Description
The APPG for Assistive Technology is holding an inquiry into technology in Supported Employment. This work is kindly sponsored by the Ian Karten Charitable Trust.Supported Employment is a personalised model for supporting disabled people and other disadvantaged groups to secure and retain employment. Short-term work placements such as Supported Internships, traineeships and apprenticeships can help disabled people to achieve sustainable and paid employment. The model has support from policymakers, with the Government launching a scheme to double the number of Supported Internships in England by 2025, and a further £10.8 million scheme to incentivise local authorities to provide Supported Employment.
Technology, combined with human support, can help disabled talent to succeed by breaking down barriers at work. For example, a phone app could be used to take a photo of a label and then read the text from that label out loud – helpful for some people who are neurodiverse, have a visual impairment, or speak English as an additional language.
In 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) launched the Internships Work programme to double supported internship provision in England, helping 4500 young adults per year by 2025. In 2023, the DfE published a SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan to improve the quality of provision young people with SEND receive. As the Supported Employment sector moves to scale up and improve the quality of services, there is an opportunity to realise the accessibility benefits of technology in these placements.
The APPG launched a written Call for Evidence in July of this year. The Call was an opportunity for those working in the Supported Employment sector to share their knowledge about how technology is currently being used in Supported Employment. This evidence session focuses on how we can enhance Supported Employment by mainstreaming the use of assistive and accessible technology (ATech) by disabled people in these roles through five themes identified in scoping for this report.
| Period | 6 Sept 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Other |
| Degree of Recognition | National |