Outreach strategies

Implications for future programme development

Taking into account the absence of regular funding for counselling services (provided outside of PES system), if more extensive outreach efforts are adopted, this is likely to have implications for programme resources and costs. It may also have implications on outcomes, as more disadvantaged clients can be expected to achieve fewer positive outcomes than less disadvantaged clients. A comprehensive national level analysis of institutional network dealing with low-motivated disadvantaged clients and barriers that clients face in reaching services should be performed to identify the duplications and the gaps in institutional framework. In the existence of strong PES system for counselling job-seekers and unemployed, a political support should be secured to expand an alternative service. Such services should be built on actual needs of existing and potential clients.

Policy implications

Implications of policy

The outreach services are largely impacted by policy issues: strong positioning of PES services due to ESF funding and lack of systemic funding to provision of counselling services in educational institutions.

Implications for policy

The GOAL experience showed that GOAL sites without additional funding and clear mandate would not be capable of providing high-quality guidance services targeted exceptionally for low educated / low skilled persons. The relatively high cost of counselling services per client may have implications for policymakers’ ability and willingness to support GOAL or similar programmes in the future, after EU funding has ceased. The decisions regarding expanding services on wider scale should be based on the needs analysis including analysis of overall current institutional framework and actual costs-benefit analysis. In estimating costs of the system ESF spending on counselling services within PES and actual gains should be taken into account. Supporting NGOs to play a more active role in outreach or referral, creating mobile counselling places or delegating responsibilities for building adult counselling system to municipal level (based on municipal adult education coordinators network) are other options.