Community Care articles from November 2003

Community Care archives from November 2003

beware blunkett's amnesty largesse.
November 6, 2003... viewpoint The home secretary is to allow 15,000 asylum-seeking families to stay, but what about the rest, asks Robina Qureshi I was delighted to hear last week that home secretary David Blunkett is to allow up to 15,000 asylum-seeking...

bad company?
November 6, 2003... The authorities give a higher priority to caring for children entering the UK alone than those entering with an adult. But this narrow focus can leave children open to abuse, argues Terry Philpot Hardly noticed in all the attention...

training; Welsh anger over English bursaries.
November 6, 2003... Student social workers in Wales are missing out on vital funding to help pay for their studies. Many are angry because English students are receiving bursaries of about [pounds sterling]3,000, while in Wales students are forced to take out...

hit by the bottle.
November 6, 2003... Alcohol harms the developing foetus more than marijuana, heroin or cocaine, yet ignorance of the problem is rife not just among the public but among the professionals who have to deal with its effects. Alison McCormick looks at how the results...

new group with old issues.
November 6, 2003... As people with learning difficulties live longer more are developing dementia, putting pressure on carers and existing services. Researcher Margaret Maybin looks at these changing needs Services for people with learning difficulties are...

who has the whip hand?
November 6, 2003... Part five of our green paper proposals series looks at the plan for children's services directors Worries are surfacing that the appointment of children's services directors proposed in Every Child Matters will see education favoured...

There is still a long way to goa.
November 6, 2003... ato achieve a fair deal for asylum seekers and refugees but, as the Right to Refuge campaign closes, we look at its highlights and achievements. And on the next four pages, Janet Snell and Natalie Valios talk to four refugees about their...

an eye for fair play.
November 6, 2003... During Mary Coussey's race monitoring work she has to contend with Sun journalists and the BNP, but she has seen nothing to justify the negative coverage of asylum seekers perpetrated by such people. Janet Snell reports When independent...

people; Leading researcher killed in accident.
November 6, 2003... Sally Baldwin, former director of the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, died last week aged 62 in an accident in Rome. Baldwin spent 30 years at the unit, including 15 years as director between 1987 and 2002. ...

workforce by natalie valios; Employers and unions satisfied with pay commission proposals.
November 6, 2003... The Local Government Pay Commission's report is a "ringing endorsement of the current national bargaining structure", the Employers' Organisation said this week. The report, which came out last week, has generally been welcomed by...

antisocial behaviour by maggie wood; Scots hand more power to hearing system in crackdown on under 16s.
November 6, 2003... The children's hearing system is to be given more powers to tackle antisocial behaviour in Scotland under new laws. The Scottish executive says retaining the involvement of the system addresses concerns that it would be undermined by the...

homelessness; 'Too much sheltered housing lies empty'.
November 6, 2003... A homelessness project launched this week is calling for policy-makers and providers to think more "creatively" about meeting the needs of older people. The Coalition Older Homelessness Project (COHP) says that the needs of older people...

education; Councils rushed on special needs funds.
November 6, 2003... Special educational needs services could be threatened next year by new government funding rules, fears the Local Government Association. Draft regulations on education funding unveiled by education secretary Charles Clarke last week will...

mental incapacity; Bill's proposals 'will make things worse'.
November 6, 2003... The draft Mental Incapacity Bill risks damaging the rights of those it seeks to protect, the joint parliamentary committee considering the bill heard last week. Jean Collins, director of learning difficulties charity Values Into Action,...

young people by alex dobson; Welsh mental health services under fire from children's commissioner.
November 6, 2003... Mental health services for children and young people in Wales are "wholly unacceptable" according to the children's commissioner for Wales Peter Clarke. In his annual report, released last week, the commissioner charts several crucial...

alone with older carers.
November 6, 2003... A teenager's behaviour becomes challenging for his foster carers, who are in their sixties. Our multidisciplinary panel advises panel responses mark houston Ricky clearly has complex and severe psychiatric difficulties. Although...

principles are key in improving education.
November 6, 2003... Yvonne roberts fears Labour MPs sending their children to private schools will undermine the state sector Labour MP Diane Abbott has rejected state schools in her Hackney constituency, and sent her son James, aged 12, to City of London...

help us care for her.
November 6, 2003... this life Dispersal has made life harder for Shivakuru Selvathurai, especially as his daughter has learning difficulties My wife and daughter and I are asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. We are Tamil. One day soldiers arrived and took my...

Behind the headlines.
November 6, 2003... Our regular panel comments on a topic in the news The Local Government Pay Commission has rejected union calls for a minimum wage rate of [pounds sterling]6.50 an hour for public sector workers. The rate would have been significantly above...

timebomb defused?
November 6, 2003... The 'demographic timebomb' idea is being turned on its head by older people's desire and capacity to contribute to society in ways that include continuing to play a carer role themselves, says Lisa Harker Policy-makers are not keen on...

How will a Conservative revival under a new leader affect government policy?
November 6, 2003... "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime." Tony Blair's most famous soundbite was forged when as shadow home secretary he was facing up in the Commons to Michael Howard. Blair's genius was to find a political language which reconciled...

battle for identity.
November 6, 2003... letter from ireland Ireland stands almost alone in the west in denying adopted people the right of access to their birth certificates. And efforts to reform the system are encountering numerous obstacles, says Terry Philpot Tony Blair...

diary.
November 6, 2003... This week's writer is a senior social worker in a team dealing with asylum seekers. Monday I call the Chicks holiday charity to finalise arrangements for three really excited children. Fatima Alam comes to the office needing her tenancy...

sorted on drugs.
November 6, 2003... It's all change in the complex world of substance misuse, and to reflect this transformation a popular handbook on good practice for service providers has been revamped and enlarged, reports Nick Cater Drugs services have been transformed...

misunderstood, misdiagnosed.(mental health services and minorities)(Column)
November 13, 2003... The media coverage given to Frank Bruno's admission to a psychiatric hospital was extraordinary. Yet in many ways Bruno is no different to other individuals who have been treated under the Mental Health Act 1983. Every day around five people an...

no more platitudes!(black worker feels lonely, discouraged)(Column)
November 13, 2003... Borrowing from an article in the Harvard Business Review (November 2002), Vijay Patel writes an open letter to white managers with stories emerging from the conversations he's had with colleagues from ethnic communities I started 15 years...

Fully engaged.(user involvement in social and health care)
November 13, 2003... Despite the growing emphasis on involving the people who use services in their planning and delivery, service users themselves have some very mixed feelings about the way this emphasis is developing. Users' involvement in health and...

young people; Children's trusts lose the Welsh vote.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2003... Children's trusts are inappropriate for Wales due to its "separate and distinctive" approach to services for children and young people, the Welsh Assembly has confirmed. In a statement to Community Care, an assembly spokesperson said: "We...

diary.
November 13, 2003... This week's writer is a social worker in a local education authority's behaviour support team Monday To do sustained social work the ideal is to have a network of colleagues mutually feeding a cycle of positive energy. This morning two...

children by sally gillen; Shake-up in laws to prevent child killers getting away with murder.(Brief Article)
November 13, 2003... The laws on child killers are to be tightened, Home Office minister Paul Goggins has promised. It follows a Law Commission report recommending changes in the law to prevent parents and carers who kill their children escaping murder...

SHOW US THE MONEY.
November 13, 2003... Radical reforms do not come cheap, but the government seems reluctant to disclose how the key recommendations in Every Child Matters will be funded, reports Sally Gillen As any new pop star knows, sustaining the interest of your audience...

workforce; Care staff to gain sector skills council.
November 13, 2003... The social care sector has received a boost with the approval of its own sector skills council. The council, to be called Skills for Care, will take the lead on the sector's overall workforce development and aims to be fully operational by...

small steps, giant leaps.(Stepping Stones education program encourages higher aspirations among students)(learning power)
November 13, 2003... Young people in care suffer from low educational achievement but a project in Leeds is raising aspirations. So much so that interest is now growing in higher education, writes Graham Hopkins With only an estimated 41 per cent of the 6,300...

where's; the pot?
November 13, 2003... The government's funding for supported housing policy, Supporting People, has run into trouble. Costs have spiralled and now a review has been commissioned. Anabel Unity Sale reports In 1998 the government announced its plans to introduce a...

you've got mail.
November 13, 2003... Social care has caught up with the ITrevolution with guidelines, instructions and policies communicated by websites and e-mail. But, in a profession that emphasises face-to-face contact, is it helping practice or are we caught up in an...

asylum seekers; Legal aid limit to be applied 'flexibly'.
November 13, 2003... The government has done a u-turn on its proposal to introduce a limit of five hours of legal aid for asylum seekers. In a last-minute change to its submissions to the Department for Constitutional Affairs select committee, which has been...

workforce; Staff to strike over London weighting.
November 13, 2003... Local government workers were set to strike this week in some London boroughs as they seek a flat rate London weighting of [pounds sterling]4,000. Public sector union Unison said pay talks had broken down when employers withdrew their...

Need to lure back ex-social care staff.
November 13, 2003... Training consultant Seamus Jennings warned that the green paper would be difficult to deliver unless local authorities could attract back experienced social workers who have left. Jennings, director of specialist training and consultancy...

Children's services chiefs raise fears over speed of green paper changes.
November 13, 2003... Leaders of children's services in the public and voluntary sector have raised concerns about the scope and implementation of the government's children's green paper. At a Lang & Buisson-organised conference in London on reforming...

Singleton questions independence of commissioner in call for more freedom.
November 13, 2003... Barnardo's chief executive Roger Singleton warned the voluntary sector that the battle for an effective children's commissioner for England had yet to be won. Singleton said the "constrained" wording of the green paper called into question...

young people; Is flagship service for young people suffering from loose connections?
November 13, 2003... Connexions is being accused of focusing too much attention on young people not in education, employment or training at the expense of other groups. Amy Taylor reports With the 47th and final Connexions partnership going live last April the...

fostering by sally gillen and Derren Hayes; MP calls for pay and praise campaign to cut national shortage of carers.
November 13, 2003... Pay for foster carers has not been properly addressed in the children's green paper, Labour MP and former social worker Hilton Dawson said last week. He told the annual conference of the Fostering Network in London that he was "aghast that...

public order; Parenting initiatives awarded cash boost.
November 13, 2003... The antisocial behaviour unit is allocating [pounds sterling]1.5m this year to fund programmes for the parents of children liable to antisocial behaviour. Home Office minister Hazel Blears told the Youth Justice Board's annual convention...

joint working; Tracking pilots given extra time.
November 13, 2003... Identification, referral and tracking pilot projects have welcomed the government's decision to extend their deadline for improving information-sharing practices by six months to September 2004. Project manager for Telford and Wrekin IRT...

workforce; Glasgow relieves managers of desk duty and sends them to front line.
November 13, 2003... As Scottish local authorities continue to haemorrhage social care staff, one council is set to increase the client contact of its most experienced staff. Mark Hunter reports In recent years Scottish local authorities have adopted innovative...

standards; Best councils to keep freedoms.
November 13, 2003... "Excellent" councils will retain their freedoms and flexibilities for up to one year even if recategorised as "good" under the comprehensive performance assessment. The announcement by local government minister Nick Raynsford followed the...

mental Health; Funding shortfall delays services.
November 13, 2003... The budget for mental health services has increased by just 1.6 per cent this year compared with 5 per cent for the NHS as a whole, according to a new report from the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. The survey reveals that more than...

adoption by derren hayes; Would-be adopters win more rights in attempt to shift balance of power.
November 13, 2003... Prospective adopters will be given more information about children who are to be placed with them if government proposals go ahead. They will also be allowed to challenge decisions on their suitability as parents. Draft adoption agency...

local government; Ceremonies for new citizens announced.
November 13, 2003... Graduation-style ceremonies for new British citizens are to be piloted in eight regions from January and rolled out across the country from April. Under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, it will become mandatory for...

a cohesive identity.
November 13, 2003... Social care workforce training was given a significant boost last week when it emerged that the organisation responsible for it, the Topss UK Partnership, was to become a sector skills council. When it takes effect next April, Skills for Care...

readers' views; Most say medical model will rule.
November 13, 2003... Three out of four visitors to Community Care's website believe the medical model will dominate the sectioning process if health trusts are allowed to take over the employment of approved social workers. This week's question asks: "The new...

star performers.
November 13, 2003... Whatever uncertainties social care faces, there is both statistical and anecdotal evidence this week of significant improvements in services, and outstanding practice by teams around the country. The Community Care Awards provide a timely...

child protection; Hodge in row over comments to BBC.
November 13, 2003... An independent consultant who works as an adviser to the government on its New Deal for Communities projects said he was "gobsmacked" by comments made about him by children and young people's minister Margaret Hodge. Hodge wrote a private...

performance by community care reporters; New ratings reveal rise in standards.
November 13, 2003... Hard work and a greater awareness of performance management in social services departments and councils has resulted in a "significant overall improvement" in the performance of councils in this year's star ratings. The ratings, due to be...

youth justice; Board looks to cut use of custody.
November 13, 2003... The Youth Justice Board is set to reduce the number of beds it commissions from both prison service accommodation and local authority secure children's homes, it emerged this week. The board instead will focus on the use of community-based...

children; New directorate to oversee services.
November 13, 2003... The Children and Young People's Unit (CYPU) has been replaced by the Children and Young People's Directorate and will be controlled by the former head of teenage support service Connexions. From next month, the new directorate will come...

why it makes sense to lower the voting age.
November 13, 2003... Until this week's shadow cabinet reshuffle, Charles Hendry was shadow minister for young people. New Conservative leader Michael Howard moved him to Central Office, where he becomes deputy chairman of the Conservative party. That might be a...

book reviews.(Social Alarms to Telecare: Older People's Services in Transition; Is Anyone Listening? Accountability and Women Survivors of Domestic Violence)(Book Review)
November 13, 2003... Mervyn Eastman finds that telecare interests him, and Caroline Abrahams on domestic violence survivors Social Alarms to Telecare: Older People's Services in Transition Malcolm J Fisk, Policy Press ISBN 1861345062, [pounds...

Behind the headlines.
November 13, 2003... Our regular panel comments on a topic in the news Despite their impressive impact on the youth justice system, it seems that intensive supervision and surveillance programmes (ISSPs) are not having the desired effect. It had been hoped that...

A question of support.
November 13, 2003... I was born during the Second World War. I grew up with my parents and sister and was a wheel taper. I am very active and work at People First three days a week. Years ago, a car hit me. I hurt my head and my knee, and I ended up with learning...

young offenders; Scotland probation plans must improve.
November 13, 2003... A report by Audit Scotland urges the Scottish executive to set a national standard detailing how often young offenders on probation should have meetings with social workers. The report reveals half of young offenders see a social worker...

leaving with security.
November 13, 2003... Social workers Grace Shields (above left) and Mike Rodden helped find supported lodgings for a 15-year-old girl after her family situation broke down. But then their client decided against all advice to head back to her mother's....

research into practice.
November 13, 2003... How successful have family group conferences been in involving children in decisions about their future, asks Sally Holland Family group conferences (FGCs), where family networks are invited to hold meetings to make decisions and plan for...

seamless service?
November 13, 2003... The Pensions Service certainly seems to think that joint teams with local authorities are the way forward in delivering services to older people. And it could mean social security staff working directly alongside council employees, especially...

humans not hardware.
November 13, 2003... Some disabled people find state-of-the art IT gadgets to be of great benefit in their daily routines. But there is danger in the idea that technology can replace human help, says Peter White Has the advent of computers and their related...

letters.
November 20, 2003... Secondment worries I am a social worker seconded to a partnership trust. We have little or no knowledge of what this may mean for our conditions of service or for the effect on our role serving the public and our clients (news, page 6, 6...

McTernan.
November 20, 2003... Our legislators are off the pace when it comes to the institution of marriage What is it about politicians and marriage? As a profession parliamentarians have their fair share of affairs, divorces and re-marriages. No doubt the working...

help always came late.
November 20, 2003... this life Judy Clinton is left wondering whether professional services failed her son throughout his short life On 4 June, 2001, the staff at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital accident unit surrendered and pronounced my son Robbie dead. He was...

incapacity bill must get through.
November 20, 2003... The draft Mental Incapacity Bill for England and Wales could be at risk of falling by the wayside. This is the fear of the Making Decisions Alliance, which brings together 27 charities and represents millions of people who have difficulty...

teenage kicks.
November 20, 2003... Domestic violence by children against their parents is one of the last remaining taboos. Parents are often too ashamed to talk about it and, when they do, thereare few services theycan turn to, reports ...

diary.
November 20, 2003... This week's writer is a community psychiatric nurse in a community health team Monday A new social worker joins the team. I wonder what she will be like? I had a perfect working relationship with her predecessor. We had joint working down...

workforce; Staff strike over jobs reorganisation.
November 20, 2003... Staff working at a centre for adults with learning difficulties in north London went on strike for two days this week to protest against having to reapply for their current jobs. The 25 Unison members, who work at the Highbury Resource...

suitable cases ; for treatment?
November 20, 2003... People with a diagnosis of personality disorder have reason to feel on edge at the moment. The government's preoccupation with dealing with what it describes as dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD) has long been apparent. But few...

learning difficulty; Hospital closures plan in doubt.
November 20, 2003... Only one out of 21 long-stay hospitals has stopped providing accommodation for people with learning difficulties in the past 12 months despite a government target to end the practice by next April. The white paper Valuing People, which...

Incentives proposed for companies that offer employment to refugees.
November 20, 2003... Firms should be offered incentives to employ refugees as part of a drive to help them integrate into society and raise their self-esteem, a conference recommended last week. The incentive could take the form of either a payment or the award...

the common touch.
November 20, 2003... Like the woman in the 1970s' Coca Cola TV advert proclaiming "I'd like to teach the world to sing", so would the children's green paper Every Child Matters. It wants all professionals who work with children to sing from the same hymn sheet....

children; Bolton to proceed with sharing data.
November 20, 2003... Plans by the identification, referral and tracking pilot project in Bolton to create a database using NHS information are to go ahead even though it may break data protection laws. Bolton Primary Care Trust suspended the project after...

voluntary sector; Barnardo's head lambasts councils.
November 20, 2003... Roger Singleton, chief executive of Barnardo's, has questioned the commitment of a "sizeable minority" of councils to work with the voluntary sector to develop services. Speaking at a children's services conference last week, Singleton...

young offenders by clare jerrom; Switch from homes to secure training centres condemned as 'outrageous'.
November 20, 2003... The Youth Justice Board's decision to reduce the number of places in council secure children's homes (LASCHs) is "disgraceful, outrageous and ludicrous" according to campaigners and politicians. Last week, the YJB announced it would reduce...

mental health; Council pays out for maladministration.
November 20, 2003... Buckinghamshire Council has been ordered to pay [pounds sterling]1,500 to a person with mental health problems and his adoptive parents by the local government ombudsman after a complaint of maladministration against the authority. The...

performance by alex dobson; Cardiff Council furious at assembly's fresh criticism of children's services.
November 20, 2003... A second highly critical inspection report has sparked a major row between Cardiff Council and the Welsh assembly. Assembly minister for social services Jane Hutt has invoked a protocol against the council for "dealing with matters of...

Minister highlights vital role of support in the successful settlement of refugees.
November 20, 2003... Refugees need intensive employment and training support from the moment they are given permission to remain in the UK, the minister for work has said. Des Browne told the Working to Rebuild Lives conference that unless refugees were...

Staffing issues stall ; effective working.
November 20, 2003... The high turnover of staff working with asylum seekers combined with the problems surrounding government funding and legislation have created a workforce nightmare for social services departments, Kent strategic director of social services...

care homes; Management of closures criticised.
November 20, 2003... The new Commission for Social Care Inspection and councils must do more to ensure older people and their families receive the help and protection they need when a care home is closed, researchers have concluded. The University of Kent's...