Training and placing the vulnerable in Chile

Solution: More Capable Programme of 2014-2018 National Training and Employment Service (SENCE), Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Chile
Organization: Chilean National Training and Employment Service
Country of Implementation: Chile
Region: Latin America & Caribbean
Subregion: South America
Start Year: 2015
First published: 31.01.2017

The programme supports financially particularly disadvantaged women, young people and people with disabilities on their way into the labour market through skills training, supported employment, and labour intermediation. In 2016, 5,235 people with disabilities were given the opportunity to receive training.

Beneficiaries of the More Capable Programme © SENCE — Beneficiaries of the More Capable programme in Chile. © SENCE

Solution details

People

“Thanks to this programme, I became a Mechanic and I could prove that I am capable.” Mr Diego Navarro, “More Capable” participant with spastic paraplegia, Chile

By developing the skills of the poor, including those with disabilities, and by combining such training with a comprehensive array of employment services, Chile’s “More Capable” programme is educating a huge number of people who would otherwise remain untrained, including 5,235 persons with disabilities to date.

Problems Targeted

Chile’s “More Capable” programme helps disadvantaged women, young people, and persons with disabilities to access the labour market through skills training, supported employment, and labour intermediation. For the first time, the country’s labour market inclusion policy has established a specific budget and programme line for people with disabilities. In 2015, 2,685 persons with disabilities were trained, and in 2016 an additional 2,550 were trained, of whom about 9.5 per cent have found employment three months after the course. It is expected that some 20,000 persons with disabilities will be trained by 2018.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

Leaving no one behind  The programme reaches out to the most vulnerable elements of the population, specifically women, young people, and persons with disabilities.  Disability-Centred  It is the first Chilean programme with a disability-specific budget and programme line, implementing training, counselling, specialized intervention, and support for placement into the labour market.  Join training and employment   While training and employment providers were previously conceived as separate elements, today they work together to promote inclusive employment, which comprises a number of additional components.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

In 2015 the programme cost €9.9 million and in 2016 the expenditure was €13.4 million. In 2016 the budget per person is €4,076 from initial candidate assessment to final job support. To start the   programme required a significant economic effort due to the country’s lack of accessible training infrastructure and few experienced organizations. Since then, however, the programme has been so successful that it has been presented at an international seminar in Uruguay.