Getting A Life

Beth PealMedway Learning Disability

Partnership Board Co-ordinator

What is the Getting A Life Project?

• Valuing People Now • Valuing Employment Now

• Was set up to find out why young people with learning disabilities do not move into adulthood with jobs and the lives they want.

How the Getting A Life project works?

• Getting A Life national team worked with 12 places around the country to find out about the problems about employment and to solve them.

• Each Getting a Life place worked with

30 young people (between 14-25 years) and their families.

• Free training was given to all sites (included family leadership sessions, person centred reviews, inclusion web training)

Who was involved in Medway?

• Abbey Court School• Bradfeilds School• Mid Kent College• Medway Youth Trust• Job Centre Plus• Department Work and

Pensions• Families• Shout Out• Medway Council• Sunlight Development Trust

Self-Directed Support Co-ordinator

• The Getting A Life project had it’s own Self-Directed Support worker.

• Worked across Children and Adult Services.

• Met with families on individual and group basis.

• Really helped to keep families and young people focused on getting a paid job.

Project Lead By Example

• Employed a person with learning disabilities for 16 hours a week. ‘Real job’

• Really important – – Gave project important experience of

employing (including using Access to Work funding) a person with moderate learning disabilities.

– Showed what was possible to people - employment.

– Helped us deal with project risk.

3 things worked well project in Medway

• Really high take-up of Direct Payments by families in project

• Person centred reviews developing in schools

• Close link and feedback into with Aiming High

4 things that worked not so well

• Low aspirations of families and organisations about employment

• Difficulties supporting good work experience

• Access to Work – really difficult for people with learning disabilities to access

• People choosing not to work

Main 5 messages from Getting a Life Project to

Medway Learning Disability Partnership Board

Main message 1

• Nobody wants to swap funding from leisure activities (e.g. ‘accessing the community’, swimming, short break, café trips, holidays, disco, day opportunities) for paid work.

• ‘Jobs First’ message.

Main message 2

Most families we worked with in Medway had very little expectation their son/daughter would ever work.

Medway needs a plan to support people with moderate and profound learning disability from an early age through to adulthood.

Main message 3

• Families need good self-directed support and Direct Payment advice throughout their life (not just in adulthood).

• Self-directed support workers really help families think differently about work and using a person’s gifts and talents.

Main message 4

• If there is no target towards paid work then work ‘is often forgotten.

• So it is even harder to get a paid job.

Main message 5 - Access to Work Fund

• Very complicated

• Being reviewed

• Currently only fund job coaches for 6 months

• Doesn’t support the business case.

What next?

• Family leadership session beginning of March

• Survey

Thank you

• Listening

• Supporting the Getting A Life project