Applicability of IPS principles to job inclusion of vulnerable youth

Abstract

Abstract:BACKGROUND: Researchers and others are worried about the marginalization of vulnerable youth who drop out of school and have difficulties finding and keeping a job. CONCLUSIONS: The IPS principles can be applied to vulnerable youth, but the analysis indicates that the suggested modifications will increase their applicability.

Frontline workers' competency in activation work

“…User-oriented competency is closely related to one of the core competency areas of social work suggested by Parton (2006): the relational, motivational and communicative user orientation. The two dimensions of activation competency confirmed in the PCA was consistent with Frøyland and Spjelkavik's (2014) theoretical twofold definition of the concept of activation competency. This implies that one should consider the two distinct dimensions of activation competency when further exploring its importance.…”

“…Several researchers have argued that user-oriented competency is relatively safeguarded, and have simultaneously stressed the need for higher market competency among frontline workers in labour and welfare administration (e.g., Frøyland & Spjelkavik, 2014;Hagelund, 2016). The results of the present study support this view, considering that they scored themselves somewhat higher on the user-oriented competency subscale than on the market competency subscale.…”

“…Our results suggest that it may be important to treat market competency as an important aspect of activation competency, distinguished from user-oriented competency, although in an integrative manner 4 (Frøyland & Spjelkavik, 2014). Developing the market competency of frontline workers may be especially important for a successful implementation of activation policies, and market competency has been singled out as the competency area most in need of improvement (Hagelund, 2016).…”

“…Efforts have been made to define the professional knowledge base of social work (e.g., Goldstein, 1990). In the specific context of the present study, it is useful to stress one aspect of the core competency areas of social work, namely the relational, motivational and communicative user orientation (Parton, 2006), which closely corresponds to the user-oriented competency dimension in the activation competency proposed by Frøyland and Spjelkavik (2014) and by Hagelund (2016). Thus, it may be expected that social workers will judge their user-oriented competency to be higher than that of their colleagues with other educational backgrounds.…”

“…Frøyland and Spjelkavik (2014) stressed the importance of frontline workers possessing both user-oriented and labour market-oriented competency to succeed in the labour market integration of the unemployed.…”