Two heads are better than one, and 30 people from 14 different organisations sharing expertise and ideas made the Measuring Impact workshop a truly enlightening event on February 23, 2012. The Measuring Impact workshop was the first Engage event and was held in Nattional Children's Bureau (NCB) offices in Belfast. Find out more: http://www.participationworks.org.uk/news/engage-workshop-measuring-impact

1. “Travelling in the
Right Direction”

2. • What we do...
• Leading to...
a young person who is more
confident, skilled, and
employable

3. Who we work best with
Young people aged 16-21 years old who:
• Are NEET and have a social worker
and
• Are unable to cope with mainstream training
• Have some level of motivation
• Don’t feel pressurised to join
• Are in reasonably settled
accommodation

4. What is the Rickter Scale®?
The Rickter Scale® is a complete assessment
and action planning process based around a
hand-held interactive board. It is designed to
measure soft indicators and distance travelled.
It can be used to measure a wide range of
outcomes – motivation, self esteem,
development of skill sets – employability or
essential skills and many other areas.

5. How we use Rickter Scale
• Lifeboard – carried out by Personal Development Worker
• Interview at entry stage and reviewed every 6 months
• Questions are asked under the headings of:
1. Employment/Training/Education
2. Accommodation
3. Money
4. Relationships
5. Influences
6. Stress
7. Alcohol
8. Drugs
9. Health
10. Happiness

6. Rickter in progress

7. Measuring Progress
What are soft outcomes?
These are outcomes from training, support or
guidance interventions such as increased
confidence or better time management which,
unlike hard outcomes such as qualifications
and jobs, are likely to describe an individual’s
journey rather than their destination.

8. The importance of measuring soft outcomes
It’s important to recognise the value that soft
outcomes and distance travelled can offer as
an integral part of your service. They can
improve the process of working with
individuals and raise the standard of service
delivery, helping to pinpoint ‘what works’ and
assisting in developing person-centred,
strength-based practice.

9. Pros and Cons
Person centred Can be difficult to scale
Can review at any time People can find prescriptive
Tangible evidence (graphs) Relies on the relationship
Self-assessment Time consuming
Develop tailored overlays Dependant on mood

10. Find out more
Where can you find out more?
www.rickterscale.com
How can you train as a practitioner?
Qualified Rickter Associates
Northern Ireland Alternatives
Contact: joan@alternativesrj.co.uk

11. “Travelling in the Right Direction”
Thanks for listening
Any Questions?
For further info please visit
www. .org