Community Care articles from April 2006

Community Care archives from April 2006

The directors' cut.
April 6, 2006... The Association of Directors of Social Services has played a key role in influencing ministers as well as implementing government policies for local authorities. But what does the future hold for it as it considers splitting into children's and...

Careworn country.
April 6, 2006... Informal carers used to plug gaps in the system of state social provision. Now we are coming to depend on them, say Keith Brown and Emma Matthews We live in an ageing society. Findings from the 2001 census show that one-fifth of Britons...

Care homes Residents to inform Welsh inspections.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... A new inspection regime for older people's and children's care homes in Wales will take more heed of residents' views, while good performers will be checked less often. Inspectors will spend more time interviewing residents about their...

Mental health Minister hints at advocacy money.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Health minister Rosie Winterton has signalled that the government may be willing to pump more money than expected into a national advocacy service for people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions. Winterton said she would "respond...

Health 'Cancer patients need care support'.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... People with cancer and their carers are not having their social care needs addressed despite the significant emotional toll of the disease, Macmillan Cancer Support has said. Almost half of patients and more than two out of five carers...

child care Providers are failing refugees, says study.
April 6, 2006... Early years providers and their staff have "very little" understanding of the issues affecting refugees, a new report claims. Almost three-quarters of refugee women seeking child care in London were expected to communicate in English and...

Secure care Lack of referrals may force closures.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Secure children's homes could be forced to close if they do not get enough referrals for secure welfare beds, home managers have warned. The Secure Accommodation Network (SAN), which represents 24 homes in England and Wales, said there...

Standards Owers criticises holding centres.(Anne Owers)(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Immigration holding centres at Heathrow Airport and Calais cannot accommodate men, women and children separately and do not have suitable child protection arrangements, inspectors have found. Although the attitude of staff at the centres,...

readers' views Minimum level of care wins thumbs up.
April 6, 2006... Ninety-five per cent of voters at Community Care's website last week felt that older people should be guaranteed a minimum level of social care. This week's question asks: Should social workers be required to refer age-disputed asylum...

If you ask me...(Interview)(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Dean Buds (not his real name) is 12 and has been living in a Hillcrest children's home in Hampshire since February 2005 Who's had the biggest influence on you? My care worker, Paul. Which professional has helped you most? My social...

Asylum seekers Better housing for children is urged.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... The Scottish and UK governments must pay "urgent attention" to the lack of suitable accommodation for young asylum seekers arriving in Scotland, a major report claims. Many unaccompanied children, especially those older than 16, are placed...

Asylum seekers by helen mcCormacK Social workers could face Children Act conflict over mooted age check.
April 6, 2006... Children's social workers might have to commission medical assessments when there is a dispute over the age of asylum-seeking young people under government reforms. There is concern that a consultation paper, part of a government review of...

Book reviews.(Book review)
April 6, 2006... Safeguarding Children and Young People - A Guide to Integrated Practice ----- Steven Walker and Christina Thurston, Russell House Publishing ISBN: 9781903855904, [pounds sterling]21.95 The authors have put together a simple but modern guide...

Bridge builder.(school counselors)
April 6, 2006... a school-home support worker can help resolve pupils' problems and let teachers get on with their jobs, reports anabel unity sale Alison Cammiss's role epitomises how social care and education can work together to help children overcome...

Making the grade.(GCSE grades of looked after children)
April 6, 2006... the poor academic performance of children in care continues to defy attempts to improve outcomes. but some areas seem to have got it right, reports simeon brody Akey issue likely to be addressed in the government's green paper on...

Criminal justice Overcrowding may shut some prisons.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Prisons could be forced to close temporarily because of overcrowding, a report claims. The Prison Reform Trust warned that the prison population of 77,004 would reach an "historic high" soon. It said many prison workers privately...

Dependent and doomed.(Family Service Units and Family Welfare Association)
April 6, 2006... As the new financial year begins, voluntary sector funding has been thrown into turmoil yet again. Family Service Units, which has worked with deprived families for more than 50 years, has gone into administration and will have key services...

'We must change the way people look at so cial care'.
April 6, 2006... Speaking 24 hours after the publication of his report, Derek Wanless says its reception "couldn't have gone much better". Besides enthusiastic applause from social care stakeholders and widespread media coverage, Wanless has been invited...

Domestic violence Contact killings show court flaws.
April 6, 2006... Although the family courts are taking steps to improve their awareness of domestic abuse, the killing of children on contact visits has shown that risk assessment is not always perfect. Gordon Carson reports The family courts should...

Rducation by helen Mccormack Funding threat to academies that limit intake of looked-after children.
April 6, 2006... Academy schools that fail to take their share of looked-after children may have their government funding withdrawn under plans being drawn up by the Department for Education and Skills. Children's charities believe the proposal, revealed by...

Education by gordon carson Tories fail to beef up Bill's duties towards disadvantaged children.
April 6, 2006... Conservatives MPs have failed in bids to amend the Education and Inspections Bill to give councils more explicit duties towards disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs (SEN). An amendment tabled by shadow schools...

Free personal care by derren hayes Confused councils are turning policy into a 'laughing stock', say charities.
April 6, 2006... Scotland's free personal care policy could become a "laughing stock" because of problems with funding and waiting lists, older people's charities have claimed. The warning came after the Scottish executive showed that half of the country's...

One of our team of practitioner columnists gives her take on disabled people and public transport.
April 6, 2006... Public transport is still far from inclusive from the point of view of disabled people, writes Jennifer Harvey Iwish public transport were really public. Sometimes it seems to be. I know bus routes that have fully accessible...

Funding Grant squeeze to hit homeless people.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Homeless people are likely to lose out from a slowdown in the annual rise in community care grant funding, campaigners say. The Department for Work and Pensions said last week it would increase the national budget for the grants, which are...

Health care Jones urges penalty fines for NHS trusts.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... The NHS should face penalties if it fails to transfer resources from acute to community care, Association of Directors of Social Services president Julie Jones said last week. After the government's pledge in the health and social care...

Small is bountiful.(Local Network Fund)
April 6, 2006... Sally McNamee and Mick Wilkinson examine how a small grants scheme has increased opportunities for disadvantaged children and young people and look at how it will fit in with children's trusts The Local Network Fund was launched in May...

Relative merits.
April 6, 2006... Promoting the organisation and making the right appointments are just two of the tasks that chairs of trustees carry out. In a small organisation, such as the Relatives and Residents Association, this role is all the more vital, reports Graham...

Mental health Benefit talks 'snub' for service users.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Mental health charities have accused the government of failing to adequately involve service users in drawing up a new capability test for incapacity benefit. The Department for Work and Pensions wants to update the personal capability...

My practice.(Services for diabled and older people)
April 6, 2006... Performance indicators have helped James Lampert's efforts to improve services for disabled and older people in east Kent Anniversaries of some great events celebrated on 31 March included the opening of the Eiffel Tower (1889) and the...

No way to treat children.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Unaccompanied minors can be among the most traumatised and vulnerable client groups that professionals in this country have to deal with. So it is disappointing to detect a hardening of attitudes against them at the National Asylum Support...

Oder people Poorer people may not feel ben efit of Wanless funding vision.
April 6, 2006... The Wanless report proposes a new funding system for older people, which moves away from means-testing towards universality, reports Mithran Samuel, who, below, talks to Derek Wanless about how it is time to end social care's status as a...

Roll the dice... it's wanless monopoly.(Wanless report on government grants)
April 6, 2006... Alot has been hanging on the Wanless report. The message people wanted to hear from it was simple. If chronically underfunded social care was to get anything out of the government's forthcoming comprehensive spending review, then the report...

Probation Failing services face private competition.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Probation services that fail a "rigorous" inspection over the next 12 to 18 months could be put out to competition from private and voluntary sector providers, the government announced last week. In a report on the responses to its...

One giant leap.
April 6, 2006... While January's white paper on health and social care has shifted the focus on integrated services to adult care, children's services departments have been busy for some time bringing together social care and education to meet the objectives...

A night to remember.(Services of emergency duty team (EDT)
April 6, 2006... A teenage mother runs away with her baby, who is in need of medical attention. Once traced, out of hours social worker Chris Hadley (left) has to co-ordinate several agencies in the middle of the night to make them safe. Graham...

Social care Long-term funding review launched.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... The Department of Health will set up a strategy team to examine the long-term funding of social care as part of a "once in a two-decade opportunity" to address the issue. Care services minister Liam Byrne told Community Care that the team,...

Miraculous recovery.
April 6, 2006... this life Kate Skerratt suffered domestic violence and anorexia but the children she gave up for adoption inspire her My life was in ruins. All I had was my baby boy but I was in a violent relationship. I felt it didn't matter that my...

Training materials.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 6, 2006... Education - A Carers' Handbook ----- B Dixon, National Teaching & Advisory Service. ISBN: 0954762746, [pounds sterling]6.99 (plus [pounds sterling]1.95 p&p) To order visit www.ntas.org.uk/books There is a consensus that children in care...

Voluntary sector Family Service Units in administration.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... Family Service Units, a charity for children and families, went into administration this week following a significant decline in income and crippling pensions liabilities. FSU, which has been operating since 1948 and runs services in...

Website review.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... www.grantsforindividuals.org.uk ----- The Directory of Social Change's website contains details of more than 3,500 trusts operating both nationally and locally, who between them have [pounds sterling]362m available each year for "needy...

Have the flags been furled?(Social workers)
April 6, 2006... Many people entered social work out of a commitment to social justice but does today's profession offer them scope for radicalism? Anabel Unity Sale reports The Oxford English Dictionary defines "radical" as "departing from tradition;...

Workplace Conduct body hears escort allegation.(Brief article)
April 6, 2006... A social worker who allegedly advertised herself as an escort was due this week to become the first person to face the General Social Care Council's conduct committee. Yvonne Marie Doyle, who was not employed as a social worker at the time...

Will Wanless inject hope?(Sir Derek Wanless)
April 13, 2006... The social care sector in England has enthusiastically welcomed the Wanless report, but how much of it will the government adopt, asks Janet Snell. While, on page 36, Jon Glasby looks at the funding and policy implications of the report...

'It's a leap from being all about money to being about delivery'.
April 13, 2006... Julia Ross is determined to apply the lessons learned from the 1990s community care reforms to empower social care staff and users, reports Maria Ahmed Goodbye, bureaucracy. That was Julia Ross's reassuring message about the work of the...

homelessness Scots must focus more on prevention.(Scotland)(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Scotland's councils must put more effort into sustaining and supporting tenancies to stop people presenting as homeless, according to Shelter Scotland. Archie Stoddart, the charity's director, said this would be essential if councils were...

Learning difficulties Councils gain cash to reshape services.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Councils will receive help to address spending pressures on learning difficulties services through a three-year initiative run by the Care Services Improvement Partnership, the Department of Health confirmed this week. The scheme, which...

asylum seekers High Court rules detention unlawful.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... An asylum-seeking couple arrested and held for 15 days can seek damages against the Home Office after the High Court ruled their detention was unlawful. Mr Justice Munby blasted the Home Office for an "unacceptable disregard of the rule of...

readers' views Age role in asylum cases not a turn off.
April 13, 2006... Almost 60 per cent of voters at Community Care's website last week expressed the view that social workers should be required to send age-disputed asylum seekers for medical assessments. This week's question asks: Is the restructure of the...

Older people Homes urged to improve practice.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Care homes have been slow to take up NHS best practice on end of life care, a Department of Health report this week shows. The evaluation of the DH's end of life care programme, launched last April, found that, as of December 2005, just...

When will the inspector call?
April 13, 2006... Last month, the Commission for Social Care Inspection announced that the best providers of adult care services will be fully inspected once every three years. Currently, all providers are scrutinised once or twice a year. The CSCI's David...

Councils face stricter assessment of commissioning practice, says Behan.
April 13, 2006... Councils could be measured on the quality of the services they commission under performance assessments being piloted by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. David Behan, chief inspector at the CSCI, told delegates at the Association...

If you ask me...(an interview with Simon Davies )(Interview)(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Simon Davies has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He lives in a Jewish Care residential home Who has influenced you the most? My parents. Which health or social care professional has been most use to you? I'm not going to single...

Battling the resistance.(case study of learning disabled persons)
April 13, 2006... A man with severe learning difficulties is cared for by his family which is in crisis and refuses external help. Our panel advises CASE study The names of the family mentioned in this article have been changed SITUATION:...

A world of good.(University of Sheffield's course for social work students)
April 13, 2006... Social work student placements can be challenging enough in this country. So what did students at Sheffield University make of taking themselves abroad? Graham Hopkins reports Any student embarking on a social work qualification is required...

Tough policy works, says respect 'tsar'.(Louise Casey )(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Social care professionals need to play a central role in plans to tackle antisocial behaviour, according to the co-ordinator of the government's Respect Unit. Louise Casey criticised organisations that tried to keep intervention with...

Times are a-changin'.(social care benefits)
April 13, 2006... welfare rights Gary Vaux summarises the annual round of changes in the benefits system that kicks in this month In April, welfare rights advisers have to update factsheets, training materials, handbooks and so on in preparation for the...

asylum seekers Hillingdon seeks ruling on shortfall.(Hillingdon Council)(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Hillingdon Council has applied to take the government to judicial review over the alleged underfunding of services for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. The council said the lack of government funding had left it up to [pounds...

Asylum seekers Campaigners fear desire to control costs will override children's needs.
April 13, 2006... Early optimism of an improved service for asylum-seeking children has dissipated as Home Office officials cite economic concerns, reports Helen McCormack As details of the Home Office's plans to reform services for unaccompanied...

Better child protection?
April 13, 2006... Never loved, often reviled, the child protection register has had its day. In two years' time it will be replaced, and all child protection plans will be stored within electronic social care records under the Integrated Children's System. In...

book reviews.(Constructive Campaigning for Autism Services: The Pace Parents' Handbook, Crossing the Housing and Care Divide: A Guide for Practitioners)(Book review)
April 13, 2006... Constructive Campaigning for Autism Services: The Pace Parents' Handbook ----- Armorer Wason, Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN 1843103877, [pounds sterling]11.99 As if it were not difficult enough having an autistic child, the parents...

Child care Children's centres face tough targets.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Children's centres could be held to account over the extent to which they reach out to the most vulnerable, under government proposals. An action plan for the 10-year child care strategy also suggests that councils will judge centres on the...

Children by amy taylor Child protection register scrapped in favour of electronic care records.
April 13, 2006... Child protection registers will be scrapped by April 2008, according to revised government guidance on safeguarding children. A record of children who are the subject of child protection plans will instead be contained in electronic social...

Criminal justice Scotland's monitors 'will spark tension'.
April 13, 2006... New bodies charged with co-ordinating and monitoring Scotland's criminal justice services could create tensions between local authorities, a council chief says. The group, known collectively as the Community Justice Authorities (CJA), has...

Disabilities Councils ready to promote equality.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Councils are well-prepared for a new duty that will require them to promote equality for disabled people, government-backed research has found. Local authorities were more likely than other public agencies, such as health and education...

Disabilities Probe into Valuing People concerns.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... The Commission for Social Care Inspection is to investigate whether severely disabled people are benefiting from Valuing People. The study, revealed in a report published last week, will respond to concerns that this group is not doing...

Don't forget social care.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Once the Every Child Matters agenda was accepted, the separation of adults' and children's services in England gained an unstoppable momentum. So it was only a matter of time before the Association of Directors of Social Services mirrored that...

Funding by simeon brody Dismay for charities as government fails to guarantee ongoing grants.
April 13, 2006... Charities have reacted with shock after being told the government is reviewing a major funding stream for social care and health projects in the middle of their three-year grants. The Department of Health has written to more than 50...

Homelessness Associations will face closer scrutiny.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... The Housing Corporation is planning to investigate housing associations that do not accept enough homeless people. A consultation document by the housing regulator says associations, which were criticised last year by the House of Commons'...

singles bar.(the homeless)
April 13, 2006... There may be as many as 380,000 people spending time sleeping rough, in hostels or on friends' floors, their lives on hold. But, because they are single, they are considered low priority, writes Simeon Brody Official figures...

Joint working Wiltshire snub on shared boundary.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Relations between the NHS and social care in Wiltshire have received another blow after health bosses recommended that the area's new primary care trust should not be coterminous with the county council. After last month's decision by two...

leadership Directors' body confirms it will split.(Association of Directors of Social Services)(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... The Association of Directors of Social Services is to go ahead with plans to split its adult and children's services functions into new organisations to reflect changes in council structures. Subject to members' approval it will team up...

Local authorities Scottish shake-up may be ditched.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... A reorganisation of Scotland's councils that could slash the number of social work departments may be delayed or even abandoned. Finance and public service reform minister Tom McCabe last week indicated that a consultation paper on the...

Mental health by Simeon Brody Groups ready to fight after accusing government of advocacy 'betrayal'.
April 13, 2006... The scrapping of plans to establish a right to advocacy for people detained under mental health powers has been branded a "betrayal" and has become a key battleground in the government's revised legislative proposals. Campaigners say...

Mental capacity Criticisms of advocacy proposals start to bite as department hints at more cash.
April 13, 2006... The government is showing signs that it is heeding campaigners' calls to commit more funding to advocacy for people who lack mental capacity, reports Mithran Samuel Last month, health minister Rosie Winterton gave encouragement to...

Mental health Funding frozen for fourth year running.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... A government grant that local authorities receive for mental health care has been frozen for the fourth successive year. Despite annual rises in inflation, the mental health grant has stayed at [pounds sterling]133m since the 2002-3 award...

Personal care Unclear guidance to blame for problems.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Scotland's councils are being wrongly blamed for problems with the country's free personal care policy, local government leaders have claimed. Evidence to the Scottish parliament health committee's review of free personal care has shown...

Inclusive education has the magic touch.(Alliance for Inclusive Education)
April 13, 2006... Human Rights: Transforming Services? was the title of the conference but it was the question mark at the end that caught my interest. A big event staged by the Social Care Institute for Excellence and the Disability Rights Commission aimed...

Policy Social care exempt from Euro directive.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Social services look set to be excluded from a European directive that would have opened them up to competition from across the European Union. The European Commission has backed an earlier decision by members of the European Parliament...

Public order Court calls a halt to ill-defined Asbos.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Antisocial behaviour orders should "never again" be drafted in a vague, all-encompassing way, the High Court has ruled. Lord Justice Richards, sitting with Mr Justice David Clarke, said the terms of an order prohibiting a 13-year-old boy...

Research review.(Child Welfare Services for Minority Ethnic Families: The Research Reviewed )(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2006... Child Welfare Services for Minority Ethnic Families: The Research Reviewed ----- June Thoburn, Ashok Chand & Joanne Procter, Jessica Kingsley Publishers ISBN 1843102692, [pounds sterling]19.95 This book surprises as much as...

television review.(Me and My Mum )(Television program review)
April 13, 2006... Me and My Mum ----- Channel 4, 9pm Monday 27 March "Our own private tragedy" is how Tony Robinson of TV's Time Team and Blackadder fame described the way in which he (and we) deals with the sadness, confusion and grief of having a parent...

I'm proud of my work.
April 13, 2006... this life Debbie Nash feels her life has taken off now that she has a steady job and is involved with a user group I have a job as a school dinner lady. I have had two jobs. The first was in a shop. It was the British Heart Foundation. I...

Voluntary sector Charity says public bodies owe it [pounds sterling]7m.(Brief article)
April 13, 2006... Palliative care charity Sue Ryder Care claims it faced a [pounds sterling]7m shortfall last year in funding for services it provided for councils and primary care trusts. Sue Ryder said the hole had to be filled by voluntary donations,...

The [pounds sterling]30bn question.(Derek Wanless's report)
April 13, 2006... The Wanless report is brimming with ideas but it is the policymakers who, ultimately, will have to make it work - if the will is there, writes Jon Glasby What a week it was for older people's services. First, there was a critical...