About Supported Employment

Supported Employment has been successfully used for decades as a model for supporting people with significant disabilities to secure and retain paid employment. The model uses a partnership strategy to enable people with disabilities to achieve sustainable long-term employment and businesses to employ valuable workers. Increasingly, supported employment techniques are being used to support other disadvantaged groups such as young people leaving care, ex-offenders and people recovering from drug and alcohol misuse.

BASE members regard employers as key customers of their services. There is a strong business case for employing a diverse workforce as many companies have discovered. We believe that co-workers have much to gain by supporting the participant in their development - it is a very rewarding experience to contribute towards change in another person.

Employment terms and conditions for people with disabilities should be the same as for everyone else including pay at the contracted going rate, equal employee benefits, safe working conditions and opportunities for career advancement.

We identify the most 'natural' ways in which we can support people with disabilities in employment, working in partnership with employers and all concerned. More intensive and personalised approaches such as Training in Systematic Instruction are available if needed.

Supported Employment is often described as Individual Placement and Support (IPS) when it is used to support people with long term mental health needs. In IPS there is an additional emphasis on the co-location of employment and clinical staff.

Supported Employment is underpinned by a set of core values which are included in the National Occupational Standards for Supported Employment.

The Model

This 5-stage model has at its heart the notion that anyone can be employed if they want paid employment and sufficient support is provided. The model is a flexible and continuous process, designed to meet all anticipated needs. The EUSE Supported Employment Toolkit although aimed at professionals, provides background information on the supported employment model and includes useful "how to" guides. The model is equally applicable to supporting job retention.

Customer engagement:

Many potential jobseekers are using traditional day services or receiving support from health and social care agencies. Our members maintain close links with referring agencies and seek to encourage people to explore employment as a way of improving their quality of life.

Vocational Profiling:

The first element of a successful job match is the vocational profiling or "getting to know you" process. Here we identify the aspirations, learning needs, individual skills, past experiences and job interests of the jobseeker. Working with families and support workers, we gather the information needed to develop a good job match. We look to identify the ideal job for that person based on their skills and preferences. Many people have never worked or not worked for many years and may need support to make informed choices about career opportunities.

Employer engagement:

Many employers are anxious about employing someone with a significant disability but there’s nothing special about it. Once they’ve tried it out they often become very committed to helping people overcome traditional recruitment and selection barriers. We know that traditional recruitment techniques can be overly rigid and formal interviews seldom result in offers of employment. Employers are increasingly recognising the value of "working interviews" which allow individuals to demonstrate their skills in the workplace and allow the employer to gather the sort of evidence that a formal interview seeks to capture.

Generally, our aim is to secure 'employment and training' rather than 'training then employment'. This means that a participant gets a job from the beginning. We know that most people learn skills better in situ rather than in artificial environments. By doing this we overcome the "job readiness" obstruction where people can get stuck in permanent training. It also increases people's motivation significantly because they see from the beginning that they are employed.

Job Matching:

A job analysis is usually undertaken to checks out any assumptions made in the job description. Although it is common practice for employers to set out the basics of a job for new recruits, it is not common for a detailed analysis of the job and environment to be available. We look at all aspects of the job and the work place, including health and safety, to make sure we have the right job for the right candidate.

We determine whether extra assistance or alterations to working practice or the environment are needed. This helps to produce a better job match. The job analysis might point towards ways of carving together parts of job descriptions that suit the workers' talents, or creating new job descriptions that suit the worker and are cost effective for the employer. Most adjustments are reasonable and inexpensive.

In-work Support and Career Development:

It is important to offer appropriate levels of support and encourage the involvement of the employer and co-workers. BASE members can support the person’s induction and provide on-site training support where needed. They may also offer out of work support if needed. Individual development plans are usually used to plan and monitor the employee’s learning.

Goals should include actions to encourage the social inclusion of the participant within the workplace. Not all workers will reach the productivity, quality and social standards set by the employer. When all learning strategies have been exhausted and the data shows no further improvement, discussions will be needed to seek a more suitable job match with the employer or to find a different job with a different employer.

Not many people stay in the same job for the whole of their working lives and people with disabilities are no different in having to adapt to changing labour markets and wanting to improve their working lives. Supported employment should encourage the career development of individuals by promoting training opportunities and seeking options for increased responsibility.

Underpinning values of Supported Employment

For a supported employment practitioner to practice competently he or she must apply skills and knowledge that is informed by a set of underpinning values. Supported employment practitioners are expected to be aware of and to apply a value-based and ethical approach in their practice.

1. People with disabilities and/or disadvantages can make a positive contribution in the workplace.

2. People with disabilities / disadvantage should have access to a real job where

wages are paid at the going rate for the job,
the employee enjoys the same terms and conditions as all other employees;
the job helps the person to meet their life goals and aspirations;
the role is valued by managers and colleagues;
the job has similar hours and times at work as other employees, with safe working conditions.

3. Practitioners uphold the "zero rejection" philosophy of supported employment so that, with the right job and the right support, everyone who wants to work, can work.

4. Supported employment does not adhere to a work readiness model and a 'place, train and maintain' approach is implemented.

5. Job search should happen at the earliest opportunity.

6. People are encouraged to exercise choice and control in achieving their career aspirations. Support is individualised and all options assume successful employability.

7. There is genuine partnership between the person, their family carers, employers, community supports and the provider of supported employment.

8. People are supported to be full and active members of their workforces and wider communities, both socially and economically.

9. Support services recognise the importance of the employer as a customer of supported employment in their own right with requirements that need to be satisfied.

10. Supported employment draws on Social Role Valorisation (SRV) in recognising that employment is a valued social role and becoming employed can help reverse societal devaluation, with wider positive consequences for the person.

11. Supported employment draws on the social model of disability recognising that disability is the product of the physical, organisational and attitudinal barriers present within society. The removal of discrimination requires a change of approach and thinking in the way in which society is organised, in this case removing barriers to employment.

12. Supported employment should encourage the career development of individuals by promoting training opportunities and seeking options for increased responsibility.

National Occupational Standards for Supported Employment

EUSE Supported Employment Toolkit

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About Supported Employment

About Supported Employment

The Model

Underpinning values of Supported Employment