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Project SEARCH UK: evaluating its employment outcomes
- Author:
- KAEHNE Axel
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 29(6), 2016, pp.519-530.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Background: The study reports the findings of an evaluation of Project SEARCH UK. The programme develops internships for young people with intellectual disabilities who are about to leave school or college. The aim of the evaluation was to investigate at what rate Project SEARCH provided employment opportunities to participants. Methods: The evaluation obtained data from all sites operational in the UK at the time of evaluation (n = 17) and analysed employment outcomes. Results: Data were available for 315 young people (n = 315) in the programme and pay and other employment related data were available for a subsample. The results of the analysis suggest that Project SEARCH achieves on average employment rates of around 50 per cent. Conclusion: Project SEARCH UK represents a valuable addition to the supported employment provision in the UK. Its unique model should inform discussions around best practice in supported employment. Implications for other supported employment programmes are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Project SEARCH: a new model of supported employment?
- Author:
- KAEHNE Axel
- Journal article citation:
- Learning Disability Today, 15(1), January 2015, pp.22-24.
- Publisher:
- Pavilion
- Place of publication:
- Hove
Reports on the evaluation of Project SEARCH UK programme, an intern-based supported employment programme originally devised in the USA. The evaluation examined employment outcome data from 17 participating sites in the South West of England. In the programme a business, often a hospital, takes the lead in developing the internships. It also commits to take on 60 per cent of its interns after graduation for full time employment. The programme is primarily open to young people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum conditions who are in their last year of school or college. Outcomes found that Project SEARCH graduates had a significantly higher rate of finding employment than in other supported employment programmes. It was also successful in offering opportunities to people with a range of learning disabilities. Interns also found work in a variety of roles. The evaluation demonstrates that Project Search is a valuable addition to supported employment programmes in the UK. (Edited publisher abstract)
Transition partnerships and protocols – do they help planning transition for young people?
- Authors:
- KAEHNE Axel, O’CONNELL Mary Clare
- Journal article citation:
- Llais, 95, Spring 2010, pp.13-16.
- Publisher:
- Learning Disability Wales
Policy in England and Wales has identified transition as a major challenge for social and health services and good collaboration between services is seen as key to adequately supporting young people with learning disabilities at this difficult time in their lives. All learning disabilities services in Wales have been asked to develop robust partnerships between all relevant agencies and parents of young people to create good planning routes and planning practices during transition. Results of an ongoing study being conducted by the Welsh Centre for Learning Disabilities at Cardiff University, to examine all transition protocols that have been written in local authorities in Wales are reported. Twenty one of the 22 local authorities in Wales were found to have transition protocols in place, however a huge variation in the nature and content of these protocols was found. Encouraging findings were that the majority of protocols said something meaningful about the need to involve carers and young people in the planning process and most protocols outlined individual tasks and duties of professionals. However most transition protocols showed lack of involvement of young people and carers as equal partners in the planning process, failed to include external non-statutory agencies in the transition planning process, and showed an absence of robust consent and data sharing arrangements. The study continues to investigate the protocols in 5 local authorities in more detail.