Articles by Date : May 01 2000 - May 31 2000

Flawed indicators
The government has set great store by measuring the performance of social services departments by a range of indicators and targets. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Standard bearers
Some local authorities have been quick to embrace and implement the new foster care standards, but organisations for foster carers believe there is.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Indicators on the blink
Statistics, argues Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, reveal less than researchers would have us believe, so the government and social services departments.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Don't rely on the private sector
Denise Malpas has reservations about private sector care of dependent adults in the community Over the past 18 months I have been involved in.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Long-stay hospitals to close
The Scottish executive's decision to close all long-stay hospitals for people with learning difficulties by 2005 was warmly welcomed last week by.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Holistic help
Mental health practitioners should be treating patients' social and spiritual needs, the House of Lords heard during a debate last Friday. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Community care underused in Northern Ireland, report shows
Shortfalls are evident in every aspect of community care provision in Northern Ireland, according to a report that outlines the challenges faced by.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Care home staff's actions cleared after teenager dies of meningitis
A council has cleared its social care staff of any blame following an initial investigation into the death of a girl from meningitis at a.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Access all channels
As part of Community Care's Speak Out initiative, we asked social services directors to put forward two examples of best practice in their.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Silenced witnesses
Liverpool social services have developed a detailed witness profiling system to help people with learning difficulties get justice if they are.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Equality's new enforcer
When Gurbux Singh takes over at the Commission for Racial Equality he will be continuing a fight for equality that began 30 years ago. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Mind survey reveals deep distrust of justice system
A rapist was allowed to continue preying on women after a case against him was dropped when it was discovered his victim had mental health.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Remploy wins cash boost
The UK's largest employer of disabled people is to receive £5 million from the government as part of its plan to increase numbers of disabled.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Children's rights boost
Children are too often treated as second-class citizens and social work should radically alter the way it delivers services to them, Highland.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Scots care commission runs behind schedule
Implementation of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care is running behind schedule, Iain Gray, depute minister for community care told.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Straw outlines new justice measures
Weekend imprisonment and overnight jail sentences are among new ways of combining custodial sentences and community sentences, home secretary Jack.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Border control
How do you react when a client, with whom a relationship has been built, produces a bayonet and claims he has a gun? Social worker Simon Southworth.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Paedophilia - The Sexual Abuse of Children, Its Occurrence, Diagnosis and Treatment
Dr LF Lowenstein Able Publishing £28.50 ISBN 0 907616 60 7 This is a difficult book to review. Its production is.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Gain relief from an unfair tax
Are there any discounts and reductions in council tax for those receiving care-related benefits? The take-up on council tax benefit is.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Assertive, but sensitive
We are setting up an assertive outreach team. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Islington uses contracts in bid to reduce youth crime
Islington Council has introduced a contract-based crime reduction scheme in an attempt to limit the number of anti-social behaviour orders it.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Parents unite in bid to prevent school closure
Parents of children at a shared care home for disabled children in Hove, East Sussex, are organising a petition against the home's closure after.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Protection for older people
Bullying, threats and humiliation are the most common form of ill-treatment experienced by older people, delegates at an Action on Elder Abuse.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Staff shortages will hit mental health reforms, MPs warned
Improving the recruitment and retention of approved social workers will be vital if the government's mental health plans are to be realised, MPs.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Chancellor pledges new money to move more children out of poverty
Chancellor Gordon Brown has outlined plans for a children's fund and the next stage of the Sure Start initiative in the government's ongoing.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Nearly all inspection staff need additional training
Plans to introduce standard training for local authority registration officers will require 97 per cent of staff to undertake further training when.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

First for Northern Ireland
Care Northern Ireland has opened the country's first private residential children's home, with at least one other in the pipeline. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Report adds weight to calls to end the charging lottery
Non-existent in Derbyshire but unaffordable for many in other parts of the UK, the inconsistent application of home care charging remains a.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Renewal planners fail older people
Older people are rarely taken into account when plans to regenerate urban areas are devised. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

North Yorkshire looks to increase option of independent living for older people
North Yorkshire Council is to develop several extra care housing schemes after last year agreeing to close three older people's homes, sell off.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Good practice guide on net in the pipeline
Social workers could soon have internet access to a one-stop source of good practice following a National Institute of Social work project for the.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Ageism remains entrenched
Prejudices against older people are deeply rooted in society and in our laws, Sir Stewart Sutherland, chairperson of the Royal Commission on.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Minister urged to act on jobs
The Scottish executive should intervene to ensure qualified social workers remain at decision-making levels in local authorities, says director of.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Access all channels
As part of Community Care's Speak Out initiative, we asked social services directors to put forward two examples of best practice in their.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Look behind the rhetoric
Matthew Taylor argues that New Labour's approach to the criminal justice system is progressive and effective, despite the harsh rhetoric Nowhere.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

dnr***diary
DiaryThis week's writer is a deputy manager in a residential home for people with learning difficulties Monday Don't tell anybody, but every.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

We need to fill the volunteer void
Wally Harbert says Lord Warner was wrong; the voluntary sector does not need more paid managers As the 2001 International Year of Volunteering.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Made to measure
Better benchmarking, the role of the children's commissioner and joint working are all high on Pembrokeshire director Jon Skone's agenda, writes.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

dnr***people
n charles waddicor has been appointed as director of social services for Isle of Wight council. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Desperately seeking staff
As local authorities take matters into their own hands by providing bursaries for Diploma in Social Work students the government continues to stall.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Bias in the court
Despite mounting pressure for reform, it remains a truism that the judicial system is shot through with prejudice of the most indefensible kind. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Leave it to the doctors
Leave it to the doctors The decision whether to resuscitate a service user only involves medical practitioners and the family of the.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Can private homes solve bed crisis?
Can private homes solve bed crisis? Plans to use private nursing homes to care for older NHS patients recovering from treatment might.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Time to make the media hear the message
New research suggests that social work should develop a more positive relationship with the media. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Union accuses Harrow of scapegoating staff
Unison has complained that two senior social workers are being used as scapegoats after a 13-year-old girl died from a drugs overdose. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

When push comes to shove
Even among social workers there is a sense that they have lost the plot when it comes to dealing with neglected children and abusive carers. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

The big picture
Compiling data on the needs of disabled children that can be used across service boundaries runs into problems of confidentiality, comparability.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Last orders
Older people who misuse alcohol put themselves at risk and place their care workers in a quandary. more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Facing up to the past
The government is committed to speeding up the way the legal system deals with persistent young offenders. Yet it wants the victims of crime to.... more
(18 May 2000 00:00)

Man's death down to self-neglect
A coroner recorded a verdict of self-neglect in the case of a 69-year-old man who died from septicaemia and gangrene after refusing help from.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)