Community Care articles from March 2002

Community Care archives from March 2002

back into; society.
March 7, 2002... Social and health care workers Ian Cameron, Jeremy Pritlove and Jon Woolmore look at a Leeds-based scheme that awards grants to projects that help people with mental illness become more involved in the community Sustainable, socially...

babies.(child abuse report details)
March 7, 2002... Failures in implementing the current child protection system, rather than the system itself, are to blame for many child abuse deaths, argue the NSPCC's Peter Dale, Richard Green and Ron Fellows, basing their views on new research ...

more than just effects.
March 7, 2002... this life Allan Foreman on his fight to expose truth behind the prescribed drug-induced condition he now faces As a school teacher, residential social worker, and youth and community worker, I am told that I have much experience in...

this is your life.(Down's syndrome treatment services details)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Life story work has improved the quality of life and care for people with Down's syndrome in residential homes and taught staff to look at clients afresh. Graham Hopkins reports We are living healthier and longer lives than ever before. And...

system should be shaped by users.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... In the third of our five-part series on child protection, Peter Beresford says that if the child protection system is to change for the better then it is time for front-line social workers and children to be involved in running it Child...

age-old problem.(Help the Aged service campaign)
March 7, 2002... To coincide with the launch of a Help the Aged campaign on age discrimination in public life, care analyst Melanie Henwood and Help the Aged's Tessa Harding report on how care services are discriminatory While it may be true, at least in...

in the beginning.(social service self evaluation techniques)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... the write stuff Graham Hopkins suggests that a well-crafted summary will encourage people to read your long report Your main task as a writer in social care is to make things easy for your reader (no Will Self-inspired sesquipedalianism1...

raise the profile of mental health.(Ireland's mental health industry)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... viewpoint Seamus Logan argues that Northern Ireland's mental health services urgently require ring-fenced funding As a student of mental health care 20 years ago, I couldn't understand why it was referred to as a "Cinderella service". But...

fostering; Pension provision fear for carers.(foster care workers pension concerns)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Foster care charity the Fostering Network is calling on social workers and foster carers to write to their MPs about discrimination in the pension system, which leaves many foster carers with inadequate provision for their retirement. A...

gambling on independence.(progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy patient care)
March 7, 2002... A former social care manager is diagnosed with a disease that affects people with HIV and which severely impairs his cognitive ability. He develops mental health problems and is sectioned. A return to independence seems far off until social...

victims of wonderland.(child pornography investigation details)
March 7, 2002... Increasing numbers of men are being arrested over their use of the internet to view child pornography, but what happens to the children who are the subject of this material? Rachel Downey reports on the attempts to find and support them ...

DOCTOR ; IN THE HOUSE.(University of Sheffield social work program)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The University of Sheffield is the first in the UK to offer its medical students a taste of social work through an intensive course, during which they spend one week shadowing social workers. Natalie Valios reports The adage "catch them...

homelessness by Reg Mckay; Scottish executive pledges to house every homeless person in 10 years.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Every homeless person in Scotland will be entitled to a house by the year 2012, according to the latest plans by the Scottish executive. Launching the final report of the homelessness task force, made up of housing campaign groups, local...

children; Unison warns of crisis in Cardiff.(Childrens homes conditions)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Children's homes in Cardiff are facing major problems, according to public sector union Unison, with staff struggling to cope with excessive workloads and vulnerable children potentially being put at risk. The stark message from the union...

social inclusion; Key unemployment policy under attack.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Service delivery of jobseeker's allowance and the New Deal needs to be sensitive to the frustrations of working-class men, new research has stated. The research reveals underground networks of working-class men organising resistance to the...

Young people; Decline in rates of teenage pregnancy.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Despite a fall in the number of teenage pregnancies in the UK for the second year running, the government has come under pressure to step up its commitment to helping teenage parents. According to figures published last week by the Office...

Young people: Audit Office critical of New Deal scheme.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Anew National Audit Office report has suggested that many of those who have found work through the New Deal for Young People welfare-to-work scheme would have found work anyway. A quarter of a million young people found work by September...

Care homes by Katie Leason: Directors call for national method of setting fee levels for care homes.(Column)
March 7, 2002... The Association of Directors of Social Services has acknowledged that a national method to determine fair fee levels is required. The ADSS and representatives of the independent residential, nursing and home care sector last week agreed to...

Joint review: Services earn praise in Milton Keynes.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Milton Keynes has seen a substantial improvement in the management and quality of its children's services, according to a joint review by the Audit Commission and the Social Services Inspectorate. Children's services have seen a greater...

Substance misuse: Agency to cut wait times for treatment.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The National Treatment Agency has claimed it is already addressing the difficulties drug misusers face in obtaining access to treatment highlighted in last week's Audit Commission report Changing Habits (News, page 10, 28 February). The...

Older people by Katie Leason. Councils save cash by capping home care, new study reveals.(Column)
March 7, 2002... Older people are being forced out of their own homes and into residential care, according to a new report by the British Gas Help the Aged Partnership. The study reveals that local authorities have a financial incentive to encourage older...

Child protection: Report says poor case work at fault.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Ineffective case management in child protection systems is at fault in the majority of baby killings, according to a report by three employees of the NSPCC. What Really Happened looked at 19 child deaths in 17 families found that nearly...

Health: Councils may pay bed-blocking costs.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The Department of Health has refused to confirm or deny whether they are considering the possibility of social services departments being charged for people who remain in hospital after they have been medically discharged. It described such...

housing; Charging may be at local discretion.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The government is unlikely to impose a payment model on councils for Supporting People. Kathleen Boyle, head of housing management and support at the National Housing Federation, told an assisted living conference last week that she was...

Foster care; Local authorities need 'radical new strategies' for looked-after children.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The number of children placed with foster carers is growing. But, as Jonathan Pearce reports, local authorities cannot find enough carers and have to turn to agencies With adoption taking centre stage in government family policy in recent...

Children by Jonathan Pearce: Leading charity questions the direction of children's services.(Column)
March 7, 2002... Government ministers and children's service providers must all accept leadership responsibility for the direction of children's services or services will "not make any difference" to the lives of vulnerable children, according to Roger...

Children; Residential homes fear impact of new standards.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The new standards for children's care homes have revived fears of closures and increased charges. Rachel Downey reports The Department of Health cut it very fine. The new minimum standards for children's residential care were issued at the...

Training; No age restriction for social workers.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Social workers will be able to practise before they reach the age of 22 following a decision by the General Social Care Council. The GSCC has decided to withdraw the requirement that students must be 22 before the DipSW certificate can be...

Workforce: Unison ballot on 'disappointing' offer.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Public sector union Unison has recommended its members vote to reject the local authorities' 3 per cent pay offer. The union, which represents 860,000 council workers, said the employers' offer was "a kick in the teeth". Unison local...

Climbi? inquiry; Voluntary sector views ignored.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The joint review team that inspected Haringey social services in 1999 dismissed as relationship problems voluntary and community sectors' concerns, Voluntary Action Haringey has claimed. In its submission to phase two of the Victoria...

child protection; Abuse victim plans to sue Wirral Council.(Wirral, England)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... A woman who was the victim of a paedophile ring headed by her stepfather plans to sue the council that failed to act on her allegations of abuse. Shy Keenan, who was abused and pimped by her stepfather Stanley Claridge from the age of...

homelessness; Local authorities' duties extended.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Councils have new duties to house certain categories of vulnerable people after the Homelessness Bill received royal assent last week. Under the legislation, local authorities are now obligated to provide homes for 16 and 17-year-olds, and...

older people; MPs denounce care home closure plan.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Lancashire Council should withdraw its proposals to cut the number of its care homes from 48 to 13, MPs urged last week. The House of Commons debate coincided with calls by Lancashire Care Association for government to send in a management...

readers' views; Electronic tagging better than remand.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Only 15 per cent of visitors to Community Care's website oppose the government's plans to tag 12- to 16-year-olds who have been granted bail. This week's question asks: Should the New Deal for young people be more focused on people with...

where better to care?(home care, UK)
March 7, 2002... Home care is set to become more professional and better organised thanks to the advent of the National Care Standards Commission. But will the focus on serving people with higher support needs lead to others slipping through the net and...

dangerous OBSESSION.(management performance in child protection services)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Evidence from Haringey voluntary organisations to the Victoria Climbi? Inquiry this week suggests the management culture in the social services department could have assisted in creating a climate where staff failed to raise concerns about...

youth justice; Partnerships must tackle rise in crime.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Amulti-agency forum should be established to tackle the causes of youth crime, chairperson of the Metropolitan Police Authority Lord Toby Harris urged last week Harris told a London conference on education and youth crime that there had...

children's services; Government reveals; plan to cut red tape.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Measures to cut bureaucracy in children's services and free staff up to focus on efficient service delivery were outlined last week by the government with the Local Government Association. The proposals came in a report issued by the LGA...

a shared responsibility.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The current crisis over the funding of care home places for older people looks like a clear-cut case of age discrimination. But the truth is more complex. The amount local authorities are willing to pay for older people to stay in residential...

child protection by Alex Dobson; Call for shake-up to NHS child protection procedures in Wales.(UK National Health Service)(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Radical proposals for the protection of children cared for by the NHS in Wales were unveiled last week by the Carlile Review. The proposals were in response to allegations made by former patients of a child and adolescent mental health unit to...

regeneration by David Brown; Community groups concerned over councils' dominance of partnerships.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The government has approved all but one local strategic partnership despite concerns that the community and voluntary sectors are not properly represented. Accreditation has unlocked ?300m of funding for 87 of the 88 most deprived areas of...

drug debate needs reason not emotion.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... Yvonne roberts argues that photographs of dead drug misusers have little effect on young people It is surely one of the saddest uses to which a family album can be put - creating a public obituary from snapshots that capture a happy...

Care is best at home.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The benefits that would accrue if we had a well-funded system of domiciliary care would far outweigh the costs. So why do we keep older people in hospital and not at home, asks Conrad Russell One of the places where the link between body...

asylum seekers; Cash threat denied by government.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2002... The government has denied claims that asylum seekers who choose to live with friends and family will have their financial assistance withdrawn under the new cash scheme to replace vouchers from April. Under proposals outlined in last...

brighton doesn't rock.(Brighton, England criticized for being narrow-minded)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... this life When Jessica Jones moved toBrighton from London she found that she missed the capital's multiculturalism When my mum and dad first announced that we were moving from London to Brighton I was really excited. I'd visited Brighton a...

reject the radical for the mundane.(article examines the future of children protection in the United Kingdom)(fourth in a series)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... In the fourth of our series on the future of child protection, Jane Tunstill argues that talk of system overhauls should be avoided and that real progress can be made by pursuing mundane but effective policy changes You would think that...

Fire, ice, and paternity.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... letter from iceland The suspicion that benefits are somewhat more generous in Nordic countries will be enhanced by news that in Iceland parental leave has gone up to nine months, writes Steinunn Hrafnsd?ttir A new act on parental leave...

It's time to be kind to ourselves.(article examines how public opinion of social workers could be up-lifted by showcasing the positive)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... viewpoint Harry Ferguson says social work academics should play more of a role in presenting the profession in a positive light Why has a profession such as social work, which is essentially dedicated to doing good and helping vulnerable...

disabled people; Anger at Hackney's free travel cuts.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Hundreds of disabled people who may have their right to free travel withdrawn gathered outside Hackney Town Hall last week to protest against the proposed cut. Hackney Council is one of a handful of London local authorities that are...

disabilities; Disabled workers face redundancy.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Twenty-one profoundly disabled workers facing compulsory redundancy from a council-run sheltered workshop this month have had their redundancy notices extended. Following a meeting between the council, Unison and workshop employees,...

preserved problems.(examines government funding policies of residential care homes)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... welfare rights The end of preserved rights for care home residents is a headache for councils, writes Gary Vaux In April 2002, people in residential homes who have "preserved rights" to higher rates of income support will have those rights...

sexual stereotypes.(government, social workers urged to be gender sensitive, aware of stereotypes)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Government action in health, education and social care needs to be gender sensitive, understanding and addressing the differences between male and female experience and needs, says Anna Coote When one woman receives publicity for a deed...

women abuse too.(social workers cautioned women can be instigators of abuse against men)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Sexual abuse by women is still being overlooked despite recent research on the issue. But, as with male abusers, working with young people is the best strategy for changing behaviour - which means acceptance of the facts is all the more urgent,...

consultation; Survey condemned as 'cynical' by union.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The biggest-ever consultation on social services in Wakefield has been condemned by Unison as an insult to the public. More than 10,000 consultation books were sent to residents asking them to agree or disagree with a series of nine...

children; Barnardo's calls for long-term funding.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Children living in disadvantaged communities must be entitled to the same opportunities as any other child, Barnardo's told politicians last week. Unveiling a new report based on an evaluation of a five-year pilot scheme in eight...

slipping through.(recruitment strategies to prevent hiring social care workers who have been guilty of previous abuse)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... In the light of revelations over lapses in the checking of sup ply teachers, Anabel Unity Sale asks whether the social care sector is up to the task of checking agency staff and fin ds a system still ultimately reliant on trust When the...

youth justice; Institutions hold on to young offenders.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The National Association of Probation Officers has claimed that people in closed young offenders institutions are being prevented from moving to open regimes by a Home Office "obsession" with targets for its accredited programmes. The...

older people by katie leason; Cash injection will create 1,300 extra intermediate care beds.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Older people's charity Help the Aged has welcomed the creation of an extra 1,300 intermediate care beds, but warned that the delay in hospital discharge is "only one symptom of the wider breakdown" in elderly care. Health minister Jacqui...

caRERS; Guide to avoid back injuries published.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The Health and Safety Executive has launched guidance for care workers at risk of back injury through helping disabled people. According to the HSE, the social and health care sector has one of the highest rates of back injury with about...

ahead of the game.(the Best Value concept is reviewed in relationship to social services)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Social services are experts among council departments on Best Value. But while the cost effectiveness initiative has achieved improvements for service users, problems remain with inspections and red tape. Ruth Winchester reports, while overleaf...

children; Parents agree to baby's treatment.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... A three-month-old baby suffering from Goldenhar syndrome must remain in the care of medical staff at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary "for the time being", following a ruling by a high court judge. The ruling is the first step in...

poverty; Court rules on young people's benefits.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Claims that thousands of young people are being forced into poverty by "arbitrary" social security rules were rejected at the high court last week. In what was seen as a test case, lawyers argued that it was a violation of the human rights...

substance misuse by katie leason; Charity calls for national strategy on excessive alcohol consumption.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The government must "wake up to the reality" that a national alcohol strategy is needed now, the chief executive of social care charity Turning Point declared last week. Victor Adebowale told a London conference that the excessive...

race; Singh warns public sector over race act.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality has stated that the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 must not be seen as "a tick-box exercise." Speaking at a London conference to inform public authorities of their duties under the...

older people; Think-tank calls for free personal care.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Personal care should be free and made available on the basis of need, according to a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research. It argues that it is unfair to draw a distinction between nursing and personal care needs as both are...

learning difficulties; Wide range of needs go undetected.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Services are failing children and adolescents with learning difficulties who suffer from additional psychological or behavioural problems, leading child psychiatrists have stated. Despite substantial evidence to suggest a much higher...

child protection; Children back in court's custody.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Two children who went missing with their parents as they were about to be taken into care have now been handed back to social services. Essex couple Tara Dalton and Jason Patmore disappeared with their children, Jason, nine, and Sheree,...

workplace; Social care staff losing out on pay.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Public sector union Unison says social workers are being left behind in the pay stakes and has advised its members to reject a 3 per cent offer from councils. Anabel Unity Sale reports It is the three-letter word that gets everyone going:...

voluntary sector; Report wants better hiring of trustees.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Very few charities carry out adequate screening of potential trustees, according to a report by the Charity Commission released this week. Based on a NOP survey of 3,000 charities, the commission's day-to-day work with charities, and on...

mental health; Prison no answer for women, says trust.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Government must do more to prevent women with mental health problems being sent to prison, a Prison Reform Trust conference was told last week. The trust's director Juliet Lyon told delegates that "locking up women who are mentally ill is...

child protection; Review offers sweeping agenda to safeguard children treated in Wales.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... A review published last week urges that medical staff and social workers should share vital information that could prevent child abuse within the NHS. Alex Dobson reports The Carlile review published last week makes 150 recommendations...

policy; Blair sets out public sector reform plan.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Prime Minister Tony Blair set out last week to convince public sector staff about the need for change - and how he would like to achieve it. In a government pamphlet sent to 10,000 public sector workers, Blair admitted there was "a huge...

standards; Adult services need overhaul in Trafford.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... There is an unacceptably wide variation in the quality of Trafford Borough Council's social services, according to a joint review published this week. Children's services are generally better than those for adults, says the review, with...

child protection; Training urged to spot 'child in need'.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The Association of Directors of Social Services has called for all government agencies offering services to families at entry points into the UK to train staff in the identification and referral of children in need. The ADSS makes the...

everybody's business.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Lord Carlile's review on safeguarding children within the NHS in Wales includes a timely call for a complete revision of the current system. It is right to state that ownership of child protection policies should be regarded as a national...

readers' views; New Deal must help youth with problems.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Four out of five visitors to Community Care's website believe the New Deal for young people needs to be more focused on people with particular problems. Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office, recommended that the scheme should...

Pay attention please.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Social care professionals will be no more enthusiastic about some of the Prime Minister's ideas on public sector reform than the teachers, nurses and police officers he considers worthy of a mention in his speeches and recent leaflet. But...

race by jonathan pearce; Croydon drops its appeal againsttribunal's race discrimination finding.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... A voluntary group specialising in race discrimination cases this week called for the Commission for Racial Equality to launch an investigation into Croydon Council's treatment of its black staff. The move follows a last-minute decision by...

protection policy.(article examines safety policy for social workers)(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... According to mental health workers Lance Carver and Mike Lehane lone worker policies do not enjoy universal acclaim among the very people they are designed to protect The risks posed to workers in the social care field have been...

workforce; Staff vote for strike over sacked worker.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Cardiff Unison members have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over the sacking of a social worker and union activist. The ballot took place in the wake of the dismissal by Cardiff Council of Charles Faber (News, page 10, 28...

child protection by Alex Dobson; Welsh children's commissioner launches inquiry into alleged abuse.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... The children's commissioner for Wales is launching a major inquiry into the events surrounding the case of an alleged paedophile. Peter Clarke will for the first time use his extensive powers to gather evidence into the case of a former...

mental health by reg Mckay; Low awareness of direct payments in Scotland leads to poor take-up.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Much more needs to be done to promote the uptake of direct payments, particularly among people with mental health problems, according to Hugh Henry, Scotland's deputy minister for community care. He was speaking out after the publication...

Nursing care; Liberal democrats: free care is a 'deceit'.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Free nursing care has proved little more than a "cruel hoax" for thousands of people and the way it has been implemented is "flawed in principle and in practice", claims a report from the Liberal Democrats. Putting the Fee into Free...

values conflict will rip marriage apart.(Brief Article)
March 14, 2002... Yvonne roberts says allowing private contractors to cut costs at staff's expense will affect standards of care The fretful marriage between private contractors and the public sector turned more volatile last week. For several months...