In this article Ryan speaks to Claire Cookson at DFN Project Search, who his team previously supported with recruitment into their fundraising team. We are also pleased to be holding an internal all-company meeting with the DFN Project Search team as part of Learning Disability Week.
As part of our work in raising awareness during Learning Disability Week, Claire Cookson, CEO at DFN Project SEARCH shares information about the meaningful employment opportunities they generate and provide for thousands of young people with learning disabilities and autism across the UK.
The number of job vacancies in the UK has reached a record high of 1.3 million, higher than the number of people unemployed.
At the same time, there are around 900,000 people with a learning disability in the UK of a working age, yet a staggeringly low figure of just 5.1% with SEND known to local authorities in the UK are in employment.
At DFN Project SEARCH, our mission is to help young adults with a learning disability and/or autism spectrum condition transition from education into work through supported internships, and show prospective employers the multiple benefits to employing these brilliant, ambitious, and talented individuals.
Our programmes are based at large host businesses such as hospitals, local authorities, universities, and distribution centres. Interns train to full job descriptions and there are no limits to the kind of employment they secure at the end of the programme. A proportion of interns secure employment within their host business, but many others have reliably found paid work externally in a range of sectors, including healthcare, retail, hospitality, office administration, reception, manufacturing, teaching, facilities management, security and transport.
We are laser focused on the long-term outcomes of interns and only consider employment that is in an integrated setting, year-round, at least 16 hours per week and paid the prevailing wage as a successful outcome.
Our data shows that overwhelmingly this model works. Last year, despite jobs being slashed in the pandemic, 209 interns secured employment, 175 of them securing full-time roles. On average every year nearly 70% of DFN Project SEARCH interns secured paid employment through our programmes, with 60% of those full-time, bucking the trend of the national data.
The sad reality is that employees with autism in the UK generally earn 34% less than their peers, and those with severe or specific learning difficulties earn 30% less than their peers. Not only do our interns at DFN Project SEARCH have a significantly higher chance of securing full-time paid employment, 99% of them have been paid at or above the prevailing wage over the last 5 years.
Businesses that take part in the programme are not required to employ the young people, just help and grow their skills. However, last year almost half of the roles secured were in the host businesses, as it makes good business sense. Studies show that people with a learning disability stay in their jobs 3.5 times longer than their non-disabled co-workers. They also show that a high proportion of employees with a disability have their job performance rated as average or above, and have been rated higher than those without a disability in terms of attendance and being on time.
Employing people with a learning disability adds real value to workplace culture and has been proven to improve teamwork and communication. But more importantly, employers who do so are enabling people with learning disabilities to feel valued and achieve financial and social independence.
Decades of research has shown that paid work is transformational in terms of health, wellbeing, quality of life and social integration.
We need greater diversification of the job market to support young adults with learning disabilities and autism spectrum conditions. That requires the involvement of the government, education providers, families, employment agencies and businesses. DFN Project SEARCH bring together all these actors in a holistic approach and we’d love to have more partners join us.
If you are interested in starting up a DFN Project SEARCH programme in your area, or would simply like to find out more information, you can contact info@dfnprojectsearch.org to be connected to one of our Programme Specialists. We would be delighted to talk to you about how we can work together!
Find out more at DFN Project SEARCH or find us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Claire Cookson is CEO of DFN Project SEARCH and CEO and the DFN Foundation.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us Claire.
