Implementing Inclusiveness Realising
Potential
| "Breakdown at transitions occurs when
there is no link person to offer support;
insufficient time for explanation or
demonstration; and the need for emotional
support is not recognised."
[Association of Directors of
Education]"It would be advisable for the young
person to have a single contact remaining
with them through the whole process. This
would allow a relationship to be built up
and go some way towards preventing the
young person from feeling that they were
continually being passed on."
[Linking Education and Disability
Scotland (LEAD)]"There should be personal mentoring for
disabled young people .....the mentor
should be an ally."
[Scottish Human Services]."It seems like we have to follow the
system around. It should follow us around".
[Parent of 20 year old with learning
difficulties] | |
5 Improving Transition: Key Workers and Mentors
The Issue
5.1 In the previous chapter, we set out our proposals to
address the problem of the lack of communication between
agencies. There is a second strand to this issue: the lack
of a single point of contact, either an individual or an
agency, who has both the knowledge and the responsibility
for making sure that the young person has access to all the
required learning and support provision. The great majority
of vulnerable young people (and their parents/carers) will
not be able to negotiate their way through the range of
learning opportunities and other kinds of support. Within
the proposed area networks, we believe that there must be a
specific group of people whose function is to bridge the
gap between the providers of services and the young people
who need those services.
The issue is how to ensure that young people and
their parents/carers are able to get to the right person at
the right time without being passed around a number of
different agencies and individual professionals. In our
view, this would be a major step towards creating an
Inclusiveness approach.
The Committee's View
5.2 The Committee had identified the importance of this
issue in our earliest discussions.
It was also one of the main themes emerging from our
consultation exercise. Many of our respondents proposed
that there should be a dedicated source of support,
information and guidance for young people and their
parents. Some saw the need to appoint an individual as a
key worker. Others suggested that there should be a
"broker" to negotiate the appropriate package of learning
and support. There was also recognition that personal
support should be an essential element of the overall
support arrangements for many vulnerable young people and
their families.
Roles and Responsibilities
5.3 The most common terms used to describe a person who
should provide guidance and support to the young person
were "key worker" and "mentor". We explored the various
roles and responsibilities in our consultation workshops.
These included:
- identifying the barriers likely to prevent the
young person from making a successful transition (low
basic skills, low levels of social skills, lack of
equipment, difficulties in getting access to personal
care or support);
- providing a single point of contact for the young
person in dealing with agencies and to act as a link or
"broker" for the young person with all the relevant
agencies; and to help the young person, over time, to
interact with other agencies independently;
- participating in assessment, and possibly to take a
leading role;
- acting as a supporter to the young person and
his/her family/carers;
- giving up to date and accurate information about
post-school learning opportunities and support
arrangements;
- acting as an independent and/or impartial adviser
and supporter;
- acting as a "befriender" or mentor;
- acting as an advocate if the need arose;
- offering a constant figure, possibly from the age
of 14 if problems have been identified at school and up
to the early 20s.
5.4 This description of responsibilities, and indeed
characteristics, covers 2 distinct, and potentially
different, areas of expertise. The first is the requirement
for a key worker to have the knowledge, ability and
influence to act as "broker" on behalf of the young person
and negotiate the appropriate package of funding. The
second area is the ability to offer personal and emotional
support and a "listening ear" possibly with a view to
acting as an advocate. In the Committee's view, these are 2
distinct, but complementary roles:
- a key worker who operates within the statutory
network; and
- a volunteer mentor or "befriender" to offer
informal support and encouragement.
The key worker should have the ability to form a
positive relationship with the young person and the powers
to act formally on his/her behalf to arrange appropriate
learning and support provision. The mentor, on the other
hand, should have no responsibility for organising
provision but should concentrate on offering the more
informal personal support and encouragement which can help
young people (and their parents/carers) to build up
self-esteem and confidence.
5.5 There are some aspects of the 2 roles where the
responsibilities of the key worker and the mentor would
have to be clearly defined. Information-giving, assessment
and advocacy are 3 aspects where the key worker and mentor
might both become involved. There should be clear
guidelines which clarify the respective roles, particularly
about participation in important areas such as assessment.
Even more importantly, there should be well-understood
links between the 2 roles to ensure that there is no
conflict between the advice and information given to the
young person.
5.6 There is one other very important factor. Young
people will often make their own decision about the person
whom they want to go to for advice and support. There may
be more flexibility of choice within a volunteer mentor
network. It also has implications for the way in which
mentors might be recruited and assigned. Some young people
may find it helpful to have a mentor from among their peer
group; others may prefer an older person. There may also be
scope for recruiting mentors from the education and
training sectors. Community education and youth workers
have considerable experience of establishing relationships
with vulnerable young people.
Two Roles: Key Worker and Mentor
5.7 We concluded that there are 2 roles: a key worker
and a mentor; and we set out below our views on their
respective roles and responsibilities; and ideas for
organising and managing their activities.
5.8 It is important to emphasise that, although the key
worker would be a formal part of organisational structures,
we do not see him/her taking over the functions of other
agencies - careers service companies, FE colleges,
training, and social work. The professionals in these
agencies have a body of knowledge and expertise to offer
the young person. The key worker's main function would be
to act as a single point of contact and:
- to guide and support the young person through the
network of other agencies;
- to act on his/her behalf in negotiating and
agreeing the most appropriate package of provision to
meet the identified learning and support needs;
and
- to be the first point of contact for education and
training providers, or other agencies if problems
arise.
5.9 The role of the key worker would have to be formally
agreed and acknowledged by other agencies to enable him/her
to have sufficient influence to negotiate an appropriate
package of provision. There could be tensions between the
key worker and other agencies if a keyworker had the power
to advocate a course of action without any responsibility
for funding or managing the implementation. This was
referred to as "power without responsibility".
Assignment of Key Worker
5.10 Not all young people will necessarily have a key
worker. One of the ideas discussed during the consultation,
and which we looked at with great interest, was the Kurator
model in Denmark which allocates every young person to a
Kurator before they leave school. We concluded, however,
that the greatest benefit would be gained from targeting
key worker support towards the young people with the
greatest level of assessed learning and support needs and
helping them to get the maximum benefit from the expertise
of professionals in the field.
5.11 This raises the question of how and when young
people might be referred to a key worker. The first contact
could come while the young person is still at school. The
Committee has noted with considerable interest the strong
view expressed by a number of agencies and individuals
about the need to recognise and address the problems of 14
and 15 year olds (and even younger pupils) who are at risk
of becoming disengaged from the education system. Guidance
and support for learning staff in schools are well placed
to identify problems which are likely to hinder the
transition to further education or training, or into
employment. The careers service companies also have an
important role in identifying difficulties among young
people while in school and are now giving particular
attention to those who are at risk of becoming disaffected
or excluded. The school, careers service company or the
Social Work Department should all be able to refer young
people to a key worker. It should also be open to parents
to ask for referral to a key worker. When a young person
has left school, the referral to a key worker could come
from a number of sources. The assessment process, as
described later in the report, could lead to a referral;
one of the agencies could recommend that a key worker is
needed; the family/carer or the young person might seek a
referral. It would be essential to have clear guidelines
for referrals available to all the agencies and to young
people and their parents/carers.
Organisation of Key Worker Support
5.12 In the Committee's view, the introduction of key
worker support has the potential to bring about major
improvements in the way agencies communicate and to create
a much clearer focus on the young person and his/her needs.
It could be one of the most powerful instruments in taking
forward the development of an Inclusiveness approach not
only within agencies but also across agencies.
5.13 The Committee has considered a number of ideas for
the organisation of key worker support for young people and
their parents. There was a substantial body of opinion
among agencies, which offered views on the role of the key
worker, that the introduction of a new "worker" or team was
unnecessary. They suggested that the solution was to
improve the practices of existing agencies and to develop a
key worker role among the staff of those agencies. The key
worker could be drawn from the agency best able to meet the
greatest need of the young person at that time. If, and
when, another area of need becomes more pressing, the
relevant agency should take on the role.
5.14 We believe that for the majority of young people
who require key worker support, this will be the right
approach. It will build on the knowledge and expertise of
professionals in the agencies and, by extending and
enhancing their role, not only benefit the young person but
also improve communication between agencies. In order to
meet possible concerns among young people and their
parents/carers, the new arrangements should pay particular
attention to the need for a single point of contact and a
consistent approach as a link to the wider range of
agencies.
5.15 There are implications here for staff training and
development. As the focal point of contact, it would be
essential for a key worker to have a good working knowledge
of the statutory framework which governs education,
training and other forms of support for 16_24 year olds;
and of the range of learning opportunities and support
provision. There would be additional costs associated both
with training and with the additional requirement to spend
time liasing with other agencies.
An Extra Level of Support
5.16 The Committee believes that an enhanced role for
staff in the relevant agencies would offer effective key
worker support for the majority of young people. We have
also considered, however, the position of young people who
have the most difficult and intractable problems and may
require a more intensive level of support, perhaps over a
long period of time. These are young people who may have
experienced social deprivation, homelessness and mental
health problems leading to chaotic and disordered
lifestyles as well as young people who may have multiple
disabilities. Such young people are likely to experience a
prolonged period of transition, and need a range of
different types of learning and support over time. There is
a case for an extra level of key worker support to be
available for such young people so that they have a
consistent, single point of contact no matter how many
times they drop out of learning or other forms of
support.
5.17 We have considered 2 approaches to offering an
extra level of key worker support:
- expanding the role of one of the existing
agencies;
- establishing a separate team directly managed and
funded through the Area Strategy Groups.
It is important to emphasise that it would be for the
Area Strategy Groups to decide the extent to which an extra
level of key worker support would be necessary in their
area and how it should be organised.
Expand Role of Existing Agency
5.18 The responsibilities and duties of the careers
service companies and Social Work Departments suggest that
they might be well placed to offer extra support for the
16-24 age group. Not all young people, however, who
encounter barriers in the transition from school to further
education or training or employment, are, or will be,
clients of the Social Work Department. Careers service
companies already have a responsibility for working with
young people before and after they leave school to advise
them on learning and employment opportunities. They have
now been asked to target their work more specifically
towards disaffected young people. Both the careers service
and Social Work would offer a body of knowledge and
expertise but careers service companies would offer a more
detailed understanding of post-school learning
opportunities.
5.19 The new direction being given to Community Learning
following SOEID Circular 4/99 "Communities - Change through
Learning" emphasises engagement with young people to help
them experience positive development, whether they are at
school or beyond. This applies particularly to young people
making the transition from school who are at risk of social
exclusion because of dissatisfaction with their educational
experience or because of their lifestyle. It also includes
young people with disabilities and their families/carers.
These new developments in community learning give community
education workers a more prominent role and they may be
well placed to offer key worker support.
A Separate Team
5.20 The establishment of a separate team, operating
alongside the existing agencies, could allow the key worker
to provide an extra level of support over a long period of
time if necessary. The Area Strategy Group could appoint a
manager to work directly either to the Strategy Group or to
the Implementing Inclusiveness Team. The manager could
recruit 2 or 3 key workers depending on the size of the
area and the potential client group. One of the most
important aspects of setting up the team would be to agree
clear protocols for the liaison mechanisms between the team
and the other agencies. The team of key workers could be
drawn from careers service, social work or education or
training backgrounds, including community education, either
by direct recruitment or secondment.
Caseload
5.21 One of the most important issues to be addressed in
setting up arrangements for key worker support is the
caseload. Our view of the key worker's role is that it
should not replace the role of the existing professionals
in the field. This has implications for the caseload since
the key worker should have a clearly defined set of tasks.
We have not, however, attempted to put a figure on the
potential caseload. We believe that it will depend on the
preferred arrangements for the key worker role and on the
size of the eligible population, geographical nature of the
area and the patterns of learning and support provision. As
a first step, the area networks should undertake an
analysis of these factors to inform the decision on the
most effective approach to offering key worker support in
their area.
Multi-agency Practitioner Teams
5.22 There should also be a structure for reviewing the
cases of young people who would benefit from key worker
support. One approach would be for local multi-agency
practitioner teams to review cases. The team could decide
whether a key worker was appropriate. This multi-agency
team could also be responsible for overseeing the
assessment process as described later in the report. This
would be an important connection.
5.23 There will be some additional costs involved in
providing key worker support although, in our view, the
main thrust of the proposal is to assist agencies to
improve delivery of services rather than adding new
burdens. The cost of dedicated support may be greater.
Given the potential variations in developing this support,
we have not attempted to offer definitive estimates of
costs. However, we have estimated that a dedicated key
worker support team comprising a manager and 2 or 3 workers
might cost in the region of £80,000 per annum. Over 17
areas this could amount to £1.5 million, allowing for
set-up costs.
5.24 Having considered these options very carefully,
there were still a range of views within the Committee. We
were particularly aware that the arrangements for key
worker support will have to suit the range and diversity of
needs among young people within a local area. We concluded
that it would be more valuable and productive for the Area
Strategy Groups to decide on the arrangements for key
worker support within their area. We have recommended that
the first 3 years of the area networks should be treated as
pilots to allow scope for testing different structures. The
National Action Group should also encourage the area
networks to pilot different models of key worker support
with a view to developing good practice.
5.25 The Area Strategy Group would have to agree
protocols and standards to ensure that all the relevant
agencies formally recognised and agreed the role and
responsibilities of the key worker in negotiating the
appropriate package of learning and support. There should
also be clear protocols for referral to a key worker agreed
by all the agencies and guidelines available to young
people and their parents/carers. The Area Strategy Group
should have the responsibility for ensuring that such
protocols and guidelines are in place for monitoring
implementation. The monitoring should include the views of
young people and their parents/carers on how this
arrangement meets their needs for a single point of contact
with the range of agencies and co-ordinated delivery of
provision.
5.26 We believe that the
responsibility for establishing arrangements for key worker
support should lie with the Area Strategy Group.
We, therefore, recommend that the Area Strategy
Group should work with the relevant agencies to set up key
worker support arrangements in their area which best meet
local needs and circumstances. The arrangements should
include clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the
relevant agencies; protocols and guidelines for referral;
and monitoring arrangements.5.27
We also recommend that the National Action Group
should promote the piloting of different models for the key
worker support arrangements within the three-year period of
setting up and piloting of the area networks.A Volunteer Mentor Network
5.28 We have made a distinction between the role of a
key worker and the role of a mentor. The key worker would
have to build up a relationship with the young person but
would operate as part of the formal network of agencies who
provide guidance, education, training, access to employment
and other kinds of support. A mentor would offer personal
support to the young person and his/her family/carers. The
mentor could help the young person to express concerns and
anxieties; seek out information; build confidence and make
choices. But the mentor should not duplicate the more
formal role of the key worker in negotiating with other
agencies on the young person's behalf. There may be
occasions when it is appropriate for the mentor to take on
the role of advocate but this would be an informal
arrangement agreed with the young person.
5.29 There are now a number of examples of mentoring
activities designed to support disadvantaged and
disaffected young people. The Youthstart projects, funded
through the ESF EMPLOYMENT initiative, have offered
mentoring in a number of areas, including projects in
Scotland. The projects have mainly provided one to one
personal support but there are also examples of work place
mentoring and peer group mentoring.
5.30 In all cases, mentoring was seen as a tool to give
disadvantaged young people an "added extra". A review of
mentoring within Youthstart identified a range of roles and
activities undertaken by mentors. These included:
- befriending and encouraging;
- listening;
- motivating and facilitating;
- guiding;
- being a positive role model;
- sharing experiences;
- building confidence and self-esteem;
- challenging young peoples ideas and beliefs;
- allowing young people to take ownership of their
own decisions.
5.31 This is a challenging and demanding role. Where a
mentor has built up a trusting relationship with a young
person, there is likely to be a heavy demand on the
mentor's time and resources, at least for a period. It will
be important to ensure that people who come forward to act
as mentors have access to training to prepare themselves
for the role; and that there is a system in place to
support them in dealing with the emotional impact of
working with young people's problems. Mentors may come from
a variety of backgrounds and may have different
characteristics. Mentors in the Youthstart projects were
drawn from:
- people working with young people;
- volunteers;
- employers and employees;
- other young people.
5.32 The role of mentor is a sensitive one and requires
some particular qualities.
These include:
- ability to value, respect and be genuinely
interested in the lives of young people;
- empathy;
- a non-judgemental approach;
- a sense of realism and honesty;
- self-awareness.
5.33 The Youthstart projects are only one example of
mentoring. The Institute of Career Guidance Mentoring
Action Project (MAP), now called Stepping Stones, has also
developed mentoring approaches for disengaged and
disadvantaged young people. Mentoring is also now being
developed in the New Deal. There will be lessons to be
learned from these and other mentoring projects.
5.34 We believe that there would
be great advantages for young people who are experiencing
barriers or problems in making transitions from school to
post-school learning, or in subsequent transitions, to have
access to a mentor.
We, therefore, recommend that there should be a
network of volunteer mentors with close links to the Area
Strategy Groups and Implementing Inclusiveness
Teams. The setting up of a network of volunteer
mentors could have 2 main strands:
- a national programme for the initial and ongoing
training, and support and information systems;
- a local provider to organise and manage the local
registration, funding and allocation of mentors.
5.35 There would have to be a
structured programme for the recruitment, selection and
training of mentors/supporters delivered according to well
developed criteria. One of the most important aspects of
the arrangements would be appropriate checks on the
backgrounds of volunteer mentors who will be working with
vulnerable young people. A support network for the
mentors/supporters either through a self-help network or
through some supporting organisation would also be
essential.
We propose that the Scottish Executive should offer
a start up fund to one of the national voluntary
organisations to develop a training programme for
mentors. This should be done through a bidding
process.
5.36 We have developed a proposal, following discussions
with the voluntary sector, for a national programme for
initial and ongoing training, and support and information
systems; and local organisation and management of
registration, funding and allocation of mentors. The key
elements of the proposal are:
- The Scottish Executive should commission a national
voluntary organisation or set up a new unit located in
an existing agency to support the area networks by:
- developing guidelines and standards;
- developing training programmes and resources;
- contracting with local providers;
- supporting and monitoring contract delivery;
- evaluating and reporting on implementation and
effectiveness.
- The national unit might have 4 full time staff with
an annual budget of £175k pa plus start-up costs in the
first year.
- The local provider, which may be a voluntary sector
organisation, should be selected by a bidding process
and
- promote the service in the area;
- recruit, select, train and manage a team of
mentors;
- network with other service areas and with wider
mentoring networks;
- provide monitoring information.
- The local provider could employ a co-ordinator
(possibly an assistant if the area or client base is
large). This might cost £15-30,000 pa and over 17 areas
that might average out at around £400,000. This does
not allow for expenses for mentors or any element of
payment.
5.37 The local provider would have to work within the
area strategic and operational framework for Implementing
Inclusiveness within each area. The Area Strategy Group
should set out clear arrangements for the allocation,
referral and monitoring of the activities of mentors.
Summary of Recommendations
The Committee recommends that:
The Area Strategy Group should work with the
relevant agencies to set up key worker support
arrangements in their area which best meet local needs
and circumstances. The arrangements should include
clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the
relevant agencies; protocols and guidelines for
referral; and monitoring arrangements. [Paragraph
5.26]
The National Action Group should promote the
piloting of different models for the key worker support
arrangements within the three-year period of setting up
and piloting of the area networks. [Paragraph
5.27]
There should be a network of volunteer mentors
with close links to the Area Strategy Groups and the
Implementing Inclusiveness Teams. [Paragraph
5.34]
The Scottish Executive should offer a start up
fund to one of the national voluntary organisations to
develop a training programme for mentors. [Paragraph
5.35]
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