– “We have great faith in PAS and think it’s great to be able to help more people gain access to this vocational school programme,” says Personnel Manager Jan Olav Sørlie at Solstein AS. The inclusion company on Karmøy has collaborated with AOF Vestlandet-Agder to offer its employees the PAS (Positive Behaviour Support) programme and provided free classrooms.
Labour market company Solstein is working on behalf of NAV to offer permanently adapted work (VTA) in Karmøy municipality. The company has just over 130 employees and has premises in Vea and Åkrehamn. The company works to identify individuals’ strengths and create customised workplaces that promote development and well-being.
Understand and organise
– This vocational school programme is aimed at people with various forms of disability and has a documented effect as well as public recommendations. “I’m pleased that PAS is gaining increasing focus,” says Sørlie.
There’s no doubt that Solstein thinks it’s positive that Karmøy municipality contacted AOF Vestlandet-Agder on its own initiative to set up the vocational school programme. That’s why it’s also gratifying that we’re able to provide classrooms this time,” says HR Manager Sørlie.
The PAS programme is about understanding the behaviour of people with developmental disabilities, autism or other vulnerable groups, and then implementing measures that promote better functioning in society. The goal is to implement quality of life-enhancing interventions where the voice of the person is paramount. Each person is unique and needs to be met in their own way, taking into account their interests, values, wishes and challenges. PAS begins through close collaboration between key people in the person’s life, including the individual, family, service providers and other relevant stakeholders. This is an ongoing process, not a short-term solution.
Photo: Hanne Odland Mørch / AOF Vestlandet-Agder
Important and valuable
Solstein’s job is to drive human development with work as a tool.
– We recognise that everyone is good at something, and that everyone can contribute to value creation through our production of goods and services. For us, it’s all about creating good working environments that give our employees development, mastery and joy.
At Solstein, there are opportunities to work as chefs, laundry operators, mechanics, bakers, confectioners, carpenters, as well as people with a background in the “human development industry”.
Sørlie says that a couple of their employees have participated in the PAS programme organised by AOF Vestlandet-Agder in collaboration with Karmøy municipality.
– They graduated in March 2024. “It has been an intensive but incredibly educational programme. The PAS model is without a doubt an important and valuable framework that makes a difference,” Sørlie comments.
Photo: Hanne Odland Mørch / AOF Vestlandet-Agder
Free education programmes
AOF Vestlandet-Agder is offering the vocational school programme PAS for those who work with this target group, starting this autumn. The programme takes place in the evenings, which makes it easier to combine with work, and gives 30 credits. In addition, we are happy to collaborate with the municipalities on a separate programme, as we have done in this case.
– This usually happens during working hours and is perhaps more compressed than when it happens in the evenings for everyone. “Just get in touch with us and we’ll make the necessary arrangements, whether it’s for this programme or others. We’ll arrange it wherever it suits and find a programme that works,” says Katrine E. Høgestøl, advisor at AOF Vestlandet-Agder.
Funding is provided by the government for the vocational school programmes offered by AOF Vestlandet-Agder, which means that the programmes themselves are free for students. However, a student fee and the cost of books must be paid.
In the autumn of 2024, we will set up the programme. Click on the button below to find out where the programme is offered.