Nuala WhelanAssistant Manager

Presentation to Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection

The BJC was established in 1986 as a community response to a chronic unemployment situation

The BJC is a voluntary organisation with charitable status, it is a co-operative and is managed by a Board of Management

Since 1996 BJC manages the Local Employment Services in Ballymun (Contract with Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership)

Over the years the BJC has built relationships and worked closely with a wide range of public, private, European and community organisations

BJC: Who Are We?

Vision: People living in the greater Ballymun area have the capacity to realise their labour market potential and can access employment that provides them with a quality of life free from poverty and welfare dependence

Mission: To raise the skills, educational levels and the labour market aspirations of individuals in the greater Ballymun area

Objective: The overall objective of the BJC is to provide individuals with greater labour market choice and the opportunity to improve their employability, increase their earnings and reduce their vulnerability to poverty

BJC: What We Do BJC: What We Do

The approval by the EU Commission of the DSPs application to pilot a Youth Guarantee Scheme in Ballymun is an important milestone for the future direction of a national policy on youth unemployment

Lessons from the pilot will inform the Government’s approach to a national YGS

In particular it will inform the DSP of the approach to the activation of young people on the Live Register aged 18 to 24

BJC is Involved in the Youth Guarantee Pilot at a local level

EQUAL YOUTH◦ Interagency network operating in Ballymun since 2008 aiming

to support young people aged 16-24 into Education, Training & Employment

◦ BJC is the lead organisation◦ Formal Monthly Interagency meetings

Quality Driven Career Guidance◦Mount Street Trust eMERGE◦ EGUIDE Quality Framework for the delivery of Career

Guidance to disadvantaged job seekers◦Manage Your Career framework

An initial Assessment of the individuals needs (education, training, skills, personal situation)

A tailored career guidance process identifying latent skills, abilities, aptitudes, preferred behavioural style in the workplace (through use of a range of methodologies and tools)

Development of a career plan which includes a career objective and shorter term career goals

Implementation of the career plan in a supportive and positive way

MSTEI

Why the focus on career guidance? • Fulfill full potential in the employment market• Provides self awareness• Creates awareness of the options available• Reduces the number of uninformed career decisions /

well informed decisions about the direction which best meets the needs of the individual

• Provides clarity• Assists in identifying areas of employment that stimulates

an individual’s interest • The outcome of the guidance process can play an

important role in influencing the design and implementation of quality labour market orientated education and training

• Multiple barriers to employment (low education, lack of work experience, literacy issues, redundant or no skills, personal & family issues, drug and alcohol misuse etc.)

• Inter-generational and community impact can result in high levels of vulnerability and marginalisation in labour market and tend to be clustered in communities like Ballymun

• Short term interventions vs longer term robust methods

• The provision of a more intensive career guidance process to those individuals who are finding it difficult to progress should form part of the Youth Guarantee Model at local/national level

• The BJC/LESN is very well positioned to provide this type of response due to our experience working with those most distant from the labour market since 1996.

Career guidance should be the first step in any training, education or activation process particularly for those who have been unemployed or disengaged from the labour market

An appropriate career guidance process in itself keeps those unemployed close to the labour market by providing an opportunity to identify potential, gain self awareness, build self confidence and motivation

The career guidance process should form a bridge linking the identified labour market needs of the individual to programmes that should be designed to meet these needs

Successful implementation of a quality driven Youth Guarantee model is largely dependent on the skills and approach of staff who are provided with the resources to meet the individual needs of the clients

Many Thanks

Nuala Whelan Assistant ManagerBallymun Job Centrewhelann@bmunjob.ie T: (01) 8667000www.bmunjob.ie