Implementing Inclusiveness Realising
Potential
| The day centres are inadequate. They
lead to segregation and the creation of
"eternal children". Young people with
special needs need more opportunities in
post-school education and training
............. (The recommendation is) for a
person-centred approach rather than a
building-based "specialist" service
[Scottish Human Services].The provision is particularly
inappropriate for people with complex
learning difficulties. More coherence from
16-25 and the sole involvement and
commitment of the Social Work Department is
required."
[Association of Directors of
Education in Scotland]."People with more severe, complex and
continuing needs, in particular those with
severe communication difficulties, are
under-represented. As a result, there is a
danger that policy development on
post-school transition is formulated on the
basis of a rather narrow set of needs, but
applied to all."(Sense Scotland) | |
9. Improving Provision: Enhancing Learning
Opportunities for Young People in Resource Centres
The Issue
9.1 In setting out our vision of how
Inclusiveness would work in practice we have made a
number of proposals and recommendations for the
development of an Inclusive approach in further
education and training. In line with our remit, many of
the recommendations are geared towards helping young
people to improve their skills and capabilities to
obtain, and sustain, employment. In Chapter 13 we
discuss a range of employment opportunities that may
open up access to employment for many young people who
require additional support. However, if we accept that,
for some young people, employment is less likely to be
a future option - at least in the early years after
leaving school - it opens up a debate about the nature
and purpose of post-school learning.
9.2 The issue is how, within a culture of
Inclusiveness, we can recognise and acknowledge that
for some young people the purpose of post-school
learning is to improve the quality of life experience;
and enhance the range of post-school learning
opportunities to satisfy those continuing learning
needs.
The Committee's View
9.3 There are learning opportunities in colleges for
young people who require a high level of additional support
through special programmes or extended learning support
although such opportunities are not available to all young
people. We are also aware that there are training providers
who are funded through the European Social Fund or by
Social Work Departments to offer training designed to help
the individual to achieve a better quality of life
experience. Such providers are mainly in the voluntary
sector, e.g. Capability Scotland, The Scottish Association
for Mental Health and the Head Injury Trust for Scotland. A
number of young people, however, on leaving school or
college will attend a Resource Centre where their social
support and health needs can be met. Resource Centres
provide a base for day activities for adults with a
learning disability and are usually managed by Social Work
Departments.
9.4 The Committee has received strong representations
from parents and parents' groups, and from a number of
organisations, about the current lack of continuing
learning opportunities for young people in Resource
Centres. Some of these young people may have profound
learning disabilities, multiple disabilities or emotional
or behavioural problems. Others will have less complex
needs but may be attending a Resource Centre with a view to
receiving training, perhaps following a course at a further
education college. The evidence given to the Committee
strongly suggests that Resource Centres do not fully meet
the learning needs and aspirations of this group of young
people. There is also evidence that many young people who
enter Resource Centres in their late teens or early 20s
spend most of their adult life in that setting. Although
they may have experience of a range of training, with a
view to future employment, the majority of people never
achieve employment.
9.5 There is a range of views about the current and
future purpose of Resource Centres. Many Centres organise
attendance at colleges, often on a part-time basis, or
provide other training but our evidence suggests that the
quality of experience varies considerably. Although there
is scope to do so, community care plans rarely detail how
the education and learning needs of young people will be
met. There is now a widely held view that Resource Centres
are not designed or funded to meet the continuing learning
needs of young people. The provision of social, recreation,
social work support and health care may be seen as the main
objectives. There is also a view that Social Work
Departments, may not be the appropriate body to have
responsibility for education and training. These are not
areas within the Social Work Departments' core
responsibilities and there may be limited knowledge of
learning opportunities.
9.6 There are concerns that the current range of
learning opportunities available in many Resource Centres
limits the potential of young people. One example of good
practice is the Opportunities for Training Towards
Independence (OFTTI) project at Lews Castle College where
people with profound and complex needs have been supported
so that they can participate in college learning. The OFTTI
project works specifically with people who were formerly in
a Resource Centre. The Social Work Department, supported by
the European Social Fund, funds the project but the college
delivers the education. Many of the students have made
considerable progress. Notably, college staff themselves
acknowledge that they have benefited from the experience
despite initial reservations about how they and the
students would cope with demands for adaptations to
teaching and learning styles. We are also aware of the
experience of a 3 year SOEID funded project at Telford
College in which the college worked with the social work
department and the health board to deliver education
provision for young people with severe and complex
disabilities.
Learning Disabilities Review
9.7 The Scottish Executive Social Work Services Group,
in conjunction with the Department of Health, is taking
forward a review of social and health care for adults and
children with learning disabilities. Their remit recognises
the importance of accessing housing and education and
employment opportunities. The Learning Disabilities Review
is also looking at the nature of day activities and has had
a number of representations on this point. A range of views
has been offered about different aspects of the service
provided by Resource Centres but concerns about learning
opportunities have also emerged from that consultation.
Continuing Learning Opportunities
9.8 The wider range of social support and health care
offered by Resource Centres falls outwith the Committee's
remit. However, in the context of an overall Inclusiveness
approach, we have considered continuing learning
opportunities for young people who are attending Resource
Centres, and in particular, those who may have difficulty
in pursuing learning because of profound and complex needs.
Some of the evidence that we have received suggests that
there may be specific learning needs for young people in
the post-school period when the young people themselves are
still developing and maturing. We are aware that, as in the
example of the people being helped by the OFTTI project,
the development of the skills of independent living and
employability may come later. The ECHO (Employment
Challenges and Opportunities) and PEP (Partnership
Employment Projects) projects in North Lanarkshire also
show that people can be helped to move from Resource
Centres to employment. Using a supported employment model
(vocational profile, job matching, job negotiation, on the
job coaching) a number of people have entered employment.
In addition to the benefits of increased self-esteem,
opportunities for personal growth and disposable income for
the individual, there are significant benefits for the
parents/carers. These projects require an intensive level
of time and support but there is now evidence that the
costs associated with job finding and coaching are less
than the cost of maintaining a place in a Resource
Centre.
9.9 We believe that
consideration should be given to promoting and enhancing
continuing learning opportunities in the setting of a
Resource Centre. It is our view that all the agencies - FE
and training, voluntary sector, Social Work - who design
and deliver post-school provision for young people with
additional support needs should review and examine, as a
matter of priority, the continuing learning opportunities
available in Resource Centres. Under the current funding
and management arrangements, we accept that it may not be
possible for staff to provide "in-house" an appropriate
range of learning opportunities. This means that there is
scope for joint working with colleges and training
providers to review existing arrangements and develop more
innovative approaches. There are examples of good practice
to build on, such as the OFTTI project.
We therefore recommend that Social Work Departments
should work with other agencies to refocus and re-orientate
Resource Centre provision to give a higher priority to
addressing the continuing learning needs of young people,
either in the Centre or through attendance at a college or
training provider.
9.10 We have also considered the
role of the further education and training sectors.
"Opportunities for Everyone", the Further Education
Strategic Framework published in March 1999, specifically
highlighted the function of colleges to provide general
education for the local community and it recommends that
this role should be strengthened. The Framework emphasised
the need for close collaboration with community education.
This should be clearly set out by local authorities in the
development of their Community Learning strategies as
called for in the SOEID Circular 4/99 "Communities - Change
through Learning". If further education colleges were to
take a more pro-active role in providing post school
education for young people with a high level of support
needs it would fit with this new strategic direction. The
FE sector has also been given funding specifically to
pursue the widening of access to under represented groups.
In line with these objectives,
we recommend that the SFEFC should examine the case
for enhancing and extending the range of continuing
learning opportunities in colleges to meet the needs of
young people who have a high level of learning and support
needs. There should be flexibility in offering the
best learning environment. There is scope for staff from
colleges to deliver learning in the Resource Centres as
well as attendance at college. This already happens in a
number of areas. The flexibility in learning provision
would have to be matched by flexibility in timetabling and
in the transport and personal care arrangements or other
support.
9.11 There may also be scope for further extension of
the learning opportunities available from training
providers who offer life skills programmes (including
confidence building and independent living skills). We have
discussed elsewhere in the report the enhanced assessment
programmes which are designed to help young people with the
most disordered lifestyles to build up a range of personal,
social and life skills. It seems possible that this type of
training could benefit young people who experience
difficulty in taking their part in society because of
learning disabilities, mental health problems and emotional
and behavioural problems.
9.12 One of the main factors to be taken into account in
examining the options for future provision is the length of
time a young person may need to spend in post-school
further education or training. Some young people may
require a period of years before they attain a level of
competence and capability in dealing with the "adult "
world, or perhaps developing skills suitable for
employment. What is needed to support this kind of
provision is a systematic approach to setting learning
goals and measuring progress. In Chapter 7 we recommended
that, for young people with a high level of support need,
there should be an assessment, action planning and review
system which takes into account the likelihood of a slow
rate of progress in small stages. We believe that this
system could apply to young people who have learning
disabilities, mental health problems, or emotional or
behavioural problems.
9.13 In Chapter 2, the Committee
set out its view that a continuum of learning opportunities
was an essential part of Inclusiveness. This should apply
equally to young people whose learning needs in the
immediate post-school years are more related to "general"
life skills than to the acquisition of vocational skills
and qualifications. If Inclusiveness is to be put into
practice, the lead agencies must give consideration to the
nature, purpose and scope of learning opportunities which
should be available to
all young people.
We, therefore, recommend that the Implementing
Inclusiveness networks at national and local level should
give specific consideration to developing and co-ordinating
enhanced learning and support opportunities for young
people with a high level of support needs arising from
disabilities, including young people in Resource
Centres.Funding
9.14 We are fully aware that there would be some
resource implications in enhancing the nature and scope of
continuing learning opportunities. The Social Work
Department already funds learning provision in Resource
Centres and the FE sector has funding for widening access.
Elsewhere in the report we are recommending a review of the
arrangements for Group 18 and Extended Learning Support
which are the principal methods of funding courses for
young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
in further education. The challenge is for SFEFC, the
Scottish Executive and local authorities to develop new
funding arrangements which make more effective use of these
existing resources. This may be an example of how to
promote joint or pooled funding to ensure that the needs of
the individual are met. The possibility of legislation for
pooled budgets between Health and Social Work was raised in
the "Aiming for Excellence" White Paper and may offer a way
to address this issue.
9.15 The ideas which we have
outlined would require further consideration by all the
agencies, particularly Social Work Departments and
education and training providers. In Chapter 4 we have
proposed that the key task for the Area Strategy Groups
should be to ensure that all young people in the area
receive the learning and support provision that they need.
This should apply no less to young people who are attending
Resource Centres, including those with more profound and
complex needs.
We, therefore, recommend that the Area Strategy
Groups should pay specific attention to developing and
co-ordinating enhanced learning and support opportunities
for this group of young people.9.16 We have also discussed another approach to
developing a more adequate and appropriate range of
continuing learning opportunities. We wish to propose that
the National Action Group set up a challenge fund to
support and pilot work on ways of improving access to
continuing learning for people who have high levels of
support needs. Bids into a challenge fund would have to
demonstrate that they were based on good practice and
ideally that they were linked to multi-agency planning
groups who were promoting some form of integrated funding.
In the light of the work currently underway by the Learning
Disabilities Review, we would wish them to review this
proposal before any final recommendation is made.
Summary of Recommendations
The Committee recommends that:
- Social Work Departments should work with
other agencies to refocus and re-orientate Resource
Centre provision to give a higher priority to
addressing the continuing learning needs of young
people, either in the Centre or through attendance
at a college or training provider. (Paragraph
9.9);
- the SFEFC should examine the case for
enhancing and extending the range of continuing
learning opportunities in colleges to meet the
needs of young people who have a high level of
learning and support needs. (Paragraph
9.10;
- the Implementing Inclusiveness Network at
national and local level should give specific
consideration to developing and co-ordinating
enhanced learning and support opportunities for
young people with a high level of support needs
arising from disabilities, and including young
people in Resource Centres. (Paragraph
9.13);
- the Area Strategy Groups should pay
specific attention to developing and co-ordinating
enhanced learning and support opportunities for
this group of young people. (Paragraph
9.15).
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