Employment is more than just a job and money in your pocket.
That was evident at Addaction's fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference yesterday.
Chris Grayling, Minster for Employment, and charity boss Baroness Stedman-Scott joined John, an Addaction service user, on a panel to discuss how to help people off drugs and back into work.
John (not his real name) very clearly articulated the challenge of changing entrenched patterns of behaviour, compounded by several spells in prison and a criminal justice system that sometimes works against you rather than with you.
John was clear, though. For him, work is the ultimate ambition, but like many others he needs intense support to find it. It was also clear from our discussion that this is a process that takes time.
But when it works, it is a process that delivers self-worth, confidence and a sense of personal responsibility.
And that's why employment is so important. It further consolidates recovery and gives people who have lived through long-term, deep-rooted addiction a place in their communities.
In July, the Department of Work and Pensions launched its new Work Programme; a funded framework within which organisations like Addaction can help people, like John, get back into employment.
But the programme is not without its challenges. It is a new way of working that requires different agencies work in collaboration. Some may be more convinced than others that an integrated approach is the right approach.
That's why we need to show primary contractors in the Work Programme that organisations like Addaction are very much part of the solution. We need to show them that the employment programmes (such as Addaction's NEXT programme, which successfully helps 90 per cent of its participants find work) are key to this new Programme's success.
THIS IS ABOUT MORE THAN JUST WORK
Posted: Tue 04th Oct 2011 12:44Employment is more than just a job and money in your pocket.
That was evident at Addaction's fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference yesterday.
Chris Grayling, Minster for Employment, and charity boss Baroness Stedman-Scott joined John, an Addaction service user, on a panel to discuss how to help people off drugs and back into work.
John (not his real name) very clearly articulated the challenge of changing entrenched patterns of behaviour, compounded by several spells in prison and a criminal justice system that sometimes works against you rather than with you.
John was clear, though. For him, work is the ultimate ambition, but like many others he needs intense support to find it. It was also clear from our discussion that this is a process that takes time.
But when it works, it is a process that delivers self-worth, confidence and a sense of personal responsibility.
And that's why employment is so important. It further consolidates recovery and gives people who have lived through long-term, deep-rooted addiction a place in their communities.
In July, the Department of Work and Pensions launched its new Work Programme; a funded framework within which organisations like Addaction can help people, like John, get back into employment.
But the programme is not without its challenges. It is a new way of working that requires different agencies work in collaboration. Some may be more convinced than others that an integrated approach is the right approach.
That's why we need to show primary contractors in the Work Programme that organisations like Addaction are very much part of the solution. We need to show them that the employment programmes (such as Addaction's NEXT programme, which successfully helps 90 per cent of its participants find work) are key to this new Programme's success.
POST COMMENT