STEP promotes the increase in occupation level among the young people aged 15-26

who have committed administrative or criminal offenses and neither study nor work at the moment.

The STEP programme helps these individuals go to work or study.

The STEP programme is the only programme in Estonia at present that helps youngsters who have committed crimes to get a job.

The STEP programme is based on the 10-year existing in Denmark programme High:five, to which 1600 enterprises were attached, and due to which more than 1500 young people could get a job or a chance to study. 

The programme STEP mostly takes place in Tallinn and Harjumaa. Its team widens the network of employers, collaboration partners and volunteers all the time. The aim of the STEP programme is to unite good intentions from different sides for undertaking some steps to bring big stable changes to life.  

How do we do it?

Our company has all the necessary skills in order to provide both employers and mentor with support after the person starts working and throughout the time the young person, mentor or the company collaborate together. Our consultants are trained well and have enough experience in working with the youngsters that are put at risk of social deprivation. 

We are only recommending STEP graduates for enterprises that we would eagerly hire ourselves.

Who is eligible to participate

Our target group includes the young people who

  • Are at the age of 15-26 years
  • Charged with a criminal offence for committed crimes
  • Have a permanent place of residence in Tallinn or Harjumaa or wish to work within these territorial limits (including Tallinn as well)
  • Does not study or work

In order to find a job, it is necessary to meet the following requirements:

  • A person entering the programme should be motivated and eager to work, he or she must actively take part in a job-seeking process and contribute to searching for different opportunities for himself while working with our consultants.
  • Any illegal actions of a young person should be a thing of the past. The grounds for enlisting in our programme are the crimes committed before. In case the person has already received a punishment, he should have a chance to start a second life.
  • A young person must not take drugs – we are against any drug-related business since we believe that crime and drugs are closely connected with each other. We cannot possibly send such people to work for our enterprises.

Before we send a young employee to work we must be sure that all issues related to dwellings are perfectly fixed. This subject is important not only for the enterprise itself – a possible place of one’s work but also for a young person because the presence of a permanent place of residence is a guarantee of achieving higher living standards. If the person doesn`t find a permanent place of residence, then he is not in our target group. At the same time, we see there is a great need for the STEP programme to work all over Estonia. The STEP programme is the only programme at present that helps youngsters who have committed crimes to get a job.

How does the process work?

Having joined the STEP program, the young person will receive different consultations which will help him by setting an appropriate direction towards a job or higher education. Thanks to the opportunities provided by enterprises and formal education institutions and the personality of every youngster, a general network has been created. It does the following:     

 

  • Allows a young person to find an appropriate job whereas every employer is “equipped” with an appropriate worker or
  • Sets a course for further education among young people.

If the employer is ready to recruit a young person, then the STEP program can guarantee teaching among specially-trained people or provision of the so-called mentors that will assist in maintaining the necessary skills of a new worker at an appropriate level and enforce his adaptation to the reality of the workplace environment of the particular enterprise. 

How can I contribute?

If you are working with someone who could belong to our target group and might be interested in this programme, please advise him/her to join the STEP programme on our website and help him fill in the questionnaire if needed.

You can contact us, too, and so we will discuss together the best ways to help the desiring employee hire a job or go to studies further on.

If you wish to receive extra information about the programme itself or take part in it some other way, please contact us at step@ami.ee. In case you know anyone who would like to be involved in STEP, then I would definitely ask him/her to contact us, and, moreover, we are more than happy to introduce our work to him. 

The realization of the STEP programme and its development in 2015-2020 is being performed with the financial aid of the European Social Fund and the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia. The STEP programme was firstly run by the Development Centre OK (SA OMANÄOLISE KOOLI ARENDUSKESKUS) with the financial aid of the Ministry of the Interior of Estonia. The strategic partners of the STEP programme are the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund, Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, as well as Tallinn City Sports and Youth Department.
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