SEND Employment Forum

The SEND Employment Forum met on Friday 21 June.

At the event, guest speaker Deborah Gaze, Humberside Police, spoke about our new Supported Internship opportunity.

DFN Project Search is a national supported internship programme for young people with SEND.

Following the success of our offer at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Project Search is now hosted by Humberside Police.

6 interns have enrolled on the programme. They benefit from a year of work experience in a variety of roles, the opportunity to develop employability skills, and a peer mentor for each rotation.

What experience do they get? Interns get to try a variety of different roles including:

Legal
Corporate Comms
Business Centre
Advice and Guidance
People Analytics
Job Design and Workforce Pipeline
Talent Acquisition
Catering
Criminal Justice Unit
Property Stores

Typically, employment figures for young people with SEND are low. Comparatively, Project search is a strong bridge for interns to move into paid employment. Current figures show 70% of Project Search interns will gain employment and 60% of these go into full time work.

What if I want to do a supported internship?

Sound like this might be for you? If you would like to get work experience with the support of a job coach, contact askannie@nelincs.gov.uk to find out what supported internship opportunities there are for you.

Eligibility Criteria

Aged between 18 – 24
Have an Educational Health Care Plan
Live within the local authority area
Coming to the end of their educational lifecycle
Aspiration to gain full time employment at the end of the programme.