Helsinki Skills Centre adds value to integration support services and their effectiveness

The effectiveness evaluation of Helsinki Skills Centre provided information on how the skills centre has affected the employment potentials of people with an immigrant background both without and after the provision of their services. Based on the evaluation, the Helsinki Skills Centre has operated flexibly and developed services that have not been available before for Helsinki’s immigrants. These have been multidisciplinary and extensive competence surveying, vocational path studies for a closed group and various language training courses. A particular novelty in terms of their operation has been that their services are provided in parallel. The strength of Helsinki Skills Centre has been e.g. the fact that their Finnish language teaching has been integrated with other skills teaching at all stages of the customer path. Customer orientation includes individual treatment from the perspective of both staff and customers, respectful encounters, listening to customers views and services tailored to customer needs, such as taking traumas and the phenomenon-based approach into account, the multi-vocational and long duration of the competence survey was favourably compared to a single interview situation, basing plans on customer needs and using native language instructors in the service.

In the reviews using the synthetic control method, the most important effect related to the Helsinki Skills Centre’s start of operations has been the more efficient orientation of the skill centre’s key customer target groups to services included in the activation rate, such as various types of training. During the Helsinki Skills Centre’s operational period, the effect it has had on the length of periods of unemployment can also be seen. Based on the results, the periods of unemployment have shortened in the examined customer target groups and long-term unemployment has been reduced more effectively than before.

The evaluation provided Helsinki Skills Centre and the City of Helsinki with 1) an extensive description of the current status, operations and service process management of the Helsinki Skills Centre, consisting of quantitative and qualitative information 2) an assessment of the impact and effectiveness of its operations, and 3) proposals for the further development of operations from the perspectives of working life transitions, integration and customer orientation.

Helsinki Skills Centre turned five in the summer. In the picture taken on 24.9. in a festive atmosphere training manager from the Helsinki Skills Centre Frans Winstén (left), expert Juho Nyman, leading expert Mikko Valtakari and expert Sari Pitkänen from MDI. Photo: Viivi Heikura.

Materials

Evaluation report and other evaluation data and stream of the event

On 13.10.2021, based on the evaluation results, MDI presented an expert opinion on the functioning of training, employment and rehabilitation services and the development needs in terms of the operations of the Helsinki Skills Centre to the Audit Committee of the Finnish Parliament. The opinion can be found in the expert opinions of the Audit Committee.