(2.) Welcome Steps -Maahanmuuttajien ohjaus- ja neuvontapalveluiden kehittäminen

Welcome Steps is a project for the development of guidance and counselling services for immigrants, funded by a special grant from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (MEAE).

The grant awarded to a project shall not exceed 70% of the total eligible costs.
The project is related to the goals for the integration of immigrants registered in the government programme, according to which the active integration of immigrants into Finnish society is strengthened, intensified and accelerated, and the quality, obligation and effectiveness of integration services are improved. In addition, the development work has points in common with the goal of the government programme to support the employment of immigrants and their inclusion into Finnish
society, for example by building ‘one-stop shop’ skills centres for multi-professional support.

The aim is to develop and improve the Welcome Office service, as well as its service design and network cooperation, and to create paths into working life through customer steering.
The first goal in the development of the Welcome Office service includes e.g.
1) Finding out about how to join the InfoFinland platform,
2) developing digital accessibility,
3) exploring alternatives and possibilities for digital guidance and counselling,
4) strengthening multilingual counselling; and
5) increasing the effectiveness of guidance and counselling services.

The second goal of the project is to strengthen the service design and network cooperation by
1) enhancing customer integration and placement processes in a multi-professional network,
2) developing the management model of the service management and Vaasa cooperation network,
3) organising workshops for the cooperation network; and
4) doing national and local network cooperation work.

Thirdly, the project creates paths to working life through customer steering.
The aim is to
1) organise customer information and training related to employment,
2) promote the integration and incorporation of all immigrant groups into working life through education,
3) arrange an initial interview / a plan for all immigrants.
The target group of the project is all immigrants, regardless of the reason for entry or labour market status, considering equality and a gender perspective. The aim is to map out existing services and, if necessary, create new services for those immigrants who are currently excluded for one reason or another.

More information

Project Manager Jaana Oba 040 646 3391 / jaana.oba@vaasa.fi