WHERE
Verlata is a social co-operative society composed of two units, the type A social co-operative Verlata, which mainly offers social assistance to young disabled people, and Verlata Lavoro, a type B social co-operative, which is dedicated to employment opportunity activities in favour of the above-mentioned people. The two co-operatives share the same mission: well-being of disabled people by giving value to their communicational, relational and professional skills, so as to promote their integration in the community and their social integration through labour.
Verlata was established 1984. The co-operative is situated in northern Italy in the province of Vicenza. It offers residential and semi-residential services (a day-time educational employment centre, home-delivered assistance, shelter community), employment-oriented services (employment centre), vocational training services (employment preparation centre), and home-delivered educational and family assistance services.
Effective collaborative process towards social integration and employment for young disadvantaged people
Verlata Lavoro’s activities cover five sectors: assembly, mechanics, carpentry, green areas maintenance, and IT services.
Verlata has a staff of more than 100, of whom 22 are people with disabilities. In 2005, the two co-operatives produced a total turnover of over 2.5 million euros.
WHY
Young disabled people with a psychiatric handicap have severe difficulties in finding a job and integrating in the community, even after the completion of their education. Also the elderly, drug addicted, convicted or formerly convicted people may have difficulties in social integration.
HOW
Verlata is a place of transition where disadvantaged people recover social values and professional skills that they can later on use in regular enterprises. The rehabilitation and labour preparation process is a long and complex action that begins at the social and healthcare services, goes through vocational training, and ends with an employment opportunity in the production world.
In order to reach its primary goal, the co-operative features a curriculum for people’s personal and professional growth to be developed within the two units and to be completed with some actual employment opportunities in the local market.
The labour activities of Verlata Lavoro are developed in five different sectors:
- assembly: assembly of plastic and metal products, micro parts, manual packaging, adhesive labels, personalisation, set up of samples, other preparations;
- mechanics: manual and semi-automatic assembly of electronic-mechanical components and articles;
- carpentry: wood working and wood derivates, a sector where even some machines are used, such as pantographs, isolators, perforators, etc.;
- green areas maintenance: maintenance and care of parks, green areas and sports grounds of public property, green areas and decorations of business companies, gardens and lawns in private locations; lawn mowing, pruning of shrubs, hedges, bushes, trees, plants, etc.
- IT services: work assignments for third parties (transfer of data from paper to digital format), processing of manuals and handbooks, outsourcing management of archives and data bases; consultancy for the implementation of administrative solutions (hardware and software) to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Verlata Lavoro’s services are addressed to disadvantaged people that are recommended by the employment agency of the Prisma consortium Verlata Lavoro is a member of. They aim at creating and delivering training initiatives for the development of people’s professional skills through customised and gradual curricula development that take into consideration people’s potentials and possibly involve an individual in the project along with his/her own family.
The curricula are constantly monitored by a person in charge of the project who is called a business tutor. The tutor is the main referent for the development of the project in charge of planning, monitoring and assessing the person’s progress (in periodical written reviews). Periodic checking takes place in co-operation with the organisation that recommended the disabled person, with the co-operative’s tutor, with the disabled person, with the family and with other staff members.
Verlata starts the employment preparation project with an internship, the longest term of which is theoretically 24 months. Verlata Lavoro’s actual goal, though, is to reduce this time and start with a real job contract as soon as possible. This decision was made, because Verlata Lavoro managers believe that a job improves rather quickly a disabled person’s conditions, not only on the social and ethical level but also on the economic level. This choice is undoubtedly expensive for Verlata Lavoro, but it is the most consistent with the co-operative’s mission and goals.
An individual who has already a fairly good production ability, although not ready to be hired in a regular company yet, is usually employed in the co-operative under a short-term contract of a maximum of 36 months and during this time the person receives an initial salary which is in line with his/her real working capacity.
Those who have reached an adequate professional level and met the necessary goals to be able to be hired by a company, are transferred to the Employment Integration Services, which begin the process for the employment of the people in an external company, in collaboration with the local Employment Centres. Even in this case, before the final employment contract is drawn up, there can be an internship period in the company.
If the disadvantaged person has not acquired sufficient skills and he/she seems likely not to make any further progress, the co-operative itself hires the person either as an actual associate member or as an employee under a long-term contract.
Experiences – Value of partnerships
Verlata has reached excellent results, with approximately 80% of the people becoming employed in a regular company. The excellent employment results of the people assisted are also possible through the close co-operation with other organisations involved in the productive network Verlata has been building along the years.
Although Verlata does not directly deal with the employment contracts that companies offer to the young people, it provides useful indications on the job function and tasks that would best suit these people, starting from the experience made in the various production areas of the co-operative. In order to promote an actual employment opportunity, Verlata works with other organisations, such as local schools and social and healthcare services, the Labour Integration Service of the local social and healthcare unit and the Provincial Labour Office, trade unions and other offices like the Provincial Equal Opportunities Commission.
The training opportunities the co-operative offers are included in a bigger project involving other organisations, that is, the Prisma Consortium. In collaboration with the local trade unions, the Prisma Consortium is buidling a strategy to promote improvements in co-operation with public administration, public welfare associations and nursing homes to avoid any reductions in quality of the services delivered. Therefore, a thorough social integration occurs when there is an intense interaction between the local social institutions and the production network.
Enclosures: Full Verlata case study (PDF)
Further experiences of success factors of Italian social co-operatives (PDF)
For more information: Verlata, www.verlata.it, 36030 Villavaerla (VI) - Via De Gasperi, 6
reg. Imprese di Vicenza, C.F. e P. IVA 00887350247, Albo Società Cooperative n. A141975 - REA VI 193614, tel. 0445 856212,verlata(at)verlata.it