HI
I am a Social Worker, who works with Adults with Learning Disabilities and people with mental health issues who may be temporarily struggling with their memory etc. The process that people have to follow is far to difficult for most adults with learning disabilities. Even when I am with a person and we ring up benefits to check anything, people regularly forget the answers to the security questions and the staff members always then tell me that they have to end the call an I have to ring again and get back in a long queue, which is really frustrating for the person I am supporting.
In terms of the process for receiving Job Seekers Allowance, even with my partner who has dyslexia and a fear of computers, it was really stressful, trying to comply with the job search requirements and on one occasion this resulted in him being sanctioned. With those adults with a LD who I work with, they could only comply with the requirements of job searches if they had support to do so and as a result, even people who have a small amount of hours work per week, I would encourage them to remain on ESA. However, for some this is no longer an option if they are assessed as able to work. At present, we have a local org, Shaw Trust, which supports people to find work but I’m not sure if they help people to comply with requirements of JObseekers plus they are only temp.