November 2008 Archives

 by Anabel Unity Sale

What with the shocking case of another vulnerable child, known to social services, dying in Haringey, I thought I was having a flashback last week. Then came last Wednesday's announcement the government is tackling rough sleeping. Again.

 By Derren Hayes

I think I'm losing it. I found myself shouting at the TV last night, something I normally do only when 11 (or occasionally 15) blokes are running around a field chasing after a ball (of varying sizes).

by Mark Ivory

A few years ago, councils were accused of zooming in on child protection instead of focusing more widely on well-being.

by Bronagh Miskelly

When is it right to stick your hand in your pocket for a client? The odd pint of milk or loaf of bread in an emergency is one thing, but does paying for a pair of curtains cross the line of a professional relationship?

By Emma Maier

All but two of the main national newspapers (The Independent and the Daily Mail) ran front page stories on Wednesday about the death of Baby P, the 17-month-old boy who suffered more than 50 injuries, including a broken spine, caused by his mother and her boyfriend.

The details of the case were so horrific that even the straightest news reports could not help but shock. While they all covered the same basic facts, timeline and summary of the child's injuries, each took a slightly different approach - and a different attitude to social work.

 by Bronagh Miskelly

One of the messages from the serious case review of the Baby P case is that problems arose from personal errors of judgement rather than a systemic or procedural failure. In fact some commentators are arguing that the errors of judgement were in part due to professionals being hidebound by the new systems.

 By Derren Hayes

Shock horror, Barack Obama is a smoker. "A smoker" I hear you cry. That's right. Surely, this must call into question whether he is fit to take office?

By Mithran Samuel

Tax cuts are back on the political agenda with all three parties seeing them as a vital component in jump-starting the economy from its current recessive state.

by Daniel Lombard

Most of you would agree, I expect, that a care services minister with a caring side would be pretty apt.

Although underrated in a sector which currently favours firm steering through the choppy waters of reform, compassion is essential for all good social care leadership.

So it came as a relief that Phil Hope, the new minister of state for adult services, revealed a close empathy with professionals and families alike during one of his first speaking engagements last month.

by Daniel Lombard

 
Mental health first aid provides the cornerstone for the Welsh assembly's suicide prevention strategy, announced this month.

Training in how to recognise various mental health problems, signpost people to professional help, and deal with crises, will be provided, with £1.7m in funding, for police, nurses, teachers and youth workers.

But the concept of mental health first aid itself lays down a challenge to us all.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families' decision to pilot individual budgets for disabled children shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.