CIVIL SOCIETY: 45 PRACTICES
KETHEA is the largest rehabilitation and social reintegration network in Greece. It has been providing its services to drug addicts and their families since Ithaki, the first Greek therapeutic community, was set up in 1983.
Read more: www.kethea.gr
Successful integration of former users into society requires successful integration into the labor market. This assumption led to the creation of the Employment Club of KETHEA DIAVASI. Its operation began in February 1999 and was linked to education and vocational training activities of the therapeutic program. The main goal of the Club is to support KETHEA DIAVASI members who work or are in the process of searching for a job and bringing them in contact with employers and job agencies.
Members of the KETHEA DIAVASI therapeutic program who attend the social reintegration phase.
The program has been implemented on an annual basis since 1999.
Job and employment issues are particularly crucial for the population of former drug users who want to reintegrate. Due to the economic crisis, given that unemployment rates are on the rise, career guidance and job support are areas in which vulnerable groups of drug users and former drug users, need special care and support.
In this context, it was considered necessary to create a separate structure within the KETHEA DIAVASI therapeutic program. It is a "place" where members of the therapeutic program have the opportunity to look for a job in an organized way, to edit their CV, to write a cover letter, to prepare for the interview and to be trained in looking for a job.
The Employment Club operates from morning until noon, providing logistical infrastructure (eg newspapers, computers, etc.) and above all advising and supporting members to seek employment opportunities and to deal with and manage with the best possible way, the difficulties that may arise.
More specifically, the staff of the Employment Club supports its members in career guidance and professional identity development, job preparation, job searching techniques, job searching support, information on job and career days, professional counseling, problem management and workplace problems (through individual and group meetings), vocational courses, stabilization and development of members of the therapeutic program in the workplace.
In 2017, Employment Club offered services to 59 people (unemployed looking for work, most of whom received services more than once) and to 23 people, employed, looking for better job. Out of these 59 people found a new job.
However, besides from the employment rate, there are other positive impacts on people who are offered services in Employment Club:
• training in job search techniques (curriculum vitae, cover letter, preparation for interviews, searching in internet)
• career management and development
• personal development (through the job search process and the personal issues that arise)
• I stay clean of substances = I work “clean” – The importance of finding a job and looking for a job, while trying to stay out of drugs.
Athens, Greece
Employment Club works with employers and selected staff to provide reliable information on the problem of drug addiction over myths and prejudices, to raise awareness of the equal integration of former users into the labor market, to inform employers of subsidized occupational programs of OAED, to create a network of employers, to save them time in the recruitment process.
At the same time, Employment Club collaborates with labor organizations aiming at raising awareness on the problem of drug addiction and the treatment philosophy of KETHEA, as well as the creation of a network in order to inform labor market data on current legislation issues that relate to the recruitment of vulnerable groups.
Some of the most important collaborations are with:
At the moment, the Club employees 2 staff members, specialized in professional counseling (career management and development, job search techniques), as well as a volunteer student from the School of Pedagogical & Technological Education (ASPETE).
In the context of the interdisciplinary approach of the KETHEA therapeutic model, services such as the Employment Club make rehabilitation more effective. Also, through networking with individuals, businesses and institutional bodies, they promote, raise awareness and inform on KETHEA's work.
