Employment and Education
| Author | Ron Hatt |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300323 |
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
180
Employment
and
Education
Following
Peter
Gregory’s
article
on
unemployment
and
probation
service
users
(PJ
June
1996),
I
feel
it
would
be
of
some
interest
to
mention
a
project
that
we
set
up
in
Lewisham
four
years
ago,
in
response
to
frustration
with
our
inability
to
find
employment
for
probation
clients.
Lewisham
has
one
of
the
worst
unemployment
figures
in
the
whole
of
London.
I
was
unable
to
get
clients
on
training
courses
because
the
TECHS
said
they
were
high
risk
and
not
likely
to
complete
courses.
The
TECHS
could
only
get
funding
on
successful
completion
of
training
courses,
so
would
only
take
’safe’
referrals,
not
our
clients.
I
felt
we
needed
to
get
a
proper
assessment
of
our
clients,
so
that
we
could
identify
the
level
of
skills
they
possessed.
With
this
in
mind,
we
sought
to
persuade
the
Local
Education
chiefs
to
undertake
this
task.
I
felt
our
clients
would
not
volunteer
to
travel
to
colleges
for
this
to
take
place,
so
wanted
it
to
be
undertaken
at
the
probation
office.
We
were
unable
to
get
support
for
this
but,
with
the
help
of
the
Director
of
the
Community
Education,
we
were
able
to
raise
£15,000
from
the
local
’Task
Force’
to
set
up
a
pilot
project.
We
assessed
clients
at
the
office
and,
following
this
assessment,
offered
basic
education,
vocation
and
employment
guidance.
The
pilot
project
lasted
three
months
and
in
that
time
we
worked
with
70
clients.
We
had
a
teacher,
an
employment
officer
and
admin.
support.
We
found
around
60%
of
our
clients
had
basic
education
problems.
This
certainly
was
a
large
factor
why
they
were
not
getting
jobs
or
places
on
education
courses.
We
also
found
by
one
to
one
tuition
that
clients
made
very
good
progress
on
their
basic
education,
which
meant
we
could
direct
them
to
a
suitable
follow
on
process.
When
the
pilot
project
was
completed
we
were
unable
to
raise
any
further
money
from
’Task
Force’.
Therefore,
I
had
to
start
writing
to
various
charities
to
try
to
raise
further
capital.
We
struggled
on
for
a
while
with
the
staff
working
for
nothing.
Eventually,
a
further
£21,000
was
raised
and
we
restarted
the
project
in
full.
Subsequently,
Lewisham
local
authority
offered
to
match
fund
the
project
in
partnership
with
the
European
Social
Fund,
on
the
undertaking
that
we
would
also
run
the
project
in
Greenwich.
We
now
operate
in
four
different
offices,
servicing
three
adult
teams
and
two
young
offender
teams.
We
work
with
about
350
clients
a
year,
with
an
average
attendance
of
35
per
week,
each
client
receiving
3/4
hours
tuition.
We
placed
70
people
in
the
past
year
in
college,
training
courses
and
employment.
The
aim
is
that
we
will
move
all
clients
on
within
six
months.
Fortunately,
we
have
a
charity
which
pays
for
course
fees
and
teaching
materials.
We
now
have
five
teachers
and
five
volunteer
teachers.
Two
employment
officers
are
supplied
by
local
agencies
to
provide
a
surgery.
The
two
young
offender
teams
have
an
aim
that
the
assessment
is
undertaken
at
the
PSR
stage
on
all
clients.
We
hope
eventually
that
the
same
thing
will
apply
to
adult
participants;
however,
at
this
stage,
all
clients
are
expected
to
be
referred
once
placed
on
probation,
unless
they
are
already
working
or
on
a
course.
Once
they
are
assessed,
a
package
is
prepared
for
the
client;
they
then
can
choose
if
they
want
to
take
up
the
option.
The
majority
do
and
they
are
offered
fares
for
expenses.
Further
research
has
shown
that
around
40%
of
all
clients
show
some
evidence
of
dyslexia.
It
is
therefore
obvious
that
it
is
not just
employment
which
is
a
factor
in
clients’
offending
but
more
general
difficulties,
which
need
intensive
work
if
they
are
to
achieve
some
stake
in
society.
Our
success
rate
in
my
view
is
quite
extraordinary
but
provides
evidence
that,
given
the
right
support,
many
clients
do
very
well
and
we
have
found
much
hidden
talent.
Ron
Hatt
Retired
SPO,
Inner
London
To continue reading
Request your trial