Supported Employment for people with special needs
Country
Cyprus
Description
Supported Employment helps people with special needs to obtain and keep a job in the open labour market .
Any kind of support is being offered on a personal level from a trained job-coach and its duration may be long term or shot term depending the degree to which it is needed.
Any kind of employment can be offered in different economic sectors within the open labour market. So far employment has taken place at supermarkets, factories, restaurants e.t.c.
The special services that help people to obtain or keep a job in the open labour market are mainly the personal support, which may mean finding the employer, negotiating the work conditions, escorting the person to the workplace, helping to learn the task and offering any other kind of technical or personal assistance.
Aims
Supported Employment Contributes to the economic welfare and social integration of the candidates.
Areas
Employment, Social services, Training, Transport
Effectiveness
An employers’ survey to measure erasure effectiveness was conducted in 1997 and repeated in 2006. According to 1997 response 35% of the employers who were committed to the project said that the employees with disabilities satisfied real needs of the company. In the 2006 this estimate increased up to 41%. Similarly in 1996, 22% of employers reported that employees with mental disabilities produced a work of similar quality compared to other employees (without disabilities). After 10 years this estimate became 41%.
Sustainability
The project has been sustained for more than 10 years in Cyprus (original started in 1996). No matter the quantitative increase of job coaches and consequently the increase in employment of disable persons there has been little improvement in terms of quality. There is a sustainability of drawbacks in the operational structure and professional practice.
Innovation
The project is very innovative since it replaces the traditional shelter places of work. Compared to the latter model, Supported Employment is mainstreaming and more dynamic.
Added Value
Supported employment is one of the few models that is effective for the employment of people with mental disabilities. Recent projects funded by EU which provide incentives to employers (subsidy of salaries) turned to be not attractive.
Transferability
Supported Employment is mainly applied with mental disabilities (retardation). However, it is recommended for any type of disability Employers seem to prefer the long term support of a job coach than the salary subsidy of the employee.
Mainstreaming Potential
Supported Employment guarantees mainstreaming.
Costs of the Project
£10,000 (ca. €18.000) per job coach, per year. Every job coach supports at least 5 persons.
People involved in the Project (number of people and profession)
Governmental bodies and NGOs.
Contact Persons for the Project
Stella Playbell, Neophytos Constantinides
Committee for the Protection of the Rights of people with Mental Handicap
P.O.Box 23292
1680 Nicosia
Cyprus