Paraprofessionals: partners for employment counselors?

The Projectgroep Evaluatie Welzijn 0-18 jarige allochtonen (Research Group on the Evaluation of the Social Welfare Program for 0-18-Year-Olds of Ethnic Minority Backgrounds), a research group affiliated with the Verwey-Jonker institute, has studied the use of paraprofessionals in the Netherlands. This article is based on results from that research project. In the Netherlands, paraprofessionals are increasingly used to reach out to target groups, particularly ethnic minorities, and are themselves usually members of the target group. Employment counselors often need to provide guidance for people belonging to ethnic minorities. The authors recommend that employment counselors use paraprofessionals as partners in this process.