Community Care articles from December 2005

Community Care archives from December 2005

different class.(parental support)
December 1, 2005... Parents are an untapped resource for their children's learning. Phillip Cooper says school-based courses can boost the skills of the whole family Between birth and 16 years, children spend less than 15 per cent of their waking time in...

News.(juvenile delinquency)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... More antisocial behaviour orders issued to young people should be discharged or conditions varied if their behaviour improves, a government report has said. Only 142 of 4,649 Asbos were reviewed in this way from April 1999 to December...

Public order 'Modify Asbos when behaviour improves'.(antisocial behaviour orders)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... More antisocial behaviour orders issued to young people should be discharged or conditions varied if their behaviour improves, a government report has said. Only 142 of 4,649 Asbos were reviewed in this way from April 1999 to December...

children Scottish GPs could block data-sharing.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Health professionals could obstruct Scottish executive plans to enable agencies to share their records on children. The Joint Inspection of Children's Services and Inspection of Social Work Services (Scotland) Bill would allow health,...

Policy Services shake-up in N Ireland welcomed.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Northern Ireland's social services face a major overhaul under plans unveiled last week. Health minister Shaun Woodward said he would cut bureaucracy and waste by replacing the country's four health and social service boards with a single...

Homelessness Charity seeks funds for 'young old' care.(Thames Reach Bondway, London, England)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... A London homelessness charity is planning a project for clients whose chronic alcohol consumption has caused premature ageing. Staff at Thames Reach Bondway are seeing increasing numbers of people in their forties or fifties who have the...

Legal Laming inquiry policeman charged.(John Fox)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... A senior police officer who was one of Lord Laming's advisers during the Victoria Climbie Inquiry has been charged with two offences of common assault. John Fox, 49, a detective superintendent at Hampshire Constabulary, pleaded not guilty...

an enlightened move.(Youth Justice Board suggested young people in custody to be held in open settings)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... In a positive development, the Youth Justice Board has suggested more children and young people in custody should be held in "open" settings. The national press has likened the idea to a revival of the old borstal system but the reality is...

Action teams see the fruits of their labours.(performance action teams)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Seven out of nine social services departments that had a performance action team working with them last year, but failed then to improve their rating, have now gained stars. Bedfordshire, Oldham, Swindon and Birmingham all had PATs and have...

Adults' services still improving faster.(Commission for Social Care Inspection)
December 1, 2005... Children's services continue to lag behind councils' adult social care in improving performance, this year's star ratings reveal. More than three-quarters of councils are now serving most adults well, but only 63 per cent achieve this...

Children 'Councils should get central advice cash'.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Councils should be given ring-fenced funding to commission advice and expertise on children's services if and when they need it, a leading think-tank will propose. The research from Demos, out next month, will argue that government budgets...

Joint children's gradings positive.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Most councils achieved one of the top two grades for children's services in the first annual performance assessment covering children's social care and education. Ofsted announced that 8 per cent achieved grade 4 and 67 per cent grade 3,...

Local authorities' appeals against star ratings fall on stony ground.
December 1, 2005... Almost one-third of councils appealed against their star rating this year but most were rejected, in authorities' first opportunity to formally challenge inspectors. The Commission for Social Care Inspection said today that 46 councils...

Burden weighs heavily.
December 1, 2005... A carer is in danger of collapsing under the weight of responsibility. Fortunately, Lee Alexander (pictured above left) and Alexandra Dunlop (below) were able to provide her with the support to help her carry on, writes Graham...

Room at the top.
December 1, 2005... Vic Citarella looks at how local and integrated workforce planning can improve service delivery by tackling issues emerging from changes in supply and demand Workforce planning is the order of the day - the more integrated and the...

Book reviews.(Disability Discrimination, Law and Practice, Support for Asylum Seekers: A Guide to Legal and Welfare Rights)(Book Review)
December 1, 2005... Disability Discrimination, Law and Practice ----- Brian Doyle, Jordans Publishing ISBN 0853089574, [pounds sterling]45 Anyone who subscribes to the definition of social work as working to promote the "empowerment and liberation of people...

Children by Simeon Brody Failure to notify cues fresh demands for private fostering registration.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Campaigners have repeated calls for compulsory registration of private fostering after government figures revealed just 730 notified arrangements in England. Fostering charities estimate there are as many as 10,000 children being privately...

Disabilities Social care input on orders urged.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Social care staff must work with enforcement agencies to prevent young people with disabilities being unfairly handed antisocial behaviour orders, a leading civil servant has said. Joe Tuke, director of the Home Office's Respect Taskforce,...

Finance by Derren Hayes Scottish councils fear for preventive services in wake of spending round.
December 1, 2005... Social work leaders in Scotland claim some services will be cut or rationed and preventive work put at risk because of a shortage in funding. The warning came after the Scottish executive announced it would give Scotland's councils an...

Government Asbo drive leaves Ladyman in a spin.(Stephen Ladyman )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Former community care minister Stephen Ladyman had a close encounter with an Asbo last weekend. Ladyman was appearing on BBC's Top Gear TV programme, where presenter Jeremy Clarkson tested a new Ford that he nicknamed the "Asbo" because of...

homelessness Lack of duty acts as barrier to social care support for homeless people.
December 1, 2005... Social services are not helping people outside statutory client groups, claim charities. Simeon Brody reports The lack of social services involvement in drawing up local homelessness plans was described as "surprising" in a report from MPs...

Housing Hutton to review benefit reforms.(John Hutton of Department for Work and Pensions )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Work and pensions secretary John Hutton is to re-examine the government's proposed housing benefit reforms. A scheme to replace the benefit with a local housing allowance, which pays a set sum depending on household size, is being piloted...

Inspections Spot checks mooted for local authorities.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Councils could be subject to unannounced inspections or investigations triggered by dissatisfied users or partners. Government proposals suggest moving away from scheduled inspections for authorities in order to focus on poor performers....

It's all lies.(allegations on foster networks)
December 1, 2005... although foster carers are part of the children's workforce, they have none of the rights of conventional employees - something they miss when allegations are made against them In her 15 years as a foster carer Judy Drake never thought it...

Learning difficulties Unit shut after child protection worries.(St. Luke's Hospital)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Healthcare Commission has closed a privately run unit for adolescents with learning difficulties after Norfolk Council raised child protection concerns. The commission found a lack of procedures to ensure that employees had the...

Mental health Inquiry plea as cuts threaten services.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Mental health services face significant cuts and job losses, according to a charity. Rethink has called for a national investigation after learning that at least nine areas in England each face major cuts that could be as high as [pounds...

Mental health Watchdog points to lack of cell safety.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Police must receive clearer guidelines and better training on mental health, campaigners have said. The calls came after the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced that up to half of the 36 people who died in or following...

Mental health 'Modest progress' on social exclusion.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... A government report hailing the success of its project to reduce social exclusion for people with mental health problems has received a mixed response from campaigners. The review of the first year of the national social inclusion...

Grounds for optimism.
December 1, 2005... Dismal findings from research into partnership working has led to scepticism about the integration agenda. But, says Bob Hudson, an evaluation of five pathway teams in County Durham suggests the doubts may be misplaced Sedgefield is a...

Policy by Mithran Samuel Government heeds call for greater urgency on data-sharing systems.
December 1, 2005... Information management in social care will have more priority in the New Year amid concerns about its integration with developments in children's services and the NHS. Local authorities will face audits in early 2006 of their progress in...

Probation Bid to rejig service prompts warnings.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The government's plan to restructure the probation service could undermine community sentences, the Howard League for Penal Reform said this week. The charity warned that more private companies could be brought in to run services under the...

Residential care Relatives face care homes means test.(Jewish Care)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... A leading charity is to means-test the relatives of people living at its residential care homes to try to bridge a council funding gap. Jewish Care says it faces an average [pounds sterling]200-a-week shortfall between the funding provided...

Substance misuse Children in care fall into drug dealing.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The link between a childhood spent in care and future offending is highlighted in a new report on drug dealing. More than half of the dealers interviewed had lived in local authority care or secure accommodation. Most dealers had no...

Supporting people Programme reform could hit homeless.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Proposals in the government's Supporting People consultation paper to deliver the programme through local area agreements (LAA) could set the homelessness sector back by up to 15 years, a conference has heard. John O'Sullivan, chief...

The full picture.(Adoption UK)
December 1, 2005... councils are achieving positive results by showing films of hard-to-place children to prospective adopters "I have to go to a new family because I'm not allowed to go to my real family It's sad because I'm not going home." This was...

Theatre review.(Mercy Fine)(Theater Review)
December 1, 2005... Mercy Fine ----- Shelley Silas Southwark Playhouse Run ended Each year the Clean Break theatre company commissions a play researched in a women's prison and with ex-offenders. In this stunning play Mercy Fine waits for her release date...

Young offenders by Maria Ahmed More 'open' beds planned as board extends custody reduction deadline.(Youth Justice Board)
December 1, 2005... More young people in custody could be held in "open" accommodation, including therapeutic centres and mental health settings, under proposals published this week by the Youth Justice Board. Its strategy also indicates that the target date...

Good news wins out.(Commission for Social Care Inspection issues star ratings for council social services)
December 1, 2005... The press statement on the new round of star ratings, issued by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, was headed "Good and bad news for council social services", but most councils will take heart from the emphasis on the good. Thirty-six...

Someone to expect each day.
December 8, 2005... Intermediate care is often seen as a lifeline to establishing older people's independence after hospital. But limiting it to six weeks is wrong, says Michelle Cornes and Jill Manthorpe The government has recently consulted on a new white...

Keep quiet about it.(stigma of mental health problems)
December 8, 2005... Recent research has found that people with mental health problems experience stigma more than they do discrimination. Michael Carter explains why The dictionary defines stigma as "a distinguishing mark of social disgrace". Mental health...

Parent power for some.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... It appears that parent power is causing the government's [pounds sterling]3bn Sure Start initiative to veer off course by diverting support away from the most needy. Or, as the researchers who have carried out a national evaluation of the...

Brown aims to test if mentoring works.
December 8, 2005... A two-year pilot scheme to test the effectiveness of mentoring for looked-after children is to be launched next year, it was announced in this week's pre-budget report. The programme, to be delivered by the voluntary sector, will...

Byrne puts case for more care spending.(Liam Byrne)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... The care services minister has admitted there is a gulf between current and desirable levels of social care funding. Speaking at a debate last week on older people's life chances, Liam Byrne said it could take "one or two comprehensive...

Christmas crackers.(Column)
December 8, 2005... welfare rights Gary Vaux has recently received requests from some familiar, yet clearly very needy, sources At this festive time, it's always worth thinking of those less fortunate than us. After seven years writing this column, I've...

Councils warn of social services cuts in wake of modest formula grant rise.
December 8, 2005... Council chiefs have warned they will have to cut social services funding over the next two years after they failed to win as much money as they wanted. The government said this week that councils with social services responsibilities would...

Supporting People loses further funding.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Projects funded by Supporting People face more cuts after the government announced that a further [pounds sterling]30m would be shaved from the programme's budget next year. Campaigners criticised the 1.7 per cent cut from [pounds...

Youth Justice Bigger role mooted for voluntary sector.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... More youth justice services could be provided by charities under guidance to be rolled out shortly by the Youth Justice Board. Brendan Finegan, the board's director of policy, said its forthcoming service delivery guidance for local...

books for christmas.
December 8, 2005... We asked Community Care readers, reviewers and contributors which books they are hoping to receive or intending to give this Christmas. Here, and in part two next week, they tell us Val Brooks Service team leader, Nottingham The very top of...

Carers [pounds sterling]750m unclaimed in benefits confusion.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Carers are losing out on their financial entitlements because of confusion over the benefits system, a new report claims. Carers UK says nearly [pounds sterling]750m in benefits is going unclaimed and that older carers are hit worst. ...

Children in care Guidance may cut use of legal system.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Campaigners hope new guidelines for police dealing with offending by children in care homes will cut the number of looked-after children entering the criminal justice system. Police will have to treat children's homes as domestic settings...

children Warning on plan to open family courts.
December 8, 2005... Government proposals to open the family courts to the press and public could undermine safeguards for children, lawyers and paediatricians say. A consultation due next spring is expected to propose a range of measures from publishing all...

Criminal justice Offender body chief lights up dark side.(sense of humor of Helen Edwards of National Offender Management Service)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... The new head of the National Offender Management Service showed her sense of humour last week when she was accused of "going over to the dark side" from her previous job as head of rehabilitation charity Nacro. Responding to the quip by...

Disabilities Joint working body to tackle disparities.(Office for Disability Issues formed)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... A cross-government body to reduce inequalities faced by disabled people has been launched. The Office for Disability Issues, which was trailed in a report from the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit in January, aims to ensure disabled people...

Equipped for the job?(Column)
December 8, 2005... A 42-year-old blind man with a history of depression has been let down in his first-ever job by poor equipment and may lose it panel responses Julie heath The government report Improving the Life Chances for Disabled People says...

Exclusive by maria ahmed Hint of U-turn by Living Fund raises hopes of former long-stay patients.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... The Independent Living Fund is considering opening up its grant to disabled people who have left long-stay hospitals. The Department for Work and Pensions this week confirmed that it had held talks with the Department of Health and the ILF...

Families by amy taylor Local authority control may help Sure Start reach the most deprived.
December 8, 2005... Sure Start's ability to reach the most disadvantaged families could improve when the programme comes under local authority control, it was claimed this week. Phil Osborne, head of Surrey Council's early years and child care service, made...

Family courts by mithran samuel and gordon carson Guardians' body offers bonus and more holidays to quell union threat.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... The threat of industrial action at the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service has eased after it struck a deal with unions that had rejected its initial pay offer. It has offered staff a [pounds sterling]150 bonus on top of...

Finance Health crisis could hit pooled services.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Cost-cutting teams charged with reducing health trusts' deficits may focus their efforts on preventive services funded jointly by health and social care, it is feared. The Department of Health last week announced it would send the...

Housing benefit Reforms may leave vulnerable in debt.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Planned reforms to the housing benefit system could leave some of the most vulnerable claimants in rent arrears, campaigners fear. The local housing allowance, being tested in 18 areas, is paid directly to the claimant rather than the...

last in spending round.
December 8, 2005... At the same time as scaling back his economic forecasts, the chancellor also took the opportunity this week to trim his public spending commitments. Long before Monday's pre-budget statement Gordon Brown had made it clear that the main...

mental health Plight of black people exposed.
December 8, 2005... Black people are three times more likely to be admitted to mental health hospitals and more likely to be secluded or restrained once there, according to a major survey. The first census of the ethnicity of people using mental health...

mental health by simeon brody Bill faces legal threat after advisers attack time allotted to race study.
December 8, 2005... The draft Mental Health Bill may face a legal challenge because of the way the race impact assessment on the planned laws was carried out. It follows a leaked report by a government advisory group which questions the tight timescale given...

Performance Hackles raised after inspectors accuse councils of 'coasting'.
December 8, 2005... While satisfied by this year's star ratings, social care leaders are angry at what they see as inspectors' lack of recognition of their difficult circumstances. Mithran Samuel reports The 2005 star ratings told a story of overall...

prisons Overload may cause more youth deaths.
December 8, 2005... Overcrowding in prisons could lead to more young people dying in custody, a senior official has warned. Neil Beales, head of safeguarding at Huntercombe Young Offender Institution in Oxfordshire, said he was very concerned that staff were...

Public order Majority of Asbos in Scotland breached.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... More than half the antisocial behaviour orders issued in Scotland may have been breached, new research has shown. Sheriff courts dealt with 303 Asbo breaches in 2004-5, data collected for the Scottish executive shows. But, according to...

sex offenders Supervision in the community slated.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Management of sex offenders in the community is "poorly co-ordinated and inconsistent", according to a report published this week. The joint study by the inspectorates of probation and constabulary finds "considerable" improvements are...

social exclusion Call to tackle needs of unpopular groups.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Efforts to tackle social exclusion must focus on "unpopular" groups if the government is to make more progress, the chief of a Labour-linked think-tank has claimed. Nick Pearce, director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, said...

special needs School saved after road route changes.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Campaigners have won a 12-year battle to save a Scottish community and school for people with special needs after ministers decided to route a bypass around rather than through it. The Camphill community and Camphill Rudolph Steiner School...

standards Byrne slams press criticism of workers.(Liam Byrne)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Care services minister Liam Byrne has attacked a newspaper article that interpreted last week's social services star rating report as an attack on "unacceptably poor and slow" social workers. The story in the Daily Mail, which claimed the...

standards Institute given nod to pay next chair.(Social Care Institute for Excellence )(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... The Social Care Institute for Excellence has won permission from the Charity Commission to pay its new chair a salary, contrary to standard third sector practice. It has advertised for the two-day-a-week post at [pounds sterling]30,000 a...

supporting people Consultants fail to up Liverpool rating.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Liverpool's Supporting People programme has been heavily criticised by inspectors, a little more than a year after the council brought in private consultants to help manage the scheme. The Audit Commission found the city's administration of...

training Tougher appraisal of councils needed.(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Social services' performance assessment should include tougher training indicators to ensure departments focus on workforce development, an expert says. John Wallace, spokesperson for Natopps-Learn to Care, which represents social care...

workforce Union rages at [pounds sterling]50 attendance bonus.
December 8, 2005... U nion leaders say a scheme to give social work staff a cash bonus if they take no sick days is a "joke" and a "gimmick". West Dunbartonshire Council's plan to pay workers [pounds sterling]50 if they have a 100 per cent attendance record...

'Cash must target hard-to-reach youth'.(federal funds)(Brief Article)
December 8, 2005... Funds earmarked by the Treasury for youth services must target the socially excluded, charities say. The money, lying dormant in unused bank accounts, could amount to [pounds sterling]1bn and will be used for youth and community services....

a special time.
December 8, 2005... Christmas is usually a happy time for families. But what about children in care? Graham Hopkins reports on a contact scheme in Ireland From frivolous TV ads to more solemn Christian messages, we are reminded that Christmas is a time for...

mental health by simeon brody Race watchdog to investigate bias in system against minority groups.(United Kingdom. Commission for Racial Equality)
December 15, 2005... The Commission for Racial Equality is to launch an investigation into inequalities in the mental health system, which could trigger legal action against public bodies. The move follows last week's Healthcare Commission census which found...

asylum seekers Section nine faces new appraisal.(United Kingdom. Asylum and Immigration Act 2004)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... The Home Office has begun an evaluation of the policy that can lead to failed asylum seekers having their children taken into care. The evaluation of section nine of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 is set to finish by February when a...

voluntary sector Aslan helps those without wardrobes.(All Souls Local Action Network donates food and drink to the homeless)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... The link between watching Disney's new production of CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and social care is not immediately apparent. But one of the story's main characters has been present in the sector for many years. Aslan,...

DO YOUR DUTY.(social workers planning for Christmas Day celebrations)
December 15, 2005... With Christmas Day falling on a Sunday, social services emergency teams will have to provide extensive cover. Three managers tell Graham Hopkins how they plan to cope While most social care workers are enjoying a well-earned break,...

it all beg an with a word.(a case of teenage pregnancy)
December 15, 2005... One phone call from a colleague spurred Luke Matthews (top) and Mark St-John into action on the trail of a pregnant teenager and her older companion. And although their story seemed unbelievable, it was the gospel truth. Graham Hopkins...

Youth justice Board fails to meet key targets in Wales.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... The Youth Justice Board missed several key targets in Wales by substantial margins last year, new figures have revealed. The Welsh assembly's social justice and regeneration committee was told the YJB missed 2004-5 targets on assessing...

asylum seekers let Zimbabweans work, say lobbyists.(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... A group of MPs and the Refugee Council have called for failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers to be allowed to work to avoid destitution. The council and the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe said failed asylum seekers had been left...

bill of rights all wrong.(United Kingdom. Mental Health Act 1983)(Brief Article)
December 15, 2005... If the Mental Health Bill ever did purport to take civil liberties seriously, it is now much harder to argue that this is the case. For example, the tribunals to be set up under the new legislation were supposed to be a more effective...

books for christmas.
December 15, 2005... Here we conclude our festive special where readers and contributors tell Community Care what books they intend to give as presents or hope to receive this Christmas Sarah Baalham Customer care manager, Suffolk Council I am hoping that...