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Description
The unemployment rate for NEETs is high due to the current economic and social situation in EU. This, often in combination with mental illnesses like depression or anxiety, makes the challenges NEETs are facing hard to deal with.
The two target groups of our project are coaches providing counselling and the NEETs themselves. The main project’s objective is to enhance the counselling competence of the coaches in the Maturing Model (MM) and Individual Placement and Support (IPS) methodology and using it in combination with the Education Youth Technology Platform (EYTP), in a way that will increase the number of NEETs in vocational training, education and employment compared to the present situation.
Our expert partner from Norway is responsible for the transfer of an innovative approach – Individual Placement and Support (IPS). IPS is an internationally approved model based on the assumption that any individual that is willing to work, should work and can work, and be employed. To day, we provided training for 60 coaches from Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia on using the IPS model.
To maximise the effect of using the IPS methodology and to make work of counsellors easier, we also developed a platform – Education Youth Technology Platform (EYTP) – which is a resource site and a tool for counselling. EYTP offers all e-learning materials in all partner languages, with main feature: web application compatible with all smart devices. It creates a digital record in a form of a client’s diary allowing counsellors to treat their clients holistically. It’s worth to point out that this is probably the first web application that was ever developed specifically for counselling with the IPS model.
The end goal for the project is to help at least 600 NEETs towards the way to their socio-economic independence, and we are proud to report that we are almost at the finish line.
Summary of project results
The unemployment rate for young unemployed people was, and still is high, due to the current economic and social situation in the EU. Unemployment of young people is also often connected to mental illnesses, depression, anxiety and other mental disabilities that makes challenges for them even harder to deal with. Project IPS4NEETs is nowadays needed even more than before. We are still needed for young people, to make their lives easier and better. We''ve trained 67 coaches from Slovenia, Hungary and Romania in Norway under the supervision of expert partner from the donor country – Norway. Coaches were trained order to help young unemployed people, who have a desire to work, but they lack the knowledge of how to represent them in the labour market. 54 coaches are now equipped with innovative methods – IPS and MM and it is implemented in their work in counselling. As an innovative approach, IPS4NEETs consortium developed and established Education Youth Technology (EYTP) that helps counsellors with usage of the IPS and MM models. EYTP is a resource site and a tool for counselling and offers all E-learning materials in all partner languages, with one important main feature. We are also the first ones that developed a web application specifically for counselling with the IPS and MM models. Counsellors gained two important things in the project, firstly they were trained in using the internationally approved methodology, and secondly they''ve acquired application that helps them in their everyday work. But the main achievement of the project is 596 young unemployed people who were treated with IPS and MM models, among 202 of them got work, 104 of them are in education and work, 124 of them are in education, 9 of them are entrepreneurs and 130 are without status and 27 has abandoned the project. All important milestones were achieved despite of the ongoing global crisis with pandemic. We are well aware that compared to the European level this may not make a difference, but piloting of the IPS showed that, because of the high transferability and usability of the method, we expect to triple the number in the upcoming years. Some parts of the methods are already dispersed among other counsellors that were not included in our program, but they witnessed usability of the method by their colleagues. The later suggests that counsellors are constantly in need with new and innovative approaches, such as ours.
Summary of bilateral results
All beneficiaries share a high proportion of unemployed young people, that are in need of the guided systematized program, with exception of the donor country Norway. The importance of guidance from our expert partner can be described as invaluable. A bridge between Norway and partner countries was established very quickly, even before the implementation period started. Fønix AS and its expertise were crucial for the success of the project. They''ve shared their point of view on unemployment, generally speaking, unemployment of young people, and mental disabilities that are most common among NEETs. Counselors from Slovenia, Romania, and Hungary gained new expertise and new skills that are being in use in their everyday life work. Partnerships with a donor expertise partner also created a second bridge, the one between the Norwegian Embassy, located in Budapest, representatives of which also visited the Lead Partner twice, and attended a final conference in Budapest. However, on the one hand, beneficiary countries did receive new knowledge, and new important skills, but it''s important to point out that cooperation was bilateral throughout the implementation period. Partner from donor country gained valuable insight into Central European Country system and their legal regulation regarding unemployment and how they''re approaching lowering it. Despite the fact that the project ended in 2021, the consortium is already looking for new funding possibilities to implement the upgraded and updated version of the IPS4NEETs project, since we were unsuccessful on the tender for the continuation of the project. All partners very much believe that the continuation of the project is needed because young people need additional support, such as ours. Therefore, additional funds are needed to establish multisectoral cooperation between public and private institutions and to form a group of professionals who will evaluate each NEET case and provide tailored guidelines for them.