Country - Germany
TG: drug users
Activity: product sales, commercial, hard skills, low-threshold, gardening/agriculture
Mudra Berufliche Integration
“We installed a permanent quality management system to ensure the ongoing development of our organisation”
The organisation
Mudra vocational training and employment services is part of Mudra Alternative Jugend- und Drogenhilfe Nürnberg e.V. in Germany. They strive to help drug addicted persons in finding their way back to the job market. In their different projects there are various possibilities for qualified job trainings. They also offer low threshold opportunities to acquire basic competences that are needed in all kinds of jobs. Their goals are not limited to the direct needs of the job market but also include psychosocial counselling and support in other important domains. There is more information about this in the UNODC-Document about Sustained Recovery Management.Mudra's project leader was a member of the working group responsible for the document.
The participants can work for all sorts of projects, such as forestry, a women’s workshop for costumes, jewellery and sewing, cleaning services, cabinet maker’s workshop, gardening and landscaping, a day labour project, and training in business administration. At the time of writing these projects offered work to around 90 participants, and the numbers were increasing over time. The forestry project was founded in 1985, so Mudra has many years of experience in work reintegration. In all their work they aim to improve the situation of recovering drug addicts concerning job integration, connected with psychosocial counselling
About 50% of the Mudra services is financed through the sales of their goods and services. Their offer is quite extensive. To get an impression of what they sell you may visit their online shop (in German) at: http://mudra-shop.de/. The remainder of their financing is through funding from the Employment Agency, State of Bavaria, District government, City of Nuremberg, Integration Office (responsible for job integration of handicapped persons) and some donations.
Results
The key results of Mudra are that they contribute to a reduced crime rate, they reduce relapses, and they help to improve the work competences of their target group. Concerning the last point they do not only assist in the development of basic skills, but they also offer formal gardening and landscaping training as well as business administration. Not many participants move on to regular employment, as the main target group is long-term drug users with multiple problems. On average about 20% moves on, 60% stays on the same level, 20% drops out. In their work they often see younger participants with no work experience and no qualifications, and older participants with increasing health problems, for whom it is hard to move on to regular employment as the current job market has very few opportunities for unqualified, older and less productive peoples. However, through combining their integration programme with psychosocial counselling, and better payment for more challenging jobs, Mudra does manage to motivate the professional development of its participants. In the near future they will focus on the challenges of new drugs, and adapting job offers to older and less fit participants.
More information
Website: www.mudra-online.de
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Country - Greece
Target Group: mental health problems
Activity: gardening/agriculture, low-threshold, product sales
EKPSE (PRE) VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME
“Vocational rehabilitation may be a positive response to prolonged work disability, accelerating return to meaningful employment, minimising workdays lost, increasing productivity of injured workers, reducing premature retirement, and containing the welfare costs. Early intervention and the patient’s active involvement decrease deconditioning and illness behavior and foster higher return-to-work rates. Moreover, vocational rehabilitation delivered to patients at risk for job loss (but still employed) can delay job loss.”
The organisation
The EKPSE (pre)vocational training programme forms part of the Society of Social Psychiatry and Mental Health in Alexandroupolis, Greece. Besides vocational training, this parent organisation offers housing support, day centres, mobile psychiatric units, community advocacy, education for mental health professionals and rehabilitation programmes. The training programme takes place in Evros and offers vocational and rehabilitative support to people with mental health problems. The trainees raise plants in a field and sell the products on a market. While aiming to increase the self-esteem of the participants, they are supported in their social and labour market integration. The programme not only includes medical and psychosocial treatment but also ways to foster social interaction, to promote independent living, and to encourage vocational performance. At the beginning of the trajectory the participants discuss with the head of the programme what plants or vegetables they will seed. Afterwards they prepare the ground, seed, take care of the plants on a daily basis, harvest and sell at the market. All the products are biological, without the use of insecticides. Besides, participants can also be trained in the keeping of domestic animals such as chickens, pigs, turkeys and rabbits. The project was founded in 1986 and has continually evolved to keep meeting the needs of the participants and society. Since its beginning the programme has grown gradually, now offering work to 17 people.
Results
The main subject of training (agricultural cultivations) and the kind of production (primary sector) was selected taking into account the special needs of the target group in relation with their illness and their previous life. They promote their products to the community and with the earnings they in turn support the programme. In the meantime they receive education, counselling and general work guidance.
Surveys have pointed out that, at 6 months to 2 years after vocational rehabilitation, only about 20% of subjects had a job, whereas many more receive a disability pension. This finding demonstrates that there is room for improving the selection criteria for vocational rehabilitation interventions. Moreover, the role of national disability compensation systems in influencing the worker’s motivation to return to work should not be overlooked, as well as the importance of specific policies aimed at better (re-) integrating and maintaining disabled people in the labour market.
In order to keep the programme sustainable they will continue to work on several key points, namely the empowerment of participants in order to need less employers for the programme, the utilisation of the Social Economy, and an increase of the programme's financial independence.
More information
Website: www.ekpse.gr
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Country - The Netherlands
Activity: low-threshold + food & drinks
Target group: mental health problems, drug users
De Prael
“We can recommend two things: Find a product for which there is a high demand and stimulate people to conduct meaningful activities of which they can be proud.”
The organisation
The idea for a beer brewery as a work project arose in 2001. It took approximately one year to care for the necessary preparations: fundraising, finding a suitable location and a brewery installation. In 2003 they started in a small building in Amsterdam, to which they later added a cantine. Over the years the brewery has grown, and now they also have a restaurant, tasting room and shop, thus offering a lot more and diverse workplaces.
For people with mental health problems it is very difficult to find work activities. There are many projects that offer day activities, but only a few are focused on work (reintegration). Initially the project targeted people with a psychiatric background, but the target group now also includes other vulnerable individuals, such as people with addiction or other psychosocial problems.
The aim is to offer meaningful day activities, professional training and to help people gain control over their lives through the day activity, for instance by helping them find a job. Additionally De Prael wants to produce high quality beer, and keep people employed through beer. They are an artisanal beer brewery, where all steps in the brewing process are conducted in an artisanal manner. Project participants can work at any of the steps in the process: brewing, labelling, filling, or any of the many cleaning tasks. Moreover, participants can also work in the restaurant, the tasting room or the shop.
De Prael works in collaboration with a work/learn school, which is an educational center for people with psychiatric problems; they offer education for those who drop out of regular educational institutions. De Prael offers internships and partially helps people get into the educational programmes on offer.
Results
The initial idea was to have participants move on to regular employment after two years. This failed, because it turned out to be very difficult to have people move on. On the one hand because there is not so much work for this target group, on the other hand because people feel comfortable at De Prael and don't want to leave. De Prael partially solved this problem through expansion -adding a shop and a restaurant. Now the work possibilities and the complexity of work have increased internally, and people can thus develop professionally inside the organization. The expansion has also enabled the organization to hire some participants, offering paid jobs to the most capable participants.
The beer is sold in their shop and restaurant as well as through deliveries to firms and specialised
pubs. Currently the demand is higher than they can handle. By now De Prael has a good reputation. Through collaboration with several mental healthcare instiutitions, a large social housing/shelter organization, and municipal benefit and reintegration departments they have a lot of participants.
Initially income was 90% healthcare subsidies and 10% beer, but now it is 40% healthcare subsidies and 60% beer. They want the percentage of beer revenues to increase even further, to guarantee sustainability regardless of the continuing budget cuts. They will drastically increase beer production in the upcoming years, and they are working on a transportation project, which will enable the delivery of their products over water.
More information
Website: www.deprael.nl
Country - The Netherlands
TG: people with mental heath problems
Activities: peer involvement, individually tailored, low threshold, product sales
SCIP
“Give the participants a lot of freedom to explore their own talents and capabilities. Adjust the activities to the abilities of the participants to keep them involved and responsible.”
The organisation
SCIP started as an independent initiative in 2000, and since 2009 it is an independent client controlled branch of HVO-Querido daytime activities in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. During the foundation of SCIP, the clients themselves decided how they were going to implement the project and they wanted to organise something independent of healthcare institutions. The projects are for people with mental health problems. Individuals who want to work for SCIP do not need official medical approval; everyone who wants to participate is welcome.
The essence of the strategy lies in the client control. At least 51% in all layers of the organisation (from menial work to management) has a psychiatric background. SCIP has 17 paid employees of which 14 have a mental healthcare background. SCIP runs around 18 projects focussing on social integration, meaningful day activities and work (ranging from group dinners to a publishing house). The work-projects are: Tobi Vroegh, ACC, Web buro en login/logout.
Publishing house Tobi Vroegh is a project where volunteers take care of all the activities in the printing and publishing process. All publications have a link with psychiatry, being either written by someone with psychological problems or on a topic related to psychiatry. ACC are computer centres, where in the mornings and evenings people can follow courses, and in the afternoons people can work independently. Login is a shop where new and second-hand computers and hardware are sold. Login has a separate workplace where computers are fixed/put together in order to be sold in the shop. At the workplace they also offer a course on hardware and software and outsiders can visit the workplace to fix their own computer under professional guidance. Logout started in 2008 and offers help with computers at home and Web buro can develop professional websites.
Results
The volunteers participate as real employees and several volunteers move on to paid jobs inside and outside the organisation. Participants become more socially included and learn to put their skills into practice in a protected environment. SCIP emancipates people with a mental healthcare background.
At Toby Vroegh all the expenses are covered by the financial yielding of the publications.
Contrary to the regular approach in psychiatry people at SCIP are not approached or treated as mental healthcare clients, but responsible individuals with personal capabilities. Rather than disabilities the focus lies on talent and individual strengths, and the contribution a person can make to any of the projects. At SCIP individuals shape their activities themselves, without being pushed to walk a certain path or to achieve specific targets. People are stimulated to do things their own way. Consequently there is a low drop-out rate and a higher well-being and commitment among the volunteers and employees.
There are no access criteria, and everyone who wants to participate may do so. As a consequence the participants of SCIP are very diverse in their capabilities, level of recovery and social abilities. The resulting cooperation between those with lighter and heavier problems has proven to contribute to the empowerment of all participants. Those with heavier problems are empowered through the support of the stronger ones, and the ones with lighter problems can gain confidence by fulfilling an exemplary role.
More information
Websites: http://www.scipweb.nl/ and www.webbureau-amsterdam.nl
Country: The Netherlands
TG: mental health problems + ex-offenders + homeless + drug users
Activity: low-threshold + integrated services
De Stadsbrug
“We are unique because we offer a lot of different options that are not offered elsewhere for this group of people. We treat our participants as equals and take them seriously, we do not focus on problems but on potential. By making our participants contribute we solve a big societal problem. And last but not least, we do it all with a positive attitude and have fun doing the things we do.”
The organisation
At the Stadsbrug various small social firms are housed under one roof, offering work and learning places to people with great distance to the regular labour market. This includes people who are or have a history with addiction, homelessness, mental illness, judicial contacts and all the problems related thereto, like debts, loneliness etc. There are many small firms; some of them are run by a professional and others are run by the participants themselves (consumer run), so the participants have great responsibility for the success of the business. All the different firms work together and make use of each others skills. In this way they create a lot of synergy. All the delivered work is for external customers so it is taken seriously and the quality of the products and services is high.
At the Stadsbrug people learn lots of different work skills. Buro Dagloon offers work in the community like cleaning and park work. The bicycle repair shop repairs and sells bicycles for consumers and businesses. The Speedservice courier service delivers packages and works for all the other projects, like picking up bikes for customers, doing groceries etc. Utrecht Underground are city tours given by former homeless guides to inform people about the history of Utrecht as a hotspot for the homeless. FietsieFoetsie is a workshop where former bike thieves give education about bicycle theft and prevention. They offer lot of different jobs like being a bicycle maker, painter, doing administration, hairdresser, driver, cleaner, adviser, web-designer, photographer, cook, salesman and a lot more. People can work here from 1 to 5 days a week. Accomplishments are based on what they need and what their capacities are. At the time of wiriting there were about 60 participants on the job every day. Since they started four years ago, the number of participants has increased.
De Stadsbrug is run by three different organizations. Altrecht, which is an organisation in mental health, GIDS an organisation specialized in reintegration and SBWU which offers sheltered housing. The project is funded by government, health insurance, funds and commercial revenue (about 30%). They try to be as independent from community money as possible. Therefore, they continuously develop partnerships with other social organizations and commercial businesses.
Results
All in all, the key results of De Stadsbrug are that they offer people serious and significant jobs, which give people future perspectives. De Stadsbrug supports people on their way to regular employment.
Depending on the job they are doing, participants can develop different skills, but one of the main features of all projects is to give people a lot of responsibility for their task. So besides specific work skills the participants also learn about leadership, running a business, working together and being independent. Sometimes participants move on to regular employment. De Stadsbrug works together with independent companies, and that has proven to be a good way to introduce people to regular jobs. About 10% moves on to regular jobs and 10% drops out. The other 80% stays with De Stadsbrug for a long time, sometimes they move on to a different position within De Stadsbrug. Sometimes they drop out for a while because they have to go to jail or rehab, but most of the time they come back. De Stadsbrug offers participants serious jobs, gives them responsibility, gives them trust, challenges them, and takes their opinions and ideas about what should happen very seriously.
More information
Website: www.destadsbrug.nl
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Country - Czech Republic
Target group: mental health problems
Activity: low threshold, commercial
Pradelna u Mandeliku
“I try to make a friendly atmosphere, we usually talk while we are working. During normal conversation I try to motivate them, commend them for good work. Sometimes I give them an important task and then they see if it´s too difficult for them or it´s suprisingly easy, but everything is without pushing and pressure. It´s just a nice place to work at. Come to visit us and you´ll see.”
Organisation
Pradelna u Mandeliku is a WIP of Fokus Praha in Prague, Czech Republic. Fokus Praha is a civil association with more than 20 years history of providing professional mental health care within the area of Prague and Central Bohemia. Its mission is to support people with mental health problems in their efforts to manage their lives and find opportunities for self-fulfillment in the community.
Pradelna u Mandeliku is a small launderette with mangle which has a long tradition. In september 2011 the organisation Fokus Praha took it over and opened it as a social business. Pradelna u Mandeliku employs people who have experienced mental illness of any age, gender or education level. At the workplace they do anything related to laundry, they put it in a washing-machine, in a dryer, then sprinkle the washed linen with water, and mangle or iron it. Through the work activities the employees are resocialised. They get used to go to work every day again, to get along with other people, to rebuild selfesteem, and step by step get back to normal life. All the people in the team are very tolerant and supportive to each other.
Results
The key result of the WIP are that they employ people who need to be employed not only for the wage they get, but also for the social contact, realise their abilities and boost their self esteem. Through their employment their general condition (mental and physical) gets better. All the participants get to develop their social skills, and if necessary they also learn to do the ironing.
Those who leave, soon usually get another part time job, because full-time is too much, but they opened two years ago and at the time of writing it seemed like some of their employees were getting closer to moving on to regular full-time employment. Of the seven ex-employees they have, two of them have a full-time job as security guard, but the other five did not have permanent jobs.
Since the government is not intending on reducing/changing the financing of companies such as Pradelna u Mandeliku it seems like the project will keep running indefinitely. The launderette customers are very satisfied and they are getting more and more regular customers. In August 2013, four more employees joined the team and working hours were extended untill 6 p.m. That was a big step, and it helped with the increase of sales, which was a prerequisite for keeping the company.
More information
Website: http://www.firmy.cz/detail/12786501-pradelna-u-mandeliku-praha-bubenec.html
Country - Czech Republic
Target group: mental health problems
Activity: low-threshold + food & drinks
Café Práh
'Many clients need to primarily strengthen their self-confidence, basic social and work skills and their relations with relatives, in order to develop professionally. It is important to talk with a client about his or her life in a broad context'
The organisation
Social therapy workshop Café Práh was founded by Práh, a non-profit organisation that provides social services to people with psychosis and/or affective diseases in Brno and surroundings. Práh's social services touch upon all areas of life, such as housing, career and leisure.
Social therapy workshop Café Práh helps and supports to obtain social and practical work experiences and habits for people with psychotic and/or affective disorders, most commonly paranoid schizophrenia and manic depression. In addition to practical work experience, we practice group support activities such as a job club, a psycho-educational group, social skills training, and cooperation with family, psychiatrists, health care and addiction services for clients who have dual diagnosis. Café Prah also fights stigmatization because the café's customers encounter people with mental disabilities. In their “Training Café” they organise many cultural events (e.g. author readings, theatre performances, concerts, opening, etc.).
Social-therapy workshop Café Práh offers 4 training positions: Waiter/waitress, cook, cleaner or salesman/ saleswoman. At the time of writing the café had 37 participants, and there are always more candidates than there is capacity at the workplace, so there is a waiting list.
The café was founded in 2005. Right from the start the goal of this project has been to help and support participants in developing their work and social skills, and to help them (re)enter the labour market. However, they do not only focus on work reintegration, but also on the participants quality of life. They support their clients in improving their self-reliance so they will be stimulated in their recovery process.
Results
Over the years Café Práh has proven to be successful in various ways. More than 1/3 of their participants has been able to return to the open labour market, the average number of hospital visits of our participants has decreased by about 80%, and they have managed to increase their sales revenue over the past years. For the 2/3 of participants that do not move on to regular employment the work at Café Práh also contributes significantly to their life, since it helps them to work on their abilities during their therapeutic recovery, and strengthens their self-esteem, confidence and psychological condition.
All participants work with a vocational rehabilitation plan in which they work on short-term and long-term goals. The skills they work on vary from person to person, but the most common skills are: increasing the workload and work hours that people can take, regarding their stamina and concentration; communication and other social skills, particularly in relation to self-confidence; coping with stress and developing self-managed care strategies to stabilize their mental illness. In doing so they do not only work with various specialists, but also with the close relatives of the clients.
More information
Website: www.prah-brno.cz or www.cafeprah.cz
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