No One Left Behind Case Study

Background (projects involved)

Three Projects - one approach.  This case study is a joined-up approach between three services who worked in partnership to support a young person become employed.

Participation Measure. As part of the No One Left Behind Agenda, West Lothian Council work in Close Partnership with Skills Development Scotland to identify young people who are unemployed in the community.  A keyworker will reach out to young people who are known to be unemployed or 'Unconfirmed' on the data.  This service offers young people support and signposting to appropriate services in an attempt to support the young person to access a positive destination.

Key Worker Support is available for young people who engage in a HYPE Learning Agreement.  This programme is considered to be Stage 1 of the Strategic Skills Pipeline and is a therapeutic approach to learning.  It offers one to one support from a keyworker alongside a range of engaging programmes.  Keyworkers work in partnership with the young person to develop an Action Plan based on their needs, aspirations and barriers.  The individual plan can include a range or HYPE programmes alongside bespoke learning.  The types of programmes include Animal Care, Photography, Art and Design, Gardening, Cooking, Farming, Beauty, Mechanics and Landscaping to name a few.   (The range or programmes vary from term to term)

Post school key work support is available for young people who take part in the Skills Training Programme. This programme is considered to be Stage 3 of the Strategic Skills Pipeline and offers young people a training experience within West Lothian Council.  The programme lasts for 26 weeks and during this time the young person will receive a combination of experiences, covering employability skills, healthy lifestyle, personal development, and a work placement.  A keyworker also works alongside the trainees to ensure that they are offered appropriate support to sustain training, and a positive destination at the end of the programme.

 Case Study

Participation Measure

January 2022: Andi appeared on the Participation Measure List, that is collated by Skills Development Scotland.  I tried to contact Andi with no luck, eventually, I managed to speak to her father.  On speaking with Andi's father, he had explained that his daughter was currently unemployed, had no friends, would not go out anywhere without her mum, dad or brothers.  Andi's father stated that there had been an incident which caused his daughter to become socially isolated, anxious, depressed, lonely and had developed poor mental health as a result.

After various discussions about Andi, I explored all of the options that I knew that were available to help her to progress forward and to help build up her self-esteem.  I had suggested HYPE (Helping Young People Engage) and explained what the programme was all about.  Andi's father spoke to her and after a few days of discussion back and forth, Andi eventually spoke with me on the phone on the loud speaker.  This allowed her parents to be part of the conversation while supporting Andi to engage.  We discussed the things that Andi liked to do and the options available to her.  She did explain that I was the first person she had spoken to in a very long time out with the family. This was amazing progress and Andi was able to chat on the phone with myself as I knew just how difficult this must have been for her. 

She had said that she would like to give HYPE at try to see how she would get on.  At this time, I felt it was imperative for Andi to feel really comfortable with this step, so I contacted a keyworker from HYPE directly and arranged for her to visit Andy at home in her own surroundings with her parents.  The keyworker kindly agreed to this and Andi was really pleased that the initial conversation and introduction about HYPE was taking place in her house with her parents present.

HYPE Learning Agreement (Helping Young People Engage)

The first time I met Andi, she didn't speak one word during out meeting. She did communicate through nodding and shaking her head. We agreed on a slow start beginning with seeing our counsellor and working our way up to courses. After a few weeks had passed Andi began to build up trust with me, she began talking more and I could see her confidence was growing every time we met.

Andi's confidence went from strength to strength and I referred her to the HYPE Horse Care course, she was a natural and got on great with everyone in the group. Within a few weeks she was one of the core members of the group, engaging well with staff and participants there.

Andi then accepted the next challenge of adding in another group which she took in her stride and became a key member of the group very quickly. As the weeks went by, it was amazing to watch Andi go from strength to strength, her confidence was growing daily and she was flourishing in the HYPE environment.

I then suggested a visit to STP (Skills Training Programme), this is something that I didn't even anticipate happening so quickly but Andi had progressed really well so far. When we went for a visit,  Andi was super friendly and confident - she was starting conversations with adults, she was polite and engaging - the same girl who only a few months ago wouldn't talk to me. It was amazing to see.

Of course, we got our application in to STP and Andi secured a place, she became a key member of the group and took on every challenge with confidence and enthusiasm.

The Skills Training Programme (STP)

Andi started with the Skills Training Programme (STP) in September 2022, where she settled in very quickly.  She was keen to develop her administration skills, where she took on set responsibilities to assist the staff as well as taking part in a range of teambuilding, problem-solving, ICT and employability workshops.  Andi's' confidence continued to grow, and this soon spilled into her homelife, where she was chatting to the other young people from the group in an online platform and then started to meet up with them in person. Andi was a pleasure to work with on the programme as she embraced all opportunities that were put her way.

Andi then progressed to a work placement within the Human Resources Team in the Civic Centre in November 2022 and continued with this until January 2023. She learned skills such as uploading documents, using council databases and operating online systems.  She very quickly became a valued member of their team.

An opportunity arose within the Human Resources Team for a training placement through the programme StepsN2 Employment.  This was something Andi was encouraged to apply for.  She completed the job application form, attended the interview and was offered the post.  This was a six months opportunity, however during the first 4 weeks in her new post, a job for a Human Resource Assistant became available.  Andi applied for this post, where she was successful.  Now, almost a year later she is still in her job and thriving.  She still meets with some of the young people from the Skills Training Programme (STP) and has developed strong friendships with them.