April 2008 Archives

by Adam McCulloch

The story of Josef F , of humble Amstetten, has ushered Austria into a new period of self-doubt, even deeper than that brought on by the discovery of Natascha Kampusch's imprisonment in a cellar in 2006.

by Simeon Brody

There's a new blog out there by a UK social worker.

by Natalie Valios
Prisoners prefer to be behind bars where drugs are cheaper, where they get satellite TV, free telephone calls, breakfast in bed and officers who treat them with kid gloves for fear of breaching their human rights. So says Glyn Travis, assistant general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association.

by Adam McCulloch

Don't like to use this medium to depress people, especially so soon after dismissing the Children's Society poll on children's well-being as being too pessimistic, but most people who saw Channel 4's Strictly Baby Fight Club last night will come away feeling disturbed, if not nauseated. This is happening in the UK right now... children under the age of 10 fighting each other in cages while their ludicrous parents egg them on.

by Amy Taylor.

While the battle for the mayor of london crown has dominated the media, next Tuesday (1st May) also sees local elections taking place in many councils in England.

The 2, 500 post offices earmarked for closure will be looming on many voters' minds. Compared to the 70s protests are few and far between but the closures have caught the hearts and minds of many communities. Many have carried out demonstrations and petitions to try and save their local service.

by Adam McCulloch

The Children’s Society new poll, charting the misery of children in the UK will induce quiet sighs of despair in thousands of households. But are kids really fed up in this country? How should we measure that?

London Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson has unveiled his team for tackling the Capital's social ills should he be elected. If you're expecting a list of the great and good in social enterprise then think again.

By Keith Sellick

Forty years ago Enoch Powell made his “rivers of blood” speech.

In the past six months, I have watched a BBC documentary where the narrator said that while Powell’s language was regrettable he was right. I have listened to a BBC radio programme, the Real Source, that claimed Powell wasn’t a racist (on the evidence of a speech in 1959 in which he said that Englishmen should not apply African standards in Africa), and read a variety of right-wingers parading their “Enoch was right” line along with the daily outpourings of racist lies from sections of the media.

by Keith Sellick

Has the furore over the abolition of the 10p tax rate dealt a death blow to New Labour’s talk of social justice and eradicating poverty?

Earlier this week, Lib Dem Vincent Cable, wrote: “There was a certain unhappy symbolism yesterday, in a Labour government conjuring up billions to help the banks while insisting that low-paid workers pay billions more in tax. The Government's deference and indulgence to the banks is extraordinary.” the Independent. Despite talk of a deal, the damage may have been done.

by Adam McCulloch

Extraordinary Channel 4 drama-documentary last night – The Doctor Who Hears Voices – about a doctor diagnosed with schizophrenia who wants to continue practising despite voices in her head telling her to kill herself.

by Mike Broad

Social worker Philip Ellison's tragic death last week reminds us never to underestimate the dangers of the job. Support worker Ashleigh Ewing, in Newcastle and care worker Sarah Merritt, in Southampton, suffered the same fate last year.

by Mithran Samuel

Devon Council is currently shaking up its care management function in a reform which promises to both lower the costs of adult social care services and make them more personalised around the user - what the jargon lovers among us may describe as a "win-win".
We have been here before of course. Early results from the In Control pilots - the acme of personalisation - suggested giving users a personal budget could both improve outcomes and lower costs, though a recent evaluation was mute on the subject. But can it really be right that councils can sustainably achieve better services for lower costs?

by Adam McCulloch

The deaths of Mark Speight and Natasha Collins, both talented BBC children’s presenters, has brought a ferocious condemnation of cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy “partying” culture from Libby Purves and elicited one or two interesting comments too.

by Amy Taylor

Failed asylum seekers unable to leave due to their being no safe route available are stuck here through no fault of their own.

Given this point how can it be right that they are not entitled to free NHS care?

A two day hearing, which began yesterday in the High Court, is challenging this.

Just a couple of feature articles this week.

From the children's sector, Mark Hunter reports on how support staff, or paraprofessionals, are having to handle increasingly complex cases, as eligibility criteria puts clients out of reach of qualified social workers.
Read: "They don't really have a clue"

by Amy Taylor

From October 1st last year no legal aid funding has been available for placements in family assessment centres - used when care proceedings have begun to assess parents' parenting ability. This means that such placements now have to be solely funded by councils.

The repercussions of this are now starting to show.

by Adam McCulloch

Who says the government doesn’t feel passionate about social care issues? Apparently justice secretary Jack Straw recently threatened to punch education secretary Ed Balls after being spoken to rudely during a discussion about youth justice policy. It is also said the two clashed during talks over the appointment of the Youth Justice Board chair Frances Done.

by Mithran Samuel

Interim research out today from the Local Government Association and the Equality and Human Rights Commission finds there is no evidence of bias against UK-born people in the allocation of social housing.

by Keith Sellick

The latest pay offer to nurses may undermine local government workers' wage demands. Unison's Pay Matters campaign is arguing, with other local government unions, for a 6 per cent rise this year. Employers have just raised the offer to 2.45 per cent.

By Keith Sellick
The UN has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ecuador became the 20th country signing the convention, which gave it legal force in the international community.

by Simeon Brody

The tragic case of the Lancashire social care worker who died after being stabbed yesterday has again raised the question of how safe social care workers are, particularly when it comes to home visits.

Then try our new game

Bubbles

The goal is very easy: you have to clean off the field by matching three or more bubbles of the same color. All exploded bubbles will appear on the field time and again. So in order to clear the playing field and get to the next level you must detonate them all.

A simple and frustrating game, or is that just a simply frustrating game

by Derren Hayes

How depressing it was to see the usual cliches about social services splitting up families trotted out in several episodes of Eastenders last week.

by Mithran Samuel

Press reports today suggest that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will recommend to ministers that cannabis should remain a Class C drug. Ironically this comes just two days after Gordon Brown strongly indicated in his monthly press conference that he backed reclassifying it into the more serious Class B category. Given Brown asked the council to review the classification of cannabis - which Labour downgraded to Class C in 2004 - this poses an acute dilemma for him: whether to play politics or listen to expert advice.

This week in Community Care we have three feature articles.

First up: Search engines have made life so much easier for people looking for research and practice information, but, academics are among those now saying it is an illusion, read Mark Hunter's report - Engine trouble

by Mike McNabb

In the name of empowerment, service users are having a greater say in how and from whom they receive care.

by Simeon Brody

Apparently two police officers face disciplinary action in the case of a woman who died in a so-called "honour killing".

by Adam McCulloch

Pass the immigration ammunition! The House of Lords economic affairs committee has distributed an arms dump-worth of arguments to all comers. The Daily Mail is crowing, UKIP salivating and Migration Watch throwing street parties in Tunbridge Wells. The Lib Dems and Conservatives, meanwhile are delighted with their fresh grenades and are busily lobbing them at the Labour benches. Yet ministers are catching them mid-flight and hurling them back, for they too are, if not delighted, not unhappy with the verdict from the ‘other place’s’ financial sages.
But this is all a massive contradiction you say, polishing your gleaming bazooka, ready to fire off your immigration views.

Where there’s abuse, there’s denial. That’s the picture emerging from the Jersey child abuse investigation. While no evidence has yet been tried in court – with just one person charged to date – the accounts of former residents of children’s homes are shocking, as last night's Panorama revealed.

by Derren Hayes

A report published this week by a House of Lords Committee concludes that immigrants have had "little or no impact" on the economic wellbeing of Britons. In fact, the peers say the influx of immgrant workers over the past few years has kept pay low in certain occupations, stunted training investment and contributed to housing problems.

by Keith Sellick
Fresh from its £500,000 payout to the McCann family, the Sunday Express has launched a "Ban the hoodie" campaign.

By Keith Sellick

"Fairness means a Labour government not remaining silent when any company rips the consumer off or directors of poorly performing organisations in the public or private sector receive extortionate bonuses,"