Shared knowledge

In Denmark there are about 100,000 recipients of cash benefits who are not readily employable, i.e. people who, apart from being unemployed, have social problems, sickness, mental disorders, substance abuse, language problems etc. In recent years there has been increasing focus on designing labour-market measures for these people.
This report examines the possibilities of case officers at municipal job centres to organise and coordinate the long-term employability enhancement initiatives with citizens and the programme centres.
The conclusion is that case officers lack knowledge about the impacts of employability enhancement programmes for recipients of cash benefits who are not readily employable. Furthermore, many municipalities have limited knowledge about the content of the various employability enhancement programmes.
The study also shows that there are widespread challenges to ensure cohesion and information in initiatives.
The report is based on a large qualitative study with 58 case officers, managers and employability enhancement officers at 14 municipalities.