Employment and training

All young people should continue in education or training until they are 18. If your young person is looking to move into employment rather than further education, they might benefit from work skills training or support to enter the world of work.

What preparation can you do yourself?
What services are available?
Access to Work grants

What preparation can you do yourself?

Talk to your young person about what interests and skills they have, and what they would like to do next. Do they feel confident enough to start work, or would they benefit from a college course or some training before work?

Think early about what skills your young person could build

It's worth looking into what the 4 colleges in Hertfordshire can offer, as they all run job related courses which will help to get your young person into an industry at the end of it.

Get some careers advice

We've listed all of the careers advice options for you below. Depending on whether you are in school or college, have an EHCP or not, or are out of education, there are places you can go to get the advice you need.

What services are available?

Careers Advice

In school or college

Legally all schools and colleges must have someone who provides careers guidance to pupils. You can speak to your school or college to find out who provides careers guidance, in lots of cases in Hertfordshire this is provided by Services for Young People. For those in special schools, please contact the Services for Young People SEND Team.

Outside of school or college

Visit a young people's centre for careers advice. Someone will be there who can help you to work out steps into employment. Find your local young people's centre offering information, advice and support - and be sure to check the opening times, as each young people's centre has different opening hours.

You can also speak to SfYP's SEND team on their duty line. They will offer advice about employment and personal development opportunities over the phone.

SfYP's SEND team duty line is for all young people, whatever their learning difficulty/ disability or background.

01438 844 999

sfyp.SEND@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Careers advice if you have an EHCP

For those with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), SfYP's LDD team can offer a Personal Advisor. For those who attend Hertfordshire Special Schools or out of county schools, the Personal Adviser will be from the SfYP SEND Team.

They work with young people from the age of 14, and are involved in the Year 9 EHCP Review and will provide a Preparing for Adulthood Transition Plan. If you want your young person to have a Personal Adviser, the school or college must refer for you.

If the school’s careers guidance is not provided by SfYP, then they may have their own offer. Or If you would specifically like support from SfYP, your school can refer to them, but there will be a cost to the school.

If your young person is not in education but would like this support, SfYP's LDD team will provide them with support to find work (or get back into education or training) up until the age of 25 (or until the age of 20 if they have an EHCP.

Interview and job seeking support

JobCentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers - You can speak to one of JobCentre Plus's Advisers about looking for work, and they can tell you about training and skills, and let you know about disability friendly employers in your area.

JobCentre Plus Work and Health programme - Work Choice is a voluntary programme for disabled people to help them find work by giving them training, interview coaching and skills development.

Communication support at a job interview

You can apply to get money for communication support at a job interview through Access to Work. You can use this service if you:

are deaf or hard of hearing and need a British Sign Language interpreter or lipspeaker or
have a physical or mental health condition or learning difficulty and need communication support.

check if you are eligible

If you think you have been treated unfairly when applying for a job contact the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)

helpline
Online contact form
Telephone: 0808 800 0082

Traineeships and apprenticeships

Traineeships - help young people aged 16 - 24 to develop essential work skills, support with english and maths, and work experience needed to secure an apprenticeship or employment.
Apprenticeships - there are lots of organisations, colleges and businesses across Hertfordshire that offer apprenticeship opportunities.
Mencap - offers traineeships and apprenticeships: Their traineeship programme helps young people with a learning disability or autism aged 19 - 24 to develop the skills and experience needed to move into work or an apprenticeship. Their apprenticeship programme, MAP Your Future, supports people with a learning disability or autism aged 16 and above to progress into paid work. Apprentices benefit from experience in a real workplace as well as improved english and maths skills.

Supported employment and internships

SFYP supported employment - a small team of supported employment advisors that help young people aged 16-25 with an EHCP to find a job and learn how to do that job. The young person will have a supported employment adviser who attends work with them, until their support is no longer needed. The supported employment team work with the employer too, to support them in their role.
Supported Internships - supported internships are offered by all 4 colleges in Hertfordshire. The programme is designed to help young people with additional needs achieve paid employment by teaching them the skills they need. Most of the learning is based in the workplace and there is a range of employment settings. Interns are given on-the-job training by expert coaches.
Work Fit - a national employment programme by the Down's Syndrome Association which brings together employers and jobseekers who have Down’s syndrome.
Work Solutions - a programme for those who receive a Care Package from Adult Social Care. They will help people with additional needs through the whole process, right through from writing a CV, finding and applying for a job, through to support at work, until the person is confident in their paid job role.

Helping adults into work

Connected 2 Work is a scheme that supports young people with SEND (from the age of 18) to find jobs or volunteering opportunities.

You can also explore the support offered by Hertfordshire's adult social care service, helping young people and adults into work.

Access to Work grants

If you’re disabled or have a physical or mental health condition that makes it hard for you to do your job, you should talk to your employer about making reasonable adjustments to support you. If the help you need at work is not covered by your employer making reasonable adjustments however, you may be able to get help from Access to Work.

To be eligible for an Access to Work grant you need to:

have a disability or health condition (physical or mental) that makes it hard for you to do parts of your job or get to and from work.
be 16 or over.
have a paid job, or be about to start or return to work to apply

An Access to Work grant can pay for:

special equipment, adaptations or support worker services (i.e. a job coach) to help you do things like answer the phone or go to meetings.
mental health support.
help getting to and from work.

Find out about Access to work grants

Access to Work Plus

The government is also testing a way of providing support for people who need extra support, or a different type of support, to be able to work. This is done through the Access to Work grant scheme and is called Access to Work Plus.

It can provide funding for things like:

adjustments to buildings or workplaces
changes to job roles

Find out more about the Access to Work Plus and how to refer.

Page was last updated on: 05/12/2023 13:04:25

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Early years (ages 0 - 5 years)

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP)

Courses and activities in Hertfordshire

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Preparing for adulthood

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