Young people get a quick and efficient multisectoral service from the ‘Ohjaamo’ One-Stop Guidance Centre

According to a study on the impact of Ohjaamo, a One-Stop Guidance Centre, Ohjaamo’s are capable of serving young people holistically due to their multidisciplinary approach. The positive effects of Ohjaamo-services can be stated as faster service accessibility and process efficiency, with young people seamlessly guided to various services.

Multi-professionalism and the gathering together of services promote the relevance of guidance and enable Ohjaamo to address young peoples’ requirements in a flexible and timely manner. Personalised customer guidance and strong service coordination promote engagement with services. In addition, Ohjaamo’s network-based approach has the potential to contribute to the effectiveness of the regional youth service network in preventing youth exclusion. The effectiveness of the Ohjaamo system was assessed in the Measuring the impact of multidisciplinary cooperation in youth employment services -project carried out for the Prime Minister’s office.

Ohjaamo serves young people under the age of 30 by providing guidance at a low-threshold multi-professional service point and via a regional youth service network. The purpose of Ohjaamo operations is to streamline the transitions of young people into work, education or other activities, to promote youth participation, performance and life control and to bring service providers together in a multi-disciplinary entity. Ohjaamo is part of the regional youth service ecosystem and the overall effectiveness of the model is based on how well the individual services operate in the municipality and how the regional youth service system functions as a whole. Effective and relevant service management can only have a limited impact on young people’s lives if the service system itself functions poorly and ineffectively. The cost-benefit analysis of the study for the three existing Ohjaamo centres (Helsinki, Vantaa and Oulu) shows that they are able to cover their costs by generating savings in respect of traditional, publicly financed,  service delivery mechanisms.

The survey was carried out using statistical methods incorporating reference settings, based on Statistics Finland’s municipal indicators and individual-level URA-data. The data had to be limited to employment-related URA- data for material-driven reasons. In order to understand the impact dynamics and operating practices of Ohjaamo-services, 11 case studies were conducted in different types of Ohjaamo centres around Finland. The evaluation was carried out by MDI, TK Eval, Melkior Oy, Spangar Negotiations and Arnkil Dialogues.

Report (description sheet in English)