How to close the employment gap for young adults with learning disabilities

Building bridges was the theme of this year’s conference, hosted by the national charity DFN Project SEARCH, which brought together more than 400 delegates from business, education, and local authorities to discuss how to improve employment pathways for thousands of young adults with learning disabilities and/or autism.

The two-day event explored ways to bridge the disability employment gap by highlighting supported internship programmes, necessary policy adjustments, and ways to overcome barriers that hinder young people from reaching their full potential.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr Shandi Dhanda, a multi-award-winning disability activist and accessibility specialist. This was followed by a video message from Sir Stephen Timms MP, Minister for Social Security and Disability, who emphasised the importance of the Get Britain Working agenda and the role that supported internships can play in achieving more inclusive workplaces.

Currently, nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET), and fewer than 5% of young people with a learning disability known to their local authorities are in paid employment across England. By contrast, around 63% of DFN Project SEARCH graduates secure permanent, paid jobs, and the organisation has supported more than 3,600 young people into employment to date.

Kirsty Matthews, CEO of Project SEARCH, spoke to Learning Disability Today about how to prevent young people from falling into the NEET category and instead help them move towards employment, confidence and independence.

What was the aim of the Building Bridges Conference?

The aim of the conference was to bring together people passionate about delivering high-quality supported internships. As DFN Project SEARCH works with so many partners, it was an important opportunity to bring that collective group together to learn from best practice. We know that a programme hosted in an NHS hospital can look and feel very different from one run in ASDA, for example, but this was a really exciting opportunity to learn from each other.

Why do you think DFN Project SEARCH has achieved strong employment outcomes among young people?

Project SEARCH began in the USA in 1996, so some of our success is due to the history and legacy of our founders, Erin Riehle and Susie Rutkowski. They recognised the need for employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities and established the model we use today to deliver that outcome. Another part of our success is our ability to collect evidence on outcomes. Although the UK charity began in 2018-19, Project SEARCH already had nearly 10 years’ worth of data, and we use that data every year to test what we can learn, how we can continuously improve, and what we need to do differently.

The third part concerns the rigour of the programme itself: being clear about what makes a good host business and selecting young people with the best chance of success. For example, this includes ensuring they join the programme at the right time to achieve the best outcome.

What are the current barriers to paid employment for young people with a learning disability and for autistic people?

There are so many, but my top ones would be how employers run their recruitment and selection processes and how they use reasonable adjustments. Unfortunately, at the moment, many recruitment processes set criteria such as requiring a certain number of GCSEs or a driving licence, which will immediately mean that a young person with a learning disability can be filtered out.

It’s often very difficult for a young person with a learning disability to get in front of someone for an interview, and even if they do, the interview process itself is another significant barrier. We can get around that by asking whether the questions can be shared ahead of the interview, or by having a job coach join the interview to help translate and clarify the questions.

If a young person overcomes those two challenges and commences employment, some induction processes can be highly systematic and potentially overwhelming. All our efforts are then dedicated to assisting individuals in building their confidence and enhancing their understanding of their responsibilities.

Through the supported internship approach, an employer can see how a young person engages in the workplace and demonstrate that they have the skills to do the job.

How do you ensure the voices of young people with lived experience are heard in shaping the project?

We have a youth advisory group and a shadow board comprising young people with learning disabilities and/or autism. The youth advisory group consists of interns currently on our programme, so it changes every year. Our September cohort received far more applications than we had places. The shadow board comprises both graduates and interns on the programme, so we’ve got a really diverse mix of experience.

We keep seeing negative headlines about disabled people. How can we shift the narrative?

I think it goes back to what I was saying about the barriers. We need to shift the narrative from what disabled people can’t do to what we can do, and to consider how we can make the world of work accessible.

These barriers are likely to be historical and deeply entrenched, and many employers don’t question the historical patterns of work and recruitment. Supported internships demonstrate that there is a better way to bring people into employment. I think many of the skills we teach through our programme would be relevant to all young people, not just those with a disability or autism.

What would you like the Government to champion in the next few years?

It comes back to something that sounds very basic but is really important. It’s about understanding what a supported internship actually is and how different it is from an apprenticeship or supported employment. It’s about recognising that it allows a young person with a learning disability or who is autistic to genuinely step from education into employment, and therefore not become part of that NEET category. This is the message I really want to get across to the Government when they talk about the importance of Getting Britain Working. To not miss that opportunity to seamlessly transition a young person from education into employment.

DFN Project SEARCH is a national charity that helps young adults with a learning disability, autism, or both to make a positive transition from education into employment. It offers an evidence-based supported internship programme delivered entirely in the workplace and provides continuous support to young adults aged 16-24. The goal for each young adult is a transition to meaningful paid employment, ideally full-time. The DFN Project SEARCH model provides participants with structured in-work job coaching and lifelong support in employability and life skills.

Alison Bloomer

Alison Bloomer is Editor of Learning Disability Today.

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