July 24, 2008

Welfare reform green paper: threats and punishment won't work

Bateman, Neil mug web.gifby Neil Bateman

The welfare reform green paper (published on 21 July) contains yet more proposals for toughening up the benefits system. It seems there is no turning back when it comes to these ideas that Tebbitt, Lilley and Co only dreamed of and now being wafted through by Brown, Purnell Associates.

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NCH Hackney Family Intensive Project and the Youth Crime Action Plan

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By Rumi Hussain

Last week family intervention projects were finally thrown into discussions on tackling the root causes of antisocial behaviour and youth crime.

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July 22, 2008

Direct payments, personalisation... who now cares for whom?


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By Steve Arthington 

Amid talk of choice and freedom, service users must remember they also gain more responsibility under personalised services

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July 16, 2008

Practice placements are the key; not separate social work degrees

Wardle, Mike web2.jpgby Mike Wardle

How well does the degree prepare social workers for practice? Two years on since it produced its first graduates, the degree is in the spotlight.

A series of regional visits is being organised by the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families as part of a joint review of the degree, so the publication last week of DH's three-year evaluation is timely.

The degree is still relatively new, but the early evidence suggests that there is much for the sector to be confident about.

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Fuel costs: it's time to ditch the car

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by Nigel Leaney

For a number of years I've been a non-car user. My main modes of transport are my push bike and the occasional over-priced train. I guess I'm lucky that I'm able to make a choice.


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Mental health, work, and new incapacity benefit rules

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by Helen Waddell

Because of the disabling symptoms of schizoaffective disorder I am unable to work, and obtain an income by claiming incapacity benefit. I feel relieved that I will not be subject to the criteria under which new claimants for its replacement - the employment and support allowance - will be assessed.


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Information is power in the personalisation age

Simon Stevens for web.jpgBy Simon Stevens

In the 1980s, the US was seen as a country where the customer was always right. I have the image of a large American in a restaurant ordering his fries, telling the waiter the precise temperature he expects them to arrive at the table at. But that level of confidence, or maybe arrogance, requires a high degree of information, where the customer ends up knowing more about the product than anyone who works for the company does.

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July 15, 2008

Youth Action Plan should have gone further

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By Penelope Gibbs, Prison Reform Trust

 

He who pays the piper calls the tune. Or at least has greater influence over the tune. If local authorities paid for child custody, they would surely gain more control over where children are placed and the quality of regimes. And have a greater incentive to stop children being imprisoned. The government's new Youth Crime Action Plan has flirted with the idea of delegating the custody budget but not championed it. It proposes making the costs of custody more visible to inform debate "on whether, in the long term, local authorities should be responsible for the placement and funding of custodial placements".

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Outsourcing Abuse


 allan norman 60.jpg by Allan Norman

There I was, only yesterday, flippantly comparing caselaw developments for destitute asylum seekers to a particularly abstruse game of Mornington Crescent. I ended by observing:

Warning: you should not play 'Destitution at Mornington Crescent' unless you know the Rules currently being played. Real, vulnerable, people can be badly hurt by miscalled moves!

Just hours later, I was brought up sharp with a reminder of just how vulnerable, and how badly hurt, when the publication, 'Outsourcing Abuse' by Birnberg Pierce Solicitors, Medical Justice and NCADC was launched. It tells of hundreds of assaults on asylum seekers being deported: "casual racism and inhumanity from officers employed by the Home Office and its subcontracted private companies".

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July 14, 2008

Destitution at Mornington Crescent

allan norman 60.jpg by Allan Norman

Some will know this tube station lies on the Northern Line between Euston and Camden Town, but only if playing by the 'Charing Cross Branch' Rules. More of you will have heard of the Radio 4 panel show game, played by other rules. The game is one of great skill and strategy, but the rules are, let's face it, obscure.

Having heard argument from Slough on 9th and 10th June, on social work's duties to destitute and ill failed asylum seekers, the House of Lords is due to play 'Destitution at Mornington Crescent' in the next few days. They have yet to announce which Rules they will play by, but in anticipation I thought I would remind you of the key moves in the game so far:

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