Articles by Date : May 01 2000 - May 31 2000

Older people win free nursing care
The government has promised to finance free nursing care for thousands of older people in residential care in its belated response to.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Parents of teenagers call helpline
Parents with difficult teenage children were the most common callers to a confidential helpline. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Reach out they'll be there
People with severe mental health problems often avoid conventional services and find it hard to trust social workers. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Research review
Ray Hampford looks at risk assessment among practitioners and people with learning difficulties, and Annabella Scott examines a study of young.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Rules of engagement
Fed up with the bad press social work attracts? Then why not follow the example of Surrey social services which met the media head on when it.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Shame, not blame
There can be no doubt that this week's adoption statistics shame local authorities. For any child awaiting adoption to have no social worker,.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Skills body to press on with training payment targets
The national social care training organisation TOPSS England has decided to press ahead with controversial targets in its five-year training.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Stirling merges services
Stirling Council is to implement plans that will make it the first authority in Scotland to dissolve its social work department. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Survey reveals true number of runaways
There are twice as many runaway children as previously estimated, according to a UK-wide survey. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Child protection guidance released
The government has unveiled new guidance to help social care staff protect vulnerable children. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Children value the role of guardians ad litem
The Children's Society has published a new report into the importance of children's views being heard during family court proceedings. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Coroner queries role of social services
An alcoholic who committed suicide should have been treated by health professionals rather than social services staff, a north London coroner said.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Council's failures led to continued abuse
Bridgend Council has been strongly criticised by the local government ombudsman for its failure to halt the sexual abuse of a girl by her.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Court will review family's claim
Sheffield Council's social services department has been accused of failing to assess the needs of a family where four of its five members have been.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Disabled parents are poorly served, inspectors conclude
Local authorities are failing to provide disabled parents with the support they need and many service users see flexible services as a pipe dream,.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Families must have a hearing too
Robert Tapsfield believes that if families have a say in services the results will benefit all involved The views of families who are involved.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Give children a chance
It's always a good idea to give children and young people with experience of being in care a voice, but it's not always easy to do. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Hard pressed
March featured two particularly bizarre swipes at social workers in the newspapers but elsewhere the media was doing good work on behalf of a.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Home owners seek fair play
Independent care home owners plan to report what they see as unfair practice by social services departments to the government. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Inspectors condemn sector bias
A Social Services Inspectorate report into Cumbria Council's services for older people has described a "strained relationship" between independent.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Knee jerks make bad law
Social workers are all too aware of the children of those who are not adequate parents. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Lawyers move to help jailed care worker
Lawyers have pledged to investigate the case of a Glasgow care worker who was jailed for six years in Venezuela for attempting to smuggle cocaine.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Users' rights move up agenda
The government has admitted that its green paper for reforming the mental health system has put too much emphasis on protecting the public and not.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Voluntary value added
A local authority and voluntary organisation have joined forces to provide a unique respite service for children with learning or physical.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Warning sounded on vetting costs
Voluntary groups worry that services could suffer as the result of more checks, as Nick Huber discovers Voluntary organisations are warning that.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Worcester projects face the axe
More than 20 community projects in Worcestershire hang in the balance following a decision by the health authority to pull the plug on joint.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

A house less ordinary
Natalie Valios visits a pioneering project in north London that offers long-term specialist help to black men with mental health and drugs.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Anti-paedophile pressure group attacks 'irresponsible' council
Child safety groups have condemned North Lanarkshire Council for housing a known paedophile near primary schools and playgrounds. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Back to college for residential home managers
The government's bid to improve the quality of residential care home management has been broadly welcomed, but concerns centre around funding. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

We Are Family: Sibling Relationships in Placement and Beyond
Edited by Audrey Mullender British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering £14.95 ISBN 1 873868 79 0 George Orwell was undoubtedly right. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Boost for departments as five exit special measures list
Five more social services departments have improved their performance enough to be removed from the Department of Health's special measures list. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Care worker charged with attacks on older people at nursing home
A care worker has been charged with nine attacks on vulnerable elderly residents at a nursing home on Tyneside. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Charging blunders on the rise
Welfare Rights Confusion over the law has led local authorities to charge clients for services that should be free, saysGary Vaux, who warns that.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Oxfam attacks 'penny-pinching' Jack Straw
Home secretary Jack Straw has been criticised by Oxfam about the launch of the government's voucher scheme for asylum seekers this week. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Reaching out to older people
It is all too easy for older people to slip into poverty, so welfare advisers need to take every opportunity to help pensioners receive income.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Report seeks to include young people in decision-making
The Local Government Information Unit and rehabilitation charity Nacro this week launched a joint report on involving children and young people in.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Scots think-tank favours jail alternatives for young people
Money should be freed from the prison service and invested in community initiatives, says a think-tank of the leading social work organisations in.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Sector's welcome for protection laws overlooks staff rights issue
In the aftermath of a series of high-profile scandals, the government could be forgiven for being a little overzealous in its attempts to protect.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Study reveals ignorance of Human Rights Act
Many private care homes and voluntary sector organisations are woefully unprepared for the new Human Rights Act 1988, which comes into force in.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

The devolution blues
Devolution could perform a vital role as a policy laboratory where regions learn from each other, argues Matthew Taylor. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

The management of failing DipSW students
Rose Barton, Des Kelly and Roger Bullock evaluate authoritative studies on the management of DipSW students who are failing, new pointers in.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

The risk factor
The risk factor Arguments for risk Jones clearly and demonstrably loves her children. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Think tank fends off care standards critics
The Centre for Policy on Ageing has hit back at criticisms that its proposals for national care standards for residential and nursing homes focus.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Time for a service overhaul
The government's attention is turning to the provision of equipment for disabled people, says Patrick McCurry Disability equipment provision has.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Under threat of removal
Advice ShopOnce thought of as being a concession to frail older people, the preserved entitlement rules now have the undesirable effect of forcing.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Funding problems loom for charities
One in 10 charities is finding it increasingly difficult to generate funds, warns a report analysing the size and scope of the UK voluntary sector. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Good enough?
A mother of three neglected children who have been taken into care is violent and aggressive towards staff. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Government to act over poor equipment services
Groups representing disabled people have welcomed the government's pledge last week to improve equipment services in the wake of a damning report.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

Group calls for regular checks of young people's mental health
The government should publish regular reports on the scale of mental health problems among young people, says children's mental health charity.... more
(17 May 2000 00:00)

I just can't take it any more
Viewpoint Moira Ledingham wishes to announce with great regret that it's time to leave the social work stage This month my locum contract expires. more
(17 May 2000 00:00)