Articles by Date : June 01 2005 - June 30 2005

Third of all tax credits overpaid
Almost £2bn of tax credits have been overpaid to nearly two million hard-up families - an average of £1,000 per household, government statistics.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

A discredited system
Given New Labour's penchant for replacing functional systems with experimental alternatives, its determination to stick with the ailing tax credits.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Most want to go self-employed
Nearly four out of five visitors to Community Care's website said they would consider becoming an independent social worker to escape poor working.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Home Office 'work-to-eat' scheme dealt a blow by charity's withdrawal
The YMCA has pulled out of the Home Office's plan to force failed asylum seekers to work in exchange for living support amid fierce condemnation of.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

The Big Question
Should the public decide how Lottery money is spent on good causes? more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Book reviews - Stuart: A Life Backwards
"I fail to see - because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody' - why my diary should not be interesting," writes the unreliable fictional narrator Mr.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Career clinic
A member of my team has bad personal hygiene problems. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Children board to review agencies' involvement with 'witch' case girl
An independent review will be carried out into agencies' handling of a case involving a girl tortured by her carers who believed she was a witch,.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Need for gender balance recognised
Staff working in early years settings should be trained on how to involve fathers as both volunteers and staff, a report says. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Doctor in Clark case escapes a life ban
A doctor who failed to disclose vital post-mortem evidence in the Sally Clark murder trial has escaped a life ban from me more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Exam targets urged for children in care
Campaigners have called on schools to be given targets to improve the educational achievement of looked-after children after wide differences were.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Asylum seekers still in N Ireland's jails
Refugee Action Group, a coalition of refugee and human rights campaigners, found that the number of asylum seekers imprisoned in Northern Ireland.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Department suffers in Inverclyde rejig
Social work services at Inverclyde Council have been starved of resources and suffered inertia during management reorganisation, an Audit Scotland.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Councillor opens his doors to homeless
A councillor is tackling his area's housing shortage by renting his own properties to homeless people. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

How to use the media
Social workers are often wary of the press but media coverage can be positive for the profession, writes Nathalie Towner. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

If you ask me...
Christina Wood is a parent of six adopted children aged two to 15 with learning difficulties more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Job file
Technical assistant, sensory impairment more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Tribunal clears way for care needs to form basis of right to benefit
Many people with behavioural problems may now be entitled to disability living allowance. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Number of people on incapacity benefits falls
There are more people in work and fewer people on incapacity benefits and lone parents benefits according to official figures today, writes Clare.... more
(15 June 2005 12:06)

Probe into claims of council neglect after disabled man, 20, dies in unit
The case of a disabled man with learning difficulties who died at 20 after his needs were allegedly neglected has been reported to the Healthcare.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Employers' group axed in costs cull
The Local Government Association is to scrap the Employers' Organisation in a shake-up to cut costs and centralise accountability. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Police investigate deaths at care home
Police and the Commission for Social Care Inspection are investigating five deaths this year at a Norfolk care home. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Coalition demands independent tsar
Charities say an older people's commissioner for Wales should be independent and have the power to investigate cases of abuse. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Wisdom of solomon
Inter-country adoption involves suffering but also offers hope to individuals from poorer countries. So those writing about it must avoid imagining.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Think-tank launches social justice vision
Universal early years services, more generous benefits to cut child poverty and free personal care will deliver social justice in Britain, a leading.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Children want more professional contact
Children who have been privately fostered want regular contact with social workers to make sure they are safe and the chance to talk to them in.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

The Simon Heng column
On a day to day basis, service users have to communicate levels of detail that would seem strange in everyday conversation. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Social workers go to prison to help young offenders' welfare
The decision by the Youth Justice Board to employ social workers at young offender institutions could open up job opportunities in youth justice,.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Trouble is behind me
Chris Burt was in and out of care homes with the police on his tail. But then people began to listen to him more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Book review: Enough Abuse
It is clear that Hawes and Evans are well intentioned and want to prevent children being abused. It is not so much what they say that's a problem -.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Training materials: The NCMA Guide to Children's Safety
Registered childminders and other home-based carers have long needed an authoritative guide that focuses on how to provide a safe and healthy.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Trust us, we can keep a 'secret'
Confidentiality worries over service users working in mental health are unwarranted, argues Emma Harding more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Marginal decisions
In the first of two articles, Gary Vaux looks at how hard it can be to receive disability living allowance. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Work or forced labour?
There were the seeds of a sensible policy in the announcement by then home secretary David Blunkett that failed asylum seekers would be given work. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Unregistered social workers can be prosecuted despite licence to work
General Social Care Council letters giving unregistered social workers a licence to work are no bar to prosecution under protection of title.... more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Jobcentres failing over 50s, say MPs
Jobcentres should face targets on improving the employability of disadvantaged over 50s even if they are not ready to find work, according to MPs. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Workplace stress worries two out of three in public sector
Mental health charity Mind has added to the mounting body of evidence on the damaging impact workplace stress is having on UK workers. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Schemes face 'cheap labour' charge
Young offenders entering private-sector training and employment schemes are at risk of exploitation, according to a new report. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Add masculinity and culture to equation
Trevor Phillips is wrong about African-Caribbean boys' poor exam grades. more
(09 June 2005 00:00)

Mother to challenge sentencing policies for vulnerable young offenders
Policies around the sentencing of young offenders are to come under scrutiny after the mother of a 16-year-old boy who committed suicide in a young.... more
(15 June 2005 08:02)

NYA chief dismisses youth work target concerns
The chief executive of the National Youth Agency has dismissed suggestions that there are too many targets in youth work and that they could be even.... more
(15 June 2005 07:57)

Legal wrangles over Asbos for children continue
The government has agreed to continue to review the impact on under-18s of the two-year minimum period for all antisocial behaviour orders. more
(15 June 2005 07:53)

Wednesday 15 June 2005
Minorities face climate of fear Lottery money diverted to public services more
(15 June 2005 09:58)

Miliband calls for review of Supporting People
Local government minister David Miliband has called for a fundamental review of Supporting People ahead of a possible bid for increased funding for.... more
(15 June 2005 08:55)

Child and Adoption Bill published
Courts will be given the power to order separated parents to attend “contact activities,” such as meetings with a counsellor or parenting classes, as.... more
(14 June 2005 15:55)

Government sets out plans for extended schools
All schools will be expected to provide access to parenting support and a wide range of specialist support services by 2010. more
(15 June 2005 08:06)

Hutchinson rewarded in Queen's Birthday Honours
The former director of social services at Portsmouth Council Rob Hutchinson has been awarded a CBE for services to children and to families in the.... more
(14 June 2005 11:10)

Youth justice system is failing young people
The youth justice system is failing to adequately meet the resettlement needs of young people, according to a report published today, writes Simeon.... more
(14 June 2005 15:51)

Mental health services "preoccupied" by risk management
A network of walk-in community health centres offering advice and access to specialist services ought to be developed as part of a “universalist”.... more
(14 June 2005 15:46)

Hughes defends plans to single children out
New children’s minister Beverley Hughes has defended government plans to monitor children as young as three-years-old to try and identify those at.... more
(14 June 2005 15:41)