Good Practice Guide for Social Enterprises: Ex-offenders & Employment

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1 Good Practice Guide for Social Enterprises: Ex-offenders & Employment Kevin Maton Social Enterprise West Midlands June 2012

2 Introduction Ex-offenders who have a job are between 30% and 50% less likely to re-offend. If there is in-work support and encouragement, these figures can be improved further. Research in recent years has shown how the social enterprise sector is well positioned to assist ex-offenders on the path to employment because of its approach to both enterprise and creating social value. This note looks at some areas of good practice for social enterprises that are looking to contribute to the aim of reducing reoffending by providing employment opportunities for ex-offenders. It will also be informative for those seeking to understand social enterprise working practices and norms. It is specifically geared to working with individual ex-offender clients rather than simply looking at opportunities to win wider contracts within the criminal justice system. The importance of this note is that a key consideration for a successful scheme to assist ex-offenders through creating managed work opportunities is preparation. There needs to be a great deal of thought and planning if the development of ex-offender employment opportunities is to be successful. This is both for the business and the client and is because of the wide range of variable factors that need to be taken into account. We are not looking at a single blueprint for the development of offender employment. The first section looks at the key issues that need to be considered when a social enterprise is considering whether to become involved with supporting unemployed ex-offenders in the social enterprise workplace. Deciding to provide for ex-offenders in the social enterprise workplace Ex-offenders will have probably experienced difficulties in accessing mainstream routes to skills development, training and employment programmes. This may be as a result of their offending behaviour. It is often the case that a record of disruption and a sense of failure at school makes them reluctant to return to a school-like learning environment or to take part in organised schemes. In these circumstances, a strong case can be made that something additional to, or different from, mainstream training provision is needed to meet the specific needs of offenders. A job placement in a supportive social enterprise is one such initiative. This good practice note identifies many of the points to consider before going ahead and providing employment opportunities for this group but even then, talking to organisations involved in this area of work and gaining from their experience, is essential. Some key questions at the pre-planning stages might include: are there any other resources that offenders may be eligible for that could assist in their placement with the social enterprise? are there opportunities to work with other organisations who work with a similar client group? Or to learn from their experience and asking them to provide some mentoring or guidance to staff who will be working with the ex-offenders? can any additional assistance be negotiated with relevant key agencies that will improve access to opportunities for clients and give additional backing to the host enterprise? Who is the employment opportunity for? It is important to be clear from the outset who the employment opportunity is for and what it is trying to achieve. This is not always as simple as it sounds. Ex-offenders are not a homogenous group. People who share apparently similar characteristics in terms of their pattern of offending or who may be identified by other labels, such as homeless or drug dependent, may have different needs in terms of their employability. 2

3 Offending or other problematic behaviour may not be a good indicator as to what type of support and intervention is required to make them more employable. For example, to describe someone as an ex-offender or a drug user does not indicate a great deal about their employability and in particular: what specific barriers to employment they face what their work aspirations might be. Through the employment placement there should be the means to identify and address barriers to mainstream employability based, as far as possible, on an assessment of individual need. Research related to characteristics of offenders shows that they are more likely to have, among other characteristics: a poor school record a low level of accredited work skills an intermittent work record low self esteem low expectations in terms of future employment. As well as their unemployment, it is also known that offenders are also more likely to have a range of other barriers to employment, including: homelessness drug issues mental health issues financial problems unstable relationships. And some ex-offenders will also face additional problems. Some groups are more likely to face discrimination in the labour market as a result of ethnic background, gender and age (both older and younger offenders). Crucially, some specific offending backgrounds may pose significant risks for employers and can have a major impact on the suitability for some occupations. For example: sex offenders should not be placed in an environment that may bring them into contact with young people offenders with a record of offences involving a breach of trust in the workplace will find it difficult to obtain similar jobs violent offenders should not be encouraged to work in potentially confrontational work environments that may trigger re-offending. So it is really important to work with appropriate agencies to understand as much about exoffender clients as possible and to help devise an appropriate work-regime for them within the social enterprise. It is also unlikely that offenders needing support to get back to the mainstream labour market to find work will face a single barrier to employment. In practice, many offenders have multiple barriers. It is often very difficult to separate out issues that are causing the most difficulty - what is a problem for one person may not be for another. Social enterprise employers, irrespective of the basis on which they are recruiting from the ex-offender client group, will need to consider how a broad range of issues will be addressed. Additional sources of funding There is, currently, little additional financial support from Probation / NOMS for businesses providing job opportunities for ex-offenders. However, there are some sources of funding that could assist and supplement the cost of additional support that exoffenders will require. Such funding is likely to come with conditions attached. Specific funders will require projects to account for the work that they do in terms of their own agency priorities: those primarily interested in training outcomes are likely to be more interested in accredited skills and qualifications funders with employment targets like local authorities or JobCentre Plus are most likely to be interested in how many clients remain in employment and go on to secure mainstream jobs. Work Programme prime contractors may also be a source of funding in this area. organisations like NOMS and probation agencies will want to judge success in terms of reduced re-offending outcome requirements for European funding are often described in terms of tackling discrimination in the labour market and combating social exclusion 3

4 other funders such as charitable trusts may be interested in working with specific groups, such as people from particular areas or with specific problems. It is important that social enterprises do not enter work with ex-offenders with the expectation of the availability of significant additional resources. The clarity of purpose of the business - its commercial objectives, social values and commitment to working with ex-offenders and other disadvantaged groups - needs to be the prime focus rather than seeing the client group as a means to additional funding. However, it is very early days for SIBs and as yet there are relatively few examples of their use. Other payment by result investment models are similarly at the early stages of development and trial. Figure 1: Social Impact Bonds: The One Service One Year On, Social Finance Most importantly, ex-offender clients need to know what they could achieve from their participation within the enterprise and what is expected from them in order to make progress. If clarity of purpose is distorted so if ex-offender clients think they are just there to generate funds for instance - it will become much harder to engage them and results will inevitably suffer. Social Impact Bonds Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) launched in 2010 are a financial product that aims to raise finance through external social investment to fund, for example, a preventative re-offending programme. So in the criminal justice sector, this finance would fund voluntary and community sector organisations and social enterprises to deliver programmes which aim to stop prisoners returning to prison after release. Through SIBs, it is investors rather than government that funds services. Over time, if these services are successful and re-offending drops, investors get paid a proportion of the Government s cost savings generated from reduced prison and other criminal justice costs. If the services are not successful investors lose their investment providing a financial incentive directly aligned with the social outcome. It is generally the case that many preventative initiatives are currently operated at a small scale due to limited funding. The viability of grants for this type of work will diminish. SIBs could raise the finance needed to support and scale these successful models across the UK. Providing these services to a greater number of more short-sentence prisoners might be expected to reduce the rate of re-offending, the size of the prison population, the number of UK prisons and ultimately the cost of the criminal justice system. Role of social enterprises The specific thinking behind encouraging the involvement of social enterprises in working with ex-offenders is as an employer committed to supporting clients to develop their skills and a work track-record. This will enable them to overcome barriers to employment and enter the mainstream labour market. In doing this, social enterprises need to be able to provide service users with the specific skills they need to get the jobs in the labour market they are aiming for, taking account of their existing experience and their aspirations. The more attractive and interesting a work placement is, the more likely offenders are to respond. On the other hand, designing supply side projects that simply appeal to the service users without taking the mainstream job market fully into account will not provide the desired result either for the provider or the service user. Getting the balance right is important. 4

5 The social enterprise placement Ultimately, what is needed is a social enterprise that can sell itself to potential clients because it operates as a good employer, providing good quality products and/or services and can be seen to deliver the type of outcomes desired by its clients. Working in the community Many of the most successful schemes to assist ex-offenders are based in communities and should be designed to give a positive image of the social enterprise and instil confidence for both customers and employees. Whilst this has many positive benefits, it is another factor that must be taken into account when considering whether a decision to work with ex-offenders is manageable and will not be detrimental to the social enterprise s business. Types of intervention As has been indicated, ex-offenders are likely to arrive at a work placement with a number additional problems or weaknesses that will need to be tackled if they are to progress within the enterprise and/or move on to search for work in the mainstream labour market. The support that can be offered to ex-offenders on employment programmes, working within a social enterprise or other SME/community organisation can vary in intensity - from light touch interventions offering informal advice and guidance sessions, through to a full programme providing basic skills, vocational training, help into work and support after entry into jobs. The extent to which a social enterprise can provide some of this additional support to ex-offenders and others disadvantaged in the labour market will depend upon the extent the organisation can either: direct their surpluses to provide this additional support as part of their social mission, and/or access additional funding specifically for this type of work. There are a range of additional interventions that a social enterprise could offer to those on placements:eds assessment Motivational techniques Information, advice and guidance Interpersonal skills Language skills for non-native language speakers The Jericho Foundation The Jericho Foundation is a work integration charity, helping disadvantaged individuals overcome barriers and become fulfilled, skilled and employed. Jericho targets those people who are unemployed in Birmingham and Solihull and face multiple barriers to employment, including long-term unemployment, lack of education, skills or qualifications, homelessness, alcohol or substance misuse, a criminal record and mild mental health issues. These barriers mean that many ex-offenders have little hope of finding employment without support. Referrals come through a variety of routes including job centres, hostels, housing associations, community organisations, drug and alcohol treatment providers, offender managers, local prisons and the Probation Service. Jericho runs a broad range of outreach, training and employment related programmes as Member of the Jericho Landscaping Team well as seven social enterprises operating in construction, design and print, landscaping, catering, retail, wood recycling and contract cleaning. These businesses compete in commercial markets, returning their profits to the charity, and provide work experience placements, apprenticeships and training opportunities for Jericho s clients. Over 50% of their clients move into sustainable employment or full time training when they leave. More information 5

6 Basic skills Vocational training CV preparation Interview technique Job search Job retention: in-work support Job progression: career development In most cases these activities will be additional to the day to day business of the organisation. Social enterprises are businesses that depend on delivering goods and/or services to generate income and so these types of interventions will be on top of the work the social enterprise has to deliver. And because they are, in effect, unfunded activities, the scale and extent of the provision will have to be carefully planned. This includes identifying the resources, human and financial, that will deliver this additional support. Some interventions are short-term, relatively light touch and low cost, such as the provision of advice and guidance. Others are longer term, resource intensive and relatively high cost. Through managing the ex-offender client in the workplace as a member of the staff team, the type of additional intervention support needed will become more apparent. This will be both from the ongoing needs of the client and as measured against the original aims when the placement(s) were established. It will include the longer term development of this type of placement for the business and the outcomes expected by stakeholders and funders supporting and, in some cases, financing the costs of operating the placement. Priorities therefore need to be balanced between: the availability of time out of the work situation where interventions can be delivered the level and nature of intervention support required the time it takes to deliver the required outcome. There will be other provision in the locality available to provide support to clients. That is why it is always worth noting that rather than setting up separate resources to provide all of the additional support required, it may be possible to secure access for offenders to alternative provision outside of the workplace by setting up local protocols and other provider support mechanisms. Working collaboratively will be a key for this type of provision both between those businesses providing employment opportunities and organisations able to provide specialist additional help for ex-offenders when in work. Scarce resources should not be expended in replicating provision that could be made available for exoffenders through other routes. Project development Projects that are established to use a social or community enterprise to assist ex-offenders looking to establish themselves on a route to the mainstream labour market stand a much better chance of succeeding if a clear and thoughtthrough infrastructure plan is in place from the outset. As a minimum these projects need to ensure that they are able to: create the right physical working environment employ the right number of staff with the right level of skills and experience structure a programme around the needs of the service users create and maintain strong management and administrative systems. In the past community projects aimed at exoffenders were geared towards some form of vocational training and were often established as self-contained entities funded through a specific grant or long-term funding contract agreement, with projects likely to have their own facilities. The combination of a reduction in specific and subsidised funding coupled with new technology, fresh thinking and a need to consider costs has opened up a range of possibilities. There is increasing recognition that the opportunity for ex-offender clients to operate within a real world working environment is preferable to one that is simulated, however well that simulation operates. 6

7 Programme structure Anyone entering into a new workplace or programme wants to know what they are getting into, what is expected of them and what they can expect to get out of it. Ex-offenders will be no different. For many of them their previous history of being in a mainstream job or on a training programme will be one of relative failure. So providers of employment opportunities will need to clearly set out what the client journey will look like whilst he or she is with the social enterprise. What will the work consist of, will there be any system of assessment and what is the nature of additional help that can be provided? This is far more likely to engage and retain service users than less structured projects with unclear and inconsistent practice. The same principles apply equally well to funders and other key stakeholders. They too respond best when it can be demonstrated clearly to them what is going on, how the scheme works and with what potential results. The Social Impact Bonds referred to earlier are an example of where this type of collected information will be crucial in the case of SIBs to the investors. barriers to employment they face. Action planning - Set out what the social enterprise will offer to address the issues raised here and support the client into mainstream work. What is required of the service user what are the roles and responsibilities that the ex-offender client will have to take into account. Personal support - Have in place procedures for allocating time to address any personal issues arising. In this and some other senses, certainly at the start, ex-offender employees/placements may not be able to devote to the workplace full-time because of their background and there needs to be procedures to deal with this. Managing the departure from the project Be ready to prepare an appropriate exit strategy recognising that this may include the option of offering employment to the individual. Follow up in-work support to aid retention and progression this will need to be developed with the appropriate referral agencies and stakeholders. Project development: Preparationse Some considerations on the areas that need to be thought through in preparation for taking on ex-offenders as part of a scheme to provide employment opportunities: Marketing and promotion - Your social enterprise and the offer you can make to exoffenders and the agencies responsible for overseeing them will need to be sold to to referral agencies and potential service users. Eligibility criteria Make clear who the project is for as has been pointed out, ex-offenders are a diverse group. Your social enterprise may not be an appropriate placement for every ex-offender given their background and their needs. Referral and selection The process of referral to a social enterprise project and selection as a member of the staff team needs to be set out. Tracking the added value Another key element of the project infrastructure is the management information system. Most of the information the social enterprise routinely collects is likely to be required at some point by funders and stakeholders. Taken together, it can be used to evaluate the success of the placements for the enterprise and the client, and demonstrate the added value to the community of training and supporting ex-offenders in this way. Creating simple systems to capture this information can help define and embed the purpose and style of working into the project design from the start. This will also be a crucial element in tendering for public sector contracts as many will now be subject to the requirements of the Social Value Act [url link] where the setting out of the added value provided by an organisation is central. Initial assessment There needs to be an assessment process or scheme that will identify the skills of the clients and the 7

8 And finally... Funders As we have said, to provide the additional support to this or many other client groups with multiple barriers to entering the labour market, will cost staff time and potentially additional cash. In order to address this, there will be opportunity to source funding from a number of funders. Firstly, the social enterprise itself may contribute to the costs as part of its social mission, over and above its mainstream trading activities. In addition: Statutory agencies: those with a specific interest in criminal justice, employment or education Charitable trusts: organisations with an interest in a particular client group or in specialist issues such as drugs or mental health European Commission: often a significant funder of offender employment projects Prime Providers of Work Programme schemes and associated projects, might consider joint working and funding in order to achieve targets for getting particular individuals - defined as hard to reach or with barriers preventing them gaining employment quickly - into work. Welfare benefits agencies: all service users are by definition unemployed and reliant on state benefit to pay rent and subsistence. Arrangements with welfare benefits agencies are therefore crucial to the financial viability of offender employment projects in order to maximise the finance available to the client, enabling them to maintain their placement Conclusion The research shows that assisting ex-offenders to gain mainstream employment will have a dramatic impact on their lives and likelihood of re-offending. Social enterprises operating as businesses but with additional social aims are well positioned to be able to provide the assistance with work and additional support that ex-offenders require. However, providing such opportunities for this client group needs to be carefully considered and planned. There are many organisations and advisors who can offer assistance if the decision is to look into this in more detail. And the best opportunities will be provided through a collaborative approach, making the most of the experience and expertise that already exists in our communities. More information Kevin Maton Consultancy Director k.maton@socialenterprisewm.org.uk Social Enterprise West Midlands Trident Training Centre 1 Rake Way Birmingham B15 1EG This Good Practice Guide was produced by and financed by NOMS CFO (ESF) Funding. The views expressed are not necessarily those of NOMS CFO. 8