Personal Support Programme evaluation: interim report

The aim of this study is to evaluate how well the Personal Support Programme (PSP) enables people with multiple non-vocational barriers to achieve economic and/or social outcomes.

Interim findings suggest that PSP is a crucial and well-designed program for assisting some of the most disadvantaged job seekers, but that several factors reduce its effectiveness – notably, inadequate funding to help clients access services such as education and counselling to overcome barriers.

While PSP’s recognition that some participants are unable to engage in employment-related activities before addressing personal barriers is vital, the lack of appropriate employment assistance integrated with personal support is an unfortunate limitation for those participants who feel ready to look for work.