Community Care articles from July 2005

Community Care archives from July 2005

Anna Stewart.(dispersal notices help to tackle antisocial behavior)
July 1, 2005... How dispersal notices have helped one north London council tackle antisocial behaviour and protect minorities from abuse and intimidation Last month, a gay couple were trapped in their home after a gang of young people taunted and...

Doubts over expert opinion.(expert witnesses in child death cases)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... More doubt has been thrown on the role of expert witnesses in child death or serious injury cases. As 0-19 went to press, a test case was being heard at the Court of Appeal involving four people who claim they were wrongly found guilty of...

Extended schools guide published.(child care services and activities to be extended)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... All schools will be expected to provide access to parenting support and a range of specialist support services by 2010. The prospectus on extended services for schools, published last month, also confirms plans for all schools to offer access...

Just the job.(Liz Clark)(Interview)
July 1, 2005... Liz Clark is a school nurse with Lambeth Primary Care Trust in south London What is the aim of your job? To promote healthy lifestyles, help prevent ill-health and address the health needs of children and young people. What is an...

My Life.(dealing with Asperger's syndrome )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Andrew Cowan, 11, who has Asperger's syndrome, describes his experience on Junior Mastermind I felt excited when I made it to the semi final of Junior Mastermind. My specialist subject was Star Wars and to prepare for it I watched the...

Naomi Eisenstadt.(school child care plan)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... How is the government going about implementing the extended school agenda? The 10-year child care strategy commits the government to year-round child care for school-aged children from 8am to 6pm delivered from, or within easy reach, of...

No return to dark days.(Baroness Warnock)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Everyone is entitled to a change of heart. But when an entire system has been built on the premise of your earlier beliefs, you are always going to create waves if you reverse your opinion. Last month, the very person who laid the foundations...

Playground beat.(school-baed police officers in Safer Schools Partnership )
July 1, 2005... Schools across the country are starting to discover the benefits of a permanent police presence. Sally Gillen reports When the government announced plans to introduce school-based police officers, many saw it as a hard-line response to...

Pots of Gold.(Lloyds TSB Foundations)
July 1, 2005... Sources of funds for organisations working with children and teenagers Name: Lloyds TSB Foundations. Contact details: Central Office at: Lloyds TSB Foundations, 3rd Floor, 4 St. Dunstan's Hill, London EC3R 8UL. Tel 0870 411 1223,...

Reconciliation race.(young runaways)
July 1, 2005... Young runaways often fall through the service net. But projects reaching out to them and their families do exist. Joy ogden reports ost young people probably think about running away from home from time to time - perhaps when their parents...

Simon; Demetriou.(sexual education )(Brief Article)(Column)
July 1, 2005... Encouraging young people to think about sex in terms of moral behaviour is harming sex education When I was at secondary school I had the good fortune to be taught about sex in a way that was relevant, rational, and best of all, not...

Sink or swim?(child accidents on road)
July 1, 2005... Cocooning young children from danger can leave them more vulnerable to accidents as they grow older. Katie Coyne reports Accidents are the number one child killer in the UK. In 2003, there were almost 47,000 traffic accidents involving...

The hardest ; lesson of all.(sex education to children)
July 1, 2005... Schools must shoulder most of the burden when it comes to sex education, but conflicting pressures are diluting their efforts. Lauren Revans reports O ver the past two months we have witnessed an explosion of headlines in the national...

Tracy's dividend.(British Broadcasting corporation )
July 1, 2005... .One BBC programme is aiming to destigmatise residential care for children, writes zenab short esidential care has an image problem. "The homes are stigmatised as full of bad kids from bad families, who bring their troubles upon...

what can be done to improve behaviour in schools?
July 1, 2005... ..Suze Borton talks to young people in Brighton about how to bring discipline to the classroom part of the government's drive to create a culture of respect in society, the spotlight has fallen once more on the issue of school discipline....

families; Contact orders in bill 'too inflexible'.(child contact orders)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Legislation to enforce child contact orders should ensure the safety of children and parents, a coalition of charities has warned. As the Children and Adoption Bill received its second reading in the House of Lords last week, Barnardo's, NCH...

legal; Couple cleared ; over baby's death.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... A couple accused of shaking their four-week-old daughter to death were cleared of murder last week. Kantharupan Muragamoorthy shook baby Asha in a bid to revive her after his partner, Devika Sabaratnam, discovered her lifeless and cold....

exclusive by simeon Brody; Councils' Supporting People errors leave homeless people in the lurch.
July 7, 2005... Homeless people are being prevented from benefiting from Supporting People services because local authority commissioners are, wrongly, refusing to fund services for people whose last address was in another borough. Research by Homeless Link,...

special needs; Wales: rethink on statementing urged.
July 7, 2005... The National Autistic Society Cymru is calling for the statementing system for children with special educational needs to be made more consistent across Wales Giving evidence to the Welsh assembly's education and lifelong learning committee,...

children in care; Scottish councils hit back at McConnell.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Scottish local government groups have hit back at criticism by the first minister Jack McConnell that they are not doing enough to improve looked-after children's education. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Association of...

voluntary sector; Watchdog slams funding methods.(government funding to charities)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... There have been no significant improvements in the way the state funds voluntary sector bodies three years after a critical Treasury review demanded change. That was the verdict of a damning National Audit Office report on government funding of...

Older people; Care home chief cleared of charges.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Former government adviser Dr Chai Patel has been cleared of serious professional misconduct by a General Medical Council panel. The charges against Patel related to allegations of poor care standards at a nursing home run by Westminster Health...

Child protection; Victim's memory of abuse 'implausible'.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... A man convicted of raping a young girl is attempting to clear his name by claiming that a child's "early memories" can prove unreliable in court. John Robert Hudson, 59, was jailed for 12 years in November 2000 after he was found guilty on four...

asylum seekers; Register open to refugee groups.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... A national register of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children will go live later this month, three months later than first planned. A spokesperson for the project said that the delay was due to a decision to expand the database's functions to...

child protection; Meadow denies status as expert.(Professor Sir Roy Meadow)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Professor Sir Roy Meadow, whose evidence helped wrongfully convict Sally Clark of murdering her two babies, has denied he was an expert in child abuse. Meadow told a General Medical Council hearing this week he could not be considered a "guru"...

exclusive by maria ahmed; Youth green paper to place duty on councils to provide activity schemes.
July 7, 2005... Local authorities could be required by law to provide positive activities for young people, according to proposals set out in a draft of the government's youth green paper leaked to Community Care. The draft of Youth Matters also pledges to...

training materials.(Teamwise, Using Research Evidence: A Practical Guide for Teams)(Book Review)
July 7, 2005... TEAMWISE, USING RESEARCH EVIDENCE: A PRACTiCAL GUIDE FOR TEAMS Celia Atherton, Mo Barrat and Rhiannon Hodson, Research into Practice ISBN 1904984037, [pounds sterling]15 www.rip.org.uk/publications Deceptive in size, only 40...

Employers to face tribunals as staff shortages add to stress.
July 7, 2005... More social care employers are likely to face employment tribunals in future, a legal expert has warned, writes Derren Hayes. This follows the news that one in four employers are now summoned to tribunals by former staff, according to a survey...

If you ask me...(Stuart Baker-Brown of mental health charity Rethink)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 7, 2005... Stuart Baker-Brown volunteers and receives services from mental health charity Rethink Who do you most admire? Sufferers of severe mental illness. Name one thing that would make your life better? Being respected as a patient of the NHS...

Lighting up not yet a thing of the past at work.(workplace smoking)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... A new survey of European workers shows the workplace smoke break is a source of division between staff, as non-smokers think colleagues who smoke are less productive. Last month the government opened a three-month consultation on its proposals...

ON ; THE ; MOVE.(appointments at Mental Health Foundation, Tower Hamlets Council, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, etc. )(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... DAVID CREPAZ-KEAY has joined the Mental Health Foundation as senior policy adviser on patient and public involvement, with a remit to promote the views of service users. He was previously chief executive at Mental Health Media. KEVAN...

WHEN A CARER MOVES ON.
July 7, 2005... An 82-year-old-woman with few independence skills loses her carer daughter, has a fall, and suffers a crisis of confidence CASE study The names of service users mentioned in this article have been changed Situation: Edith McSweeney is...

Web review.(www.dpi.org, Disabled Peoples' International)
July 7, 2005... www.dpi.org Admittedly, this site is not for everyone. However, for those around the world with an interest in disability issues, perhaps students of social policy or disability rights, it is a gem, writes Sarah Baalham. DPI - Disabled...

DEFINING VISION.(adult green paper)
July 7, 2005... The adult green paper has upped the ante when it comes to focusing on outcomes not service input. Here, Martin Willis and colleagues describe research they undertook on the needs of visually impaired people in the light of the new agenda ...

book reviews.(A Long Way Down)(Community Care)(Laughter and Tears: A Family's Journey to Understanding the Autism Spectrum)(Book Review)
July 7, 2005... A LONG WAY DOWN Nick Hornby, Penguin ISBN 0670888249, [pounds sterling]17.99 There are people who are suicidal, and there are others who kill themselves. Nick Hornby's latest novel shows that the two are very different, writes Chris...

career clinic.(residential care workers )(Brief Article)(Column)
July 7, 2005... I am a qualified social worker who moved from field work to residential child care six weeks ago. I have been made welcome by an established team who get on well professionally and personally. The problem is they are such a close team they...

beyond belief.(ritualistic abuse in african churches)
July 7, 2005... With allegations of witchcraft hitting the headlines, Anabel Unity Sale looks at where this leaves UK practitioners, whose awareness and knowledge of African spiritualism may be lacking. And overleaf, two experts examine a joint initiative...

children in care; Kent warns councils over placements.(Kent Child Protection Committee)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Kent Council is urging the government to put a surcharge on councils that place vulnerable children in the county. The local authority warned there would be "serious consequences" if numbers were not cut. A report released by Kent Child...

children; Jails chief Narey ; to head Barnardo's.(Martin Narey)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Barnardo's has chosen the government's prisons and probation head, Martin Narey, as its new chief executive. Narey, chief executive of the National Offender Management Service (Noms), will take the post even though he has no background in...

families; Superdad joins the comic strip heroes.(Fathers 4 Justice)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Move over Spiderman, Superman, Hulk, Batman and Robin The antics of fathers' rights group Fathers 4 Justice are to be immortalised on celluloid just like the comic superheroes they like to imitate. Harbour Pictures, the company behind the hit...

funding; Efficiency gains fail to fill black hole.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Councils in England expect to make [pounds sterling]177m of efficiency gains in adult social services this year, but say it is not enough to fill a funding black hole. Only in local authority corporate services has more money been saved than in...

Hospitals by derren hayes; Trust 'bullied' social workers over patient discharges in Edinburgh.
July 7, 2005... An NHS trust has been accused of bullying social work staff into discharging patients from an Edinburgh hospital too quickly. A report by Edinburgh Council's community services scrutiny panel into the city's Royal Infirmary (ERI) is highly...

Be effective in meetings.
July 7, 2005... Social work is inundated with more than its fair share of meetings, writes Nathalie Towner. But they do serve an important purpose as they will often be the only time different interest groups communicate face to face. These forums are used to...

Job file: Area special educational needs co-ordinator.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Who's doing it? Jane Thewlis. Where? Early years and child care service, Bradford Council. Job description: To support private and voluntary sector child care staff (in nurseries, out-of-school clubs, creches, playgroups and as childminders) to...

older people; Call for bloodletting after King's Fund tears into care service crisis.
July 7, 2005... An inquiry has recommended a radical overhaul of older people's care services. But with money being diverted to supporting children and families, the funding to bring about change may not exist, reports Gordon Carson The King's Fund's...

optimism still scarce.(funding social services)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... The council efficiency savings announced this week sound dramatic, but come nowhere near plugging the [pounds sterling]1.5bn black hole in social care funding. The crisis covers both children's and adults' services and represents a lack of...

myths and reality.(witchcraft of Africans and child abuse)
July 7, 2005... Racist stereotypes of Africans are perpetuated by media reports of recent child abuse cases. But abuse does exist and we need to enlist the African community to help eradicate it, says Yasmin Alibhai-Brown We have been told to sing along to...

WORDS TO ; THE WISE.(Punjabi lessons for staff in community resource centre in Wolverhampton)
July 7, 2005... A community resource centre in Wolverhampton is taking positive cultural awareness a step further by training its staff in the use of Punjabi. Graham Hopkins reports Everybody, it has been argued, carries with them patterns of thinking,...

schools; Institute floats plan for excluded pupils.(Institute for Public Policy Research)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Secondary schools would be forced to keep places available for excluded pupils under ideas floated by an influential think-tank. The Institute for Public Policy Research argues that schools should hold back places at the beginning of the school...

something to do at last.(youth in the millenium)(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Young people growing up in the noughties must be forgiven for suspecting that the authorities and the public divide them neatly into two categories: good - in which case their needs and wishes are largely ignored; and bad - in which case they...

healing process starts.(rehabilitation of a self harmer)
July 7, 2005... this life Alex Williams has self-harmed for years but a rehabilitation pact with her psychiatric nurse is paying off Self-harm has been an important aspect of my life for 11 years. I am now realising I may have outgrown the behaviour. When...

LESS MONITORING - MORE SUPPORT.(register for monitoring of personal assistants for disabled people)
July 7, 2005... viewpoint A register to monitor personal assistants for disabled people would be a step backwards, argues Alan Desborough I disagree with the view that there ought to be a register to monitor personal assistants who help disabled people....

voluntary sector; Funding shake-up 'to sideline groups'.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Voluntary sector representatives have warned they will be shut out of local decision-making by the transfer to councils of government funding to develop the sector. Delegates at a regeneration conference this week said councils might not...

ON THE FRONT LINE.(unemployment insurance)
July 7, 2005... welfare rights A round-up of some of the problems that landed on Gary Vaux's desk in just one afternoon Occasionally, I do a quick round-up of current issues facing front-line staff. This round-up is based on a few of the queries that...

ACT OF FAITH?(witchcraft and child abuse allegations)
July 7, 2005... A belief in witchcraft among some religious communities in London has led to serious child abuse allegations. Hannah Miller and Chris Bourlet look at a joint initiative by social services and the Met to address this issue The face of...

crossroads crisis.(asylum-seeker children needs support)
July 7, 2005... Lone asylum-seeker children approaching their 18th birthday need support to face the prospect of being returned to the country they fled. Yet funding for the legal aid system that should be giving them much of this help has been cut. Louise...

young people; Care leaver study reveals ethnic gap.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... White young people suffer the worst outcomes of all ethnic groups within the care system and after leaving it, a Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found. The study finds they are most at risk of placement disruption, low educational attainment,...

young offenders; Two more teenage suicides in custody.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... Two 18-year-old prisoners have hanged themselves at Reading young offender institution in eight days. They became the fifth and sixth young offenders to have taken their own lives in custody in as many months. Allan Blake died on 3 July and...

youth justice by maria ahmed; Study backs fear that Asbo policy will dash bid to cut prison numbers.(Brief Article)
July 7, 2005... More than 700 young people have been jailed for offences involving Asbo breaches since April last year, according to the Youth Justice Board. Its records reveal that 373 under-18s were jailed between April and December last year, and 328...

condition of which we know so little.(software millionaire Steve Shirley's work for autistic children)
July 7, 2005... Yvonne roberts How one remarkable woman is spending her fortune on trying to unravel the mysteries of autism Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge, has a theory that autism may be an...

'Councils should value voluntary sector more'.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... Local authorities do not understand the value of the voluntary sector, a leading civil servant has claimed. Alan Smith, policy adviser at the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, said there was little understanding within local strategic partnerships of...

voluntary sector; Appeal Court finds for advice charity.(Riverside Advice)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... An advice centre has won a legal battle in a case that put local government funding to UK-based advice charities under threat. The Appeal Court overturned a previous ruling that Cardiff Local Health Board was entitled to axe funding to...

bichard inquiry; New warning over vetting scheme.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... The British Association of Social Workers has urged that the vetting and barring scheme to be set up as recommended by the Bichard report should not prevent social workers from working with children and vulnerable adults unnecessarily. The...

London social workers give support to bomb victims and their families.
July 14, 2005... Social workers from a number of London boroughs have been working around the clock to provide support for people affected by last week's bombings. Practitioners from Westminster, Camden and neighbouring authorities are providing 24-hour support...

Race hate crimes follow terror blasts.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... Police are investigating a series of race and faith hate crimes that have taken place across the country since the London bombings. At least one person, a 48-year-old Pakistani man attacked in Nottingham on Sunday in a racially aggravated...

'Counselling may be counterproductive'.(for trauma victims of London Terrorist Bombings, 2005)
July 14, 2005... Mental health services should not rush in and "pathologise" people caught up in last week's terrorist attacks, a psychiatrist has warned. Dr Jim Bolton said relatives, emergency workers and those who had suffered near misses, as well as those...

Army of comforters on hand at blast sites.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... Some 80 volunteers from the Salvation Army have provided support for people caught up in last week's attacks. They have primarily been based at the family assistance centre in Victoria and at an emergency vehicle inside the police cordon on...

Flexible measures help reduce staffing problems at councils.
July 14, 2005... Recruitment difficulties in the public sector are easing, writes Derren Hayes. The number of public sector employers facing recruitment difficulties fell from 90 per cent in 2004 to 83 per cent this year, according to the Chartered Institute of...

small town, big occasion.(G8 summit)
July 14, 2005... Thousands descended on the small Scottish town of Auchterarder last week to air their views on the G8 summit. The protests were expected to place a huge strain on local social services, so an emergency plan was implemented. Anabel Unity Sale...

Government social care director hints at more cash for green paper.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... The government has said it is working closely with the Wanless review of older people's social care, raising the prospect of increased funding to deliver the adult care green paper. Kathryn Hudson, the Department of Health's director of social...

Win at office politics.
July 14, 2005... It is impossible to go through working life without having to engage in some office politics, writes Nathalie Towner. Despite the negative connotations of back-stabbing and counter-briefing, politicking can actually produce plenty of positive...

If you ask me...(interview of Heather Good)(Brief Article)(Interview)
July 14, 2005... Heather Good is a full-time carer for her husband, who sustained a brain injury seven years ago Who has had the biggest influence on you? My husband Phil, since his head injury. Which health or social care professional has been most...

Manchester fears end of ring fencing.(Supporting People )(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... Removing the ring-fence around Supporting People budgets could cause significant social problems, Manchester Council's housing director has warned. Steve Rumbelow told delegates that the move, being considered by the government, would lead...

ON ; THE ; MOVE.(appointments)(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... At Birmingham Council TONY HOWELL is to be director of children's services, moving from his post of director for learning and culture. PETER HAY, currently director for social care and health, will be director of adult services. Both take up...

She can be a child again.
July 14, 2005... With a young girl sabotaging her foster placements as a way of engineering a return home, Kath Smith (left) set about creating a care plan to free the child of her overwhelming concern for her mother. Graham Hopkins reports ...

Sick and disabled could solve UK pension crisis.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... Better policies for helping people with long-term illnesses and disabilities into work could avoid the need to raise the state pension age, according to a report published this month. If the government meets its target of having 80 per cent of...

WHERE THE GATES STAY OPEN.
July 14, 2005... The government last month set out its extended school prospectus which details how schools can develop services for communities. Crispin Andrews visits one school that has taken the view that what is happening in a student's family is just as...

WHY I LOVE MY JOB.(Belinda Wood)
July 14, 2005... Belinda Wood works with older people as a community care social worker for Fife Council I never intended to work in community care, but after a training placement with a community care fieldwork team I can't imagine working anywhere else...

A superb response.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... The aftermath of the London bomb attacks saw a shining example of joint working in action. Social care staff worked side-by-side with hospital workers to support casualties and ensure their smooth discharge. And within 12 hours of a request by...

Adult care services; Individual needs are at the heart of Byrne's vision of adult social care.(Interview)
July 14, 2005... Two months into the job as care services minister, Liam Byrne talks to Simeon Brody about the adult green paper follow-up, his plans for the social care workforce and new technology Care services minister Liam Byrne appears to be keeping...

Adult care; Minister to outline green paper plans.(Brief Article)
July 14, 2005... Care services minister Liam Byrne looks set to reveal further details about the future of the adult care green paper next week. In an interview with Community Care, Byrne said he would wait until the end of consultation on 28 July before...

adult care services; Individual needs are at the heart of Byrne's vision of adult social care.
July 14, 2005... Two months into the job as care services minister, Liam Byrne talks to Simeon Brody about the adult green paper follow-up, his plans for the social care workforce and new technology Care services minister Liam Byrne appears to be keeping...

book reviews.(Approaching Fatherhood: A Guide for Adoptive Dads and Others)(People with Autism Behaving Badly: Helping People with ASD Move on from Behavioural and Emotional Challenges)(Preparing Ahead: Successful Management of Family Affairs in Later Life)(Book Review)
July 14, 2005... APPROACHING FATHERHOOD: A GUIDE FOR ADOPTIVE DADS AND OTHERS Paul May, BAAF ISBN 1903699657, [pounds sterling]9.95 To my knowledge this is the first book in the UK to combine the experiences and perspectives of adoptive fathers with a...

When care workers come into their own.
July 14, 2005... Yvonne roberts The caring professions' reaction to last Thursday's terrorism remind us of their true value A fter the chaos and images of shell-shocked faces and horrific injuries, came the official warnings of the danger of a backlash...