Negotiating Job Plans for under 18 year old at risk job seekers 010-06090010

Is the job seeker under 18 and claiming/receiving YA?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, this procedure does not apply

Is this the customer's initial contact?

• Yes, the Participation Interview must be run. This will identify any barriers the job seeker has and identify if any referrals are required. See Item 1 in Table 2
• No, go to Step 3

Has the job seeker already been assessed as being 'at risk' by the social worker?

Note: the social worker will have identified these job seekers on a DOC with a keyword of 'atrisk'.

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 4

Is the job seeker presenting with 'at risk' issues?

• High risk factors:
• lack of stable accommodation
• lack of adequate accommodation
• lack of income
• no family support or limited support/contact with positive adult role models
• drug/alcohol misuse
• mental health issues, including self-harming behaviour, suicidal tendencies
• poor physical health
• high itinerancy
• survivor of abuse
• family and domestic violence
• literacy problems
• offending behaviour (Youth Justice Centre)
• Early School Leaver
• early home leaver
• history of state care
• Medium risk factors:
• low level social/behavioural skills
• low level literacy/numeracy
• low level life skills, e.g. Budgeting, understanding obligations
• no family support or limited support/contact with positive adult role models
• negative peer pressure/influence
• unplanned pregnancy
• family history of welfare dependency
• cultural issues
• locational disadvantage
• intellectual disability/Learning difficulty
• sexuality
• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, the job seeker is required to participate in approved requirements and/or job search unless they are exempt from this requirement. See Applying mutual obligation requirements. Procedure ends here

Note: not all young people considered to be 'at risk' will require a referral to a social worker for further assessment. In many cases Service Officers (for Centrelink managed job seekers) or Employment Services Providers will be able to develop an appropriate Job Plan based on the information gathered from the job seeker.

Flag the job seeker's record to identify the young person as being 'At Risk' on a DOC with the keyword of 'atrisk'. Update the customers Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen if applicable.

The following job seekers should be referred to the social worker:

• All young people who request an interview with a social worker
• All young people who present with multiple 'at risk' issues and require intensive support to maintain stability (these will primarily be unreasonable to live at home (UTLAH) cases)

An under 18 year old at risk job seeker must meet the definition of Centrelink managed in order to have that status. The most common requirements that will enable these job seekers to be Centrelink managed is Youth Activities.

Once any specialist assessments have been made and they are a Centrelink managed job seeker, a Job Plan needs to be negotiated. This can be done in 1 of 2 ways:

• Negotiate a Job Plan with the job seeker, taking into account any recommendations (including those regarding content) from specialist staff, or
• The Service Officer, the job seeker and the social worker may work together to negotiate a Job Plan

All parties will make an agreement on how they will continue to support the job seeker to comply and move towards goals such as education/training or other approved requirements.

A provider managed job seeker will negotiate their Job Plan with their provider.

Job Plans for 'at risk' under 18 year olds should focus on assisting the young person to stabilise their circumstances and address fundamental barriers to accessing education, or training.

Complete this process by:

• identifying barriers to education or training a young person may have, and
• formulating an appropriate Job Plan that takes into account the nature of the young person's circumstances and contains requirements that are identifiable, measurable and achievable in the context of the young person's current situation and capacity to comply with their requirements

Note: Service Officers are to involve specialists to assess the complexity of issues impacting on the job seeker and identify appropriate services/requirements.

It is anticipated that most job seekers in this group will need at least the first 2 weeks to address basic life essentials (such as finding stable accommodation) and the Job Plan should be tailored to allow this.

An alternate option is to approve an exemption from their mutual obligation requirements by coding MPC (Major Personal Crisis) on the Activities and Exemptions (AEX) screen for a 2 week period.

Granting an exemption using MPC may provide the customer with a short-term exemption from their requirements, however consideration needs to be given as to the most appropriate support for the young person at the time, either through a flexible Job Plan or through a short-term exemption.

If the Service Officer grants an exemption to a Centrelink managed job seeker, consideration should be given to making an appointment for the job seeker at the end of the 2 weeks to agree to a Job Plan.

Services Australia is only responsible for negotiating a Job Plan if the job seeker is a Centrelink managed job seeker. It will be the provider's role to negotiate the Job Plan with a provider managed job seeker.

Due to the nature of these job seeker's circumstances and lifestyle, there is often a higher propensity for them to remain itinerant.

• For Centrelink managed job seekers, flag the job seekers record to identify the young person as being 'at risk' on a DOC with a keyword of 'atrisk' and
• Update the customers Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen (if required)

To update the Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen in Process Direct:

• Key 'BIJC' in the Super Key
• Select Add to add a new circumstance
• The Add Circumstances screen will display, select the Circumstance Category and Current Status from the drop down menus
• Add any additional information in the free text field
• Record any evidence in evidence section, using the tick boxes
• Select Save
• Complete the Receipt Date and Channel fields, select Save
• Select Assess and address any errors/warnings
• Finalise the transaction by selecting Assess again, then select Finish. Record details of the update on the Finalise screen
• Select Finalise to complete the transaction

If a job seeker moves to a new area, an appointment needs to be set up to review their Job Plan and ensure that basic living needs are being addressed.

Note: the Job Plan must be reviewed to ensure the young person is connected to local support programs and that these referrals are built into the young person's mutual obligation requirements. Job seekers who are provider managed will have their Job Plan negotiated and maintained with their provider. The Service Officer may need to assist some job seekers to reconnect with a provider.

For Centrelink managed job seekers, the requirements should have a study, training or paid work component, however consideration should be given to referring the job seeker to Youth Activities, or a local youth service as their primary requirement.

Where the young person is linked to a local youth service or is participating in another unfunded program, code the approved requirement as YAC (Youth Activities) on the Activity and Exemption Summary (AEX) screen. This will ensure the job seeker is Centrelink managed. 'Youth Activity' must also be included in their requirements.

Make any referrals to local services/programs where appropriate. Refer to Payment and Service Finder.

For Centrelink managed job seekers, use the Job Plan workflow to negotiate a Job Plan.

A provider managed job seeker will have their Job Plan negotiated and maintained by their provider.

For customers who:

• submit an online claim or a Service Officer has completed the Assisted Customer Claim (ACC) workflow:
• once in the claim, select > Participation Interview > Job Plan > Negotiate Job Plan or View Plan
• are currently receiving a payment:
• select Customer Summary from the Process Direct Landing page
• enter the Customer Reference Number (CRN) in the CRN field, select Go
• in the customer’s record select > Participation Summary > Job Plan > Negotiate Job Plan or View Plan

• Ensure the job seeker is aware their progress will be reviewed at the 3 and 6 month stage or if their circumstances change (such as becoming disconnected from a service or if they move to a new address covered by another service centre)
• Reinforce with the job seeker the focus of their requirements in the first 6 months, is on stabilising their circumstances and assisting them to address complex barriers to education and training
• Advise the job seeker that they:
• can request a variation or renegotiation of the Job Plan at any time
• can apply for a formal review of any decision in relation to the Job Plan
• must notify the agency or their provider of any changes in their circumstances and/or ability to comply with the terms of their Job Plan
• Answer any questions the job seeker may have

Note: young people are at high risk of not complying with their mutual obligation requirements and requiring additional assistance. It is important that this is indicated on the job seeker's record via a DOC using the 'atrisk' keyword and the Circumstances Impacting Compliance screen.