Open supported employment for autists by Triangle Housing in Northern-Ireland
Northern Ireland, United KIngdom Target groups of housing
Description
Context
Triangle’s Progression to Employment Service provides the necessary support systems to enable people with a learning disability to achieve and maintain meaningful employment.
Issues tackled
The service seeks to establish and support individuals’ active inclusion within employment environments and in so doing promote their equal opportunities and through active participation improve their employability.
The service aims to engage with individuals with an assessed learning disability and/ or autism in the provision of employment services with the objective of promoting participants’ social inclusion, combating poverty and challenging discrimination. The service seeks to establish and support individuals’ active inclusion within employment environments and promoting their equal opportunities.
Actors involved
- Department for the Economy ESF Managing Authority
- Northern Health & Social Care Trust
- Triangle housing Association
Results
The aim was to engage with a total of 630 participants with an identified learning disability and/or Autistic Spectrum Disorder who have expressed a desire to progress to employment and facilitate their participation in work focused activities.
The service will continue to work with approximately 300 participants from the previous 3-year ESF programme (March 2015- April 2018) to progress their employment journey. During the 4-year timeframe until April 2022 the service aims to support an additional 64 paid jobs for participants with at least 48 of these retaining their employment for at lease 6 months. Triangle will support at least 95 participants to progress on to education/ training opportunities.
Why it works
The service uses the Supported Employment model as the main approach to achieve paid outcomes. More about that can be found here: supported_employment_explained.pdf (trianglehousing.org.uk)
Part of the service involves enterprise activities – “Alternative Angles”, with facilities in Antrim, Ballymena, Coleraine, Magherafelt and Newtownabbey.
Scale
local
More information
Funding for the service is provided by the Department for the Economy ESF Managing Authority, under the second call of the 2014-2020 Northern Ireland European Social Fund (April 2018- March 2022), and match funded by the Northern Health & Social Care Trust.
https://www.trianglehousing.org.uk/progression-to-employment-service