guidance activities

Implications for future programme development

Aksept, PI Lelystad and PI Achterhoek provide the language lessons within their organisation themselves. This is not common in the Netherlands: clients are usually referred to a language point to be connected to language lessons there. Internal language lessons can be an advantage because the different parts of the guidance process are then more integrated. However, service delivery and/or quality still depends on a good partnership between the different departments/employees involved that are responsible for the different parts of the guidance process. Within one of these three pilot organisations, it is evident that information is not exchanged between departments and that the internal cooperation is not optimal.

The special character of the penitentiary institutions can make the guidance process more difficult, in the sense that clients with (very) short sentences do not see the added value of this. If they do undergo the Literacy Screener, a process cannot be started/finished within the penitentiary institution if the client has an indication of low literacy. It would be nice if these clients would receive further guidance in this area outside penitentiary institution.

Policy implications

Implications of policy

The Dutch approach to low literacy focuses on finding more low literate people by having organisations with a main purpose other than addressing low literacy screen their clients for low literacy in a fast and easy way. Four organisations of diverse types are participating in the Dutch GOAL project: organisations focusing on labour participation and prisons. They show that the Literacy Screener can be used effectively in different types of organisations. The common factor (and an important condition for the successful use of the instrument) is that the Literacy Screener provides useful information for the organisations’ own work processes.