Good practices and lessons learned

AuthorCambridge Econometrics, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission), Eurocentre, ICF
Pages137-140
Study supporting the evaluation of promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any
discrimination by the European Social Fund (Thematic Objective 09)
137
7. GOOD PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED
The eval uation i dentified a number of go od practi ces and lessons learned concerning
the design and implementation of ESF support to social inclusion. These are o rganised
in relation to the evaluation criteria below.
7.1. Effectiveness
Good practices were identified in the review of success factors that promoted the
effectiveness of TO9 operations (see reply to EQ 1.5, Section 0) and the review of soft
outcomes (see reply to EQ 1.4, see Section 0).
Partnerships and engagement at the local level. A high l evel of cross-sectoral
cooperation at regional and local level was especially important in the delivery of
integrated support through the 'one-stop-shop' approach. For example, in the
Netherlands (2014NL05SFOP001), partnerships united stakeholders with a common
shared purpose and led to better service provision. In Spai n (2014ES05SFOP012), the
participation of large an d medium-siz ed NGOs promoted the effective outreach to the
target group.
Lesson learned: Building cross-sectoral partnerships can facilitate effective engagement
with the target group.
'Hard' outcomes and creaming. The monitoring of 'hard' outcomes, in particular when
targets are set, may in centivise beneficiaries to select participan ts who are more likely
to generate the desired result rather than the participants who are most need the
intervention (an effect known as 'creaming'). Monitoring of soft outcomes is critical to
be able to identify and reflect th e important results generated by ESF support to social
inclusion (or social inclusion operations in general). Those few Managi ng Authorities
which examined and evaluated the soft outcomes of their OPs were able to identify
important effects such as increases in self -confidence an d inter-personal skills, which
are fundamental first steps to get vulnerable groups closer to the labour mark et.
Lesson learned: If possible, th e assessment of soft outcomes should be built into the
monitoring and evaluation framework of social inclusion operations.
Individualised, continuous support. ESF support to social inclusion that is
individualised and follows the programme participant over time is likely to have a greater
impact. For example, in Austria (2014AT05SFOP001), partici pants found it useful to
have a dedicated person to turn to at any time. This hands-on approach also helped the
project to realise at an early stage that the level of competencies of participants in core
areas like literacy was initially overestimated, while the speed of integration as
underestimated. In Italy (2014IT05FOP004) the commitment and availability of the
tutors throughout the course helped participants to overcome personal challenges they
faced during the course. However, th e lack of support and follow -up after the course
hampered the effectiveness of the i ntervention. In Hungary (2014HU05M20P001, the
educational requirements of personnel were reduced to increase the ratio of social
workers to clients, but this had the unintended effect of limiting the capacity of
personnel to support clients in a sufficiently personalised way. In Italy
(2014IT05FOP004), an intervention was co-des igned with participants and t ailored to
their needs.
Lessons learned: Providing sufficient time and personalised support for the target group
is crucial to ensure their needs are met and to generate the desired results. The
provision of personalised support is costly and requires more intense training and

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