Meeting David Stenning: Insights on Fidelity, SEQF, and the Future of Supported Employment

Amy Sandiford
Dec 1, 2025
6 min read

Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Today we had the privilege of meeting David Stenning, a key figure in the supported employment landscape across the UK and Europe. David manages an employment organisation in Kent and Medway and sits on the board of BASE (the British Association for Supported Employment). He also represents the UK in ACE Europe, playing a central role in discussions around implementing the Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF)

across the continent.

What struck us most was David’s ability to make a very complex system feel understandable, practical, and human. His experience sits at the crossroads of policy, service delivery, and quality assurance- exactly the intersection Australia is grappling with as we consider how to bring more accountability and consistency to customised and supported employment.

Why Fidelity Matters: “What does good look like?”

A recurring theme in the discussion was the importance of fidelity- having a shared, measurable way to define what good supported employment looks like.

David described SEQF not as a bureaucratic checklist, but as a roadmap for quality, built around the five internationally-recognised stages of supported employment. The fidelity component is identical across countries:

Clear scoring
Consistent criteria
Alignment with evidence-based practice
A focus on real employment outcomes

What changes between countries is not the model itself, but the context around it.

In Australia, we heard openly that customised employment varies enormously—from very strong, values-driven models to services that simply use the term without fidelity. David acknowledged this challenge and emphasised that having a structured quality framework provides a shared language, a tool for reflection, and a pathway to accountability.

SEQF Across Europe: One Model, Many Contexts

David explained how SEQF has evolved across Europe:

The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has adopted SEQF as its quality assurance model for Connect to Work—an enormous win for the field.
Europe maintains one consistent fidelity framework, but adds an additional "enabler section" that assesses organisational readiness, leadership, and broader system supports.
Some countries have strong national associations (e.g., Finland with nearly 400 members), while others rely on a single volunteer maintaining the sector.
ACE Europe has recently secured £500,000 in funding to appoint its first CEO, who will lead SEQF rollout across the region.

Despite their differences, David noted that each country’s journey begins in the same place:

“The starting point is always agreeing to a shared ‘what good looks like’—and then helping providers get there.”

Funding Systems: A Key Barrier for Australia

A major topic of conversation was the comparison between European, UK, and Australian funding systems.

Funding across Europe varies dramatically from country to country.
The UK’s SEQF adoption became viable only once DWP embedded it into contracts.
Before that, providers had to voluntarily opt in—funding it themselves.
Norway and Belgium are working hard to adopt SEQF, but limited funding and political instability make implementation difficult.

This mirrors Australia’s challenge:We have no consistent funding mechanism for supported employment, with NDIA, IEA (previously DES), and state systems all fragmented.

David’s advice was simple:

“Start with a proof-of-concept evaluation. Then gather the evidence. Then get government buy-in.”

The Toolkit: A Practical Pathway to Quality

Much of the conversation centred on the SEQF Toolkit, which:

Helps teams self-assess their practice
Identifies gaps in service quality
Provides a step-by-step way to prepare for accreditation
Increases consistency across staff and locations
Keeps fidelity visible during team meetings, supervision, and case reviews

David spoke passionately about how transformative the toolkit has been:

“Before the toolkit, ‘quality’ felt abstract. Now every team member knows exactly what good looks like, how to evidence it, and where we need to grow.”

He also shared that many services build additional internal questions or tools to help staff gather information that aligns with SEQF—highlighting the model’s flexibility within its rigid fidelity boundaries.

Australia’s Opportunity

Several key suggestions emerged for launching SEQF or a comparable fidelity model in Australia:

1. Connect with Professor Adam Whitworth

David emphasised Professor Whitworth’s credibility and the weight of his research, noting that policymakers respond strongly to his evidence base.

2. Start with the Toolkit

Use it internally before seeking accreditation—let it guide reflective practice and build internal alignment.

3. Explore how Norway and Belgium are introducing SEQF

These countries are closest to our situation—multiple funding sources and fragmented systems.

4. Build social proof first, government buy-in second

SEQF spread in Europe because early adopters championed it and demonstrated impact.

A Generous and Insightful Exchange

David also offered to:

Connect us with the European SEQF group
Share the original Western URF enabler section
Check whether he has a copy of the toolkit to send
Provide ongoing updates through BASE and ACE
Assist us in adapting the model to an Australian context

He left us not only with information, but with encouragement—and a sense of alignment with a global movement towards quality, evidence-based supported employment.

Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF)

A clear overview of what it is, how it works, and why it matters

The Supported Employment Quality Framework (SEQF) is an internationally recognised framework designed to define, measure, and ensure the quality of supported employment services. It provides a consistent fidelity model so organisations can deliver evidence-based, high-quality employment support that aligns with best practice.

At its core, the SEQF answers the essential question:

What does good supported employment look like?

1. Purpose of SEQF

The SEQF was developed to:

Provide a standardised fidelity model across countries
Ensure providers are delivering the true supported employment model
Improve outcomes for people with disability
Increase consistency and accountability
Give governments and commissioners a reliable quality assurance tool
Help services self-assess and continuously improve

In the UK, SEQF has been adopted by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as the national quality assurance model for the Connect to Work programme. Across Europe, it is being implemented through ACE – the Association for Supported Employment.

2. The 5-Stage Supported Employment Model

The framework is built around the five internationally recognised stages of supported employment:

Engagement & Vocational Profiling
Job Finding & Employer Engagement
Job Matching & Employer Negotiation
On-the-Job Support & Training
Ongoing Support & Career Development

Each stage has detailed criteria that define what high-quality practice looks like.

The fidelity model is identical across countries.

3. What SEQF Measures

SEQF evaluates:

✔ Fidelity to the supported employment model

Is the organisation following the proven steps and principles?

✔ Quality of practice

Are staff engaging employers, profiling clients, and delivering support effectively?

✔ Organisational systems

Are processes, supervision, and training in place?

✔ Employment outcomes

Are people gaining and sustaining real jobs?

✔ Business results

Retention, advancement, employer satisfaction, and long-term job success.

4. The SEQF Toolkit

One of the most valuable components is the SEQF Toolkit, used by:

managers
job coaches
employment specialists
quality teams

It allows organisations to:

self-assess their current practice
identify strengths and gaps
prepare for accreditation
embed fidelity into everyday work
align team practice and language
target training where needed

Many teams use it in team meetings, supervision, and service planning.

5. The Enabler Section (Europe Only)

Across Europe, SEQF includes an additional component called the Enabler Section, which assesses:

organisational leadership
funding structures
internal culture
commitment to supported employment
resourcing levels
integration across departments

This section expands the focus from frontline practice to the whole organisation.

The UK does not use this section because DWP determined it unnecessary for Connect to Work.

6. Accreditation

Accreditation involves:

external assessors (usually 2 accredited auditors)
a structured review of evidence
observation, interviews, and documentation
scoring across all criteria
awarding accreditation if the service meets the required standard

SEQF accreditation is becoming internationally recognised, similar to IPS fidelity reviews.

7. Why SEQF Matters for Australia

Australia currently has:

no fidelity model for Customised Employment
variable delivery quality across services
inconsistent training
a mix of NDIA-funded and DES/IEA-funded environments
confusion between “job placement” and “supported employment”

SEQF offers:

a shared definition of best practice
a clear roadmap for quality
a tool to hold providers accountable
a way to demonstrate evidence-based outcomes
a pathway to government investment
a structure that works regardless of funding source

It is flexible enough to adapt to Australia’s context, while still maintaining rigid fidelity to the model.

8. Key Strengths of SEQF

Evidence-based
Internationally aligned
Clear and measurable
Flexible in how services deliver
Rigid in what standards must be met
A practical tool for frontline staff
Useful for self-assessment AND accreditation
Supports culture change and quality improvement