There is an epidemic going on in the country right now, but it is not an illness. It is the huge numbers of 16-24 year olds who are not in Education, Employment, or Training, known as NEETs. There are over 1 Million of these young people floating around with no place in society, and they need help.
Where does this problem begin?
Well, it begins when they are very young. A large percentage of them are neurodiverse, and many of these undiagnosed. They have often suffered the whole way through the education system, and many have been excluded or sent to Alternative Provision schools (APs). Here they fall behind academically, and as their self-esteem plummets, they become increasingly vulnerable to antisocial behaviours and risk falling into crime or coming under the influence of malign leaders on the internet.
So what can be done to help the NEETs?
This is where the Empowerment Passport comes in. The Empowerment Passport is an integrated, person-centred, needs-led approach to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people, supporting their educational achievement, and helping them thrive through transitions. It is a tool designed to give people back self-determination and their own voice. It is a digital document where an individual can set out all their needs and desires, and then share that document with people in authority. It acts as a bridge between the two groups with employers and educators on one side, and the young person on the other. It is designed to enable a better understanding and a successful outcome for both.
How does it do this?
The first part of the Empowerment Passport is where a person sets down what is important to them. Many of these young people will never have been asked about what they are actually good at, and as a consequence they may have never thought they were good at anything. However, there are a lot of skills that they may have acquired along that way, that have never been recognised as skills. One person may have been a young carer, taking on all sorts of responsibilities and managements, but have not understood that this has social value. Another may struggle with reading because of dyslexia, but may have a gift with fixing engines. The first part of the Empowerment Passport is a space for all of these things, which will be unique to each individual. What they like, such as working outdoors, or with people, maybe working with their hands, or in front of a screen. Whatever they like, whatever they enjoy, goes in this first part, to start building a positive picture of the individual.
The second part is dedicated to the things they don’t like. This is because it is all well and good to get a young unemployed person into work, but the real trick is to get them to stay there. So, this second part of the Empowerment Passport helps to document the things that will make the working environment better or worse for them. If they struggle with indoor spaces, or hate to be alone when working, this is where this type of information is stored. Then when this is shared with the employer, it gives the employer vital information as to how to tailor a job or apprenticeship in a way that will most benefit them both, encouraging the young person to stay and grow in their new role. Armed with this information the employer can make the working environment much less hostile and frightening to the NEET and give them a real chance of finding a solid footing. To feel heard and to feel like they have some autonomy is vital to the wellbeing of a young person. The desired outcome is about getting that young person into a permanent position so they can rejoin mainstream society and develop their confidence and experience so they can continue moving forward through life.
The Empowerment Passport gives these young people their own voice back, and that is of central importance in entering the adult world and being able to negotiate a space for themselves in it. It achieves this by helping that young person focus on themselves and find that they do in fact have strengths and talents which they can be proud of, and which they can develop in a working environment. By building their own confidence and self-esteem and having a way of communicating these attributes by way of the Empowerment Passport, there is a much stronger chance of finding a positive resolution for everyone.
