Bridge to Workplace

Bridge to Workplace (BTW):

The BTW was established in 2006. It is a multi-agency approach offering employment-based progression options to residents that have a history of problem drug use and who are from the north Dublin city geographical area where the BTW operates.

BTW is a collaborative intervention where each client works with two Key Workers, one from the Local Employment Service Network and the second from the HSE’sRehabilitation andIntegration Service. Following a series of interventions where the client works closely with their Key Worker team a BTW placement, of one-day per week for a twenty week duration is sourced and arranged with the assistance of the BTW Manager. Each work placement takes into account the future employment aspirations of each individual BTW client. This therefore requires the BTW to source employment placement opportunities that mirror the work-related progression requirements of each specific client.

An example of the effectiveness of the BTW model of inter-agency cooperation is evidenced by the 2010 productivity levels and the related BTW cost per client unit. Figures to the end of October 2010 indicate that a unit cost per BTW client intervention averaged E800.

Quantitative returns for the same period show the following productivity levels:

• 17 people completed their BTW work placements
• 2 people were on BTW work placements
• 17 people were in preparation for taking up their BTW work placements, and
• 34 people having completed their initial intervention with their BTW Key Worker Teams disengaged from the BTW

(Some of the 34 people subsequently progressed into labour market interventions or were placed on Further Education or Mainstream Training courses. There were also a number that having considered the advice of their Key Workers found that the BTW was not a suitable intervention for them).

  Since its establishment in 2006 the BTW has been specifically supported by the Tolka Area Partnership. TAP administers the BTW contractual and budgetary elements of the initiative and employs the BTW Manager on behalf of the BTW’s Operational Management Group. In 2010 the BTW was financially supported by TAP, FAS, the FinglasCabra and the Ballymun Local Drugs Task Forces.

The BTW is overseen by the BTW Operational Management Group. This group is tasked with ensuring that all BTW policy and practice protocols and procedures are fit-for-purpose. They monitor budget expenditure and measure the efficacy of the overall BTW initiative. The Operational Management Group set annual quantitative targets and, on a monthly bases, monitor the range of work of the BTW Manager. During 2010 representatives from the following organisations served on the BTW Operational Management Group:

• Ballymun Job Centre
• FAS
• Finglas/Cabra Local Drugs Task Force
• Health Service Executive’s Rehabilitation and Integration Service
• Blanchardstown Area Partnership’s Local Employment Service Network
• Inner City Local Employment Service Network
• Tolka Area Partnership’s Local Employment Service Network.

For further information about Bridge to Workplace please contact the BTW Manager on: 086 380 1667