Inclusive Pathways to Employment pilot: final evaluation report

The Inclusive Pathway to Employment (IPE) pilot trialled ways mainstream youth employment services can support young people with disability to pursue their interests, aspirations and goals, and be socially and economically included in their communities. 

IPE was delivered in four youth employment services across different regions in Australia and overseen by the BSL National Collaboration on Employment and Disability (NCED). It included three streams: 

• Stream A: Intensive support for young people with significant disability.
• Stream B: Enhanced support for young people with disability already in the Transition to Work youth employment service.
• Stream C: School and community-based career-development activities for young people in school or the community.

The IPE pilot evaluation aimed to inform the development of programs and practice to enable better employment pathways for young people with disability, documenting outcomes, lessons learnt and recommendations. It used both qualitative and quantitative methods to consider a participant’s holistic journey.

The evaluation found the IPE pilot provided young people with disability early integrated transition support that offers a cohesive, aspiration-focused and inclusive service across systems. The pilot demonstrated the benefit of young people with disability receiving enhanced support from a youth employment service on their career journey that could start while they were still at school and be sustained.

Recommendations
The evaluation identified four principles that can inform the development of inclusive youth employment services to support career development for young people with disability.

1. Build inclusive employment pathways by providing accessible career support for all young people with disability.
2. Embed aspiration-focused and inclusive practice that invests in young people’s aspirations and provides the structural supports for success.
3. Include cross-system collaboration in pathways and practice by integrating school, employment services and other supports so they provide integrated transition support.
4. Resource an enabling organisation to upskill employment services staff, and fund services in a way that allows them to deliver effective and inclusive career support for young people with disability.