District hands over 170,000 euros to DELTA
The Waldeck-Frankenberg district has awarded DELTA Waldeck-Frankenberg GmbH funding of over 170,000 euros from its training and skills development budget. This funding will be used – until the company is wound up – to finance tried-and-tested labour market initiatives, which will then gradually be continued under the district’s auspices.
Pooling expertise, securing services
The funds come from the district’s training and skills development budget (AQB for short) and will finance current services whilst also creating long-term structures for integrating people into the regional labour market. The awarding of these contracts ensures the continuation of successful initiatives in the district. At the same time, the handover of these responsibilities to the district in the new year paves the way for pooling expertise and securing these services on a permanent basis.
Strengthening job application and digital skills
A key focus of the funding is the ‘Checkpoint’ project, which, with a total budget of €48,851.22, provides low-threshold support without formal barriers to people in Korbach, Frankenberg, Bad Arolsen and Bad Wildungen. This open-access service is aimed at those seeking advice on labour market and administrative matters, and aims to strengthen job application and digital skills, support jobseekers in stabilising their situation and increase their administrative independence. By operating from central locations, the programme reaches a large number of people who benefit from this straightforward support.
Support for language acquisition
The “FiB – Fit for the World of Work” scheme is receiving €100,384.36 in funding; it accepts 16 participants in both Frankenberg and Bad Arolsen and is generally also offered in Korbach. The programme is specifically aimed at people with a migrant or refugee background who, despite having already attended language courses, still require support with language acquisition as well as with reading, writing and numeracy skills. Through a combination of language support, basic education, social stabilisation and work placements, participants are comprehensively prepared for entry into the regional labour market.
is funding vocational language skills and intercultural training. In addition, the “AVIA” course is receiving €22,972.20 in funding. The programme in Korbach involves 13 participants and is aimed specifically at newly arrived Muslim migrant women with a basic knowledge of German. It covers vocational language skills, basic IT skills and intercultural training. Sensitive coaching is combined with everyday skills such as mobility and financial literacy, as well as specialist lectures. Two supervised work placements enable participants to put their skills to the test in the regional labour market and establish direct links with potential employers.
Funding from the State of Hesse
These and other measures have so far been run by DELTA Waldeck-Frankenberg GmbH. Funding for these measures from the Hessian Ministry of Labour, Integration, Youth and Social Affairs supports the districts in implementing tailored, regional strategies to integrate disadvantaged people into training and employment. Under the district’s leadership, following the dissolution of DELTA, the programmes are to be continued, expertise pooled and sustainable structures established to ensure that participants continue to receive reliable and individually tailored support on their path to employment.
“With today’s funding decisions, we are making targeted investments in the future viability of our district and in the people who want to live and work here,” says Karl-Friedrich Frese, the district’s First Deputy District Administrator. “The Checkpoint and FiB – Fit for the World of Work projects, as well as the AVIA training course, are practical initiatives that address the participants’ needs directly. They provide guidance, strengthen skills and open up real prospects on the regional labour market. The fact that the district is taking these successful initiatives under its own management in future shows that we want to create sustainable structures that support people in the long term and assist employers in their search for skilled workers.”
Caption: First Deputy District Administrator Karl-Friedrich Frese (right) and Pascal Rohde from the district’s Social Affairs Department (left) present funding approval letters from the training and skills development budget to Volker Heß, Managing Director of DELTA Waldeck-Frankenberg. (Photo: Waldeck-Frankenberg District)