ete accreditation guidance - homeless link · as identified in homeless link’s survey of needs...
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ETE & ACCREDITATION Meaningful activities in homelessness services
CONTENTS Introduction 3
Barriers to education and employment 4
Meaningful activities: important at any stage 4
Engagement > education > employment 5
� Providing accredited qualifications 7
� Pathways into employment 9
Resources 10
PRODUCED BY The Innovation and Good Practice Team ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With thanks to Chapter 1, Crewe YMCA, Derbyshire Dales CVS, Derbyshire Dales District Council PUBLISHED December 2012
INTRODUCTION
There is a strong association between homelessness and a lack of engagement with education,
training and employment (ETE). The majority of people experiencing homelessness are unemployed.
For many people, training and employment are the key to moving on from homelessness. However,
there are barriers that homeless people face in taking this step. To counter this, the vast majority of
homelessness services are supporting people to enter work, training or to engage in other activities.
Meaningful occupation and activities can give homeless people something positive to do with the aim
of building their self-esteem, developing their skills and building social networks away from the
streets. Activities are also important in in preventing the boredom that may lead people to turn back
to the streets, to alcohol or drugs. Homelessness services can play a pivotal role in engaging their
clients in ETE and also in providing ETE and meaningful activities.
PURPOSE OF THE GUIDANCE
This guidance aims to provide an introduction and brief overview of the context around education,
training and employment in the homelessness sector. It outlines research and findings linked to the
benefits of ETE and meaningful activities, considers current provision in England and the practical
steps that services can take to support their clients. This guidance should be considered alongside
other Homeless Link Effective Action Guidance, particularly Supporting Clients into Employmenti.
CONTEXT
The Places of Change agenda has encouraged homelessness services to focus on moving service
users forward by improving access to meaningful occupation, training and employment opportunities.
These opportunities are becoming more readily available for clients across homelessness services.
Homeless Link’s Survey of Needs and Provision in 2012 found that 94% of homelessness projects
reported ETE services were available to clients while 85% reported availability of meaningful
activitiesii.
In 2011, the Government’s Vision to End Rough Sleeping: No Second Night Out Nationwide set out
its ambitions to tackle worklessness amongst homeless people. They committed to closer working
with JobCentre Plusiii, a new round of the Sparkiv social enterprise initiative, the testing of Working
Hostels and promoting opportunities for employment in the homelessness sector. Additional
outcomes from the strategy include offering homeless people on JSA early access to the DWP Work
Programmev and providing an enhanced offer for homeless men and women at JobCentre Plus
during the pre-Work Programme periodvi.
ETE activities cover a wide spectrum. At one end, involvement in meaningful activities can equip
people with the skills, motivation and ‘personal space’ to address the problems that have led to their
homelessness and to rebuild self-esteem, personal relationships and quality of life. Informal learning
activities can also lead to wide-ranging improvements in mental and physical health for homeless
people. These activities may include gardening, sport, arts, crafts, music and a range of others that
inspire and engage individuals.
At the other end of this spectrum, structured training and education courses can help homeless
people gain the skills they need to operate in the job market and find sustainable employment. It is
important that all activities across this spectrum are recognised as valid, that their use is supported,
and that outcomes are measured both in terms of personal change (‘soft’ outcomes) and
educational/employment successes (‘hard’ outcomes).
As identified in Homeless Link’s Survey of Needs and Provision 2012, nearly all homelessness
services are reported to provide ETE services and meaningful activities. The following section
outlines evidence that supports this investment of resources and demonstrates the need for
homelessness services to continue this provision.
BARRIERS TO EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT
It has been identified in many reports the various barriers to employment that exist for people
experiencing homelessness. Addressing these is the first step for any service supporting clients
towards employment. Crisis published a report in 2006 on Homeless People and Learning and Skills:
Participation, Barriers and Progressionvii which explores the extent to which homeless people are
involved in learning and skills activities, and their experiences of these.
Business Action on Homelessness (BAOH)viii which is a part of Business in the Community, has
published resources to promote the emotional resilience of homeless people for the workplaceix and
a report on the barriers to employment that homeless people experiencex. BAOH also run Ready for
Workxi – a programme that equips homeless people, or those at risk of homelessness, with the
confidence and skills to re-enter the job market.
Homelessness charity St Mungo's helps people to overcome barriers through education, vocational
training, help with finding employment and engaging in meaningful activities. They provide a large
programme of occupation and learning opportunities for homeless people including gardening,
furniture making and hospitality training. A 2010 report by St Mungo's called Work Mattersxii
examines homelessness and worklessness.
MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES: IMPORTANT AT ANY STAGE
Many of the clients accessing homelessness services are addressing a multitude of issues in their
lives and are not yet at a stage where they are able to engage in formal education. At this point many
services aim to engage individuals in meaningful activities, which can lay a foundation through
engagement and developing self-confidence. When developing and planning activities services
should be conscious of the aim of these activities and tailor them accordingly. Initial engagement
activities may benefit from an informal structure and require a low level of commitment from
participants. Homeless Link has run projects for both arts and sportsxiii activities. The learning and
good practice identified across the sector can be found on their webpages
www.homeless.org.uk/activities.
Although the ultimate aim for many people will be paid employment, for others pre-vocational life
skills training and confidence-building activities can help encourage them to develop healthier
lifestyles. There is rarely a clear dividing line between meaningful occupation and education, training
and employment activities. Meaningful occupation and activities can be just as vital when homeless
people have been rehoused in their own accommodation, when isolation and boredom can be most
acute. An example of activities being used as an effective way to support people’s transition into their
own accommodation can be seen in The Great Escape – a project run by Derbyshire Dales District
Council.
CASE STUDY: THE GREAT ESCAPE
The Great Escape Project began in November 2011, set up by Derbyshire Dales District Council in
partnership with Derbyshire Dales CVS with the aim of providing residents in supported housing and
those receiving floating support with routes into services as it was recognised that access to leisure
activities, developmental opportunities, volunteering opportunities and other services will improve
residents’ mental and physical well-being.
Setting it up
The project was developed in response to the challenges and isolation faced by residents moving on
from supported accommodation, identified by council staff. Staff in the local authority’s housing team
brought together a Steering Group involving Leisure Services, residents, CVS and support workers
to plan and manage the project. With council funding a project worker was employed by Derbyshire
Dales CVS. The Great Escape Project Worker identifies opportunities, promotes the project to staff
and residents and supports residents taking part. The Leisure Services team identified their GP
Referral Instructors as appropriate personnel to conduct inductions and offer guidance around health
and fitness. They also ensured all leisure facilities’ reception staff were fully briefed before
participants were referred as they didn’t want an initial bad experience to deter involvement.
The programme
Potential participants are referred through their support worker or another professional or can self-
refer with the only criteria being clients who:
• Live in supported housing or receive floating support in the Derbyshire Dales
• Have a support worker
Clients meet with a Leisure Services staff member and they discuss the client’s needs, what is
available, provide a gym induction and exercise training plans as well as lots of encouragement. The
Great Escape Project Worker is kept up to date with participants and can follow up and address any
concerns or issues. The Great Escape Project Worker also has responsibility for developing a
directory of activities, updating the website and offering one to one support when needed.
Challenges and achievements to date
The project has had sixty referrals to date (November 2011 – June 2012). There was an early issue
with no-shows and instructors’ time being wasted. This was addressed by the Great Escape Project
Worker undertaking follow-up conversations and ongoing checks with participants. They have now
achieved 90% attendance at scheduled appointments and classes. As part of the project the Leisure
Services Team are able to offer participants the chance to qualify as National Pool Lifeguards,
potentially providing them future employment opportunities with the District Council.
ENGAGEMENT > EDUCATION > EMPLOYMENT
Engagement and informal learning opportunities
An opportunity exists for homelessness services to engage their clients in meaningful activities with a
clear route toward education and onto volunteering and employment opportunities. Services have
demonstrated the benefit of embedding learning and skills (e.g. literacy, numeracy, life skills) in the
delivery of meaningful activities. These have been shown to sometimes be more effective than
formal education approaches and serve a key role in building confidence and skills to attain formal
qualifications in the future.
CASE STUDY: INFORMAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH SPORT
Sport, other outdoor activities and art have proven to be popular means of engaging people.
Crewe YMCA had a history of providing Learning and Skills Council-funded formal education and
training. However, supporting people mostly assessed at entry-level and with histories of low
educational attainment and lack of parental and emotional support, they discovered that informal
education and engagement had a greater impact than more formal approaches.
Informal structures
Crewe YMCA provides football as an activity for engagement via their Football & Life Academy
approach. This involves informal but structured learning across 6 modules, including anger
management, teamwork, dealing with disappointment, managing health and self-care, as well as
making FA accredited football coaching qualifications available to those interested.
They have funded this by charitable donations, support from the local community and by accessing
adult community learning funding; they have been able to fund a life skills tutor and football coach,
including supporting the former to obtain a PTLLS qualification.
Sustainment within the programme has improved compared to previous, more formal approaches.
The YMCA sees the pitch-side learning element of the academy as not just being beneficial for
health and well-being, but also bringing other benefits: there are now two teams playing in local
leagues, bringing a greater sense of social engagement and belonging.
Progression opportunities
There are several routes of progression which are client-led and non-prescriptive; these include
supporting people to access more formal training and education, focusing on employment and
volunteering, and further engagement with provision they deliver in accordance with the Foyer
Federation's “Open Talent” model.
This offers a flexible portfolio of services based on their tenants' strengths, abilities and interests.
They also establish an agreement with their tenants – by maintaining their flat, engaging with
activities and core Life Academy modules, and participating in key-working, tenants can gain credits
via a Talent Banking model: credits can be spent on items that can be used to help them progress in
education, employment or training directions.
Challenges
Sport as an activity for engagement is attractive, but whether it is the right choice for an organisation
will depend on a number of factors: are the facilities available, does the staff team have the expertise
to design and deliver a low-threshold, structured programme, and is it the right fit for the client
group? Agencies may wish to consider other options – for example non-sporting outdoor activities,
conservation, cooking, creative or IT activities. Another option is to look at ways in which people
unable to participate in the core activity can still be encouraged to engage – e.g. by becoming
involved in related areas that could include filming and photography, IT and website design or
administrative support.
A focus is often placed on ‘hard’ outcomes and the gaining of qualifications and employment by
individuals. As shown by the Crewe YMCA case study1, there is a need for the sector to provide
entry points suitable to all clients. Homelessness services are often frustrated at the apparent lack of
support and recognition for the work done in achieving ‘soft’ outcomes. These include self-
confidence, motivation, communication skills and many others that build a foundation for further
learning. Homelessness charity Broadway undertook practitioner research in 2007 that looked at the
value of ‘soft’ outcomes measurement in supporting homeless people into and through education in
their report ‘I Can’: Demonstrating soft outcomes for homeless and vulnerable adult learnersxiv.
Providing accredited qualifications
While building the skills and confidence of clients is an effective step towards employment and away
from homelessness, recognition of achievement through qualifications can also be valuable. In their
research into the provision of sport in the homelessness sector, Groundswell identified the positive
impact that recognition in the form of certificates and medals can have in retaining participants and
demonstrating progress. Similarly, qualifications can be a tangible achievement for individuals and
something that can clearly assist in further education and seeking employment.
What is accreditation?
Accreditation is the formal recognition of an individual's achievements and is linked to an internal or
external standard.
Internal accreditation
This is where you offer your own award to clients. You will set standards to judge against and work
out the evidence you need to demonstrate that they have been achieved. This is a cheaper
alternative to external accreditation and achieves many of the benefits of accreditation without the
costs, but it may lack external credibility.
External accreditation
This involves using an externally recognised awarding body to assess your course. This guarantees
that the standards you use have been defined and that the assessment of skills and competence is
rigorous. It has more status for the client and is more likely to impress potential employers than an
internal accreditation scheme. It may, however, be less focused on the needs of the clients and is
more costly than internal accreditation.
Customised Awards
This involves approaching an awarding body that is willing to accredit your course. A number of
awarding bodies offer this service. The benefits of this are that it provides local accreditation based
on the specific training requirements of your organisation. It can, however, be an expensive option
and the qualification may only be recognisable and transferable within the awarding body's own
award structure. With customised awards, however, there may be the opportunity to franchise the
award to other organisations. All of these considerations should be measured when taking a decision
around accreditation.
There are various organisations that accredit courses and qualifications (e.g. City and Guilds, Open
College Network, AQA). A homelessness service that is currently providing informal learning
opportunities may seek to have these courses accredited by an accrediting organisation.
1. For a case study of a homelessness service using creative activities to engage and develop their clients please visit:
http://homeless.org.uk/arts-sifafireside
Delivering accredited awards
You may also deliver awards that are already accredited, within your homelessness service. This
would require you to establish yourself as an Accreditation Centre and have an accredited trainer
within your staff team. This can be a great way to support staff development and harness their
particular skills and interests for the benefit of your organisation and clients. This also means that
courses can be delivered with a greater understanding of the clients’ needs and in a way that suits
your service and its resources (facilities, IT etc.)
CASE STUDY: DEVELOPING LEADERS
Chapter 1’s Manchester hostel, The Limes*, has become an Approved Assessment Centre for
delivering the Community Sports Leaders Award (CSLA), Levels 1 and 2. They offer this opportunity
to residents as part of a pathway of engagement that they have developed around their Sports
Academy.
Becoming an Assessment Centre
An online application to Sports Leaders will allow you become an Assessment Centre for the CSLA
Levels 1 and 2. A member of Chapter 1 staff at The Limes took the opportunity to become an
accredited tutor as they had been actively encouraging residents to take part in external sports
opportunities and had a personal interest and passion for physical activity. Identifying and
capitalising on the skills and interests of staff members will benefit the clients, staff and wider
organisation.
Initial engagement
Recruitment to the CSLA courses is done through ongoing opportunities to take part in sports
activities in the hostel and with external partners. The course is also able to serve as a motivator to
residents wanting to achieve the qualification to participate regularly in sports activities (e.g. football
training, rugby training, basketball, running, walking, cycling). This participation may be as part of an
activity delivered by the service, an external partner or undertaken individually by a resident.
Residents who display an ongoing commitment to sport and physical activity will then be encouraged
to take part in the course.
CSLA: Developing leaders
The CSLA qualification requires students to plan and manage sport events. This serves as an
opportunity for Chapter 1 The Limes to engage residents in volunteering opportunities. Having
established local opportunities including the Manchester homeless football league, E.Quality FC,
marathons and cycling races CSLA students have access to a range of large and exciting events.
These volunteering opportunities have seen residents build their self-confidence and skills and gain
an accredited qualification. They also gain an understanding of the benefits that volunteering can
have for them and have wider access to their local communities. The hostel also invites non-
residents to take part in the courses they deliver, which increases the funding opportunities available
to the project as they are able to ‘draw down’ additional money2.
Chapter 1 hopes to broaden the scope of activities currently offered at The Limes, beyond
2. Providers draw down funding from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) for each student that they teach. The level of this funding is pre-
decided by the SFA/BIS (Business Skills and Innovation Department) each year.
basketball, rugby and football. They have seen residents who completed the course go on to win
national volunteering awards and engage in further education – both in sport and other areas of
study.
*The Limes is a supported housing project run by national housing charity Chapter 1 for 26 men aged 16 to 30.
Pathways into employment
As mentioned, for many the primary motivator for education is to gain employment. As outlined in the
case study above, volunteering can offer an effective link between education and work. Homeless
Link’s Effective Action guidance Managing Volunteers in Homelessness Servicesxv provides advice
on recruitment, retention and management of volunteers.
Thames Reach runs the National GROW3 (Giving Real Opportunities for Work) Programme.
Supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government, this programme is changing
the culture of the homelessness sector so that it fully embraces employment of service users. It
delivers a bespoke consultancy service to homelessness organisations across the country.
Homeless Link’s Effective Action guidance Supporting Clients into Employment details further
programmes and approaches to employment in homelessness services and serves as a useful tool
in developing opportunities for clients.
CONCLUSION
As this guidance has outlined, homelessness services can do a great deal with regard to providing
education and training opportunities to their clients. These can begin as initial engagement in
activities that spark interest and passion of both clients and staff. Focusing on ‘soft’ outcomes can be
a meaningful first step towards training/education and employment. Also, by considering
accreditation opportunities – for clients, staff and services as a whole – there is the potential for
improved outcomes, greater aspiration across the sector and diversified funding streams.
3. To find out more about the GROW programme please visit: http://www.thamesreach.org.uk/what-we-do/user-employment/national-grow-
programme/
RESOURCES / ENDNOTES
i. Homeless.org.uk/effective-action
ii. Survey of Needs and Provision www.homeless.org.uk/snap
iii. http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/index.html
iv. Spark is a pioneering development and investment programme designed to build and inspire organisations to tackle homelessness
through social enterprise (http://www.sparkchallenge.org.uk/)
v. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/the-work-programme.pdf
vi. For further information about this enhanced offer please read Homeless Link’s Effective Action guidance ‘Jobcentre Plus and
Support for Homeless People: Know the Direction of Travel’: http://homeless.org.uk/effective-action/workingwithjcp
vii. http://handbooks.homeless.org.uk/ete/training/learningandskillscrisis.pdf
viii. BAOH supports homeless people to gain and sustain employment and campaigns for the removal of barriers
http://www.bitc.org.uk/community/employability/homelessness/index.html
ix. http://www.bitc.org.uk/community/employability/homelessness/emotional_resilience.html
x. http://www.bitc.org.uk/resources/publications/homelessness.html
xi. http://www.bitc.org.uk/community/employability/homelessness/ready_for_work.html
xii. This report, and many others on education, training and employment, can be found on Homeless Pages:
http://www.homelesspages.org.uk/node/24151
xiii. Get Creative: Arts for All and Aiming High: Sport for All.
xiv. http://www.broadwaylondon.org/ResearchInformation/Research/SoftOutcomes.html
xv. This guidance can be accessed at: http://homeless.org.uk/effective-action/managingvolunteers
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