April 2008 - The Social Work Blog

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Josef Fritzl: Austrian idyl cracks

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. Read More...

Published 29 Apr 2008 4:53 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, Austria, child protection, Elisabeth, Josef Fritzl
New social worker blog

by Simeon Brody There's a new blog out there by a UK social worker. Read More...

Published 29 Apr 2008 2:54 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: fighting monsters, simeon brody, social workers
Prison: not the soft option

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...

Published 25 Apr 2008 6:19 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Criminal justice, prison; soft jails; drugs; HMP Coldingley; prisoners
Strictly Baby Fight Club: Channel 4's kids fighting shocker

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...

Published 25 Apr 2008 2:07 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, channel 4, child protection, children and young people, children's society, Media, nspcc, sport, strictly baby fight club, television programme
Post office closures bring out the fighting spirit

by Amy Taylor. While the battle for the mayor of london crown has dominated the media, next Tuesday (May the 1st) also sees local elections taking place in many councils in England. The 2, 500 post offices earmarked for closure will be looming on many...

Published 25 Apr 2008 1:18 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: older people, post offices
Children's Society well being, mental health poll: should we be worried?

by Adam McCulloch The Children’s Society new pol l, 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? Read More...

Published 24 Apr 2008 5:01 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, children and young people, children's society, mental health, well being
Boris banks on City help

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. Read More...

Published 23 Apr 2008 6:19 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: boris johnson, derren hayes, london mayor, Politics
1968: Enoch Powell wasn’t right, he was a racist

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...

Published 23 Apr 2008 3:50 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: 1968, Aeneas, Enoch Powell, Eric Clapton, Politics, racism
10p tax rate row: Where is Brown’s commitment to anti-poverty now?

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...

Published 23 Apr 2008 2:58 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Gordon Brown, poverty, tax credits
Channel 4's The Doctor Who Hears Voices

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. Read More...

Published 22 Apr 2008 12:05 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, adam mcculloch;dr rufus may;channel 4, mental health, NHS, schizophrenia, tv
Remember those who died in social care

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...

Published 17 Apr 2008 1:00 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: ashleigh ewing, Mike Broad, Philip Ellison, sarah merritt, social workers, violence
Devon promises holy grail of efficiency and personalisation

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...

Published 17 Apr 2008 11:26 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Department of Health, Devon Council, direct payments, efficiency, funding, individual budgets, Mithran Samuel, personalisation, social care, Whitehall
Mark Speight, drugs attitudes and celebrity

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...

Published 15 Apr 2008 6:42 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, amy winehouse, drugs, mark speight, natasha collins;kate moss;libby purves, pete doherty
Sick trapped failed asylum seekers should not be left to rot

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...

Published 11 Apr 2008 4:00 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: asylum, asylum seekers, failed aslyum seekers, the NHS
Unfair repercussions of legal aid changes

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 soley funded...

Published 9 Apr 2008 4:31 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, children, councils, judge, legal aid, parents
Ed Balls and Jack Straw show they care

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...

Published 9 Apr 2008 3:58 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, baroness ashton, baroness scotland, ed balls, frances done, jack straw, Politics, YJB, Youth justice
No evidence migrants are jumping housing queue

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. Key findings include that new migrants to the...

Published 9 Apr 2008 11:28 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: BNP, Equality and Human Rights Commission, Local Government Association, Mithran Samuel, social housing
NHS pay offer: bad news for council workers?

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...

Published 8 Apr 2008 3:00 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: pay
UN ratifies disability convention

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. Read More...

Published 8 Apr 2008 2:46 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: disability
Philip Ellison death: Is social care work safe?

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. Read More...

Published 8 Apr 2008 1:59 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Philip Ellison, safety, simeon brody, social workers, violence
Looking to relax for a few minutes

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...

Published 8 Apr 2008 12:32 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Games
Eastenders' homelessness storyline

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

Published 7 Apr 2008 2:52 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Media
Cannabis: Expert advice versus politics

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...

Published 3 Apr 2008 12:23 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, cannabis, Class B, Class C, drugs, Gordon Brown, Mithran Samuel
Service user empowerment – by accident

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

Published 3 Apr 2008 8:00 AM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Alison Petch, Expert Patients' Programme, health care, Mike McNabb, Service users
How to combat honour killings

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

Published 2 Apr 2008 4:04 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: honour killing, honour violence, simeon brody, social workers
Immigration: House of Lords inflames the arms race!

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...

Published 2 Apr 2008 1:16 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: Adam McCulloch, economic impact of immigration, house of lords, immigration, Politics
Jersey: Island of Secrets

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...

Published 1 Apr 2008 3:22 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: child protection, jersey
Overseas workers

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...

Published 1 Apr 2008 2:07 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: immigrants, migration, overseas, workers, workforce
Pressganged: Sunday Express and banning hoodies

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

Published 1 Apr 2008 2:04 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: folk devils and moral panics, hoodies, Jack Fawbert, keith sellick, Media, sunday express
Care services minister Ivan Lewis in tax the rich shock

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," says Ivan Lewis in...

Published 1 Apr 2008 1:55 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: ivan lewis, keith sellick, New Labour, Politics, tax the rich
Care Service Minister Ivan Lewis in tax the rich shock

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," says Ivan Lewis in...

Published 1 Apr 2008 1:55 PM by The Social Work Blog

Filed under: ivan lewis, keith sellick, New Labour, Politics, tax the rich

April 2008 - The Social Work Blog

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives

Josef Fritzl: Austrian idyl cracks

New social worker blog

Prison: not the soft option

Strictly Baby Fight Club: Channel 4's kids fighting shocker

Post office closures bring out the fighting spirit

Children's Society well being, mental health poll: should we be worried?

Boris banks on City help

1968: Enoch Powell wasn’t right, he was a racist

10p tax rate row: Where is Brown’s commitment to anti-poverty now?

Channel 4's The Doctor Who Hears Voices

Remember those who died in social care

Devon promises holy grail of efficiency and personalisation

Mark Speight, drugs attitudes and celebrity

Sick trapped failed asylum seekers should not be left to rot

Unfair repercussions of legal aid changes

Ed Balls and Jack Straw show they care

No evidence migrants are jumping housing queue

NHS pay offer: bad news for council workers?

UN ratifies disability convention

Philip Ellison death: Is social care work safe?

Looking to relax for a few minutes

Eastenders' homelessness storyline

Cannabis: Expert advice versus politics

Service user empowerment – by accident

How to combat honour killings

Immigration: House of Lords inflames the arms race!

Jersey: Island of Secrets

Overseas workers

Pressganged: Sunday Express and banning hoodies

Care services minister Ivan Lewis in tax the rich shock

Care Service Minister Ivan Lewis in tax the rich shock