Lecturer:

OSTRAVA, 5.th Octopber 2010 EUROPEAN DAYS OF HANDICAP

PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES IN CHOOSING HELPING AND EDUCATING WORKERS TO WORK WITH DISABLED PEOPLE.

EPTA COOPERATIVE EXPERIENCEBOLOGNA-ITALY

Lecturer:Francesco Spoto Human ressource and internacional relations

director- Epta Cooperative Bologna www.epta.coop

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Bologna and region Emilia Romagna have special place in social economy

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BOLOGNA

City of Bologna is situated in region Emilia Romagna and has 400 000 inhabitants.In Italy it is highly valued for its university and high quality social services such as education, social care and health services. There are approximately 670 social cooperatives, 150 of them in Bologna alone.

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EPTA COOPERATIVEwww.epta.coop

• Epta Cooperative was fouded on 1.st June 2000 with folowing identified goals:

- To improve human and economical resources, to offer cooperatives various services like administration, education, quality certification, assesment centers, head hunting and general recruitment tasks

- To propose and to nurture inovative services- To acquire services which are subjekt to selection procedure

and delegate them to cooperatives.

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EPTA COOPERATIVE

• Consists of eight social cooperatives and employ about 520 workers, 210 from them edukators and 35 socio-sanitary workers

• Other workers are: special-need-children assistents, personal assistents, speech therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists, teachers, administration workers, coordinators, directors

Annual budget in 2009 was 15.000.000 €

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Cooperation FieldEta Beta, Alfabeta,

Geco, La Carovana,

Nuova Sanità

Socio-educative services for children/adolescents/adults, school integration, caregiving, work inclusion

Axia,

Croce Azzurra

habilitation, medical treatment and medical crysis situations

Accademia Catis Education for social and medical professionals

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Professionals hellping or educating disabled people

• SOCIAL EDUCATOR• CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES EDUCATOR • SPECIAL EDUCATOR• SOCIO-SANITARY WORKER

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Schools with integration of disabled persons and with educators and socio-sanitary workers

• Nursery (0-3 years)• Kindergarten (4-5 years) • Junior elementary school (6-10 years)• Senior elementary school (11-13 years)• High school (14-18 years)School attendance in Italy is mandatory till 16

years. Disabled children are integrated since 1977 by law.

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Services offered to disabled with assistence from educators and socio-sanitary workers

• Day care cetner • Housing center• Flats groups • Sheltered workspace• External processes work integration• Individual participation on leisure time

activities• Personal household assistence

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Educator training

• One of university faculties is organizing training and certify various educators

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Educational sciences

•SOCIO-CULTURAL WORKER

Lenght of education: 3 years-300 hours intershipRole: to propose and to realize activities (educational, social,

cultural), work in multidisciplinary team

•Positions: social and socio-cultural services (school integration, housing services, teritory work, household) for the benefit of adolescents, elders, vulnerable adults, disabled people,

inmates and parolees, nomads and migrants and in cultural, recreational and sport related services (youth centers, libraries,

etc.)

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Educational sciences

• Educator for chidren and families• Lenght of education: 3 years – 300 hours intership• Role: help with supervision and education of children

under 3 years, maintain connection with family, suggest and realize activities, focused e.g. on child independence and family integration

• Positions: nursery, clubs, family oriented services

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Medicine and surgery

• SPECIAL PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATOR• Lenght of education: 3 years-750 hours intership• Role: planning, executing and governance over individual

educational benefits, with focus on development in chalenging situation; organize educational and integrational projects; work in multidisciplinary team

• Positions: health care, psychiatric care, physical disabilities, drug addiction, elder people, minors

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Disable people educator in Epta Cooperation

• Educator's work is focused on school and home assistance, leisure time organisation and work integration

• Half-time or full-time • Often the same educator work with disabled

in the afternoon and with children and minors in the morning.

• Educator with diploma earns approximately 1050€ a month net (on full-time i.e. 38 hours

• a week.) Without diploma it is app. 1000€. (As set by Joint state contract)

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Socio-sanitary worker

• Is educated in courses organized by Emilio Romagno region. Certificate of competency

is issued after graduation. He/she leads educational centres.

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Educional course: “Socio-sanitary worker”

• 1000 hours (basic education), from which 450 hours are intership

• 300 hours (re-qualification for skilled workers without diploma), from which 120 hours are intership, 110 hours (re-qualification for workers with old diploma)

• Role: household assistence, social help and help with hygiene tasks for people with need of assistence

• Position: work with minors and adults in all socio-sanitary services and personal assistence services, day centers and shletered houses, hospitals, household assistence and school integration.

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Socio-sanitary worker in service for disabled people in Epta Cooperation

• Socio-sanitary worker helps in households (disabled adults and minors alike), occasionally also in schools.

• Half-time or full-time workSocio-sanitary worker with certificate earns 950€ net

monthly (full-time, 38 hours a week), without certificate earns app. 900€. (As set by Joint state contract)

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Contract conditions

• Joint state contract for social cooperations:Contract recognizes 10 levelsSome examples:Educator with diploma is on level 6.Educator without diploma is on level 5. Socio-sanitary worker with certificate is on level 4. Socio-sanitary worker without certificate is on level 3. Service coordinator is on level 7.Director is on level 9.General director is on level 10.

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Contract conditions• Solaries differs 5-10% between levels.• Full-time = 38 hours a week• Holiday = 29 day a year• Payoff = 1 month solary for every year worked• Thirteenth solary (one extra solary a year)• Sickness benefit• Maternity leave = 80% of solary for 14 months

(cooperation may pay even 100%)

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Selection procedure

• Goals:• To satisfy cooperation needs• To choose and supply motivated, capable

and qualified candidates suitable to fulfill expected duties

• Promote Epta, its style and activities in outer world

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Department of human resources

• Founded 1.st September 2005• In November 2005 acquired ISO certificate• Employs a person in charge of human

resources, on part time (approximately 26 hours a week), if cirkumstances requires this person is assisted by co-worker

• Has access to database on internet

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Highlights from department history

• Recieves about 1600 applications every year• Main sources of applicants: web, mail, fax• Conducts about 300 interviews every year• Every year cooperations admit 70 workers

on average. (65% of them are educators)

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More from department history

• (between 1/09/2005 and 31/12/2009)• 318 workers had beed admited:201 educators59 autist's assistents42 socio-sanitary workers7 children's assistents6 administrators3 coordinators

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Stages

1.st Stage: applicants assessment• Obtaining of CVs• CVs assessment• CVs archiving (by month and working

possition)• Inviting applicants to interview• Applicants assessment (sheet with points and writen comment)

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Stages

2.nd Stage: Delivery of staff to cooperations connected to Epta•Cooperation requires assessment and selection of applicant•Requirement is fulfilled within 15 days•Process conclusion

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Worker requirement form• Date of requirement• Cooperation and responsible person name• Day of requirement conclusion• Required qualification• Driving licence • Name of working position and workplace address• Profession role• Profession duties• Skills• Lenght of working experience in the field• Preparation• Working time• Flexibility of working time• Type of contract

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Interview

• Applicant is contacted by phone and invited to interview

• Interview last approximately 70 minutes• Interview si conducted by person in charge of

human resources• Interview si conducted in Epta in the office of

department of human resources

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Interview – part 1

• Lenght: 15 minutes• Greeting of applicant and mutual introduction• Interview presentation: Goals, content, conditions• Epta cooperation presentation:• Ideals, cooperations, filed, activities

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Interview – part 2

• Lenght: 5 minutes• Applicant's questions about infromation

from part 1.

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Interview – part 3

• Lenght: 40 minutes• Interview with applicant (Interviewer is

making notes)• Interview with questions focused on: motivation efficiency skills

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Motivation• 1-What has motivated applicant to choose work in social

cooperation in specific field (e.g. disabled people) and why did she or he choose helping people as a work.

• 2-After we take previous experience in account, it is necessery to check, if motivation hasn´t changed. (by asking How? Why? When?)

• 3-What had motivated applicant when she or he was sending an application

• 4-What are applicant's proffesional goals.

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Efficency• 1-What are applican't qualities regarding

punctuality and flexibility (schedules, tasks, activities), taking responsibility, stress resilience and burn-out syndrom prevention?

• 2-What are applican't qualities regarding relationships in new working enviroment?

• 3-Is applicant willing to learn new skills, share skills with others, participate in entry training and further educate herself/himself?

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Efficency

• 4-Would applicant be willing to adapt to changes in working possition and corresponding changes in working tasks?

• 5-Whas can applicant offer: tools, services, skills...

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Skills

• 1-Description of work experience (positions, tasks, work organization, strenghts and weeknesses, what is applicant doing for herself/himself, for customers, families, colleagues, supervisors), intersips, studies, volunteering...

• 2-Criticism and accomlishments in previous work

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Skills

• 3-After we take previous experiences in account, we need to assess applicant strenghts and weeknesses regarding working possition.

• 4-What are applicant's qualities, attitudes and skills regarding working in group (integration, sharing, criticism, conflict management), solitary work and relations with clients?

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Skills

• 5-What does exacly mean and cover working on projects, planning, participating, auditing, ability to sell ones work, good documentation, connection with other subjects?

• 6-Consideration about job and job reliance.• 7-In which deparment and field of activity would

applicant work in Epta and why?

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End part

• Lenght: 10 minutes• Applicant's questions and other information• Applicant is told the result of interview

and further process.• Result: an applicant can be incorporated in one

of cooperations (where another inteview take place in order to confirm the choose), or she/he will be added to database and will be contacted in case of further job offers.

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Some themes from interviewing educators

• Knowledge of some diagnosis• Description of concept of dignity and social

integration of disabled people• Willingness to work with any kind of disability • Description of possibile solutions in specific case

(from own work experience)• How to face aggression from disabled person.

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Some themes from interviewing educators

• Relations with family of disabled person• Ability to become mediator between disabled

person and her/his enviroment.• Ability to mantain distance in relationships with

clients. (To detach emotive involvement from work)• Ability to work in group as well as alone

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Some themes from interviewing socio-sanitary worker

• Knowledge of some diagnosis• Description of concept of dignity and social

integration of disabled people• Willingness to work with any kind of disability • Description of possibile solutions on specific case

(from own work experience)• What are the possibilities of intervention regarding

hygiene, body sanitation, diet, illness etc.

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Some themes from interviewing socio-sanitary worker

• How to face aggression from disabled person.• Ability to mantain distance in relationships with

clients. (To detach emotive involvement from work)

• Relations with family of disabled person• Ability to become mediator between disabled

person and her/his enviroment.• Ability to work in group as well as alone• How to maintain and update file of disabled

person? (i.e. Checking if individual project is fulfilled)

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Some metodical aspects of interview

• Ability to greet applicant and do everything for her/him to feel pleasant.

• In comunication it is necessary to speak clearly and sincerely.

• Share methodology, goal, result and evaulation

of interview.• Ability to listen carefully and let applicant talk

(beware of prejudices and preoccupations).• Ability to assess applicant qualities.

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Applicant evaluation

• During interview the interviewer make notes.• Within one day the interviewer fill evaluation sheete,

write comments and assess points to specific parts.• Evaluation sheet is then saved on the internet and it

is along with CV send to cooperation which requested worker.

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Point assessment

• 0 point insufficinet• 2 points sufficient• 3 points good• 4 points very good• 6 points exellent Evaluation table consists of:• Report and point assessment of motivation, efficiency

and skills• Sum of points• Written comments why corresponding points were

given

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Strenghts of service

• Well organized information system and detailed database.

• Well managed: every day new CVs are read and archived, interviews are conducted even if new staff isn't wanted yet, service has to work in advance on requirement that may come in the future.

• Fast and accurate in fulfilling cooperations' requirements on staff (often it is needed to supply workers within 2-3 days).

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Strenghts of service

• Support Epta cooperation by giving information, brochures...

• Good orientation in work conditions and requirements that an applicant should fulfill.• Can boost applicants intrest in Epta.• Maintain contact with suitable applicants

in database for months or even years.

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Weeknesses of service

• Some reqiurement doesn't offer good conditions but want special skills

E.G.:Educator on half-time contract (19 hour a week) –

support in school (3 hours 4 day a week + 1 hour planning) and support in household/ leisure time (2 afternoons, 3 hours)

Both services may occur on same day and there can be 20 km distance between them

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Weeknesses of service• Limited period of time contracts• Requirements:Diploma in social educatingOwn car is needed- educator have to ride client

in her/his leisure timeNumerous experiences and skills regarding:autism, handling with aggresion, system of school

integration,• Relations with families of disabled peole,• Solitary work or work in multidisciplinary group

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Weeknesses of service

• Focus should be on finding own place in system, where is a great deal of competition for good workers.

• Urgent requests needed to be disposed in short time (couple of days).

• It is impossible to plan a delivery of new staff because cooperations don´t know when they will need it.

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• Grazie, Merci, Děkuji, Thank youfor your attention.

• Francesco Spoto • www.epta.coop• [email protected]

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