The Men Care Too project shall recruit 78 participants over 3 years. Participants will have no experience and a lack of skills necessary for the sector, or have basic levels of care qualifications for progression on to HNC level training. These two groups will share willingness, commitment and motivation to either enter or progress within the care sector but are likely to lack the necessary personal, social and technical skills and vocational qualifications necessary to enter this field and secure sustainable employment.
By increasing the participation by men in an occupation traditionally dominated by women it will improve the diversity of and equal opportunities within the sector, as there is still a need to invest in training and development to produce a highly skilled and adaptable workforce. By developing the skills, qualifications and work experience of 78 individuals, Men Care Too will provide a new pool of appropriately skilled candidates for employment in the child and youth care sector, a sector which is constantly recruiting due to its high staff turnover.
Men Care Too complements the strategy to provide a flexible learning platform and further investment in lifelong learning across the social service workforce;
Social service workers are expected to maintain a personal portfolio as an up to date record of their skills and competence;
The project’s success will be ensured through the integration of both tried-and-tested and innovative elements. The combined HNC and SVQ3 in Caring for Children and Young people is the recognised and required qualification for work in the sector, therefore it is essential to base any training programme around this core element. However, the 50:50 split between training and work experience is unusual, yet this offers the best opportunities for individuals to put their learning into practice on a weekly basis, thus instilling in them the techniques and theories they are learning.
There will be continuous evaluation throughout the project in order to highlight potential problems at an early stage, allowing staff to address these at operational/strategic level as appropriate.
There will also be internal evaluation undertaken throughout the project by the Project Team and also Kibble’s internal quality assurance department.
Evaluation will also be undertaken by an external partner which we are actively seeking notes of interest. Completed notes of interest must be submitted by Friday 21st August 2009.
Some of the personal outcomes for participants include: