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

Toni Codina on 24 January 2023

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.

Characteristics of innovation

Adolescence and youth, Bank of innovations, Innovation, New technological tool, Personalization of the service, Poverty and exclusion, Process simplification, Right of choice of the user, User empowerment

Localitzation

Spain, Germany, Sweden, Poland

Partners / Funders

Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

Genesis

The project –launched in April 2021– emerges as a response to the weaknesses of the current youth employment programme, the increase in the youth unemployment rate and the threat of social exclusion in which many young people find themselves. It is also born in a conjunctural situation aggravated by the crisis derived from Covid-19, which highlights the need to include digital tools in youth support programmes to improve the impact and effectiveness of existing employment and youth guarantee programmes.

Level of implementation

The Able4Work digital support tool increases the impact of the European Union’s youth guarantee and support programmes and, therefore, has a significant impact on youth unemployment. In order to improve the functioning of the app, the project promoters have received feedback from 60 public and social organisations from 5 different countries working on social and labour insertion pathways.

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Primero, a digital platform for the protection of children in migratory contexts

Toni Codina on 7 June 2022

Open source software platform that helps social services, humanitarian and development workers manage data related to child protection through tools that facilitate case management, incident tracking, migrant child tracing and family reunification.

The platform collects and manages data on children encountered in emergency migration contexts, and combines proven tools, global best practices and the latest open source technology to offer social service and humanitarian protection workers an easy-to-use and scalable solution to their data management challenges.

Primero enables its users to document events and violations to provide protection programs with up-to-date information on risk factors and patterns of violations. At the same time, child victims of violence can be linked to the services they need and prevention measures can be implemented to mitigate future risks. The platform’s powerful analytics and reporting tools ensure that the data is actionable.

Primero offers intuitive digital forms and clear workflows to help document case management processes, from identification and registration, to assessment, case planning, referrals and transfers, and case closure. With robust monitoring capabilities including email notifications for certain processes.

The platform uses sophisticated matching technology to match follow-up requests made by caregivers with the records of children registered as separated or unaccompanied. Matching criteria can be configured to meet the needs of the context. These functions are supported by a comprehensive case management module to ensure that children receive appropriate care.

Primero is a progressive web application (PWA) and leverages the latest technology to combine the best of web and mobile apps. The web app works across all browsers, regardless of operating system and on any device (mobile, tablet, laptop). It requires no previous user experience and can also be used offline, so that social workers can manage their work from anywhere, wherever they are. At the same time it offers the security and efficiency of digital case management in low connectivity configurations.