Dr. Karen Wolffe Dr. Philippa Simkiss

UK Pilot Project Evaluation Background: Work Focus was established by RNIB subsequent to feedback from private sector chief executives (initially three pilots with RNIB; one with Action for Blind People). An external evaluation of the four pilots provided insight into employment program offerings for adults with visual impairments in the United Kingdom and helped shape current service delivery options.

Work Focus Overview Timeframe: Two year period (2008 – 2010). Locations: London, Norfolk/Suffolk (Norwich), South Yorkshire (Sheffield), and Aberdeenshire (Aberdeen). Staff: Manager, Client Liaison, Employer Liaison, and Employment Officers (nine). Mission: Teams focused exclusively on moving unemployed individuals into employment, without externally imposed contract restrictions.

Evaluation Process

Methodology Quantitative data were collected for each client using an Excel spreadsheet that was completed on a monthly basis by each of the Employment Officers. Data collected were: Personal information (name, contact information). Demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, level of sight, onset of vision loss, preferred reading format, education, vocational background, registration status, benefits).

Methodology Assessment information (education level, time unemployed, ever worked, lost job, lost job due to disability). Activity (referral source, start/close dates, number applications & CVs submitted, number of interviews, research time, face-to- face time, group time, work experience). Outcomes (employment, education, support, other; employment sector, salary, full- or part-time). Follow-up information (three, six, twelve, twenty-four months).

Methodology Qualitative data were collected in the following ways: Interviews with staff and participants. Interviews with management. Focus groups with staff and participants. Observations (individual and group).

Outcomes Approximately 450 clients were engaged. Ninety-three clients found jobs. Forty-one clients moved into training. These figures evidence an overall 21% conversion rate for movement into employment and a 9% conversion rate for movement into training.

Work Focus Outcomes SiteEngagementsEmployed London16039 (24% ) Sheffield4110 (24%) Aberdeen7923 (29%) Norwich17121 (12%) Totals45193 Targets28896 Note: Conversion rates are shown parenthetically.

Qualitative Lessons Learned One of the most important elements of the pilot projects was the ‘open door’ policy that encouraged individuals to engage with Work Focus staff. In other words, services were not contingent upon external funding sources that tend to be restrictive in terms of who’s eligible for services delivered. The open door policy enabled Work Focus staff to reach harder-to-employ people than those enrolled in other employment-related offerings.

Segmentation facilitated matching clients’ needs to services rather than requiring clients to conform to contract options; thereby, facilitating a client-centred model. Service providers need to recognize that all referrals are not equal and may want to campaign for funding sources to reward delivery of service outcomes based on a segmented model. Weighted outcomes make more business sense than unweighted outcomes as clients further removed from the labour market require more intensive services than those ready to move into work.

Bespoke training (pre-employment skills training, disability disclosure workshops, peer support groups, and job clubs) in addition to referrals to other organisations or departments for disability-specific skills training (orientation and mobility, access technology training, benefits advice) enabled clients to access services needed to enhance their ability to look for work. When clients participated in such group activities, they reported learning a great deal from one another. This acknowledgement of the importance of peer support underscores the need for an organization-wide peer support effort.

What seemed to be missing in terms of services needed, but unavailable to clients, was adequate local provision of the following types of: Literacy and numeracy training and vocational skills training, including computer literacy, designed to meet the entry-level needs of blind and partially sighted applicants; and disability-specific skills training to enhance independence such as orientation and mobility, alternative communication modalities such as use of braille or optical devices, and access technology training.

Staff development is critical. There were significant differences in the work performed by staff with and without experience in working with blind and partially sighted individuals and a background in careers and guidance or vocational rehabilitation. Employment and employability programme administrators and staff need to either come to the project with disability-specific skills and careers guidance/rehabilitation competencies or be immediately trained-up through structured learning.

Ongoing and consistent evaluation is integral to the delivery of quality services over time. This evaluative effort requires consistent data collection tools, quality assurance measures to be in place between the staff, clients, and project management; as well as, external programme evaluation for objective assessment of the programme’s ongoing effectiveness.

Working with related service providers and mainstream employment service providers to secure referrals to WF has proven effective and should be encouraged in the future. While these organizations may not be equipped to work successfully with hard-to-employ blind and partially sighted people, they can serve as a clearing house and refer such clients to the more appropriate services delivered by RNIB and Action.

The selection, assessment, and services provided to clients are of critical importance and must be consistently applied by all participating staff. Client assessment needs to include both standardized measures and informal assessment by the Employment Officers. With appropriate evaluation, Employment Officers should be able to apply market segmentation to determine what services clients need and offer those services to clients or make appropriate referrals to other departments or organizations. In this way, clients’ needs drive programming.

The selection, assessment, and services provided to clients are of critical importance and must be consistently applied by all participating staff. Client assessment needs to include both standardized measures and informal assessment by the Employment Officers (EOs). With appropriate evaluation, EOs should be able to apply market segmentation to determine what services clients need and offer those services to clients or make appropriate referrals to other departments or organizations. In this way, clients’ needs drive programming.

In addition to client outcomes, there were programme outputs worth mentioning…

Programme outputs Pre-employment programme overviews: for trainers working with blind and partially sighted people (Wolffe & Cheddie, 2010) – an outline of the fifteen-week bespoke training designed to build participants’ self- confidence in career decision making, job seeking, and job maintenance.

Programme outputs A clearly described and widely-shared Market Segmentation Model that focuses on blind and partially sighted individuals’ abilities and need for intervention in order to provide programme participants with the most appropriate services available.

Programme outputs to come… Pre-employment programme trainer’s manual – the companion piece to Pre-employment programme overviews that will make-up the core training materials for ongoing facilitation of pre-employment skills training specific to blind and partially sighted people in the UK. Market Segmentation Screening Tool to assist staff in selecting the right programme with clients.

How what we’ve learned can lead to improved programming…