Step Forward 4th Anniversary

Step Forward is Devon County Council’s employability programme for care experienced young people, offering flexible support to help young people maximise their chances of achieving their future goals.   

 

It has been four years since the Step Forward programme was created. In this time, the Step Forward team have met so many inspiring and motivated young people, worked with some amazing employers and services, and created opportunities alongside our committed colleagues. We want to say a big thank you to you all – we couldn’t have done it without you. 

 

Now the programme has been fully implemented and embedded, we are handing it over to our wonderful Education, Training and Employment Personal Advisors within the Permanence and Transition teams in Children’s Services. We know that this team will continue to grow the programme and create great opportunities and experiences for care experienced young people. We look forward to hearing all about what they get up to. 

 

Please contact the stepforward@devon.gov.uk mailbox if you have an opportunity or want to discuss with the team about how you can support care experienced young people to take Steps Forward. 

Reflection 

 

This last year has seen previous restrictions easing, for young people this has meant there has been one less barrier for them when accessing employment, education and training opportunities.  

 

There have been lots of successes for the young people we have been working with, some of these include: 

• 2 work experience placements leading to paid roles 
• 1 young person gained a role in Devon County Council and received interview support from colleagues in HR 
• 1 young person passed their CSCS test and gained a job working on a building site as a labourer 
• 1 young person joined a 12-week course with the Princes Trust, helping to build their confidence, they have now started a course at college. 
• 1 young person attended a taster day at the Met Office where they received a tour and an insight into what working there is like. 
• 1 young person gained a volunteering role with Young Devon
• 1 young person gained a part time role at Lidl to fit in with their college schedule and gain some real work experience for their future. 

Numbers 

 

We have always tried to focus more on the narrative of supporting young people in their busy and often complex lives, but this a great moment to share our numbers so far. 

• We have engaged with over 100 young people since Step Forward began in 2018. 
• Young people have completed 521 activities from our offer over the last four years, this includes CV and application writing, careers advice appointments and job search sessions  
• 181 milestones have been achieved by young people, this includes but is not limited to; interviews offered and attended, completing work experience, employment offer and apprenticeship offers. 
• We have supported 10 care experienced apprentices since 2018 
• 11 young people have completed the programme this year (2022) because they have gained part/full time job roles or apprenticeships. 

What do young people think?

‘The Step Forward programme has helped me to develop a variety of new skills that have helped me to gain employment. I had support in developing my interview skills and building my confidence to participate in the process. I developed useful skills such as application writing which I can use in the future.’ - AP Step Forward 2022 Graduate 

 

‘Step Forward has massively helped me to get a job and given me more confidence in my day-to-day life.’ - SH Step Forward participant 

 

What do professionals have to say? 

‘My feedback for Step forward is entirely positive, staff have always been easy to get hold of and very responsive to referrals or queries. In my experience the programme Young Person (YP) focused and can move as fast or as slow at the YP needs enabling them to be more in control of their decisions. YP are not rushed in to doing things if they are not ready but are encouraged to engage and fulfil their agreement. 

Staff have been dedicated and proactive in their roles.  For example, one of my YP can be very difficult to engage. Step Forward began meeting with him for coffee to get his views and thoughts on what he wanted to do. They were able to put a plan together based on what the YP had told them. Initially they met regularly but as time went on, the YP began disengaging however Step Forward continued to call and message offering advice, support and opportunities. Eventually the YP would answer and talk about what he’d been up to and what he would like to do. It’s that tenacity that makes the Step Forward program invaluable for our YP. Places like the job centre may not have been so understanding or would have followed up just to see how he was.  

Having Step forward involved has given some of my YP a platform to build on and look forward, from CSCS cards to short courses to full time employment. Helping young people achieve some of their ambitions or unlocking a skill or idea they hadn’t thought of before.’ - DR - Personal Advisor 

‘Step Forward are beneficial to young people with their extensive knowledge and links to potential employers, training/education, and volunteering. Step Forward have worked well with the young people and engagement has been good. It has been a great support to me as Step Forward have filled in the gaps that we as PA's can't always follow up right away or need support with and helped the young people with other pathways that I didn't know even existed. Step Forward is very thorough and completes actions very promptly. A fantastic resource!!' - DN – Personal Advisor 

Meet the new team 

 

Turlough, John and Alex from the Permanence and Transition teams in Children’s Services will be taking on the Step Forward employability programme and continuing to support care experienced young people in Devon to work towards their aspirations. 

 

‘We are really looking forward and excited to be continuing with the Step Forward programme. It’s a great initiative with the young people of Devon at the heart of its cause. After four years of hard work from our predecessors we are ready to carry the torch onwards and upwards.’  

 

For more information about the Step Forward Programme please email stepforward@devon.gov.uk. 

Ellen England

Employability & Partnership Co-ordinator 

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