Published on:
23
August 2012
Clackmannanshire Council are set to launch a scheme aimed at getting young people who have been in local authority care into work.
The Council's Housing Health and Care Committee has given the go-ahead to the introduction of the Clackmannanshire Family Firm Programme, which has been piloted elsewhere and has been cited by Scottish Government as an example of good practice.
The intention of the programme is to provide dedicated assistance to young people who are looked after by the Council at the point of leaving school and who have not been successful in getting work.
The programme aims to target young people aged 17-years-old and over.
Housing, Health and Care Committee Convenor, Councillor Les Sharp, said: "This programme is not aimed to act in any way as a distraction to the existing programmes available to young people as they leave school, such as Activity Agreements and National Training Programmes, but should act as both a safety net and progression route for slightly older young people."
The aim is to select seven or eight young people with the hope that at least five will continue through to the full-time placement.
The programme aims to improve the employability of young people through a phased programme of confidence building, training, work based activity and ongoing support.
Councillor Sharp added: "For young people who progress through the early phases successfully this would see them get a full-time work placement within the Council of at least three months."
Information events will take place through the Opportunities for All network and after the selection process there will be a three to four week induction programme, carried out on a part-time basis to ensure youngsters understand what is on offer, what is expected of them and the support they will receive.
After that there will be a four week part-time Placement Induction when the young people selected will get the opportunity to get settled into their placement and make sure they are happy to continue on to a full-time arrangement.
During the first three stages the young people will remain on benefits and will need to continue to meet job seeking conditions. But once they reach stage four they will become employees of the Council to enable them to break-down any financial worries they had of taking part in the scheme.
It is expected it will take up to six months to progress young people from selection to completion of their placement.