Evaluation of Youth Employment Service North East – final report

The project

YES North East was a collaboration between Youth Futures Foundation (YFF) and North East Autism Society (NEAS). The programme was designed to support neurodiverse people aged between 18 and 24 living in Tyne and Wear who were not in employment, education or training, to move into, or further towards, employment and education. The evaluation aimed to understand which elements of the model are most effective in driving education, employment, and training outcomes for the target group.

Evaluation objectives

Table 1 outlines the evaluation objectives and the sections in the report which address them. A more detailed exploration of evaluation objectives is included in the methodology section on page 11. Table 1: Evaluation objectives

Findings

Who did YES North East support?

Chapter 2: Programme design and delivery Chapter 7: Conclusions and recommendations YES North East supported 140 young people to improve their work readiness and overcome barriers to employment. Most participants disclosed a learning difficulty or type of neurodiversity upon joining the programme – with autism being the most common. The majority of young people on the programme were male (72%) and almost all participants were white.

How was YES North East delivered?

The main referral source was Jobcentre Plus (JCP), though over time, more self-referrals were made via a dedicated project website and word-of-mouth. The main part of the programme consisted of twice-weekly half-day in-person workshops. These lasted 12 weeks, followed by four weeks of delivery reserved to address any knowledge gaps among participants. During the 16 weeks of delivery, participants were supported to complete up to two work placements, intended to last between two and five days. Participants were matched to employers according to their interests and skills. After the end of the workshop sessions, participants were contacted weekly or fortnightly by an employment specialist1 for up to 13 weeks to give participants the opportunity to access further support to move closer to employment.

What difference did YES North East make?

More than half of programme participants (59%) achieved at least one outcome. The percentage of participants achieving each of the main types of outcomes are given in Table 2.

Table 2: Percentages of participants achieving different outcomes

Source: NEAS Management Information. Base: 125. 14% 36% The participant survey found that the majority of respondents reported the following:

• no change to their employment aspirations (64%)
• no change to how positive they felt about being able to secure a job (51%). However, in the qualitative research interviews, some programme participants said that they had experienced positive changes, including:
  • Feeling better informed about how, and where, to look for jobs
  • Increased confidence about their capability to apply for work and navigate interviews
  • Developing a greater awareness of their existing skills which increased their confidence and focus on gaining work in a specific sector or role.

The participant survey found that young people’s confidence and wellbeing increased over the time they participated in the programme. In interviews, participants said they felt the programme helped them to improve their social and communication skills so they were better able to meet and interact with new people, speak on the phone and ask for support.

Recommendations for the design and delivery of similar programmes

Expand efforts to engage and recruit eligible participants. YES North East overcame a variety of challenges to steadily build referrals and registrations over the course of the programme. Expanding the age eligibility of participants, increasing referrals from JCP and developing awareness of the service in the community helped support recruitment. Yet, some obstacles remained, including difficulties recruiting young women onto the programme. For future programmes, providers should consider the following:

Exploring additional ways to raise awareness and promote the programme, including working with community organisations and services to support outreach and engage the target group and their parents/carers. Programme providers should also reflect on how they can capture the experiences of participants who have achieved positive outcomes and use these to promote the programme, for example, by creating videos for social media or designing an information pack to share with potential participants. Links with colleges and learning providers offer a valuable opportunity to reach education leavers and access a steady flow of referrals. Programme providers should consider engaging with schools and their pastoral teams, as well as local authority SEND teams. Consideration would need to be given to programme design and how this would tie in with the academic year to avoid potential participants being NEET for any length of time before joining. Programme providers should consider the use of outreach and engagement specialists, whose role is dedicated to developing relationships with key partner services and generating referral pathways and registrations. Invest in developing strong relationships with employers of all sizes, and across growth sectors. Evidence from the evaluation found that developing relationships with employers took time and considerable resource. Stronger links with employers would help to build pathways to employment for participants. Programme providers should consider utilising a progressive model of supported work opportunities which guides participants through more intensive levels, fostering their experience and relationships with employers. This could range from brief ‘work tasters’, longer-lasting ‘placements’ and more long-term opportunities, depending on the needs and preferences of participants. Links with employers could be used to offer a job brokerage service, helping to match local job opportunities with programme participants. The offer of specialist guidance with adjustments and options for continued in-work support could be used to support engagement with employers. Alongside developing strong relationships with employers, providers should focus on understanding local labour markets and future growth sectors. It is crucial that young people are supported to gain the skills and experience needed to progress to sustainable jobs. Understanding local labour market data, growth sectors, skills gaps and employer needs will underpin future proofing of job opportunities for young people. Maintain and expand valuable relationships with external partners and services. Partnerships have been key to the implementation and delivery of the YES North East model, particularly referrals from JCP and the arrangement of work placements with local employers. Regular contact, good relationships between staff, and integrated working have been key to securing the effective participation of these partners – adding substantial value to the programme. Additional relationships with wider organisations and services also helped to expand the benefits offered by YES North East, via signposting of programme participants to additional support and education and training opportunities (for example, Barnardo’s training scheme and the ‘Access to HE’ college course). Providers should consider expanding partnerships with wider services to develop referral and signposting pathways to direct any participants in need of further support following completion of a programme – helping to deliver outcomes in the long-term for participants yet to move into work. This should cover the variety of needs that participants who have completed the programme continue to have, including employment, education and skills, health, and housing support. Evidence from the evaluation found the main barriers participants faced when moving into work were often attributed to their own health conditions and poor mental health rather than systemic barriers. Providers designing or delivering a similar programme should consider how provision can be joined up with health services at a strategic and local level. Participants should be given information about local health services and be signposted to this where needed. Providers should explore ways in which specialist services could play an active role in the delivery of programmes, for example, by giving presentations or facilitating workshops. This would build links between young people and local services, creating a stronger network of support for them beyond the lifetime of the programme. Further research. This evaluation did not examine whether lived experience of neurodiversity is a critical factor in the design and delivery of programmes for this cohort. Future evaluations should examine this to better understand if and how it may impact programmes.