Municipality of Nieuwkoop
With customization and good guidance, the status holder becomes a participating citizen!
The municipality of Nieuwkoop provides social guidance for status holders from the reception in the asylum seekers' centre. With a personal approach, Nieuwkoop wants to turn the status holder into a participating citizen as quickly as possible. "NOA's assessments fit perfectly into that approach," says Anneloes van Middelkoop, customer manager for status holders of the municipality of Nieuwkoop.
"NOA's PPS-V , which the status holder can fill in in their own language, immediately gives a good picture of education and work experience and also of possible problems. This allows us to enter the conversation in a much more focused way and find the right training path and the best workplace more quickly."
"We also take mental obstacles into account. Because sometimes we have to deal with people with a high education who still score low because they are still too busy in their heads with what they have experienced. Then it is good to first take time to get back into mental balance before we start training and work. So we provide tailor-made guidance and the assessment helps with that because it asks the status holder specific questions such as: where are you now, what opportunities and possibilities do you see and what do you want to focus on."
Since 1 January, the Netherlands has had the new Civic Integration Act. On the basis of this law, municipalities in the Netherlands are assigned status holders and become responsible for education, language development, employment and income. This will put the direction for integration in the hands of the municipalities. They are considered to be the best able to help those who have to integrate on their way to participate in Dutch society as soon as possible.
The aim of the municipality of Nieuwkoop is to help 50 percent of the status holder with education and work within a year and that has been achieved in the past year. "Nationally, that is 17 percent, so we are proud of our results," says Riham Salak, customer manager for status holders of the municipality of Nieuwkoop. "We are committed to allowing the status holder to undertake other activities in addition to the integration process from the start. After all, the best way to quickly find your place is to participate as much as possible. That way you also learn the language the fastest." As an example, Riham mentions an 18-year-old girl on welfare. "If she starts working, her income will be cut from her benefit, but we encourage her to apply and get started anyway. Because it is good for your self-esteem, you learn the language faster, you are better rooted in society and therefore have the best opportunities for personal development."
According to Anneloes and Riham, language proficiency and guidance are essential for successful participation. Therefore, when a status holder starts an education or a job, someone from the municipality always goes along. Is everything clear to the status holder? And does the employer or trainer know what to expect? Anneloes: "Trainers and employers can always come to us if something goes wrong. And we don't do that alone. I am happy with our strong team and the good mutual cooperation, but we also need the help of volunteers. Volunteers from the target group are especially indispensable to us."
Nieuwkoop has a large group of such volunteers who intensively guide the newcomers in the first three months. They go to the doctor and to school. Most of them also have a past as refugees and status seekers and that is important. Riham: "It is not only practical but also has the advantage that as a newcomer you see that you can find your way here, they are an example, give recognition and can sometimes also help in adjusting expectations to a realistic image. Because participating in a new society demands a lot from the newcomers and often does not correspond to the expectations they had." Volunteers also ensure that the newcomers get to know people quickly and can get support if necessary.
Participation in society in Nieuwkoop is more than arranging work for the man. Anneloes: "The moment the men have a paid job and are off benefits, the family disappears from the picture in many cases. But not in Nieuwkoop. We want the woman and the children to find their place here as well. We often have to deal with large families who are struggling financially. That is why we from the municipality also focus on the children, can they get an education and play sports? This way you increase their chances of a good future".
"Usually the children remain in the picture through the schools, but this is less the case with the women. We think it is important that they also learn the language and build a social life or go to work. That's why, for example, we have a cooking group for women here."
An important initiative in the municipality of Nieuwkoop is the Participation Academy. A foundation set up by a resident with the aim of contributing to the development of status holders over 30. As soon as you are above that age, you are no longer entitled to student finance, making it financially impossible for many status holders to follow an education. The Participation Academy finances these courses itself so that the newcomer can still build an independent life.
What is the PPS-V?
NOA's PPS-V is a Personal Profile Scan for Status Holders that is drawn up via an online assessment and is available in five languages: Dutch, English, Arabic, Farsi and Tigrinya. The assessment is culturally neutral, so objective. And it is modular, which allows the consultants to choose those modules that are applicable to the customer. Customization, in other words.
For status holders who can read and write well, the municipality uses the complete PPS-V and for people who are less proficient in writing and reading, there is the light variant where more use is made of pictures instead of text.
The NOA assessment contains all the questions for a Broad intake. This is useful because it also immediately draws up the legally required Personal Integration Plan (PIP). Anneloes: "We are very satisfied with NOA's assessment. All the strengths and weaknesses of the people come to the fore in it. We emphasize that the assessment is confidential and has no influence on the benefit. It is nice to see that the status holders themselves are curious about what comes out. It gives them a sense of self-control. And for us it is nice that the format of NOA is such that we can add things ourselves when we discuss the PIP. For example, contradictions may arise in the assessment because a concept has a different meaning for us than for the status holder. In this way, we increase the chances of the status holder to really become a participating citizen."
