May 2008 Archives

We all have days when we forget things we have said and done - or at least we want to. There was the time when I walked into a meeting at a local authority - which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent - in order to interview the four heads of social services for a feature. The first thing out of my mouth wasn't "Hello, nice to meet you" but "Oh... four, white middle-aged men." Perhaps it should have been an internal thought...

This week's issue of Community Care has, as normal, three feature articles, covering the following topics: Social work practices; Intercountry adoption and domestic violence

First up, we have Derren Hayes report on the new model for working with looked-after-children, which is soon to be tested by some local authorities.
Read: Practicalities of social work practices

by Mithran Samuel

How many vulnerable children will die before these lessons are finally learnt?

Thus speaks a Daily Mail comment piece today in relation to the tragic case of Khyra Ishaq, a seven-year-old girl who died in hospital over the weekend in Birmingham.

by Mike McNabb

If Nero fiddled while Rome burned, one wonders what form of inaction the old emperor would have taken in Naples in the past week.

by Daniel Lombard

Ask any reporters who've covered conferences, particularly the ones involving overnight stays, and they'll tell you that most of the time, they can't wait to get away.

Last month came one glorious exception: the Association of Directors of Adult Services' spring seminar in the Carden Park Hotel, set in 750 acres of rural Cheshire.

By Mike McNabb

Violence against social care staff has been in the news again so if I were a tad worried about my chances of surviving a home visit intact, Ray Braithwaite would be a useful mentor to have.

By Mike McNabb

Adult care has hit the headlines again with prime minister Gordon Brown wanting to open a debate on its future. It was a debate welcomed by Stephen Burke, chief executive of Counsel and Care.

By Mike McNabb

How many Daily Mail readers were at Community Care Live? The safe answer is "not many". The bold answer is "quite a few". Perhaps I am about to commit mass libel, but some social workers must read it, even in a covert operation by candlelight.

By Mike McNabb

It is an age-old problem but it is only in the past 30 years or so that domestic violence has become accepted as a major social issue.

And the understanding of the effect it has on children is even more recent.

By Mike McNabb

Most commentators agree that personalisation is the greatest shake-up in service provision since the launch of the welfare state but it turns out it is fraught with dilemmas.

By Mike McNabb

It was timely in a tragic sense that a discussion on gang warfare should take place in London.

Thirteen teenagers have fallen victims of violent deaths on the capital¹s streets this year, although not all of them were gang-related. But the toll in recent years suggests that many are.

by Mike McNabb

Personalisation. How inelegant can a buzzword be? But it is one whose workings were explored elegantly by a panel of experts:

by Mike McNabb

Tired of the right-wing media hype about those dastardly asylum seekers (whoops, nearly fell into the propaganda trap there), it was refreshing to hear the voices of a group of people who actually wanted to do something positive. In this case, they were concerned about the lot of that most vulnerable of groups: unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people.

by Mike McNabb

Glen Mason, director of social care leadership and performance at the Department of Health, opened the 12th Community Care Live by describing Gordon Brown's desire to put a new focus on social care this week as an exciting development for the sector.

by Natalie Valios
Occasionally, decisions by the judiciary make my heart sink. A case in point is the story in today’s papers which reports on a court case involving 20-year-old Jon Dixon who tried to rape an 11-year-old girl.

by Amy Taylor

This week home secretary Jacqui Smith has announced a new crackdown on antisocial behaviour by persistant offenders .

Under the plans 'action squads' will work with the police in every community to reduce antisocial behviour by carrying out home visits and checks on offenders' TV licences, car tax and insurance, and council tax payments.

Smith said that 7 per cent of offenders continue offending after three interventions and that there would be "no escape" for the group.

by Anabel Unity Sale

Three drunk women, aged 37, 39 and 41, were filmed on CCTV mugging a man, also drunk, of his wallet. He was punched and kicked by one of the women before the other two stole from him.

by Adam McCulloch

On last night's Question Time (BBC1) Michael Heseltine, in answer to a question on the government's cannabis u-turn, put the surprising view that any successful drugs strategy should “start at the top”. He singled out the “Chelsea party set” as particularly culpable when it comes to drugs use and suggested a far stricter policy on substance misuse at the country's public schools.

By Keith Sellick

A story in the Financial Times about social workers in the Philippines handing out cheap rice shows how the global explosion of food and energy prices are impacting on the poor; and those who work with them.

There were three feature articles in this weeks Community Care, covering the following topics sick notes, gangs and anger management.

First up, Sally Gillen reports looks at at anger management strategies for professionals.
Read: Dealing with anger

by Adam McCulloch

Do you think that Premiership footballers are overpaid, flashy, disrespectful, foul-mouthed and arrogant, only interested in money, nightclubs, betting and chasing women?
Well, think again. Craig Bellamy, a player who in the past might have lived up to this negative perception of the modern footballer, is spending a large proportion of his salary on education and health for children in Sierra Leone.

By Andrew Mickel

So the once-Iron Chancellor has a heart, according to care services minister Ivan Lewis, who is claiming that Gordon Brown cried after reading testimonies from children with learning disabilities.

By Keith Sellick

I had to share this with you Telly Savalas does a travelogue for Birmingham. I have been laughing at it for days. The idea of Kojak on the mean streets of Britain's second city. Apparently he also did Portsmouth and Aberdeen

by Simeon Brody

I went to a Community Care conference yesterday about personalisation in adult services. It was a really interesting event and one of the most popular Com Care has ever run - so there's obviously a lot of people out there who want to find out more about this new agenda.

By Keith Sellick

Mayday: a workers' celebration. Some very fine articles here on the history and meaning of 1 May.