The Pathway into Employment
Executive Summary
This document is about the Pathway into Employment for young people with learning disabilities. The Pathway has been developed with the 12 Getting a
Life demonstration sites who are now working to implement it. They are beginning by building on what they are already doing well.
The Pathway brings together five processes, each of which is important for making sure that young people move into adulthood with jobs and full lives.
These processes do not always work together to deliver coherent support to young people and their families.
The five processes are;

Transition planning

Personalisation

Supported employment

Curriculum

Strategic planning and commissioning
The document describes how each of these processes can better support the young people into adulthood. It also describes how elements of each can work together at each stage of the transition journey from the school year when young people turn 14.
The graphic representation of the Pathway is a “model” based on research and good practice. It is intended to support local areas to develop their own pathway, based on local circumstances and stages of development.
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A Pathway into Employment
Introduction
Employment is a key part of Valuing People Now (VPN) 1 , because least progress had been made . This is because it is where the least progress had been made for people with learning disabilities 2 . In England, only 7.5% of adults with moderate and severe learning disabilities are in any kind of work.
In 2007, Ministers announced the Getting a Life (GAL) programme to explore why young people with learning disabilities do not go into employment on leaving school and/or college. The learning from this fed directly into the cross-departmental employment strategy for people with learning disabilities,
Valuing Employment Now (VEN) 3 , in 2009.
The Government is committed to achieving equality for all disabled people by
2025 4 , and to radically increasing the number of people with moderate and severe learning disabilities in real jobs by 2025. We know from places where it already happens that this is possible, and we know that 65% of people with learning disabilities would like a paid job 5 .
GAL is now one of a number of government demonstration programmes designed to bring about fundamental system change so that people with learning disabilities can get jobs and careers. The other programmes are:
- Project Search is an internship model based in a host employer
- Jobs First will work to help people with learning disabilities use their personal budgets to buy the support they need to get and keep a job
- There is also an Employability Hub, based in Kent, that will show how people with complex needs can get a job
More information on these is in the VEN resource hub. www.valungpeople.gov.uk/venresources
In addition, the Right to Control 6 trailblazer sites will:

test the most effective way of delivering choice and control to disabled people

test how to align and streamline different funding streams to achieve agreed outcomes for disabled people
1 Valuing People Now: a new three-year strategy for people with learning disabilities ,
Department of Health (2009) http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanc e/DH_093377
2 Valuing People , The Story So Far, Department of Health (2005)
3 Valuing Employment Now – real jobs for people with learning disabilities , Department of
Health (2009)
4 Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People, Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit (2005)
5 Adults with Learning Difficulties in England 2003/4, Eric Emerson (2005)
6 More information is available on the Office for Disability Issues website, http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk/working/right-to-control.php
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
provide robust evidence on the Right to Control for evaluation by the Office of Disability Issues
Employment is the focus of this document. We know, however that people with learning disabilities experience poor outcomes in all areas of their lives and young people in transition need to be supported to plan holistically for their future. This document needs to be read in conjunction with Valuing
People Now and Transition 7 , which sets the employment pathway in the context of broader, comprehensive transition planning, including for independent living, friendships, community involvement and good health.
This document is about what we have learned in the GAL demonstration sites. It sets out the pathway into employment that has been developed with the sites, which the GAL sites are now working to implement. It is “work in progress,” and we welcome feedback on it.
The pathway is part of the VEN resource hub so that it can be shared across the country. It represents “best practice” in transition planning, based on what research and practice have shown to work. Nowhere in the country is delivering the whole pathway. We are expecting that local areas will use it to analyse their current systems and to work out how to improve outcomes for young people with learning disabilities. The key elements are:

starting planning for jobs and careers earlier and providing employment support from age 14

raising expectations and aspirations throughout the system

using all available resources effectively to support young people to achieve good life chance outcomes, including employment

embedding self directed support in transition planning so that there is a clear link between planning for a career and life and bringing resources together
We plan to test the pathway out in the field and develop it further. If you have comments or ideas please contact us at:
Nicola Gitsham, Linda Jordan and Clare Rayner
Dept of Health, Wellington House, 133-155 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8UG clare.rayner@dh.gsi.gov.uk
7 Valuing People Now and Transition, Department of Health, 2010
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Background
The Getting a Life programme, launched in April 2008, was given the brief to investigate why young people with learning disabilities (i.e. those who will be eligible for adult social care) do not go into paid employment on leaving school and/or college, and to identify how the existing barriers can be removed.
There is already research which addresses these issues and this helped to inform the early discussions with the sites.
1. The findings of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities 2002 8 showed that:

despite the legislation, 20% of youngsters had left school without a transition plan and almost 50% had little or no involvement in planning for their future

whether or not a young person had received a transition plan made little or no difference to what happened to them after school

a lack of easily accessible information for parents and young people about future possibilities
2. The Shaw Trust in 2008 9 found that the critical factors in successful employment outcomes are:

Start early in discussing employment (year 8 or 9)

Provide information to families, particularly about how young people can be safely supported into work that is appropriate to their interests and skills and how this fits in with welfare benefits and tax credits

Involve experienced supported employment organisations from year 9
 Dispel notions of people needing to be “job ready”

Work experience in ordinary community jobs

Link together career planning, meaningful work experience and the school curriculum
3. Evaluation of the outcomes of supported employment in North
Lanarkshire 10 demonstrates that people can have jobs of 16 hours a week or more and be better off financially. It showed:

People moved from social services into employment of 16 hours a week or more during a period of relatively unfavourable unemployment levels

This can only be achieved if the approach used (intensive supported employment) is replicated
8 Bridging the Divide at Transition: What happens to young people with learning difficulties and their families, British Institute of Learning Disabilities (2002)
9 What Works? – Transition to employment for young people with learning disabilities, Beyer et al Welsh Centre for Learning disabilities, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, March
2008.
10 An Evaluation of the Outcomes of Supported Employment in North Lanarkshire , Beyer,
Welsh Centre for Learning Disabilities, Cardiff University, 2008
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
Significant investment is needed to provide job coach time, welfare rights advice and effective training in the process
4. Evaluation of In-Control 11 and research into the Department of Health
Individual Budget pilots 12 show that personal budgets significantly increase people’s ability to have choice and control in their lives and improve overall quality of life. In addition, research on person-centred planning 13 shows that it has a positive effect on people’s life experiences, enhancing choice and social and community contacts.
Using this research, the GAL programme managers started working with multi-agency project teams in 12 demonstration sites to bring together transition planning, person-centred planning and personalisation, supported employment, the curriculum, strategy and funding streams. The sites are:
Manchester, Oldham, Herefordshire, Torbay, Somerset, Medway, Kent,
London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, North-
East Lincolnshire and North Tyneside.
The project teams have representation of people with learning disabilities, families, children’s services (SEN, children with disabilities, Connexions,
PCT), adult learning disability services, the Learning and Skills Council, Job
Centre Plus, supported employment services, schools and colleges.
The project teams have analysed the current local systems. They have matched this against evidence about practice that helps young people go into paid employment. Each site is working with at least thirty young people and their families to test out different ways of working.
As well as comparing their local system with the employment pathway, they are learning from the direct experiences of young people and their families to redesign local systems.
What the sites have found:

The young people working with GAL have high aspirations. They have been able to say what jobs and careers they would like now and in the future. Many have said they want to work, even if they cannot do the jobs they really want

Families do not believe that the current systems can deliver equal life chances for their children – especially a home and a job

There is not currently a pathway into employment for these young people.
Most go to college after school, where they repeat a sixth form, and then go on to a life on benefits, and into day services where they are expected to stay. There are very low expectations and a lack of knowledge and
11 A report on In Control’s first phase 2003-2005, , 2006 and A report on In Contr ol’s Second
Phase, Evaluation and Learning 2005-2007, Prof. C, Hatton, et al, Institute of Health
Research, Lancaster University, 2008
12 Evaluation of the Individual Budget Pilot Programme, (Department of Health), Social Policy
Research Unit, University of York, 2008
13 The Impact of Person-Centred Planning, Emerson et al Institute of Health Research,
Lancaster University 2005
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information across the systems about what is possible. No agency has responsibility for employment, and all tend to consider it to be another agency’s responsibility

Young people with learning disabilities do not often have community-based year 10 work experience as others do

There could be more opportunities to integrate elements of supported employment into the curriculum from the beginning of Key Stage 4

Many workers in the system do not know about the personalisation agenda or how it impacts on their work. Most Job Centre Plus representatives do not know how they might support young people to access hitherto unused funding streams, such as Access to Work
 Education funding is driven by qualification and “progress” outcomes rather than life outcomes such as getting a job. Transition planning does not usually include employment

There is no agreed approach between agencies towards supporting young people to plan their lives. Person-centred transition planning and support planning are not being combined to achieve paid employment and other key life chances, so each agency starts from scratch and focuses on its own priorities. Time and opportunities are wasted, and young people miss out

DDA and DED tend to be seen as being about physical access; reasonable adjustments such as curriculum differentiation and accessible information about best practice are often not made.

Supported employment services are not usually commissioned to work with people under 18. Evidence shows 14 that support from a supported employment agency significantly improves employment outcomes for young people in transition. Supported employment agencies generally do not have the capacity to support people with learning disabilities, especially those with complex disabilities

Money is invested in services that do not result in paid employment or life chances.
Following this analysis, the GAL project teams have identified what needs to be in place to support young people into work when they leave school and/or college. This has led to the notion of a “pathway” that brings together a number of currently parallel processes: 1) person-centred transition planning,
2) personalisation, 3) supported employment, 4) the curriculum and 5) strategic planning and commissioning. The Pathway is graphically
14 See reference 6
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represented in the next section. It was developed during the autumn of 2009 and the sites are now putting together action plans to implement it. Sites are building on their strengths to identify their priorities for the coming year.
This graphic depicts 5 processes that are currently often working in parallel but are not however aligned: transition planning, personalisation, supported employment, curriculum and strategy. Currently, each of these tends to operate in isolation from the others. In order to maximise the opportunity for young people with learning disabilities to get jobs, it is essential for the processes to work together and support each other . Not only will this enable young people to achieve better outcomes, it will also lead to a more effective use of resources. The graphic shows that each of the processes can begin in year 9 and continue into adulthood, creating a
Pathway into Employment . The graphic can be downloaded from the
Getting a Life website: www.gettingalife.org.uk
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The following 5 sections describe each of the processes that need to work together to support young people into adulthood, and the final section suggests which elements of each process need to take place at each stage of transition.
1. Transition Planning
The Government published the SEN Code of Practice 15 and Toolkit in 2001, replacing the previous 1994 Code. The Code provides practical advice to
Local Authorities, schools and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and provide for children’s special educational needs.
It says that all SEN statements must be reviewed at least once a year. The annual review in school year 9 is particular ly significant in preparing the pupil’s transition to further education, work-based training, higher education and adult life. The aim of the review is: a) to review the young per son’s statement and b) to draw up and subsequently review the transition plan.
The transition plan should gather information from individuals within and beyond school. Its aim is to plan coherently for the young person’s transition to adult life. Transition plans should not only be about what happens after school but plan for ongoing school provision under the statement. The Code says that transition planning should be participative, holistic, supportive, evolving, inclusive and collaborative. Young people should be asked their views and these should be recorded from year 9 onwards.
Year 9 review meetings are basis for longer-term decision-making. Vocational guidance from the school or the Connexions Personal Assistant should include information on key stage 4 (years 10 and 11) and post-16 options, and take fully into account the wishes and feelings of the young person.
The SEN toolkit provides day-to-day guidance on the Code of Practice.
Section 10 says that everyone involved, whatever methods or tools are used, should ensure that transition planning is:
Participative
– involving the young person in a meaningful way because their views and aspirations are central to the process
Holistic
– a young person’s aspirations and needs will touch on every aspect of their future lives
Supportive – the main purpose of statutory transition and annual review is to help young people, their families and professionals make decisions about the next stage of their lives
15 Special Educational Needs Code of Practice Department of Education and Skills 2001
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Evolving
– the year 9 review and the leaving school stages are just part of a much longer and gradually evolving process
Inclusive
– in becoming fully inclusive, schools will need to ensure that careers education and guidance form part of the transition planning process and meet the requirements of all pupils
Collaborative
– effective transition planning requires families, teachers and other professionals from to work closely together
The year 9 review should involve the agencies that may play a major role in the young person’s life after school. The Connexions Service must attend.
Schools should ensure that pupils ’ views are listened to or, where necessary, reported to the meeting, by personal assistants, counsellors, advocates, advisers, peers or social workers. Well before the year 9 review, the young person should be supported to identify their wishes and views. Previous action planning should form the basis of the transition plan, and it is important that the young person has a single plan , designed for and with him or her. The transition plan should be user-friendly and written in clear and unambiguous language accessible to everyone. The Connexions personal assistant should oversee and co-ordinate delivery of the plan.
When Valuing People 16 was published in 2001, one of its twelve objectives was that transition planning should improve. This resulted from the prior consultation, in which people with learning disabilities and their families had reported dissatisfaction with the transition process and outcomes. Valuing
People introduced person-centred planning into the public policy arena and the Valuing People work programme has included person-centred reviews.
Person-centred planning is an approach to working with people with learning disabilities (and others with support needs) that improves choice and control in their lives.
17 The Valuing People Team established the person-centred reviews programme in order to enhance the requirements of the SEN Code of
Practice, and addresses the following issues:

Enabling young people to attend meetings and families to feel empowered to give their views

Developing a holistic plan
“owned” by the young person

Supporting professionals to work together and to develop a single plan that is informed by and informs their assessments
The key components of person-centred transition planning are:
16 Valuing People: A new strategy for learning disability for the 21 st century, Department of
Health, 2001
17 The Impact of Person-Centred Planning, Institute of Health Research, Lancaster University
2005
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
A facilitator for the review meetings who is trained in using person-centred planning tools

Review meetings that address a set of questions which everyone contributes to, resulting in a dynamic action plan
The questions used at the year 9 review meeting are:

What do we like and admire about this young person?

What is important to the young person now and in the future?

What is important for the young person now and in the future?

What needs to be in place to keep the young person healthy and safe
(what support do they need?)
 What is working from everyone’s perspective?
 What is not working from everyone’s perspective?

Are there questions and issues that cannot be resolved today?

If not covered in the above – does the young person need support to develop a health action plan? Who will support the young person to begin developing their plan for year 10 work experience and their future career?
Does the young person need support to keep, make and maintain friendships?

Action plan
– who will take responsibility for which actions, and how will the young person and their family know?
The same format can be used for year 10 and 11 reviews. Some local areas have introduced the
“Keys to Citizenship” review tool to supplement the above from year 10. This ensures that: a. Young people and their families learn about personal budgets, support for employment, independent living, housing options and what is positive and possible for young people with learning disabilities to achieve and b. Begin to plan for the future, knowing about the above and about welfare benefits and support for independent living.
In 2007, the Government published the Transition Guide , 18 which promotes person-centred transition planning as one aspect of improving transition for young people with special educational needs. In 2008, the Government launched the Transition Support Programme 19 as part of Aiming High for
Disabled Children 20 . The aim of the programme is to ensure that all local authorities reach minimum standards in transition with a focus on: the participation of disabled young people and their families: joint assessment processes within children’s trusts and adult services; realistic post 16 opportunities for living life; strategic joint partnership working.
18 A transition guide for all services: key information for professionals about the transition process for disabled young people, Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health, 2007
19 Transition Support Programme website - www.transitionsupportprogramme.org.uk
20 Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families, Department of Children
Schools and Families 2007
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Since the introduction of VEN and GAL , it has become even more apparent that person-centred planning is essential if young people with learning disabilities and other significant additional needs are going to have jobs and full lives as adults. Valuing People Now says that by 2012, all young people will have person-centred transition plans focusing on health, housing, employment, friends and relationships and social inclusion. In order for this to happen, it is essential that young people and their families receive expert advice and information about the funding streams available to support their aspirations in these areas from age 14.
Person-centred transition planning in Somerset
Fiveways School in Yeovil is part of the Getting a Life programme. The school introduced person-centred reviews for a small number of pupils last year and are now gradually extending the use of the approach to all transition reviews in the school.
The young people and their families have found their reviews helpful and more focused on the future and decision-making. Connor, a pupil at the school said he “really enjoyed having his say,” and his mum wrote: “Such a difficult time trying to think about the time after school, but this really did make me think about other issues of his life.”
Valerie, who is a speech and language therapist at the school, completed the facilitator training course for person-centred reviews and has enjoyed supporting the young people and their families to have a stronger voice at annual reviews.
Mark, he ad teacher at Fiveways, commented, “Person centred reviewing is bringing an exciting new way to involve everyone in the reviewing and planning process. It provides a forum for genuine discussion and decision making about matters relating to the whole chil d”.
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2.
Personalisation
Valuing People , published in 2001 , set out the Government’s proposals for improving the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families. It recognised that people with learning disabilities were amongst the most vulnerable and socially excluded in our society. Very few have jobs, live in their own homes or have choice over who supports them. Valuing People recognised that people should be full citizens, and promoted civil and legal rights, inclusion, independence, and choice and control.
One of the central themes of Valuing People is to use person centred approaches when planning services and working with individuals. Person centred planning focuses on discovering people’s aspirations, improving their life chances and their inclusion. The early implementation of Valuing People showed that there was a need for a new and systematic approach to delivering the support people were saying they wanted through personcentred planning. On the whole, people were saying that they did not want traditional services. They wanted support to lead ordinary lives, for example having a job, going out in the evening and having fuller social lives. The
Valuing People Team was aware of the work of Simon Duffy and In Control 21 being carried out to find new ways of organising the social care system.
In 2003, the Valuing People Team became a partner with In Control and six local authorities on a project hosted by Mencap. The aim was to develop a
“self-directed support” model. This was done in collaboration with disabled people, families and social care professionals from the six authorities. It led to the creation of the first individual budget. In Control's first-phase report describes the success of this in detail.
22
The following diagram has been developed by In Control and illustrates the self-directed support model:
21 In Control’s website - www.in-control.org.uk
22 See reference 11
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There was huge interest in the model developed by this project, and in 2005 the Government began an Individual Budget Pilot Programme to test out the idea of Individual Budgets independently of In Control . At the same time, In
Control opened up membership to all local authorities in England. Most local authorities joined, and many started to implement self-directed support and individual budgets. Many became “Total Transformation” authorities and committed themselves to changing over to self-directed support. The evidence from this new work was published in In Control's second-phase report.
23
These developments led to the 2007 Putting People First 24 policy, which sets out a cross-government commitment to transform the whole of adult social care. It aims to empower people to shape their own lives and the support they receive by allowing them to use resources more flexibly to suit their needs and lifestyle. The four main strands are:

Early intervention and prevention - supporting people’s health and wellbeing so that they do not receive unnecessary services

Choice and control - people using personal budgets to have greater choice and control over their life and the support they need
23 A report on in Control’s second phase – evaluation and learning 2005-2007 , In Control
(2008)
24 Putting People First – a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care , HM Government (2007)
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
Social capital - developing communities so that people can receive support from their friends, families and local networks

Universal services - ensuring that local mainstream services such as employment, transport and housing are accessible to all, and providing information and advice about these services
Putting People First makes the commitment that “person-centred planning and self-directed support will become mainstream and define individually tailored support packages
.” It says that personal budgets will become the normal way for doing this for everyone eligible for publicly funded adult social care. Alongside Putting People First , the national shift towards the personalisation of funding and services is reflected in an increasing number of initiatives and policies, for example:

Independent Living Strategy 25 which has led to the Right to Control trailblazers 26

Piloting of personal health budgets 27 , which will report in 2012
Personalisation, Children and Young People
Early in the development of self-directed support, it became clear that the approaches were also very relevant to children, young people and their families. In 2005, the development agency Paradigm , in conjunction with In
Control began the Dynamite programme to develop self-directed support and individual budgets for young people. Dynamite ran until 2007, working with a small number of young people in seven local areas. The programme used the self-directed support model, enabling the young people to have a small budget which gave them experience in having choice and control over their lives and their support.
The cross-government policy Progression through Partnership 28 acknowledged that Dynamite was “an exciting initiative which brings alive the concept of individual budgets and being in control of the means for support.
Professionals have to overcome concerns about losing authority over processes by recognising the changes brought about in the young people and their families and develop their relationship as a partnership.
”
Dynamite provided an evidence base 29 from which to build the future development of self-directed support and individual budgets for young people.
This work is now being taken forward by In Control ’s programme for children and young people
–
Taking Control 30 .
25 Independent Living: A cross-government strategy about independent living for disabled people, Office for Disability Issues, 2008
26 See reference 6
27 NHS Next Stage Review 27 Department of Health, 2008
28 Progression through Partnership; the role of Further Education and Training in Supporting
People with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities to Achieve Fulfilling Lives , HM
Government (2007)
29
Dynamite 2005- 2007 - Self-directed support for disabled young people , Paradigm, (2007)
30 For more information visit www.in-control.org.uk/Children
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Aiming High for Disabled Children 31 launched pilots for individual budgets for disabled children, young people and their families. The pilots will take place in 6 local authority and primary care trust areas between April 2009 and
March 2011. 4 of these sites are focusing on young people in transition.
These sites will draw on local expertise, existing and emerging good practice, and the learning from GAL sites. Young people could, for example, choose to use part of their individual budget to fund job coaches for Saturday jobs and work experience.
Personalisation and GAL
The Government asked the GAL programme to identify how assessments and funding streams could work better together so that young people can go into paid employment and have full lives.
The work with the GAL demonstration sites has shown that:

Many of the young people and families had not heard about personal budgets and their advantages. Where they have, there is confusion about whether they can get one and what it can be used for. This confusion is often reflected in the local system

Personalisation is usually seen as an adult services issue. Some local authorities are giving or planning to give all young people personal budgets at 18. This has generally not been a smooth process, as young people and their families have not been prepared during the transition process to be able to determine their own lives, manage personal budgets and support. The exceptions are those areas that have been introducing personal budgets for children through Dynamite or Taking Control

Local systems have not provided information, advice and guidance, brokerage and good accessible information about personalisation

There is a lack of knowledge throughout the systems about what is positive and possible regarding employment for this group of young people. As a result, employment is rarely raised during transition and support planning. The lack of employment support is not raised with commissioners

Many supported employment services are not commissioned to work with people under 18 and often do not have the capacity to support people with severe and complex learning disabilities.
The GAL sites are now exploring how to embed self-directed support in transition planning. If young people are to leave school and college with proper paid jobs and careers, self-directed support, as well as supported employment, needs to be integrated with transition planning.
Personalisation needs to be a whole life approach. Most people grow up learning to make decisions, manage their money and any support they need as they move adulthood. The GAL pathway recognises that in order to
31 See reference 16
15

increase the life chances of people with learning disabilities, work around personalisation and employment ideally needs to begin at least at 14.
Using personal budgets in Herefordshire and Medway
In Herefordshire, around 130 people (50 with learning disabilities) have personal budgets. This is part of the wider work around personalisation, to ensure that people have choice and control over their lives and services.
As part of the Getting a Life project, the team in Herefordshire has successfully secured an agreement with adult services that all the young people involved in the project will get an indicative budget in the last year of school. This will enable the young person to create a funded support plan, and make decisions about their career plans and their future.
The indicative budget is set following an adult Community Care Assessment which builds on the work that takes place from year nine onwards, during which young people, their families and the people who work with them will think about and plan for employment and jobs in the future. All special schools in
Herefordshire are using a “transition pathway pack” including easy-read versions with young people as they plan and review during transition.
Herefordshire Mencap is now working with the GAL project to develop supported employment services for personal budget users.
In Medway, the children’s service were open to informing families they could use their direct payment to purchase support from job coaches to enable young people to do meaningful work experience in community based settings.
However, the local supported employment service did not work with young people.
Medway are now exploring how they can develop supported employment services for young people.
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3.
Supported Employment
Supported employment is a well-evidenced 32 personalised approach to enabling people with significant disabilities to access and retain real jobs in open employment, with support. The process should start from age 14, with meaningful work experience and Saturday jobs in support of a person-centred employment pathway. Supported employment should achieve the following:

Real jobs with equitable wages and other employment-related benefits

Learning new skills

Social and economic inclusion

Promotion of self-determination, choice and independence

Enhanced self-esteem

Increased consumer empowerment

Improved quality of life
Real jobs are those where:

Wages are the going rate for the job, with the same terms and conditions as other employees

It helps the person to meet their life goals and aspirations

The role is valued by managers and colleagues

It has similar hours and times at work as other employees, with safe working conditions.

All those who can, work at least 16 hours per week.
The other guiding principles of supported employment are:

Choice and control – people have a variety of options and support to achieve their career aspirations. Support is built around the individual, promoting choice. People choose and regulate their own employment support to promote career satisfaction. All options assume successful employability

Partnership – there is genuine partnership between the person with a learning disability, their family carers, employers, community supports and the provider of supported employment

Full inclusion
– people are supported to be full and active members of their workforce and wider community, both socially and economically

Rapid job search – intensity of support is provided as appropriate to ensure that a successful job is obtained in months rather than years
32 A Review of the Research Literature on Supported Employment, Steve Beyer and Carol
Robinson (2009)
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
Careers – people are supported to enhance their skills, with more responsibilities, higher income and greater challenge as part of career progression and development

Natural supports – the most natural approach should be taken to get and keep jobs, building on community supports or social capital, and gradually reducing specialist support.

Long-term support
– available to employees, employers, family carers and community supports to ensure people maintain employment stability and achieve career growth

Assistive technology – creative solutions are found using assistive technology to increase control and independence

Continuous quality improvement – people receiving supported employment are actively involved in developing and evaluating services

Right to work in a safe workplace
– everyone is supported to work safely, with good risk assessment that takes account of individual’s skills, awareness and capacity

Protection of human rights and freedom from abuse
– support is provided which prevents discrimination, abuse and neglect and upholds a p erson’s legal and human rights
The above is sometimes called “customised supported employment” or
“personalised supported employment.” The GAL pathway shows that it needs to begin in year 9 with “discovery,” i.e. getting to know the young person, their interests, their strengths and what they enjoy doing. This can be integrated into the curriculum, or carried out with the young person with the support of a family member, job coach or other paid worker. A profile should then be developed in order to start thinking about the kind of work experience and ultimately the job that the young person will be looking for. The diagram below shows the steps.
33
33 See the powerpoint presentation on Gettingalife.org.uk resources “Customised Supported
Employment ” which describes each of these stages.
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19

Supported Employment in North Tyneside
Using Aiming High for Disabled Children funding, North Tyneside has created a post for a Transition Support Officer, to work with young people with learning disabilities from year nine onwards on their pathway to paid employment.
The support officer will work in schools and colleges to find out what young people want to do in their careers, and help them to plan their pathway to paid employment. They will support colleagues from schools, colleges and a range of other agencies to ensure that each young person gets the right support towards getting a job, including: o Vocational profiling o Person-centred planning and reviews o High quality work experience placements
With young people, their families and the people who work with them, the transition support officer will help to raise aspirations of employment and find out what support each young person will need to get a paid job when they leave school or college.
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4.
How the curriculum can support the GAL pathway into employment
The current school curriculum was largely shaped by the 1988 Education
Reform Act, which introduced the National Curriculum.
34 The Act also introduced the “key stages” and levels of attainment. The Act gave all children the right to a broad and balanced curriculum up to the age of 16. Achievement and attainment levels have risen, and far more children are now in education beyond 16.
In 2004 the Government published the Tomlinson Report 35 . Its working group had been asked to review the curriculum for young people aged 14-19. The context was a growing concern that insufficient attention was being paid to
“vocational” education and whether young people were being properly prepared for work. Although far more children were achieving level 2 qualifications, there was concern about those who were not, and it was felt that the curriculum needed to be diversified so that it was relevant to all young people. The working group recommended curriculum changes to address 1) engaging more young people in education and training, 2) continuing to improve attainment, 3) enabling more young people to progress into higher education and/or employment with training, and 4) giving vocational learning a higher status, equal with academic learning: a new applied learning, relevant to the real world, work-related and attuned to a wider range of skills going beyond the previous divide between “academic” and “vocational” learning.
In 2008 the Government announced the reform of the 14-19 curriculum and introduced diplomas and Foundation Learning, to operate alongside apprenticeships and more traditional options. This introduced a new 14-19
Learner Entitlement. The table below gives an overview of the school and college curriculum structure.
34 The Education Reform Act, HM government 1988
35 14-19 Curriculum and Qualifications Reform, Final Report of the Working
Group on 14-19 Reform, DfES, 2004
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Stage
Foundation stage
Year groups and ages
Early years
0-5
National curriculum expected levels/ qualifications
Early years foundation stage outcomes
Key stage
1
Key stage
2
Key stage
3
Years 1-2
(ages 5-7)
Years 3-6
(ages 8-11)
Years 7-9
(ages 12-14)
1-3
3-5
5-7
Key stage
4
Post-16
Years 10-11
(ages 15-16)
16-19 and over 19
Foundation programmes e.g.
ASDAN
GCSEs or equivalent at level1(5A-Gs)
GCSEs or equivalent at level 2
Pre level 1 programmes e.g.
ASDAN
Post-16 level 1 programmes e.g.
BTEC 1 st
New curriculum developments
Foundation learning
Foundation diplomas
Higher diplomas
Foundation learning
Foundation diplomas
Employment with training
Employment with training
Post-16 level 2 programmes e.g.
BTEC National diplomas
Level 3 A levels and other post-16 level 3
Higher diplomas
Advanced diplomas and other
Employment with training/Apprenticeships
Employment with training/Apprenticeships programmes e.g.
HND
The general aims of the new curriculum are to

Broaden the range of courses available to students at key stage 4 and post-16, thereby achieving greater commitment to learning & training and to staying-on in education & training after 16
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
Make these new opportunities available to all young people, whatever school they attend

Increase work-related learning and work-based learning (apprenticeships and employment with accredited training) to better prepare young people for future employment and to support successful entry into employment

Ensure that young people working below level 2 achieve foundation level and level 1 outcomes, to enable them to progress into further learning, work-based learning or employment with training

Obtain full participation by all young people in learning, training and/or work-based training to the age of 17 (from 2013) and to 18 (from 2015)
The curriculum for young people with learning disabilities
The GAL programme has been exploring how the curriculum at school and post-16 can support the Pathway into Employment. The new 14-19 curriculum developments set a positive context, with a more explicit expectation that employment should be an outcome of education. Foundation Learning should provide the opportunity for young people to engage in learning that has an explicit employment goal, and to explore a personalised curriculum. As they are developing person-centred transition plans from year 9, it will be possible for the curriculum to incorporate the early stages of supported employment
(discovery and profiling), and the skills to achieve their employment aspirations alongside their academic and leisure interests.
We need to ensure that young people get equal access to the curriculum in order to ensure their participation as equal adult citizens. The following table illustrates the process that all young people experience in preparing for jobs and careers. It is critical that young people with learning disabilities receive the support they need to be part of this process.

Primary and key stage 3: awareness of economic wellbeing / key skills for the future / how learning links with the world of future education, training opportunities and employment

Key stage 3: personal learning and thinking skills, how key skills and functional skills are applied outside the classroom, preferred learning styles, enterprise education, careers education, information advice and guidance, opportunities to visit / learn in other settings

Year 9: options informed by all the above, allowing all young people to choose from all key stage 4 options
Linking the curriculum and supported employment in Herefordshire
Westfield school in Herefordshire, is exploring how to embed supported employment into the curriculum and is working more effectively with Job
Centre Plus and supported employment services, to ensure that young people leave school on a definite pathway into work. The school has been working hard to make sure that young people and their families have much better information about what is positive and possible for young people with learning
23

disabilities getting jobs. Last year a sixth form student at Westfield, decided that he wanted to go to work rather than to college . He was the first student ever to leave Westfield school and not go to college.
He did not qualify for
Workstep funding as he needs more support that this programme can provide.
In September 2009, he started working with Mencap Pathway, a local supported employment provider. He is currently doing a series of work trials and from April he will be using his individual budget to purchase directly from
Mencap Pathways the additional support he needs to be able to get a job.
In addition Westfield school has secured funding from the Learning Disability
Development fund to work on a Saturday Job Scheme for the students.
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5. Developing a Strategy to Support the Pathway into Employment
Creating and implementing the Pathway into Employment in local areas requires transformation of systems and services. This means that leaders from all of the relevant agencies need to a) support staff to gain an understanding of the whole system, b) implement strategic change management and c) to design systems and change services with young people and their families (co-production).
The experience of working in the Getting a Life sites has shown that attention needs to be paid to the following areas:
Leadership

Senior strategic commitment from all agencies with enough project management support

A small committed project team with an understanding of the social model of disability and a shared vision of young people moving into adulthood with jobs and full lives

Good governance
– links with the Transition Support Programme and reporting to the Learning Disability Partnership Board and the Children and
Young People’s Board

Young people and family leadership programme

An analysis of the local system, how it currently operates and what needs to change (gap analysis)

An action plan with clear outcomes

High expectations on behalf of young people and their families – based on knowing what is possible
The changes that need to be made to the system are significant and require decisions at a high level, with senior manager involvement, for example, giving all young people in transition an indicative budget, so that they can develop their support plan in conjunction with their transition plan.
Having clear outcomes has helped the GAL sites to think through what needs to be in place to deliver them:
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26

Workforce development

A clear expectation that staff working with young people understand that the purpose of transition is to support young people to move into jobs and full lives

People working in the system know what is currently positive and possible for young people to achieve

Good quality business planning and staff development
GAL has provided the following workforce opportunities through the development programme:

Person centred assessment

Person centred reviews

Person centred approaches in FE

Using personal budgets and individual budgets for employment support and job coaches

Customised employment development
Information
People working with young people with learning disabilities, the young people themselves and their families need accessible information about what is possible for people with learning disabilities to achieve, and especially about jobs. The GAL sites are exploring how they can provide accessible information on the following from age 14:

The welfare benefits system

How personalisation is being implemented locally

Advocacy

How the local system works in terms of supporting people with learning disabilities into work – support for work experience, job coaching, the role of Job Centre Plus and funding streams

Brokerage and navigation
Redesigning systems
How the pathway can work for young people from year 9
In order to make sure that the local infrastructure delivers support enabling young people to move into adulthood with jobs and full lives, there are some critical success factors, which can be expressed as a series of questions:

Is there a training and development strategy for staff across the relevant agencies engaged in transition that enables them to work together and share their knowledge and expertise in order to develop a coherent process?
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
Is the local implementation of personalisation linked to transition planning?
Is there a clear strategy for informing young people and their families about personalisation and how it will work for them?

Is the local system working out how it will support young people to plan for careers and jobs from year 9? Some elements of this need to be embedded in the curriculum, while others can be delivered by transition workers or a supported employment agency. Young people and their families need to know who will provide this support. They also need to know about advocacy.

How will services be re-commissioned and resources identified to provide supported employment from year 9 and beyond for work experience and getting a job?
Learning from the experience of people with learning disabilities and families
There are a number of ways that young people and families can be engaged in reviewing and designing employment pathways. In the Getting a Life sites, the 30 young people and their families are:

Taking part in a leadership programme; coming together to share their experiences and learning about employment, individual budgets and good planning

Members of the multi agency project teams bringing real life experiences to the process of change

Taking a leading role in the strategic change days
These days have been designed with Helen Sanderson Associates and are based on the Putting People First Working Together for Change approach 36 This model brings together strategic commissioners and decision makers with young people who use services and their families. By examining the themes that arise from people’s person centred meetings, the group explores what is working and not working locally, identifies what needs to change and what explores possible successful solutions.
These meetings take place every six months in the GAL sites and include strategic managers and commissioners from all of the agencies that have a role in supporting young people into employment and full lives. The themes that are coming from young people’s person centred reviews are recorded and then people work to identify what needs to change locally. Young people and families contribute to finding effective solutions. Issues that cannot be resolved locally are fed back to the VEN steering group via the programme managers. These strategic days have proved an effective way of listening to young people and their families, improving local systems and informing
36 Working Together for Change , Department of Health, 2009
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government of barriers to employment for young people with learning disabilities.
Using information from person-centred reviews to influence strategy and commissioning in Torbay
In March 2010, ten young people and their families joined the GAL project team and local commissioners to hear about the outcomes of their personcentred reviews. The young people told the group about what is working in their lives, what is not going so well, and what is important to them, in
29

particular about getting a job. All the information was “themed”. The whole group voted on the following priorities for the GAL project team and commissioners: o The need for more job coaches o The need for good person-centred support for people to get jobs o People want proper paid jobs o The system needs to work better with employers o The system needs to work better with families o People with learning disabilities want to be included and have more friends o There needs to be better information about how to get support to get a job o We need to have individual budgets
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6.
Implementing the pathway in stages
School year 9, when young people turn 14, is the final year of the key stage 3 curriculum. This is when they choose their subject options for key stage 4.
Traditionally this is when young people choose between various humanities, artistic, scientific and practical subjects, based on their strengths and preferences, and when they begin to think about the jobs, careers and hobbies they may be interested in pursuing as they move into adulthood.
Increasingly, these choices are more complex, as the key stage 4 curriculum becomes more diverse and is no longer just about GCSEs. We now have vocational diplomas and a range of other vocational and academic programmes. For young people with learning disabilities (and others with special educational needs) this is the beginning of the statutory transition planning process. When the Government introduced this requirement in 1992, it was in recognition of the fact that these young people need more support to articulate their aspirations, think about their futures and achieve their objectives.
The experience of the young people involved in the Getting a Life programme shows that generally speaking, statutory transition planning has not been carried out in a way that enables them to achieve full life chances.
Young people and families have reported that often transition planning is a
“tick box exercise”. Many young people were not aware that they had a transition plan, and for those who did know, they did not see it as a vehicle for being supported into adulthood with equal life chances and opportunities.
The GAL programme has identified that the following things need to happen at each stage of the Pathway in order to increase the chances of young people leaving school and/or college with full life chances:
Year 9
Person-centred review
This is an opportunity for the young person to begin to take control of the planning process with support from their family and the other people who know them well. This meeting needs to be facilitated by somebody skilled in the use of person-centred planning tools.
Transition plan
The transition plan will be drawn up at the review meeting and will include actions to ensure that the young person and their family:

Start a jobs and career plan and get input from a supported employment agency, to ensure that they are in contact with people who know how to support people with learning disabilities into employment

Know about direct payments and personal budgets and how this is working in their local area
31


Choose curriculum options that support the young pe rson’s work experience and their career plan

Know what is positive and possible with regard to people with learning disabilities getting jobs, preferably through direct contact with people who are already working

Get information about welfare benefits, funding streams and advocacy
The following is a checklist of questions that may help to ensure that the transition plan has clear actions.

What does the young person enjoy at school and in their leisure time?

What are the things they are good at?

Who will help the young person to begin to plan for their work experience in year 10 and to develop their job profile? Could this be developed as part of the curriculum or can a local supported employment service and or job coach help?

Does the young person use words to speak? If not, do they have a communication passport or do they need to develop one? Do they have all of the technology they need in order to maximise their communication?

Would the young person find it helpful to have an advocate? Is there a local advocacy service that can work with young people with learning disabilities?

Will the young person get an individual budget when they are 18 or before? When will they be given their indicative resource allocation? What funding streams are available to the young person and their family? Have they got a direct payment now? If not, could they have one? Who will ensure that the young person and their family know about support planning, and that this approach is used as the transition plan develops?
Year 10
The year 10 review meeting will check that the planned actions from the previous meeting have been carried out. The meeting will then make sure that:

The young person has a jobs and career plan that has been developed using the early stages of supported employment

The curriculum is enabling the young person to learn the things they need for their work experience

Work experience has been planned on the basis of the young person’s aspirations and interests and will be in a community-based setting. It is clear who will support the young person in planning and doing their work experience

The local arrangements for work experience are fully inclusive of young people with learning disabilities

Part-time employment and Saturday jobs have been discussed with the young person and their family
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
The young person receives clear information about the funding streams that are available to support them into work and about how the direct payment or personal budget can support them with their work experience or part-time job

There is information about how to develop the transition plan into a support plan, based on a personal budget

There is ongoing information about welfare benefits, housing options and advocacy. Some information will be similar to that given in year 9, but efforts always need to be made to make it relevant to the individual
’s own situation
Year 11
This is the last year of compulsory education, when young people make big decisions about what they are going to next.
The person-centred review meeting will check that all the planned actions from the previous meeting have been carried out and that:

Feedback from work experience is built on, with skills reinforced in the curriculum and the career plan further developed

There are plans for ongoing work experience and part-time employment

The family and others who know the young person well and those who have been supporting them in their work experience and/or part time employment plan the best route into employment

There are people at the meeting who know about the different routes, how they work, who can provide support and what funding is available for each:
– Supported employment
– using a personal budget, Access to Work,
Work Choice, Independent Living Fund
– Internship – using a combination of personal budget and post-16 education and training funding
–
Apprenticeship
– a combination of post-16 education and training funding and salary
– Post-16 education and training – post-16 education and training funding

There is information about self-employment so that this can be explored as a realistic option, depending on the young person’s particular talents

The young person and their family know what funding streams and resources are available to support the young person and how they can be used as part of an individual budget, or in other ways where they have choice and control

If the young person is leaving school at the end of this year, the section
139a assessment will need to be completed in order to access resources from the post-16 education and training budget. This assessment will use the information from the person-centred transition plan and will set out clearly the young person’s aspirations for a job or their career plan, and will take account of the young person’s work experience. This will ensure
33

that their post-16 education or training programme is explicitly planned to deliver the young person’s plan for employment

If not already in place, it is now important that the transition plan is developed into a support plan, based on the young person’s personal budget
Post-16
Whether the young person remains at school, goes to college, into supported employment or into a training option such as Project Search or
Apprenticeship, the following continue to be important:

There is continuing review and development of the person-centred transition plan (or section 139a assessment), career plan and support plan

Local strategy, the curriculum, personalisation and supported employment continue to work together to deliver a coherent service as the young person moves into adulthood and full-time paid employment

Young people who remain in education have courses that are explicitly linked to a career or job outcome

Clear actions to ensure that the young person receives the right support and funding at each stage to maximise the chance of employment

As gaps in the systems are identified and the information from personcentred transition reviews is used to inform strategy and commissioning, services are re-commissioned to ensure that the required support is available
34

Delivering the pathway requires us to use available resources differently. In order to deliver value for money and to use resources most effectively, we must cease to fund activity that does not lead to employment and full lives for people with learning disabilities and invest in the pathway that works.
It is also important that the pathway is part of the local Valuing Employment
Now strategy developed by the Learning Disability Partnership Board.
These questions, alongside the Valuing Employment Now Local Assessment
Framework, can be used to support this strategy and enable boards to deliver effective employment pathways for people with learning disabilities.
Raising Expectations and Aspirations

What are you doing to raise expectations and aspirations amongst young people and their families?

What are you doing to raise expectations and aspirations amongst all of the people who work with young people who have learning disabilities and their families and or have a responsibility for supporting young people into employment?

Are there people with learning disabilities in paid employment who are working in the places young people and their families visit regularly (for example GP surgeries, Sure Start centres)?

Is there good advocacy support in place for young people with learning disabilities and their families?

Are there leadership programmes in place for young people and their families that help people to know what’s positive and possible about employment and best practice in supporting people with learning disabilities into paid employment?

Are you providing accessible information about employment and what support you can have to get a job locally (including good welfare advice) from 14?
Person centred planning and support planning

How is person-centred transition planning being rolled out locally? What is happening in each year?

Is employment discussed during the person-centred planning process?

Who helps people to start thinking about their future in relation to jobs and careers (this is often called the discovery part of supported employment)?

Is self-directed support being rolled out locally? Are you connecting it to person centred planning and making sure that support planning informs
(and is informed by) statutory assessments and drives how resources are allocated and used? What is happening in each year?

Is there a strategy to introduce personal budgets for young people? When do young people get an indicative budget?

What other funding streams can be individualised at each stage of the process?
35

Supported Employment and work experience

How do you support people to think about their future and their career choices from 14 (discovery and profiling stages of supported employment)?

Do people get support from a supported employment agency from 14?

Do young people get meaningful work experience (i.e. based on their interests and talents) in community settings from year 10? What help can they get to support them in their placement? What supports do young people get to find and keep holiday and Saturday jobs?

Is the local work experience support inclusive of people with severe learning disabilities? Can young people get support from a job coach for work experience?

Does the curriculum reinforce work experience support people to explore their interests and talents? Does it include vocational training?
Post 16 options

What are the post 16 options for young people with moderate and severe learning disabilities locally? Are the following routes open to people with severe learning disabilities: o Internship model i.e. Project Search o Supported employment o Apprenticeships o Further Education or 6 th Form college o Work based Learning

What support do young people have to decide which post 16 options will lead to their chosen career path and a full life? Do they have a big careerplanning meeting to do this, which pulls together their person centred transition planning, career planning, work experience and the funding streams and resources needed to deliver this? Does this inform their support plan?
Strategic change and commissioning

How are you working with families and young people to find out what is working and not working locally and to use money and resources differently to fund an effective employment pathway?

Is there a project team that has senior people from all of the key agencies who are responsible for supporting young people with learning disabilities into work locally? For example, this could include: Local Authority
– Adult
Social Care Services, Children and Young Persons services, Schools
(special and mainstream), Job Centre Plus, Connexions, Supported
Employment services, health, person responsible for the 14 to 19 strategy group and person responsible for the post-16 funding, Young People ’s
Learning Agency, Further Education colleges.

Has the group analysed the local system, by mapping what happens locally and how this compares to the GAL pathway? Does the group have a shared view of what success would look like?
36


Is there senior management commitment from all of the key agencies? Do they know the key messages from research about what helps young people with learning disabilities go into paid employment? Do they understand the business case for people with learning disabilities getting paid jobs?

Are there mechanisms in place for feeding issues back to strategic change groups, such as the Children and Young P eople’s board, Children’s Trust,
Learning Disability Partnership Board, local Strategic Partnership?
37