveness Projects.

Inclusiveness

The Beattie Committee identified gaps in service provision for young people leaving compulsory education and/or in care and making the transition to the labour market. The Committee also identified the importance of transition processes at this stage in influencing subsequent progression within the labour market. A negative experience of transition would, in many instances, reinforce disadvantage in the labour market.

The proposals of the Beattie Committee sought to put in place effective transition processes. The concept of a Key Worker, someone who would support the young person before, during and after the critical transition stage and ensure relevant support to meet the young person's needs, was of fundamental importance, but the Committee also highlighted the value of:

• improved inter-agency information sharing
• a rounded assessment process incorporating the views of clients/carers
• guidance and support at each critical stage in the transition process
• an Individual Action Plan, owned by clients, setting out objectives and the role of support agencies in meeting them
• training and development for agency staff to raise awareness of the learning and support needs of clients.

Provision

Did the Projects succeed in delivering a more Inclusive approach for clients? The evidence from the evaluation client surveys suggested that this has indeed been the case. The survey results tell us that:

• the service is intensive when it needs to be; almost three quarters of clients when they first come into contact with their Key Worker see them fortnightly or more frequently
• the service offers long-term support when required; around a third of clients in our baseline survey had already been seeing their Key Worker for a year or more
• young people often need one-to-one support; over 90% of clients identified this as an effective way of building a relationship with their Key Worker
• this is an employability service; 90% of clients had discussed training, education and employment with their Key Worker and identified accessing training, education or employment as the most frequently valued assistance
• ... but a service which recognises employability in its widest sense; the emotional and personal support offered by the Key Worker was also frequently identified by clients as being amongst the most important forms of assistance offered.

This approach is effective in gaining client ownership of the process. Well over 90% of clients felt involved in decisions and planning regarding their employability options. This degree of 'ownership' actually increased over time. Moreover, clients who had frequently truanted at school were more likely than those who had not to feel this sense of ownership over action planning - suggesting that the Inclusiveness approach worked particularly well with more disengaged clients and those more likely to disengage.

An area of concern highlighted by the National Evaluation, however, is that of the 'open-ended' nature of support. Over three quarters of clients had not discussed the circumstances under which they might no longer need support from their Key Worker. This, allied to the length of time which many clients spend seeing their Key Worker, suggests that there is a need to manage the relationship more effectively.

Change Over Time

The Inclusiveness approach works for a majority of clients. It provides a platform on which employability issues can be addressed, hand-in-hand with emotional and social needs, and young clients can make progress towards employability and employment. The evaluation survey provided evidence of that in terms of soft skills, after a year:

• 80% of clients felt their Key Worker helped quite a lot with being confident
• 66% felt similarly with regard to listening to instructions and being honest
• 63% said the same in terms of being able to work in a group
• over 50% agreed in terms of being polite, timekeeping and emotional control.
• In terms of distance travelled towards employability, after a year:
• there were significant improvements in self-esteem and in confidence, leadership, time management, motivation and emotional control
• but there were significant minorities which were also less positive on most criteria at the 12 month stage suggesting that the overall picture is complex with some individuals also 'slipping back'.

The influence of the Inclusiveness Projects on barriers to employability has been positive. Significant improvements were evident in a range of criteria including reading and writing, numeracy, qualifications, knowing how to get job interviews, having the right clothes for interviews, caring responsibilities and alcohol or drug use.

Hard Outcomes

In spite of the clear strides taken, moving into and sustaining positive outcomes nevertheless continued to elude many clients. The Careers Scotland performance information systems could not provide robust information on outcomes per client. Our client survey provided some evidence on this but numbers are small and more robust data are needed to confirm or qualify the findings indicating that around 40% of clients not in education, employment or training at the time of their baseline interview were employed after 5/6 months.

The proportion of clients in employment increased from 15% to 20% by 12 months. The proportion becoming unemployed also increased from 18% to 35% over the same period. One factor is the proportion of those leaving training to become unemployed (16% down to 12%) and Get Ready for Work, or GRfW, (10% down to 4%).

Inclusive Services

The National Evaluation found that the Inclusiveness Projects had a very positive influence on local service provision. There is now a great deal of new and improving partnership working around the needs of vulnerable young people at key transition stages as a result of the Projects.

A broad range of partner organisations testified to increased awareness within their own organisations regarding the needs of young people at transition stages.

While operational links between agencies had improved, there was less evidence of effective joint working at a strategic level. As a result, some opportunities to maximise the impact of the Inclusiveness approach had not been taken.

Recommendations

A range of recommendations were made:

• that the Scottish Executive determine whether it wishes to establish targets in terms of client groups, market penetration and the level of outcomes expected
• that the Scottish Executive advise on the implications of the National Evaluation for stakeholders other than Careers Scotland
• that the Scottish Executive give consideration to the concept of regional inclusiveness strategies
• that Careers Scotland ensure in implementing the Insight client management system the National Evaluation recommendations are implemented
• that Careers Scotland consider options and approaches for incorporating the client perspective into review mechanisms
• that Careers Scotland review current practice in terms of Partnership Agreements, identifying good practice and promoting uptake amongst partners locally
• that Careers Scotland manage client relationships within a framework whereby clients and Key Workers understand the conditions for exit
• that Careers Scotland, with key partners, review GRfW in terms of its links with the Inclusiveness Projects
• that Careers Scotland consider the findings in terms of how to preserve the characteristics of the Inclusiveness Projects which have proven effective.