News

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 came in a letter to all council members from branch secretary Peter King. He said front-line workers were experiencing severe frustration, stress and ill-health as a result of high workloads and services' failure to meet the needs of some of the most vulnerable service users.

His warning follows two earlier reports that called for a review of the way services for children were run. In 1994, the Children's Society made a series of recommendations, including reducing the number of children taken as emergency cases and better training for staff. Three years later the Social Services Inspectorate highlighted 26 areas for improvement.

"There are considerable failings in the looked-after children's services due to insufficient and increasingly inappropriate placements that can only lead to psychological and emotional harm of our young and most vulnerable service users," said King. "This is partly borne out by the escalating violence that is being experienced by our members in the residential care homes in Cardiff."

A spokesperson for the council said it was not acceptable for staff to face unnecessary violence from young people and that the council was in the process of analysing the causes of the problem.

Last year, senior social worker Charles Faber raised similar concerns about the front-line pressures and the lack of appropriate care placements in and around Cardiff in a local television documentary Week In, Week Out. Faber was later suspended and has now been sacked. Cardiff Council denies that the action against Faber was related to his TV appearance (News, page 10, 28 February).