2018

Integration & Employment

Nordic Town Twinning Tuusula Oppegård Sollentuna Hvidovre

Description of the integration process ______

Indhold Hvidovre...... 2 The initial integration processes ...... 2 The immigrant population in Hvidovre ...... 2 Integration-oriented efforts nationally and in Hvidovre ...... 3 Tuusula ...... 5 The immigrant population in Tuusula ...... 5 Employment services ...... 5 Integration measures ...... 6 A local plan ...... 7 Sollentuna...... 8 Oppegård ...... 10 The Norwegian settlement model ...... 10 The Introduction Act and introduction programme ...... 10 Integration of refugees in the labour force in Oppegård ...... 10 Attachment ...... 11

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Description of the integration process ______HVIDOVRE The initial integration processes After several years with a significant increase in the number of residence permits granted to refugees, the number has fallen greatly over the last couple of years. In 2017, 4.000 refugees are expected to obtain a residence permit in Denmark, after which they will be moved to a designated municipality where they will reside and participate in an integration program. In addition, several family reunificated relatives and immigrants will also arrive in the municipalities. The entire group are subject to the Integration Act, which purpose is to allow new arrivals to participate in the labour market and expand their qualifications in the labor market and in Danish society in general. Based on this estimate, the Danish Immigration Service determines regional allowances for the distribution of newly arrived refugees, and the municipalities will then agree on the mutual distribution within the region concerned. The quotas must ensure a smooth distribution of refugees in Denmark ensuring an even distribution of refugees within the municipalities. When the Immigration Service allocates refugees to the Danish regions and municipalities, they pay attention to the immigrant's linguistic and cultural background, their family ties, special needs and wishes etc. They also look at the location and size of the municipality, the composition of the population, the labour market and educational opportunities.

The immigrant population in Hvidovre In Hvidovre, we expect to receive 22 refugees in 2017, and the relatively low number is due to the fact that foreigners from non-western countries already make up 14 % of the municipality's population. After Hvidovre has taken over the responsibility for the new citizen, the municipality must help them with housing, cash assistance, social security numbers and medical help. In addition to this, Hvidovre has been challenged to find affordable housing for the newly arrived refugees, which is partly due to the new immigrant’s relatively low Integration Benefit (a particularly low transfer income granted to immigrants and other residents who have stayed in Denmark for less than seven out of eight years). In Hvidovre, some immigrants have also had difficulty adjusting to local social norms and house rules that exist in a residential area. This has resulted in some refugees being evicted from their home or that Hvidovre municipality has stopped referring refugees to certain residential areas because of local resentment.

By 2015, there were 9.480 immigrants and descendants in Hvidovre, of which 7.348 were from non-western countries (primarily Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq and China). They have a varied educational background; ranging from no schooling, to craftsmen and agricultural workers, to medium or higher education. The group of immigrants and descendants from non-western countries make up 16% of the working age population in Hvidovre (16-64 years), and 21% of the citizens on social benefits. Therefore, they represent a greater proportion of people on public benefits than those of the working

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Description of the integration process ______age. The group of immigrants and descendants is in general overrepresented among Hvidovre’s recipients of social benefits.

Integration-oriented efforts nationally and in Hvidovre Adult refugees and family reunificated relatives in Denmark are subjected to the Integration Act and must be offered a special integration program when they are granted a residence permit. A program, which primary purpose is to contribute to a rapid self-sufficiency through employment. The integration program has a duration of one year, but if the immigrant does not gain access to the labour market within this period, the integration program must be extended. However, the total integration program may last for a maximum of five years. In Hvidovre, it is rare for the program to end after one year and it’s not unusual for it to be expanded to the maximum period.

Approximately 16% of the working age population in Hvidovre are immigrants and descendants from non-western countries.

The integration program should commence no later than one month after the municipality has taken over the responsibility for a refugee, and in addition to ensuring employment or education, the integration program shall support rapid and appropriate integration into the Danish society. This must be done by supporting the refugees and their reunificated family members in acquiring the linguistic, cultural and labour market knowledge, necessary to participate in community life. According to the Integration Act, the immigrants must be offered a continuous enterprise-oriented effort in the form of business practice or employment with wage subsidies. The effort should be supplemented with offers of Danish education and, if necessary, guidance and upgrading. For the immigrants who are closest to the labour market, there must be a maximum of 6 weeks between each business-oriented offer in the form of business practice or employment with wage subsidies. However, this is not the case for those refugees who have major barriers in the form of social, mental or health-related problems.

In Hvidovre, the focus is primarily on language and labour initiatives, while the cultural effort takes place in informal networks in civil society. Therefore, our integration programs consist of Danish education and employment-oriented offers in the form of guidance and upgrading, internships and employment with wage subsidies. The business-oriented offers must have an average of at least 15 hours a week, it is therefore also possible to combine these with Danish language courses.

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Description of the integration process ______

Nevertheless, it is difficult for Hvidovre to find enough employers to offer a continuous business- oriented effort, and therefore hampers the requirements of the integration program. As a result, we collaborate with a private company that helps us find internships for the immigrants in the integration program, and the duration of these is typically 13 weeks (the minimum requirement by the law is four weeks). We believe that a long-term course is meaningful for both the employer and the trainee. Another challenge is that a large part of the group finds it difficult to adhere to the above-mentioned requirements of the Integration Act (especially the elderly and those with few resources). Some of them may also have difficulty finding the requirements meaningful, which affects their motivation.

As something new, a special basic integration education (IGU) has been introduced in 2016, which consists of a three-year pilot scheme aimed at refugees and family reunified citizens. The integration education lasts two years and includes employment in a paid internship at a company, and a concurrent school education. A bonus scheme has also been introduced so that private companies can obtain an economic bonus if they hire refugees and family reunified relatives in a regular or IGU-job. The paid internship at the company will provide the immigrant with knowledge and skills in different work functions that ensure qualifications relevant to the labour market. The goal is for the citizen to gain experience with work and cooperation that are necessary to achieve a lasting connection with the labour market.

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Description of the integration process ______TUUSULA The immigrant population in Tuusula The immigrant population in Finland is concentrated to the metropolitan capital area; the municipalities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Although Tuusula is a neighboring municipality of Vantaa, it does not a substantial immigrant population. It lacks the pull factors of the bigger municipalities such as large existing migrant communities and specialized shops and services.

Tuusula has a total population of about 38 500 persons, of which approximately 1400 (3,5 %) have a foreign mother tongue. Of these, around 400 already have Finnish citizenship. The largest language groups are speakers of Estonian (540), Russian (270), Thai (90), English (65) and German (45) (the numbers are approximate). The most common reasons for migration are work and family relations, both in Tuusula and the country at large. Most of the immigrant population in Tuusula is working-age, with almost 50% aged 30-49 years.

The immigrant population has been constantly growing, as well as diversifying, in Tuusula. Since the early 2000s, the number of languages spoken in Tuusula has risen from less than thirty to more than fifty.

Today, there are approximately 224 foreign jobseekers, of which approximately 100 are unemployed in Tuusula. Of those unemployed jobseekers, 34 persons has been unemployed over a year. There are under 10 persons under 25-year-old and approximately 25 persons over 50 year-old unemployed jobseekers in Tuusula.

In 2016 the municipal parliament decided to receive a total of 91 refugees in the years of 2016-2017 through a national distribution system. With the newly initiated reception of refugees, the issue of immigration has risen to discussion much more than before in Tuusula, both on policy level and on the streets. So far, the municipality of Tuusula has not had specific projects/measures aimed at supporting the integration of immigrants into the labor market. We are now in a period when these issues are rising into clearer focus and it is a good time to plan for future measures.

Employment services In order to achieve integration into the Finnish labor market, immigrants should be given the opportunity to acquire essential skills and knowledge, such as proficiency in one of the national languages (Finnish or Swedish), as well as knowledge about Finnish society, culture and labor market.

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Description of the integration process ______

The main responsibility for employment services in Finland lies with the TE Office (Public employment and business services office). This function is not part of the municipal structure, but naturally the municipalities work in close collaboration with the TE Office. Tuusula does not have its own office, instead residents travel to the nearby towns of Järvenpää or Hyvinkää. An increasing number of services are also found online.

In the Uusimaa region, the TE Office has concentrated its services for clients with residence permits based on international protection (refugees) to their office in in Pasila, Helsinki. There they have a multilingual team to serve the clients and they organize group info’s in several different languages. For clients of smaller language groups, individual appointments are made.

In addition to the TE Office, the municipality also collaborates with KELA (the Social Insurance Institution of Finland) and other stakeholders such as associations, foundations and educational institutes.

Tuusula has a labor ombudsman, whose tasks include collaboration with employers and project coordination related to employment issues. The municipality also has a service point called ‘Ohjaamo’ for under 29-year old’s, which also serves immigrants. At Ohjaamo, the young person can get assistance and guidance relating to studies, housing, economy and life management skills.

Integration measures Finnish integration policy stresses the labor/economic integration (more than for example the social dimension).

According to Finnish law, immigrants are covered by an ‘integration period’ during 3 years from moving to Finland. During this period, the person is entitled to special integration services, such as integration courses and other labor-related training. If needed, it is possible to prolong this period with 2 additional years (e.g. due to illness or parental leave). Each unemployed immigrant client is offered the opportunity to make a personal integration plan. In this plan, different measures such as training and courses are included.

One of the main measures, included in almost every personal integration plan, are the Integration courses offered by the TE Office. These courses consist of four modules and last for approximately one year. Before entering the course, the student takes a level test to ensure that they are entering a suitable group (slow advancing / normal speed / quickly advancing). The aim of the integration course is to learn one of the national languages (Finnish or Swedish), acquire knowledge about Finnish society and get skills for job seeking. The studies typically take 5 days a week, 7 hours per day. A training period is included during which the student will do an internship and thus be introduced to Finnish working life. The integration student receives an unemployment benefit during the study time which

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Description of the integration process ______is equal to what an unemployed citizen receives. The Social Insurance Institution can also grant basic income support and the municipality can grant an additional discretionary support.

In addition, there are several service providers who offer shorter language courses aimed at immigrants. These include communal college, the TE Office, training institutes and private educators.

A local plan Although there has not been specific projects aimed at supporting the integration of immigrants into the labor market yet, there is intention to find out possibilities to establish a meeting point for immigrants, which could provide employment services among other services. There is also an intention to provide a financial support to employers hiring workers with immigration background.

In Keski-Uusimaa, there are traditions to solid collaboration in fields of Social services, Economic and Business development services and services related to education and culture. Therefore it would be efficient to seek opportunities between municipalities next to Tuusula to collaboration concerning integration for immigrants.

There are possibilities to support financially employers who will hire immigrant jobseekers. In order to expanse the use of this financial support, we have need to target the marketing and information related to immigrants. There are little experience related to hiring immigrant or person with foreign mother tongue in Tuusula, therefore prejudices and disinformation are common preventive issues when considering hire immigrant. Success stories and positive experiences will appear essential role when communicating the possibilities of hiring immigrant.

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Description of the integration process ______SOLLENTUNA

2nd place among Sweden’s municipalities in the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise’s annual ranking of the country’s business climate in 2014 and 2015

2nd place in the “Best place to have a family” category, and 5th place in the “Best place to work” category in magazine Fokus’ 2015 ranking of Sweden’s municipalities

Sollentuna rises through the environment and sustainability ranks – 19th in the country in 2015

As you all know did Sweden in 2015 receive around 163.000 refugees from various countries. These people were initially taken care of by us providing housing. From that initial phase the government later on formed a legislation that stated that all municipalities should be given an exact number of refugees to care of. Sweden is formed on the principles of the municipalities governing themselves, so this was a bit odd being told what to do.

The biggest and most tricky challenge was to provide housing. It was a challenge, but we managed.

To give you a sense of numbers:

• The municipality’s surface area is 55.83 square kilometers, 3.21 square kilometers of which is water • Around 1,000 new Sollentuna inhabitants every year – in October 2015, we passed the 70,000 inhabitants mark • In 2018 the numbers have dropped down to approximately 130 people.

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Description of the integration process ______

As you can see Sollentuna had, and still has, a challenge to facilitate the integration of these newly arrived citizens. The Swedish Public Employment Service has the assignment to create a plan for the individual. After that plan is formed it is up to the different municipalities to make it happen.

This is where the challenge starts in Sweden. The Swedish Public Employment Service (State driven) needs the 290 municipalities to make things happen.

The individual’s integration process is mostly state funded during the first 24-36 months and then it is up to the individual (and municipality) to make life work.

But, most of the funding is at state-level as above. But if the process fails during the first two+ years the costs will be covered by the municipality.

That is why Sollentuna has started up a project that runs over three years with the aim of taking care of the refugee’s knowledge and skills in a systematic way to get them to becoming taxpayers.

The project “Etableringslyftet” is in cooperation with two other neighboring municipalities and the Swedish Public Employment Service. It is funded by the EU and the budget counts up to 42Mkr SEK over 36 months.

It is based on the following principles:

• Seamless cooperation between different authorities • One plan for the individual • Language training at work by coaches • Coaches that coach the employer to avoid cultural misunderstandings • Close and personal cooperation with local companies • Start up for entrepreneurs

This is a short sum up of things being done in Sollentuna.

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Description of the integration process ______OPPEGA RD The Norwegian settlement model The Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi) works to achieve the speedy, satisfactory and stable settlement of refugees. This is done through collaboration between the municipalities and the directorate. For the municipalities, settlement of refugees is a voluntary task.

The Introduction Act and introduction programme Refugees and their families who have been granted a residence permit in Norway both have the right to, and are obliged to, complete an introductory programme. The programme is full time, and consists of Norwegian language training, social studies and work-related activities. The programme may run for up to two years, with additional periods for approved leaves of absence. When special reasons so warrant, the programme may run for up to three years. Refugees receive economical support whilst participating in the introduction programme. An individually adapted plan is drawn up for all participators of the introduction programme. It is formulated according to the training needs of the person concerned, with clear personal goals and the measures to be taken to achieve those goals.

Integration of refugees in the labour force in Oppegård Oppegård municipality settles refugees in collaboration with IMDI. Most of the refugees we settle have lived in an asylum Centre in Norway while waiting for answer of their asylum application, but a few are settled directly from abroad.

From 2013 the numbers Oppegård settles increased steadily, reaching a top with 50 refugees settled in 2015. Since then numbers have decreased, and in 2018 we have only been requested to settle 15 refugees. Included in these numbers are a few unaccompanied minors, who are settled and cared for by the Children services. Family reunifications cases are not included in these numbers, last year we settled 7 people through family reunification.

The Norwegian labour and welfare services (NAV) are responsible for settlement, and management of the introduction programme in Oppegård. Each refugee gets an adviser and case worker at NAV, that help them navigate the system, and draft an individual plan for their inclusion into the labour marked and/or educational system. We work in close cooperation with Oppegård qualifications centre and the refugee health services. The qualifications centre provides Norwegian language training and social studies, as well as basic work-related activities, like vocation training with focus on language.

The majority of the refugees we settle lack formal education; others have education that have to be verified in Norway, and which is often not recognised at the same level in Norway. (The Norwegian

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Description of the integration process ______

Agency for Quality Assurance in Education evaluates and recognises foreign education.) Language skills are another challenge; most jobs require written and spoken Norwegian at a level that is hard to achieve without being part of the labour force. Furthermore, quite a few refugees have health issues that influence and limit their work ability.

The Norwegian labour marked is skill intensive and regulated. In order to be included in the labour force, refugees require language skills, knowledge about rules and regulations as well as experience and references from a Norwegian employer. In order to achieve this, we use the full range of NAVs employment schemes. These are flexible and can be tailored to individual needs for qualifications and occupational training. They include job club (How to apply for a job, CV’s and job application, information about written and unwritten rules in the Norwegian labour marked), courses in computer literacy, proficiency certificates (such as licences or training certificates for trucks, cranes and earth moving machines), vocational training and other educational or qualifications programmes.

We cooperate with wide range of companies to include refugees in the labour force, through on-the- job qualification work and recruitment. NAV Oppegård has two full time marked contacts with in- depth knowledge of the labour marked and its recruitment needs. As the labour marked does not follow municipality’s boarders, Oppegård pool resources with marked contacts from the surrounding municipalities, in a regional team. Vacancies and vocational training possibilities from companies we collaborate with are shared on a common platform. Each week our marked contact and case workers meet up and go through new positions and eligible candidates.

We rely on good relations with employers in order to integrate refugees into a competitive labour force. Close cooperation between employer, the refugee and NAV case worker is vital to make the job or placement succeed.

To further aid inclusion, NAV has incentives for companies to help qualify people who lack skills or qualifications needed to fill a position. The mentor incentive pays an employer by the hour to provide work language- and vocational training. Salary support can be given for a period up to a year to reimburse companies that employ candidates who need additional experience and skills to fill their position.

Last year 60 % of those who finished their introduction programme were included in the labour force or enrolled in higher education. 40 % were still in need of assistance from NAV. Of those settled five years earlier (in 2013) 68 % were self-sufficient, working or studying.

Attachment Oppegård municipality has made a chart that maps the integration process from settlement to inclusion, and how its agencies co-operate to tailor for an effective integrations process.

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Oppegård kommunes flyktningeforløp – Mål: ta godt imot flyktninger og tilrettelegge for rask selvstendiggjøring

Samarbeids- Oppegård Flyktning- Barnevern – Skole/ NAV Eiendom Frivillighet arenaer kvalifiseringssenter helsetjeneste Enslige mindreårige barnehage

Før ankomst 1.-3. måned Frem til 2 år 3-5 år Oppegård kommune vedtar Mål: god karlegging av Mål: voksne lærer norsk, har et individuelt tilpasset 2-3 år Mål: 65 % voksne i arbeid eller bosettingskvote årlig etter kompetanse og helse, rask introduksjonsprogram etter IP, får erfaring med norsk arbeidsliv, god Mål: 55 % av voksne i arbeid eller utdanning etter 5 år. Har en anmodning fra IMDi. oppstart i meningsfylte oversikt over egen økonomi, god helse, og har etablert kontakt med utdanning, og har en aktiv fritid. aktiv fritid og er etbalert i privat Barnvern har ansvar for aktiviteter. frivilligheten. Barna lærer norsk, går over til ordinært skoletilbud, har Barn går i ordinær skole og deltar på bolig. Barna går i ordinær skole bosetting av EMF, NAV for god helse, er introdusert for kommunens fritidstilbud, og deltar i ordinære fritidstilbud og deltar på ordinære resterende. minst en organisert fritidsaktivitet fritidstilbud

Felles møte mellom involverte Tverrfaglige samarbeidsmøter Første IP-møte med NAV, Helse og OKS. Evaluere IP to ganger i året. Introduksjonsprogram og IP avsluttes Brukermedvirkning: Samtaler med instanser ved behov. om de nyankomne ved behov Ytterligere samarbeidsmøter rundt IP ved behov, ellers individuell og evalueres. brukere etter 3 år: hva var Avklaring/ Informere aktuelle instanser om oppfølging fra hver virksomhet. nyttig/tilbakemelding/ status? oppgavefordeling/felles info. mulighet til å søke IMDI midler. Introduksjonsprogram etter felles årshjul. ;i; Stort fokus på arbeid, tett oppfølging i Kartlegge behovet til dem som Samlet startinformasjon fra alle virksomheter for nye en gang i halvåret. overgangsfaser, økonomisk råd og Oppfølging ved behov, etter 5 år kommer. Søknad om Imditilskudd innen 13 mnd ved behov. Bosetting og omvisning, info om veiledning. overførers til andre avdelinger i økonomi. Kartlegging jobb- og Ferietur til Aremark for barnefamilier, DELTA-treff og internasjonal dag, NAV. Kontakt med IMDI og mottak. utdanningsmuligheter. Klargjøring for bosetting, Avklaring av rett og plikt til Deltakerbevis etter avsluttet intro Vedtak om Introduksjonsprogram for de med rett og plikt, opprettelse Rett til gratis norskundervisning bestille hvitevarer og senger, introduksjonsprogram, evt Rett og plikt til 600 t norsk og Individuell plan, yrkesveiledning og jobbsøkerkurs, fram til B1/3000 t/5 år fatter etableringsvedtak, vedtak om intro.program. samfunnskunnskap. Obligatoriske Arbeidspraksis, oppfølging av markedskonsulenter, økonomisk råd og Obligatoriske norsk og v/familie; søke barnehage og norsk og samfunnskunnskapsprøver. informerer involverte tjenester samfunnskunnskapsprøver. veiledning, Opplevelseskort til barnefamilier melde inn på skole. Registrerer nye personer Oppfølging skole. Oppfølging av flyktninger med Individuelt introprogram; -arbeidsrettet norskopplæring, språktrening på Flyktninger med helseutfordringer Kartlegging skolebakgrunn og spesielle helseutfordringer. arbeidsplass, samfunnskunnskap, kulturforståelse, yrkesrettede kurs, etableres i ordinært tilbud. norsknivå. Informasjon om rett Registrerer nye personer, fysisk aktivitet/svømmeopplæring for voksne, grunnskoleopplæring for og plikt til samfunnskunnskap og Varsel om at kontraktsperioden Innhenter helsejournal om mulig voksne. Obligatoriske norsk og samfunnskunnskapsprøver. norsk. Oppstart individuelt utløper. Tilbud om boligsøker kurs og Boligsøker kurs og individuell Foreldreskole, kobling mot flyktningguider, DELTA treff og internasjonal tilpasset intro.program/ norsk- individuell veiledning over i egen bolig. veiledning. uke. opplæring. Grunnskoletilbud for Sluttmappe ved utflytting.

Mottar bestilling fra NAV og barn over 16 år Informasjon om startlån.

klargjør leilighet og boforhold. Helseoppfølging individuelt og i grupper. Over i egen bolig. Vedtak om ettervern Foreldreveiledning enkeltvis/grupper, familieplanlegging, fysioterap med egen oppfølgingstjeneste. Kartleggingssamtale I jobb eller utdanning. Egen Oppfølging psykiskhelse barn / voksne, kustterapi, samarbeid Kontakt med IMDI og mottak., Avklare behov og følge opp økonomi. Oppfølging ved behov. skolehelsetjenesten,/helsestasjon. Informasjon om og kobling til avklarer fosterhjem helsemessige tiltak (psykisk og I ordinært skoletilbud fritidsaktiviteter barn/ voksne, kontakt med frivilligheten /bofellesskap. Klargjøring for fysisk), fastlege, tannlege, I ordinært skoletilbud bosetting. Informasjon til optiker. Oppfølging barnehage. aktuelle skoler. Boveiledning ved behov Leiekontrakt for 3 år, individuell Skoler/barnehager registrerer boveiledning i bolig. Startmappe. Knytte tilhørighet i familie eller bofelleskap. Over i ordinære ankomst. Eventuelle utdanningstilbud, deltidsjobb/praksis, deltar i fritidsaktiviteter, er med på samarbeidsmøter på forhånd SAMMEN Barnevernsvedtak, oppstart skole/ velkomstklasse. Egen Språkopplæring og tospråklig fagopplæring. Godt samarbeid med primærkontakt. foreldre/foresatte/boligene. Tett dialog velkomstklassen - hjemskolen. Tilknytningsperiode Etter hvert over i ordinære skoletilbud.Jobbe for inkludering i felleskapet Oppstart skole/ velkomstklasse, barnehage, prioritert bhg.plass. Samarbeid med lag og foreninger om gratis opplevelser /reduserte medlemsavgifter. Avtale med Røde Kors flyktningguider. DELTA–treff og internasjonal dag, Språktrening Barn over 16 år norskkurs på språkkafe, turgruppe og strikkegruppe. SAMMEN prosjekt for EMF. Røde kors ungdom tilbyr aktiviteter for barna i velkomstklassen. Organisert kleslager med gratis /Grunnskoleopplæring på OKS, klær/barneutstyr. el innføringsklasse VGS

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TUUSULA KUNTA

OPPEGÅRD KOMMUNE

SOLLENTUNA KOMMUN HVIDOVRE KOMMUNE