Exit strategies and working with employers Teaching vulnerable learners and those on community orders or probation 1

Exit strategies and working with employers

Teaching vulnerable learners and those on community orders or probation

1

Overview of the session

• Benefits and barriers to employment• Useful skills for employment• Placing learners in employment• Risk management

• Note, we talk particularly about employment here but much is also relevant to exits to further training

2Exit strategies and working with employers

Employment and further training - good all round

• Unemployment and offending are associated• There is a reasonable evidence base that, at least for

those aged over 25, employment leads to a reduction in offending

• Both from the learner perspective and from that of government, employment or further training are important outcomes of pursuing education


Finding employment is hard

• Learners with a criminal record report difficulty in finding work

• For about half of vacancies, employers are likely to reject people with a criminal record solely due to their record (Metcalf, Anderson and Rolfe, 2001; CfBT, 2011)

• For more serious convictions this rises to 90 per cent of applicants being rejected

• Employers tend to base their decisions on prejudice rather than evidence of risk (Metcalf, Anderson and Rolfe, 2001)


Barriers to employment

• Common barriers to employment are– Employer discrimination– Health problems– Substance misuse– Housing problems

• These barriers usually go beyond the remit of education/training providers, who need to network with:– Employers– Youth Offending Teams, – Probation, – Third sector organisations such as NACRO (which offers a

Resettlement Service Finder covering many of these issues)


Barriers to employment (2)

There are some other barriers to further training or employment that are part of the core business of education and training provision


Education & training providers need to address…

• Useful skills for employment• Placing learners in employment• Risk management


Useful skills for employment

• Employers want general and basic skills and attributes, more than specific training (Metcalf et al, 2001; Wolf, 2010; Lockett and Grove, 2010)

• Eg:– Sound literacy and numeracy– Social skills– Appearance– A positive attitude– Reliability – Communication skills

• Some of these can be developed alongside speaking and listening in a literacy context


Activity 1: Communication Skills

• See Activity 1 on hand-out for this role-play activity

• An important dimension of communication is non-verbal and is to do with body language

• The scenario is a job interview for a job in a landscape firm1. Select your role

2. Observers have to guess how the interviewee is feeling


Acknowledging skills

• Learners may already have skills that are valuable to employers

• Discussing these skills in class may be useful• Thinking of examples of how they have demonstrated

these skills can also be useful to prepare for interviews

• The NIACE publication, Choices not Chances, may give you some ideas


Qualifications

• Qualifications are reported as important for three quarters of jobs (NIESR survey, 2000)

• Too many qualifications taken by young learners have little credibility with employers (Wolf, 2010)

• Are not associated with higher employment rates

• These include Adult Certificates in Literacy and Numeracy at Levels 1 and 2, and NVQs at Levels 1 and 2


Activity 2: The purpose of qualifications

• What qualifications do your learners typically complete?

• If they are below Level 3, what are the benefits for them in gaining these qualifications?

• What are the opportunities to progress to a higher level? Discuss the learners you have worked with recently


Employers’ needs and views

• Find out what likely employers want– Build up a network of employers who you can be in contact

with– Have an open dialogue with employers in your network– Consult resources, eg. NIACE, the National Institute for Adult

and Community Education (see resource list and example on next slide)


Examples of everyday tasks for catering staff (from NIACE)

• Acting on verbal instructions from chef or supervisor• Making and receiving telephone calls• Discussing work plans• Following recipes• Preparing food• Reading temperature and time charts• Following of safety and hygiene signs• Operating kitchen equipment according to

instructions


What skills? (from NIACE)

• Speaking and listening– Listen carefully to follow oral instructions accurately, e.g.

changes to recipes, menu planning, timings for food preparation

• Reading– Obtain information from tables and charts, e.g. weights,

cooking times, oven temperatures• Writing

– Note messages clearly from telephone calls and other conversations, e.g. from suppliers, customers, colleagues, regulatory bodies

• Number skills– Weigh dry ingredients accurately


Employers’ needs and views

• Communicate employers’ needs & qualification requirements to learners – Role plays– Tutorials– Class activities– Ask alumni to come back and talk about their work/ further

training

• Reflect employer needs in your curriculum/teaching methods


Activity 3: Contextualising for employment related skills

• Discuss ways in which daily lessons could reflect exits to employment or further training– Contextualising skills for specific areas of employment– ‘Soft’ skills – speaking and listening

• Devise one lesson plan to contextualise your curriculum in relation to employment – this could cover an aspect of Literacy, Numeracy or ICT


Placing learners in employment

• Networking with employers

• Managing disclosure of a criminal record

• Supporting learners to employment


Why network with employers?

• Many employment schemes for offenders place too much emphasis on learning skills, and not enough on what actually helps people to get and keep jobs (Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, 2009)

• Too few have direct links with local employers, offer support that continues ‘through the gate’ between prison and the community, or help people once they start work to stay there (Through the Gate, 2010)


HMP Wandsworth staff

• ‘Employers are actually very receptive. We have a couple of [employment] agencies now, who will always entertain a call. If they have an opportunity and the person is qualified, they will definitely consider them. That’s really what you’re asking – you’re not asking people to take priority, you’re asking for someone with a criminal conviction to be taken at their face value as you would anyone else.”

(Deputy Head of Learning and Skills at Wandsworth Prison, Through the Gate, 2010)


Why network with employers? (2)

• Can start a conversation about what employers value from education and training

• Provides opportunities to give them confidence to employ people with a criminal record

• Enhances opportunities to find placements for students

• Public funding is increasingly linked to employment and reduction in offending


How to network with employers

• Build on your own networks – personal and organisational

• Make use of existing employer networks– BeOnSite, associated with Bovis Lend Lease– The Apex Trust, charity for employment of people with a

criminal record– NACRO, charity with a resettlement service– Business in the Community, a business led charity which

provides support and resources for the employment of people with a criminal record


Activity 4

Discuss how you network with employers• Is there someone in your organisation who deals with

placing learners at the end of a course of study?

• If so, how can you work with them to get information on issues such as availability of placements, employer needs in terms of skills, and the desirability of qualifications offered?

• Can you build on personal contacts within your group to develop links with local employers?


Disclosure

• This might be relevant to a surprising number of learners. It is estimated that 30% of males over 30 years of age have a criminal record (Barclay, 1991)

• Prisoners value information on how to approach employers about their criminal record“I think the advice given on how to disclose is good, it makes you feel more confident….as long as I can get an interview I can show them what I can do, I can prove myself” (Gill, 1997, Employing Ex-Offenders)


‘Spent’ convictions

• Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, most convictions become ‘spent’ after five years for adults, or 2.5 years for under-18s.

• Prison sentences of up to 6 months become spent after 7 years for adults, and 3.5 years for under 18s.

• A job applicant has no legal obligation to disclose a spent conviction, and it is illegal for an employer to ask.

• But, employers in certain fields (eg working with children or the elderly), are exempt, and have the right to ask. For a list, see: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/CRB/about-the-crb/eligible-positions-guide. Those convicted of a serious crime or several crimes may have great problems in exempt fields


http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/CRB/about-the-crb/eligible-positions-guide

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/agencies-public-bodies/CRB/about-the-crb/eligible-positions-guide

‘Spent’ convictions (2)

• Unlock’s calculator at http://www.disclosurecalculator.org.uk/ establishes when convictions are ‘spent’

• Nacro’s Resettlement Plus Helpline (020 7840 6464) offers up-to-date information.


http://www.disclosurecalculator.org.uk/

If a conviction is not spent

• If an application form asks about unspent convictions and you do not declare them, then this is actually “obtaining money under false pretences” – which is an offence and can lead to dismissal

• We gratefully acknowledge Milton Keynes College/ Thames Valley Probation/ SOVA for advice and materials on disclosure


How to disclose

• Employers need reassurance that the applicant is not a risk – Crimes may be well in the past– Applicant may have matured since the offence and taken on

responsibility– Crimes may be irrelevant to the job – explain– Crimes may sound more serious than they are – explain– But don’t make the explanation sound like an excuse

• NACRO and some Probation teams offer further advice on disclosure (see list of resources and Handling Your Record hand-out)


Job application – the usual suspects

• The criminal record must not take over the application

• The usual things apply for applicants in any circumstance– Spend time on an application– Apply for jobs you are most likely to get– Examples that you can do the job– Pay attention to detail– Prepare for the interview– Find out about the employer– Network, for example by doing voluntary work

• Also see NACRO’s Applying for work guide (in resource list).


Employer perceptions of risks• Survey of employers in 2010 found they were more worried about

soft skills, honesty, reliability, personal behaviour than technical skills

• Among employers who had knowingly hired someone with a record, only 7% said they would not do it again

• Employers reported that better guidance of the potential employee, and better skills, would encourage hiring (Tagged for Life, 2010)

• Work experience and voluntary experience in those with a record encourage employers to hire (CfBT, 2011). For case studies, see Thames Valley Mentoring Project’s newsletters (in resource list).


Risk assessment• There is no definitive way of assessing risk

• There are assessment tools (e.g. LSI-R), but for decision making about an individual more detail is required (e.g. nature of employment, level of available support)

• Probation and Youth Offending teams offer information on the risk of employing people with a criminal record, and will typically consider:– Criminal history (how long from last offence? how many?

Custodial sentence?)– Employment history– Alcohol/Drug problems– A range of other factors (family, accommodation,

psychological health, attitude towards work)


Risk assessment support

• Some voluntary organisations offer support, eg St Giles’ Trust

• Learners may not know which areas of employment they will find difficult to access, and may need advice at the beginning of their course of study

• Different employers will have different risks to consider

• Organisations like the Centre for Mental Health have had considerable success at maintaining high-risk people in employment, through Individual Placement and Support


Risk insurance

• The Apex Trust offers a Bond which offers insurance cover for those wishing to employ people with a criminal record


Activity 5

• Discuss links with support agencies to support learners into employment– List the local support agencies you are aware of– List the agencies you are in regular contact with– Do you have systems for sharing this information with other

practitioners either in your own agency or externally?– What gaps in support to employment do your learners

frequently come up against?– Which support agencies are the most successful. What is it

about them that makes them more effective?


Conclusion

• Start planning how to help learners’ exit and employment from the beginning of your time with them

• Develop links with employers or with those in your organisation who have those links

• Inform your curriculum with employer needs and offer qualifications that will be valued

• Use the range of skills needed for employment/further training to enrich your curriculum

• Develop working links with supporting agencies


‘The key thing for an effective tutor in this field is to be aware that their role goes beyond the classroom.

A tutor can be a mine of useful information support and signposting for a vulnerable offender learner. Tutors can make a big difference and being keen to be effective, signpost effectively and spot risk and not just ‘teach maths’ is important.’ Gina Reilly, Milton Keynes College


Materials in this CPD were devised by: Brian Creese (numeracy), Jay Derrick (assessment and embedding), Jane Hurry (motivation and exit strategies), Maria Kambouri (ICT), Irene Schwab (literacy) and John Vorhaus (continuing professional development and learner contexts) at the Institute of Education

Helpful suggestions and comments were made by Joe Shamash and Olivia Varley-Winter at City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development and by Milton Keynes College

If you would like to contact us please email Jane Hurry at [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

The CPD FrameworkAn outline of the sessions


Documents

Exit strategies and working with employers Teaching vulnerable learners and those on community orders or probation 1