Restart Scheme
Darren was candid with Amy, his Seetec Pluss Job Coach, when he joined the Restart Scheme. Some sensitive and personal issues were making his job search and his life extremely difficult. Depression, alcoholism, mounting debt, and a terminally ill father seemed all-encompassing.
Given the breadth of his barriers, Amy decided a whole team approach underpinning his pre-employability work was appropriate. Every member of the team was involved to provide holistic support, including:
Sadly, as Darren’s progression was becoming evident, his father passed away. During this time, he had to care for his mother, which put more pressure on him and led to heavier drinking as a coping mechanism. The Worcester team knew they had to rally fast, and his personal support plan was revised to include tools to improve his mental health, further skills training and financial support:
This second round of more intensive support was fruitful. Darren attended a trial shift with a local university as a Kitchen Porter. Feeling enthused following a successful day, he immediately visited the Worcester team to update them. Two days later, Darren was back in the office with news that he had been offered the position! To further reduce his stress at this important moment, the team helped Darren to complete pre-employment paperwork and sourced funding to cover the costs of his daily commute until his first pay day.
Darren continues to receive in-work support from the Employer Engagement team and is still engaging with the funded dependency service that he has been introduced to.
His primary Job Coach, Amy, concludes:
