Project Director: Ian Wilson
Project Duration: 2020-2022
South Yorkshire Housing Association (SYHA) has commissioned the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University to evaluate phase two of its Building Better Opportunities (BBO) service.
SYHA's BBO service is being provided across the Sheffield City Region. The service, has been funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and National Community Lottery Fund (formerly the Big Lottery Fund) and is being delivered by SYHA in collaboration with a range of third sector organisations. The BBO service aims to transform pathways to work and learning for people with complex needs who are, typically, furthest from the job market into employment or training/education. It is based on an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) delivery model. IPS involves intensive, individual support (lasting approximately nine months delivered by dual-coaching teams, consisting of a Health and Wellbeing Coach and employment-focused Work and Enterprise Coaches), a rapid job search followed by placement in paid employment, and up to nine months in-work support for both the employee and the employer.
The objectives of the evaluation are to:
- test whether the project has attained its employment and education outcome targets; this will consider achieved (1 day) and sustained (13 weeks) employment and education outcomes
- demonstrate whether participants have progressed nearer to the labour market and have confidence to achieve employment outcomes
- establish the wider benefits from the approach, such as improved wellbeing and greater confidence in managing health
- provide participant and stakeholder views on the quality and impact of the services they engage with
- establish how efficient and effective the service is at engaging with target participant groups and supporting them to achieve outcomes; this strand will also seek to identify the factors which affect the effectiveness of the service
- identify best practice and ongoing improvements that demonstrate the greatest impact against BBO outcomes, in an ongoing and formative way, that will be regularly shared and drive improved performance of the SYHA project.
- Make suggestions around programme sustainability, what should follow on from BBO and what should come next?
