Netværket DHI

Danish Holistic Impact (DHI Network)
This network started in 1994 as a development project to successfully create a knowledge-sharing network of organisations which concentrate their efforts on a holistic approach to meeting the needs of young people with special needs. The members of the network endeavour to create coherence for all aspects of the young lives: school, living conditions, leisure time, working life all need to be in order for a young person to benefit from, for example, education. The keyword here is network, understood both as the safety net under a person’s life and as a co-operation between a group of persons and institutions who all work with and for youth with special needs.
The network defines special needs in its broader sense, including youth with a different ethnic background than Danish, whose needs are mostly based on social conditions.
It is a living and giving network of more than 60 schools, professional institutions, businesses, trade unions and associations. The network also includes among its members, institutions of higher learning.

Goals and plan of action for the Danish Holistic Impact (DHI Network)

§1. The organization’s name and place of residence

• The name of the organization is: Danish Holistic Impact (DHI Network)
• The organization resides in Aarhus, Denmark

§ 2. The goal of the organization is:

• To strengthen the holistic effort for youth with special needs in education and employment.
• To give the participating institutions, organizations and companies optimal possibilities to enter into constructive co-operations, where they can benefit from each others experiences.
• To implement and disseminate results from research and general practice.
• To support members in arranging and carrying out new, developmental activities for the target group, and in the construction of and further development of local, interdivisional network.

Organizational structure / project organization

• Project chairman: Jørn Lehmann Pedersen
• Governing group: The board of directors
• Project leader: Keld Hvalsø Nedergaard
• Responsible for accounting: Lena Donskjær Andreasen
• The project organization is rooted in the Union of Associations for Equality (Foreningsfællesskabet Ligeværd)
• The project is subsidized by various public authorities on a national level.

Plan of action and goals:

1. The creation of a network concerned with the open, socially committed labour market, where companies’ needs and wishes concerning employee competencies match the target group’s possibilities and wishes.

2. In 2010, the network will concentrate its efforts on developmental projects focusing on ensuring better integration of youth with special needs into the workforce. This will be achieved by preparing the youth for the work force by focusing on developing competencies, or by working towards preparing work places to receive the young as they are. In this case, we will work toward devolping youth with special needs' competencies in the work place.

The work will be initiated in co-operation with the network’s member institutions and will be evaluated on a regular basis during the entire project period with special emphasis on developing useful tools for all who work in this field. Communication and dissemination of this work will be ensured, so that the results will be available to others, at the latest by the end of the project.

3. New models and initiatives, which ensure the target group an individual and holistic development plan based on a resource and job profile, will be tested. The plan should include a realistic match between the individual’s educational needs, the work place or training situation he or she is associated with, and a realistic social life.

4. Contact to relevant labour market partners will be established with reference to clarification of how the target group – “youth with special needs” can best get a solid footing in the labour market. DHI will also work towards uncovering and making visible any inappropriate barriers - especially within the public sector, in relationship to the efforts to integrate the target group into the work force.

5. Membership development goals: We aim to have 80 in 2010.

6. To ensure experience sharing, seminars, theme days and conferences will be held on a regular basis. Moreover, a database and a communication unit will be established, which can supervise interested parties in relationship to reaped experiences.

7. DHI Netork will be a catalyst for regional and professional networks in this field.

8. In 2010, DHI will work to achieve greater visibility for the network, so that the network will become known outside of the circle of members.