FEAD 2018 Catalogue of case studies

For more information regarding the project, contact Johanna Smith, Project Worker, ACASA in Dortmund, Diakonisches Werk Dortmund und Lünen gGmbH: Email: smith@diakoniedortmund.de Phone: +4902318494233 WHO? The partner organisation Diakonisches Werk Dortmund und Lünen gGmbH, a social services provider and charity of the German Protestant Church, is in charge of managing the project. In addition, each of the participating non- profit organisations, namely AWO Unterbezirk Dortmund, Caritasverband Dortmund e.V., GrünBau gGmbH and Planerladen e.V., funds one full-time outreach employee who primarily undertakes the outreach work in the mother tongue of the end recipients. To coordinate strategies and discuss issues, all employees gather for team meetings at regular intervals. In 2017, five full-time employees were dedicated to the project, although the project occasionally recruits volunteers or additional staff on a short- term basis. This consultation work compliments the consultation services ACASA offers on their own premises. The ACASA project provides counselling on a number of integration and daily life issues , such as the process of registering at the Citizens’ Bureau or how to access to the German health care system, before subsequently accompanying end recipients to the relevant services. By physically accompanying mobile citizens to their respective appointments, ACASA’s approach allows the project professionals to experience the processes and procedures alongside the mobile citizen and to reflect on the experience together. This helps to highlight the obstacles, administrative and otherwise, faced by the end recipients. Through the ‘Welcome Europe’ drop-in centre , the ACASA project connects with a multitude of other projects and partners. The connection to projects and partners aimed at labour market integration is particularly robust, as project staff frequently accompany EU citizens seeking work to see advisors specialising in labour market integration. The project reached out to about 1 150 mobile citizens in 2016 and to around 1 000 in 2017. Within this two-year timeframe, more than 2 000 of the individuals approached about advisory services accepted at least one offer of help. Our aim is to ensure successful integration more quickly.” — Johanna Smith, Project Worker, ACASA. 33 Diverse approaches to supporting Europe’s most deprived: FEAD case studies 2018