Able4Work, a digital tool to support the integration of vulnerable young people into the labour market

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Able4Work, a digital tool to support the integration of vulnerable young people into the labour market

Probens, SeaTeach, DanmarComputers, Knowl, Multitudei Gävle AB, Werkstatt-Berufskolleg

Able4Work is the digital tool that facilitates the process of finding a job for young people who are often in a situation of social vulnerability. It is designed for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and aims to offer them support and accompaniment during the complex stages of their job search. In this way, it helps them to redirect their present and future socio-labour situation, facilitating interaction and contact with social workers.

It is an online platform and functional app, available and free to use for both mentors and interested users. It offers support in the process of searching for employment or educational programmes, adapting to the needs of vulnerable young people. Thus, it is mainly aimed at young people between 18 and 35 years old in a situation of social vulnerability -new immigrants, ethnic minorities, economic problems, etc.- and, consequently, at risk of social exclusion. The app also targets mentors and youth workers who implement the socio-occupational and educational insertion programmes digitally and partially remotely, offering support, advice and guidance to vulnerable young people.

Able4Work works in a way that allows young users to easily interact with the social workers and mentors assigned to them –including a chat– and social workers to better follow up and monitor tasks. In addition, the digital tool allows young people to constantly monitor the phases and progress of their pathway –with a calendar showing guidance actions and pending tasks– and to receive notifications about job and educational possibilities. In this way, it increases the autonomy of programme participants and promotes the value of self-responsibility among young people in the job search process.

Finally, the app has gamification elements that make it interactive and engaging, which motivates young people to meet the objectives of their pathways. As a result, the app Able4work reduces the high drop-out rates of Youth Guarantee programmes, improving their efficiency and success.

Espai Obert, an alternative service to institutionalization for people with severe psychosocial disabilities.

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Espai Obert, an alternative service to institutionalization for people with severe psychosocial disabilities.

Fundació Support-Girona Foundation and Healthcare Assistance Institute (IAS)

Alternative resource to institutionalization for people with severe psychosocial disabilities, which offers them social and health support based on the pact and their free will to use the services of the facility.

It is aimed at people who are in a situation of social exclusion and even homelessness, due to mental and behavioral disorders or substance abuse problems, and who have no family or social support or financial resources,

Espai Obert aims to reduce the stigma of these people and overcome the barriers that stand in the way of their social and community inclusion. The intervention methodology is based on low demand and free use.

As a first phase of intervention, the aim is to cover the basic needs of hygiene and food. Therefore, the service is equipped with a kitchen, living and dining room, washing machines, patio and shower and hygiene areas, and the users participate in the routines of the center (preparing meals, laundry, taking care of the garden…). Once this first phase has been achieved, a bond of trust is built, in order to work on the development, skills and well-being of each person, as well as socialization with other people in the space and other resources in the area.

This pioneering intervention model is one of the tools to be deployed in Catalonia in the process of reconversion and transformation of long-stay psychiatric hospitalization with functional recovery and life project units based on the successful experience of the counties of Girona, where in 2004 the long-stay psychiatric hospital in the former Salt Psychiatric Hospital was closed, generating a network of community mental health and addiction services, with alternative resources.


Scottish national program to help implement Self-Directed Support

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Scottish national program to help implement Self-Directed Support

Social Work Scotland

National program to facilitate the implementation of the Self-Directed Support intervention model in local social services in Scotland’s municipalities. It aims to bridge the gap between the regulatory framework and the day-to-day practice of Social Services by providing guidance and support to overcome the challenges faced by social professionals in implementing the model..

Self-Directed Support is a model for accompanying people who are served by Social Services, with a focus on support in decision making. The aim is for people to have control and power of choice over the actions or support plans aimed at improving their living conditions, based on their demands and their rights. Within this approach, this Social Work Scotland program aims to ensure that social workers are able to implement the model based on the principles, perspective and values of human rights. The aim is to empower social workers to be autonomous in implementing the model with each person served.

The program has three main lines of action. First, to promote the autonomy of social professionals in the implementation of the model through the definition of standards and training and advisory activities aimed at improving social intervention. Secondly, to provide a community of practice where public professionals and community entities can learn together to find solutions to the challenges posed by the implementation of the Self-Directed Support model. And finally, to energize a collaborative Scottish network of all public and private stakeholders to contribute to the development of the Scottish national Self-Directed Support framework.

Within this national framework, a library of tools, resources and practical examples for practitioners is provided. In addition, the program is working to get personal assistants recognized as members of the social care workforce, and to bring about changes in the Scottish legal framework to facilitate effective implementation of the model.


La Botiga, an integral programme of food guarantee, labour insertion and community participation.

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La Botiga, an integral programme of food guarantee, labour insertion and community participation.

City Council of El Prat de Llobregat, ABD (Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo)

Supermarket that combines the distribution of food and other basic necessities to people assisted by the social services who cannot guarantee their right to food through the ordinary food distribution market, with the insertion of people with difficulties in accessing the labour market into the productive fabric of the municipality’s own food sector.

La Botiga operates as a supermarket open to the entire population, which also offers an adapted circuit for people referred by the basic social services of the municipality. It is organised on a self-service and/or assisted sales model, where food, hygiene, cleaning and other goods can be purchased. Users of social services can access by appointment, and before entering the space where they can buy food, they pass through a multipurpose room where group and community dynamics are carried out based on conversations between the people involved in the project. Moreover, with a circular logic, the people who make use of the space are involved in the management of the space, based on the principles of cooperativism and the Social and Solidarity Economy.

On the other hand, at La Botiga, the beneficiaries do not collect batches of food, but, through a system of points, choose the products they need themselves. These points, which are equivalent to the money to make the purchase, are assigned to them through the social services prescription sheet, depending on the situation of each person or family. In this way, La Botiga’s model seeks to overcome the welfare model in the field of food distribution.

La Botiga also uses the traditional supply channels of fruit and vegetables and other local products from the Baix Llobregat Agricultural Park and local businesses. This local economic fabric provides a product of solidarity, and at the same time strengthens the circuits that seek to reduce food waste through the reuse of the surplus generated, which also has an impact on improving the environmental health of the municipality.

In addition to the food guarantee service and projects to work on social skills or job skills, other activities and workshops are also carried out, for example to promote healthy eating habits or to encourage intercultural dialogue between users from different backgrounds.

Vila Veïna, a new public community care system

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Vila Veïna, a new public community care system

Barcelona City Council

A new public care system in the city of Barcelona that aims to achieve a model of social and health care that is smaller and closer to the users.

To achieve this, it structures the service in a set of “Super Islands” of care, which encompass a group of houses and neighborhoods of between 10,000 and 30,000 inhabitants, with a reference point located in an open community space (for example, a library) to manage the needs of service users in an integrated manner. Thanks to this new innovative service model, professionals enjoy greater autonomy in the organization and management of their work, since they know the users more closely and are able to deal more directly and satisfactorily with all of them.

Each Vila Veïna has the essential services and benefits related to care in a centralized manner, in order to be able to deal with them closely. It also has emotional support groups and a resource bank for the care of children and the elderly, which provides material such as crutches, cradles, wheelchairs and other items necessary for the care of children and the elderly. It also offers legal and employment advice for caregivers and families in need, as well as talks and outdoor activities. The aim is to provide caregivers with access to information about existing services, as well as to create communities of care and proximity.

Each Vila Veïna has a professional who dedicates his or her working day to promoting networking, programming activities and attending to citizens in relation to care. The new profile of this professional is essential in innovation and requires a set of skills for community activation, as well as knowledge of municipal administrative systems and other administrations.

The project is aimed at the entire population living in the territory, because it is based on the idea that ‘we all take care of each other’, and the goal is to achieve a more caring community with all the people who are part of it.

In short, it is an innovative model that humanizes services and contemplates the participation of people, both caregivers and those receiving care, who are part of a community network and co-responsible for the collective welfare.

By 2022 there will be 12 Vila Veïna spaces in the city of Barcelona, and the goal is to have 115 throughout the city in the future.

Inclusively, a digital job search platform for people with disabilities

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Inclusively, a digital job search platform for people with disabilities

Inclusively

Inclusively, plataforma digital de cerca de feina per a persones amb discapacitat

Image from Inclusively.

Digital platform for the labor inclusion of people with disabilities, whether physical, intellectual, sensory or mental illness. It connects people with disabilities with companies committed to providing jobs adapted to their needs. In addition, it also has job counselors who work directly with candidates to improve their profile and accompany them in their job research.

The platform works in such a way that candidates can filter job offers according to the conditions they need, for example, physical accessibility, screen readers, flexible working hours, etc. The goal is that companies, no matter what size they are, offer the right jobs based on the skills, abilities and experience of each candidate.

On the other hand, in order to guarantee the right working conditions for the jobs, the platform offers training to companies so that they can adapt their work environments so that workers with disabilities can develop their full potential.

It is a platform that offers equal opportunities in job research to people with disabilities, as well as the opportunity for companies to find talent and experience among these group of people.

Inclusively

REHAB-LAB, virtual community for the manufacture of technical aids with 3D printing

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REHAB-LAB, virtual community for the manufacture of technical aids with 3D printing

REHAB-LAB

Image from REHAB-LAB.

A virtual community for the manufacture of technical aids using 3D printing, which allows users to design and build their own aids in collaboration with technologists and socio-health professionals.

In this service, which is unique in France because of its integration within a rehabilitation centre, engineers are dedicated to innovation and the development of technological assistance for people with disabilities. The REHAB-LAB enables users to actively participate in the manufacture of their technical aids, thanks to 3D printing technology.

3D printing offers many advantages over conventional manufacturing techniques used to date in occupational therapy: adaptation, reproduction, aesthetics, weight, distribution, time, cost, accessibility, appropriation, mediation/occupation…

Accessibility is the main interest of 3D printing for users, who can be more involved in the rehabilitation process. Since the design of an object is digital, the possibility of creating one’s own technical aids is no longer due to the physical manipulation of materials but to the accessibility of the computer tool.

Rehab-Lab

La Inclusivadora, centre for the promotion of self-employment and entrepreneurship for people with intellectual disabilities

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La Inclusivadora, centre for the promotion of self-employment and entrepreneurship for people with intellectual disabilities

FCSD

Image from Pexels.

Centre for the promotion of self-employment and entrepreneurship for people with intellectual disabilities, which offers different inclusive workspaces, such as a Coworking (shared workspace for people who want to develop their personal and professional projects) and a Fablab (digital creation space with the latest technology, such as 3D printers, which is ideal for promoting the manufacture of small-scale prototypes), designed for training and digital experimentation, both for people with and without disabilities.

The Catalan Down’s Syndrome Foundation (FCSD) launched this project with the intention of creating a work and training space to promote self-employment for people with Down’s syndrome or other intellectual disabilities who want to start entrepreneurial projects. These spaces are also open to all those people who want to carry out entrepreneurial projects that share the values of the FCSD.

From these spaces, the Inclusivadora aims to provide courses and workshops to learn basic knowledge about the use of Fablab technology, as well as social activities open to everyone, but also to teach basic knowledge about how to carry out a business and/or personal project, thanks to individualized advice and mentoring in entrepreneurship.

La Inclusivadora was created with the aim of encouraging interaction between people with and without disabilities and creating a more diverse and enriching work environment. The key to these spaces is the exchange of knowledge between the different agents.

FCSD Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down

Apptu@, an app that helps break isolation and alleviate stigma in mental health

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Apptu@, an app that helps break isolation and alleviate stigma in mental health

Grup ATRA

Image from the Grup ATRA website.

Innovative, interactive and close mobile app that allows for more continuous, close and close contact between users, professionals and volunteers of three mental health programs: Actua, Actua Jove and Actua Dona. This app also aims to raise public awareness about the collective suffering from mental health problems, while providing information that may be of interest to all citizens.

The three programmes included in Apptu@ are community-based, integrative and care-focused that provide support for life in a self-employed capacity for people with issues resulting from mental disorder, as well as women who have also suffered or suffer from male violence in parallel. With Apptu@, social contact between beneficiary and voluntary persons is enhanced.

The application is divided into two parts: one public and one private. Within the public, which is destined for any individual in society – such as people from the mental health collective, health professionals and the social sector, people interested in volunteering, relatives, students, young people, collaborating administrations, etc. – you can know the Actua programmes, as well as the different services and resources that form the Grup ATRA. It also attempts to promote inclusive volunteering and networking. But basically, the app aims to give visibility to the people of the mental health collective, as this helps to break stereotypes and alleviate stigma.

As far as the private part is concerned, Apptu@ allows one to work agreements and goals individually with the users of the program, following them more directly and continuously over time and making them participants of the common project that is Actua.

Apptu@

IntermediaJOB, intelligent job portal with a non-discriminatory algorithm

Publications Bank of innovations

IntermediaJOB, intelligent job portal with a non-discriminatory algorithm

Intermedia

Image from the Intermedia website.

Digital platform for the selection of professional profiles, especially aimed at people with vulnerabilities, which differs from other portals in the fact that it is able to make an intelligent matching of skills between job offers and candidates, and does not discriminate based on learned patterns.

This is a paradigm shift since, instead of working like other recruitment platforms that only take into account the candidate’s training and work experience as reflected in a CV, IntermediaJOB also values the rest of the learning that the candidate has acquired throughout his life, both in the training and professional and personal fields. This makes the match between the applicant and the company much more reliable than with other portals.

This tool is only possible thanks to innovation, which is why it is awaiting the incorporation of machine learning, a technology that would improve the reliability of the skills match, as well as big data to take advantage of successful experiences, or the use of bots to make technology more accessible to people.

What has already been implemented are the algorithms used by IntermediaJOB. The platform excludes all those better-positioned candidates who have more knowledge than necessary in a workplace, as well as those that value people of one gender more than another, for the simple fact that they follow learned patterns.

Beyond being just a platform where job offers can be posted, it also allows students to find their university internships.

IntermediaJob