EUROPEAN POLICY FORUM ON ASYLUM, 22-24 MAY 2007 Theme 1- Advice, Education and Training

1. EUROPEAN POLICY FORUM ON ASYLUM, 22-24 MAY 2007 Theme 1- Advice, Education and Training Workshop 1.2. Advice, Assistance and Volunteering Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa

2. Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa SocialDepartment Mission To promote activities and implement social services for people living in Lisbon, with social, cultural, educational, economical and/or health difficulties or special needs

3. Intervention Areas -Children and young people at risk - Adoption services -Community and family services -Aged people -People with physical or mental debilities -People with HIV/AIDS -Homeless people and people with instable residence (AS) -Education, training and certifying of competences

4. Target Public children and young people, adults, families, ethnic communities, aged people, people at risk of social exclusion (including Asylum Seekers), people with drugging problems (addicted one’s), people with physical or mental debilities and people with HIV/AIDS. Intervention Goals to prevent situations of social vulnerability, social exclusion, and to promote the personal development, the inclusion and social cohesion, directly and co-ordinated with the other public and private entities.

5. The participation of SCML in the VIAAS Project The participation of the SCML in the VIAAS Project is centred in two different areas: • Identification and Selection of asylum seekers to the project activities (Vocational Training Courses and Evaluation, Validation and Certification of Competences (EVC). • Implementation of the EVC Model, according with what was approved by PASSI partnership.

6. 2) Implementation of the EVC Model The Product: • Intervention model that allows the individual to define a training/ professional project adjusted to his competencies that are identified in a skill audits process. General goals: • To identify and promote competences developed through life experience; • (re) define and oriented a social and professional project that promotes a sustainable integration.

7. Intervention Model (adopted to asylum seekers) Schooling and Training Experience Social Experiences Professional Experience Life Experience • Specific areas: • Employability • Future training Program • Job Placement and career • Mathematics for every-day life • Language and Communications • IT Communications • Citizenship and Employability Individual Project Training Equal Goal: to promote asylum seekers integration into European labour market portfolio

8. From a Project Experience to the Creation of a New Tool for Integration… Santa Casa Experience – Why do we Think this Model can be transferred to other target groups? • People in a situation of social exclusion • Very low competences in the 2 main areas (Language and Communication Skills and Citizenship and Employability) • limited access to the labour market • very low levels of self-esteem and self confidence • low rates of success in what concerns integration plans defined with the social workers • very low levels of entrepreneurship • social exclusion processes (in terms of sociability, rights and duties as a citizen, etc.) Positive Impacts of the Experience with Asylum Seekers’ • Promotes social inclusion in the host society by the development of a social/professional integration project; • Promotes the active participation of people in a self evaluation process/ skill audits; • Promotes employability; • Provides a tool allowing them to plan, organized and implemented with autonomy a personal project aiming asocial integration; • Individual approach – all the process is plan and developed with the individual and adapts to his needs and competencies;

9. From a Project Experience to the Creation of a New Tool for Integration… Santa Casa Experience – Why do we Think this Model can be transferred to other target groups? … Positive Impacts of the Experience with Asylum Seekers’ • Promotes self confidence, self esteem and interculturality; • More motivated to acquire new knowledge and training; • More able to identify the competences acquired in life experience; • Improve the self confidence and autonomy in the development of the activities proposed; • Positive impact in the relationship establish with other adults (trainers/colleagues…).

10. From a Project Experience to the Creation of a New Tool for Integration… Santa Casa Experience – Why do we Think this Model can be transferred to other target groups? Positive Impacts of the Experience with Asylum Seekers’ Opportunity to incorporate this model and transfer to other target groups

11. The Model as an Instrument to promote Social Integration • Direct beneficiaries: > 18 years old, asylum seekers, immigrants, refugees, people in situation of social vulnerability and need counselling and support to (re)defined a life project; • Indirect beneficiaries: New opportunities Centres (for qualification of adults), Public Employment and Vocational Training Centres, NGO’s High commissar for immigrants, etc.

12. The dissemination • After the product is concluded it could be adopted / adapted by the organizations that developed their activities on the target group adopting this methodology as an auxiliary tool to promote social integration

13. The dissemination • Workshops, meetings with other organizations; • Media; • Open doors sessions (with asylum seekers that have participated in the experience and potential futures beneficiaries)