Working in early years education and childcare is one of the most important jobs in the world. Recruiting men to play their part in it should be a priority for any government, local authority, early years provider or other early years sector organisation which cares about diversity and inclusion.

PACEY has been working with MITEY to help spread the word.

Find out more about MITEY

In Greenwich, JCP Claimant sessions are held at two Children’s Centres (Storkway Children’s Centre in Eltham and Mulgrave Children’s Centre in Woolwich) twice a month. Lone Parents of pre-school age children are offered an appointment at a Children’s Centre with a Work Coach to discuss their options of starting work or study. The appointments are not compulsory but it is strongly encouraged that the parents attends. If the parent does not attend, the Work Coach will contact them over the telephone as an alternative.

One of the Work Coaches who facilitates these sessions, Janet Gaffney from Woolwich JCP, spoke to me about the benefits of holding these sessions in a Children’s Centre;

Which type of clients/claimants do you invite to the Children’s Centre to meet with you?

The sessions are aimed at Lone Parents on Income Support who have Children between the ages of 1 and 4. The parents are invited along with an appointment to talk about preparing to return to work or study. They get the opportunity to speak to a Work Coach and talk about their options.

“My little one was happy playing with the staff and toys. I got to have my appointment and talk freely without having little miss needing my attention.”

What difference does it make to you as a worker to hold claimant sessions at a Children’s Centre as opposed to a job centre?

The Children Centres are more relaxed, suitable environment for children. This means that the parent is more likely to open up to me and talk about any barriers or issues in returning to work. Sometimes other agencies attend, such as Greenwich Families Information Service and the PACEY Together for Two’s worker to provide additional information on childcare and funded childcare hours. This is very informative for the parents.

What difference do you think it makes to the parent / carer and their children to meet in this environment?

Parents can talk freely without having children listening. The environment is much more relaxed and comfortable for the parent and their child/children. The children can play with the toys, often there is a Children’s Centre play worker on hand, and this seems to make the parent more relaxed than in a Job Centre environment.

“I felt relaxed and listened to, have someone having sympathy for my condition and giving me the right advice means the world to me”

What long term benefits do you think this has to the parents to get them work ready and thinking about going back into work / study?

Parents can talk to us to help them to prepare for training/work. It gives them the opportunity to consider their options about returning to work in the future and they get lots of information, not just about jobs and benefits but also to get advice on courses that are run by the Children’s Centres and about help with Childcare. They get to see returning to work in a positive light with supportive professionals on hand to offer advice and overcome any barriers. I think it would be beneficial to roll this scheme out across the borough and in other Local Authorities as it works very well for work coaches and parents. There is always a high percentage of parents who are invited that attend on the day.

Source JCP Storkway Feedback shared by Janet Gaffney of Woolwich JCP – 18 December 2019.

Inderpal Mudhar (Indy) is a childcare partnership manager for Jobcentre Plus in Hillingdon. He works closely with PACEY to recruit more childminders to meet local demand for the role. Indy explains why he feels the Together for Twos project is so important in his area.

As there is a shortage of childminders in Hillingdon and Harrow, PACEY is running the Together for Twos programme to recruit more people into the profession. This will help more families access childcare as well as increase employment for local people.

Flexible home working

As part of my role in the Jobcentre Plus (JCP), I work with lone parents and I realised that this would be a brilliant opportunity for them as they could learn the skills needed to provide an income for their family, while working from home and being there for their own children. Childminders are self-employed. This is a good selling point as it is flexible work that fits around a family; childminders choose their hours and set boundaries for how they would like to work.

Training

he first step for people claiming benefits is to access training in becoming a childminder. Work coaches in Jobcentre Plus can refer people claiming benefits to the childminding training if they are interested. We also work closely with the local authority and children’s centres, making sure that parents are aware of the programme and that there is demand for skilled, trained and registered childminders in the borough.

Although we have started referring people to the childminding training, it’s not always straightforward. People do have some barriers. They are worried about set up costs, accessing training and their ability to earn money afterwards. Our work coaches can help talk through those worries and signpost them to the right person for more information and support.

Access to training

Some people might be worried about training because they didn’t have a good experience at school or because they have dyslexia or other learning difficulties or English as an additional language. Our JCP work coaches can help people to figure out their next step. This might be a skills test at the local college or an English as an additional language course. We can signpost people and work with them to take any steps needed before they enrol onto a childminder training course.

Practical support

Just remember, there is plenty of practical support available, so don’t be afraid to ask. Whether from your JCP work coach, the local authority, college or networks of other childminders. If you enjoy working with children and want a job which fits around your family while helping others, becoming a childminder is definitely worth considering as not only is it a rewarding choice, there is a need for more childminders too.

Find out more

• Being a childminder and claiming benefits
• Becoming self-employed and claiming universal credit

In Bexley, Together for Two’s Childminding Development Worker Sally Heron has been holding monthly ‘Childcare Clinic’ sessions on the first Thursday of every month. This started in September 2020 and is due to conclude when the project ends in April 2021.

Job Centre work coaches identify claimants who express a need for advice or guidance relating to childcare and then use a monthly diary sheet with 10 half hour slots to book claimants in. The diary sheet is sent to Sally in advance of the session and she then telephones the claimants to chat about childcare and any other issues relating to barriers when looking for work.

Which type of clients/claimants are offered a claimant call?

The sessions are suggested by work coaches to any clients that are experiencing difficulties in accessing childcare, confused about childcare funding and for general advice about the childcare settings and choices that are available in Bexley.

What is the benefit to the clients that are called in this way?

Parents who chat to Sally express that it is really helpful to talk about childcare and the barriers to looking for work with an impartial person who is knowledgeable about Early Years and can unpick the confusion about the different childcare funding options that may be available.

What difference do you think it makes to the parent?

Sometimes a work coach might only have limited time to chat to a parent about childcare. Additionally they might not know about local childcare or the complexity of paying for childcare and/or eligibility criteria. When Sally chats to parents, she can get a more detailed picture about the family circumstances and can also use her local knowledge and contacts to signpost them to other professionals or agencies that may be able to help them find a childcare setting, such as the Bexley Family Information Directory.

What benefits do you think this could have for work coaches and the Job Centre as a whole?

Having this extra service has allowed work coaches to make a telephone referral to Sally in the knowledge that their client will get detailed help, removing the barrier of lack of childcare. This can support them to spend more time with the client to help with work searches and other support. It also shows clients that the job centre can offer a more holistic service and that they really care about a client’s individual circumstances and the barriers that they are currently facing. 

Additionally, some issues have come up where she has been able to pass information back to the work coach for further support. For instance, one parent for whom English was a second language said she would greatly appreciate support in building a C.V and she was able to pass this on to her work coach.

How many claimants have you spoken with to date (November 2020)?

Sally has have spoken with 19 parents over 3 sessions and they have all been lengthy and useful conversations.

What impact is Covid-19 having on the clients that you have spoken to?

Everyone spoken to has been affected in some way. Some of the issues coming up have been lack of suitable jobs to apply for (or too many applicants applying to the same jobs), family breakdown, lack of wraparound care due to local schools not reopening Breakfast / After School clubs, partners loss of jobs and also depression, anxiety and isolation.

Again it is useful for to be able to pass on these issues to the Job Centre so that they have a picture of the local difficulties.

And finally have you been able to offer any other support/advice?

Yes, including;

• Allaying fears about starting to use childcare again due to Covid-19. Advising what childcare settings are doing to make everything Covid Safe.
• Signposting a client to Early Years’ Service to apply for the 15 hours funded childcare for 2 year olds.
• Talking about out of hours childcare for shift work
• Guidance about paying for childcare up front and using the Flexible Support Fund
• Signposting to Local Authority Families Information Service, Childcare Choices website and Gov. Childcare calculator
• Emailed digital information pack to claimants with lots of useful information and links
• Advice about splitting funded hours between providers
• Signposted a family to Citizens Advice for Child Maintenance query
• Signposted a family to Bexley Family Wellbeing Service for further family support
• Offered and booked in a follow up call to a family with complex issues

Feedback from feedback from an Employer Advisor who has been instrumental in starting the scheme and encouraging staff to make use of it:

“The arrangements we have in place at the moment for the monthly customer calls is going very well. Our first diary in September wasn’t full with only two customers, however, one of the customers found this service extremely valuable and informative which supported her in her current situation. Since then we have had two full lists of appointments for customers needing advice etc. around childcare in these very uncertain times, proving that the help and support is needed. Work coaches are very pleased they can book a customer in to get the specialised help and advice which is needed now more than ever for parents and those looking after children. PACEY have been a huge support to our customers, the relationship works very well too between PACEY and the Jobcentre as we do liaise to try and get the help that the customer needs at that time. I really do hope we can continue to work together.”

Michelle Hood, Together for Twos Development Worker

Part of my Together for Twos Development Worker role is to support Job Centre Plus work coaches, in helping their clients when they have childcare queries, so I was delighted when a referral about a claimant was made to me by one of the work coaches.

The claimant was a single mother whose child was 4 years old. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, she was self-employed, delivering arts and crafts sessions to pre-school children whilst her daughter went to a nursery setting under the 30 hours of funded childcare scheme for working families. When the lockdown requirements came into force in March 2020, she was unable to run her business. With no source of income, she successfully applied to claim Universal Credit, but was no longer eligible for 30 hours of funded childcare. Her daughter of course was still entitled to attend nursery for 15 hours per week which she continued to do so when childcare settings opened back up.

After the initial lockdown was over, and government restrictions allowed businesses to re-open following social distancing measures, she decided that she would like to restart her craft sessions once more and was organising how to do this safely.

She wanted to know what her options were regarding increasing her funded childcare hours. I was able to signpost her to information and shared links that could possibly help. The first being Childcare Choices which is a government website that gives information on all types of financial help for childcare costs, and ranges for children from 0-16 years old. Here she would be able to see eligibility criteria, access links for applying for funding, and use a childcare calculator.

I also sent links to self-employment and a change in circumstances due to Covid- 19. I informed her that because she qualified for Universal Credit, she may be entitled to claim back up to 85% of her childcare costs.  She informed me that she would have a look at these options.

On a follow up call during the second lockdown in November 2020, she told me that due to the current climate, it had not been possible to re-open her business. She had however been applying for new employment. She had been successful and was due to start a new job as a Learning Support Assistant in a college in a few weeks’ time.

She was in the process of re-applying for 30 hours of funded childcare but was concerned that her daughters’ nursery no longer had a vacancy for the extra hours needed. I informed her that she could split the funded hours between settings and that a childminder would be a great option to use if she needed the additional childcare. This was something she hadn’t thought about before and was extremely grateful for the information.

She spoke about not giving up on her own business and would be looking at what could be done in the future, considering online and at weekends to keep it going, but for now she was pleased and excited about her new job opportunity and that her daughters’ needs would also be met.   

Read about the 2-year-old offer in action from a range of professionals and providers, including single mum Carly talking about how working with Job Centre Plus helped her to get off benefits and find work she enjoys doing.