The municipality of Coevorden wants to eliminate the waiting list for people who are eligible for a job at a social work company.
This concerns so-called sheltered work, a job for people who are at a distance from the regular labor market, for example who cannot work independently, or for whom a regular workplace is not suitable. The EMCO Group is the social work company in Coevorden.
Helping these 11 people find work will cost an estimated 125,400 euros. But this will not cost extra money, because it is covered by money that has already been made available in the budget. Part of these costs are also reimbursed by the government. “We are going to solve the problem partly with our own resources, while these are actually costs for the government. These are not one-off costs, they are ongoing costs,” councilor Joop Slomp said during Tuesday evening’s committee meeting.
In the longer term, the municipality expects that more people will be able to move on to paid jobs, so that they do not need benefits, which could result in savings. Coevorden has the ambition to offer a suitable workplace to anyone who wants and is able to work.
According to the municipality, the proposal is not a structural solution, because a new waiting list may still arise: “After this one-off expansion, a structural solution must be sought for a possible new waiting list,” according to the municipality. According to Slomp, it is an uncertain situation: “The cabinet is toppling over and over again, which doesn’t really help”
The council proposal was adopted.