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FO fears gaps in Government inclusion effort

Head of the Professional Council for disability nursing in FO, Marit Selfors Isaksen, believes social workers have a key role to play in work inclusion. Photo: FO.

Trade Union fears gaps in Government inclusion effort

The Trade Union, Fellesorganisasjonen (FO) fears social work is not included in the Government’s joint inclusion effort.

 

As a Trade Union and professional federation with many members employed by NAV, we see a tendency for social professional competence being omitted and not prioritised.

– This development is sad and disturbing, among other things, because many people without work need help with other issues than just writing their CV, says Marit Selfors Isaksen. Isaksen is in the leadership of FO.

It’s hard to quantify exactly how many people that do not have a job but actually want to find employment. According to calculations made by faktisk.no, there are between 400,000 and 600,000 persons in this category.

Need to cope

Isaksen explains that many of them need to learn ways to cope with a job when things become difficult. They need to experience coping, be able to bring out their own resources and use their own network.

– For those who are out of work to find employment, we need people in NAV with this competence. We need those who can get businesses and employers to accommodate all types of workers and those who understand that change is difficult and requires close follow-up, says Isaksen.

According to Social Economist, and former Cabinet Minister, Victor Norman, every person who falls outside the workforce costs NOK 20 million. This means that we can safely invest a bit of money to get more people into work.

– Fellesorganisasjonen (FO) know that many who work in NAV already have to prioritise hard to get the scarce resources to count for something. The task assigned to NAV is to provide personalised assistance to all, regardless of whether they have large or small needs. Then NAV needs to be equipped, both with competence and sufficient capacity, to meet individual needs. But does the Government prioritise this in its joint inclusion effort? Isaksen queries

Child welfare counsellors, social workers and disability nurses are educated to motivate and help individuals believe that they can and achieve their goals. The basis of social work is to point to resources in humans.

For your information

During the Arendal week, on August 14th, FO organises a seminar on workplace inclusion.

Read more at https://www.facebook.com/events/414883248922339/

 

© Fellesorganiasasjonen / #Norway Today