Supported internships, Gloucestershire

ACTION

"The overwhelming majority of young people with special educational needs are capable of sustaining employment, with the right preparation and support," reads the government's 2014 guidance for councils and colleges on establishing supported internships, a work-based training programme helping 16- to 25-year-olds with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) develop the skills to sustain employment. The Department for Education has been keen to encourage the expansion of these internships since leading a trial with 15 colleges from autumn 2012.

Supported internships seemed the logical next step for Forwards disability employment service in Gloucestershire, where the council's disability employment commissioner Vikki Walters and colleagues were determined to tackle the fact that "young disabled people don't often get the same opportunities as non-disabled children, and can often be written off". Walters and colleague Chris Haynes, lead commissioner for learning disabilities, convened a meeting in September 2014 with colleges, SEN post-16 strategic lead Lynn Morris and the British Association for Supported Employment, to discuss getting supported internships off the ground.