I inadequately (Walsh et aL, 1999 43-46) applicants sent to them, suggesting that the job matching function was being performed

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Job referral rates also varied considerably across regions. In the East Midlands and East

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Anglia region, job referral rates were ~ne-third of the rate in the South West (9 per cent

against 27 per cent). Further analysis will establish whether this reflects diffenng

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participant populations, different ambient labour market conditions, or variations in

practice at regional level

• Table3.20 NewDeal Personal Adviser referi~als

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% of co_ces

None 46

• Collegc/TECJLECin courses/training/work ‘ 19

tndepencient careersadvice 14

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Jobscacchskillscourse 14

Employerswith vacancies to fill 12

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Course to improve reading/writing 5

Mentor 4

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Someone to assistinbecoming self-employed 3

Health adviser 2

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Specialist agency tohelp offenders i~ 2

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Weighted baseUnwei~ztedbase 56465683

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Base those recalling interviews with New

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Personal Advisers arid those recathng Interviews with

Employment Service staff since entry to the programme Note this isamultipleresponsequesuon so that thepercentages add to more than 100

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3 10 Referral ofparticipants with special needs

• As a result of their case study evaiuaLon, the Tavistock Institute noted ‘The adequacy of assessments undertaken by Personal~Advisers and consequent referrals, in terms of the

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client’s attitude and motivation, h~avebeen widely questioned’ (Tavistock Institute, • 1999). Particular difficulties have ~risen in the case of participants with severe basic skills needs, or serious personal or social problems. some providers of services associated

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with Gateway felt clients’ basic neekis problems had not been adequately identified and

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57

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ChapterThree

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tackled before placement with them. This had resulted in inappropnate referral and

problems of non-attendance and drop out.

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The survey sheds further light on referrals of participants with special needs. First, there

is conflicting evidence about the degree to which NDPAs sought to priontise participants

in most need when referring them to help Those with job search problems had higher

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referral rates than those without (57 against 48 per cent), as did those with basic skills

probLems (58 against 53 per cent), and those with long-term health probLems (58 against

53 per cent) On the other hand, there were no differences in referral rates according to

whether the participant had qualifications, had a job before New Deal, or lived in social

rented accommodation. What is more, the referral rate for those with drug or alcohol

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problems was only 46 per cent, and referral rates fell with longer qualifying spells of

unemployment.20

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The second piece of evidence relates to referral to more specialist assistance dedicated to the needs of participants with particular problems. There were clear indications that referrals reflected special needs, although there were sizeable percentages of participants

admitting to specific problems who had not been referred to appropriate assistance. For

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example, 9 per cent of those with work-limiting long-term health problems had been

referred to advisers offering help with health problems and disability, compared to 4 per

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cent with long-term health problems which were not work-lirnitmg, and I per cent of

those with no health problems. Nine per cent of ex-offenders, and 11 per cent of those with drug or alcohol problems, had been referred to specialist agencies to help offenders such as NACRO or the probation service, compared to 1 per cent which the survey did

not identify as ex-offenders Sixteen per cent of those with literacy or numeracy

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problems had been referred to reading or writing courses, compared to 2 percent of those

who did not admit to such problems

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3.11. The role of mentors

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Mentors are people offenng support and encouragement. They encompass individuals

with a variety of expertise, ranging from professionally qualified counsellors through to

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individuals of standing or expenence working for or known by Gateway providers to be

sources of valuable information and advice Only 4 per cent of participants had been referred to mentors.2’ They were twice as common among those who were on the employment Option (8 per cent) and those on post~Opncmadvice (9 per cent).

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Almost half (45 per cent) of those who had been referred to mentors viewed them as very

helpful. Another thirty eig~itper cent viewed them as quite helpful.

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~ The referral rate was56percentamong those with qualifying unemployment spellsofunder12 months,

and48per cent among those unemployed for threeyears or more Perhaps NDPAs were funnelling scarce resources to those mostable torespondinthe short-term, rather than more difficulttoplaceparticipants

21 Theincidenceofmentoring is likely to havensen since a tendenng exerciseconductedin thesummerof

1998whichledto thesettingup ofmore widespreadmentoringarrangements (Tavistock Institute, 1999-

it) TheInstitute suggeststhat ‘Greater imp1ementau~nanduseofmentoringshouldalleviatethe crisisor

trouble-shooting natureofmuchOptions support workatpresent’ (1999. 31)

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• Chapter Three

3.12. Tastersandshorr courses

Dunng the Gateway, New Deal parlicipants are able to spend some time exploring a

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course of action, perhaps even attendipg a short course, to see whether they would like to pursue the matter further Among these courses are ‘tasters’, intended to give

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participants a taste of an Option they~are considering The survey contains information

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on time spent with employers to frnc~out about jobs, visiting or trying out a course of education or training, going on short Fourses to improve basic skills, and going on short • courses to learn how to find jobs or a9ply for them Half (52 per cent) recalled doing one

or more of these, and a sixth (18 per c~ent)remembered doing two ormore.

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Those with the most substantial participation in New Deal were most likely to have gone_{on tasters and on average they wentOon more A fifth (20 per cent) of those recalling}

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NDPA interviews only had been on tasters, compared to 35 per cent of those recalling periods ofNDPA advice, and 68 per cent of those recalling advice and Options

Seventy per cent of those on post-Op~ionadvice had been on a taster, and a third (33 per

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cent) had been on two or more. In contrast, only 40 percentof those still on the Gateway

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had been on_{likely of all to go on tasters were those participating in the full-time education and}tasters, with 14 per cent going on more than one. However, those most

In document New deal for young people: national survey of participants: stage 1 (Page 76-78)