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Case study: ‘Jenny & Eleanor’

This essay will focus on the current situation of Jenny, a single parent, and Eleanor, her six year old daughter, who currently live on a large local authority housing estate. Whilst close attention will be paid to their situation and the needs arising out of it, it is not the substantive function of this paper to prescribe specific courses of action in their case only. Rather, it is to identify and discuss the issues raised by their case, considering the appropriate social work processes, policy, and legal framework. Overall, it will be argued that there are two significant issues to be explored through the circumstances of Jenny and Eleanor’s case. Firstly, the nature and effectiveness of multi-agency working in education and the human services, and secondly, the problems faced by these professionals when adults, either deliberately or through incapacity, are not fully cooperative in ensuring the appropriate care of their child. As McCullough points out, ‘Throughout the UK, provision and means of delivering children’s services have been changing profoundly. Predominant among the reasons driving these changes is concern about the way in which children are kept safe.’ (McCullough 2007: p.27) The paper will therefore discuss these issues, taking into account how such issues may be dealt with in a context of evidence-based and anti-discriminatory practice.

In the first instance it may be helpful to include a brief synopsis of the known facts about Jenny and Eleanor’s situation, as a guide to identifying their needs. The case study reports that they are from a White British background: they live in a local authority housing estate which, it is stated, is regarded as ‘rough’, i.e. socially problematical and economically deprived. This categorization is not supported by any objective assessment, such as referral to any social scales or indices, and so appears rather unscientific and possibly discriminatory. Jenny and Eleanor have experienced five different housing placements in the last seven years. Jenny has been the victim of domestic violence, both in previous relationships and from Derek, her current partner and Eleanor’s father. Eleanor was unfortunately the witness to many of the assaults on her mother, and is herself thought to have been the subject of violence from her father. As the result of one of the assault on Jenny, Derek was awarded two year custodial sentence, and is currently expected to be released in four months time: he requested contact with Eleanor whilst in custody. Eleanor is enrolled at a local primary school, where records reveal that her attendance is low and represents a cause for concern: she has appeared withdrawn, and on occasions been violent towards other pupils. Furthermore, the school nurse has registered concerns about Eleanor’s development.

In the light of these facts, it is now up to the relevant services to make the appropriate arrangements, using such measures as the statutory and policy frameworks allow. One of the principle factors in their immediate future – the matter of Derek’s release from custody – is beyond the control of those agencies immediately involved in Jenny and Eleanor’s welfare, so it is up to them to make their dispositions accordingly in the light of this contingency. What follows is a discussion of the relevant issues as they arise out of the jurisdictions, expertise, and responsibilities of the various agencies involved. This discussion will start with the subject who is likely to be of most concern to the educational and human services, i.e. the most vulnerable individual, Eleanor. As a six year old, she is the only person in the situation who does not have self-determination, is consequently reliant on the various agencies appointed for her care: it is now up to them to ensure this is ensured. As Myers-Blair points out, ‘The basic equipment for emotional development (physical and neural) is present at birth, and in a very diffuse way emotional behaviour begins at birth, or perhaps even before.’ (Myers-Blair, 1975: p.60).

The immediate concerns over Eleanor’s welfare devolve upon two separate but related spheres: her school and home life. The relevant professionals must unravel the intertwining requirements and responsibilities inherent in this situation. However, as the Department for Children, Schools and Families itself acknowledges, ‘The professional background of workers is both a strength and a barrier to multi-agency working. As each profession has developed its own language and body of knowledge, it not only serves to provide a professional identity but can alienate those outside the profession who do not share their language or way of thinking. Professionals also develop a different way of working in order to achieve their aims.’ (DCSF, 2007: p.5) Obviously, all of these considerations must proceed from the basis that Eleanor is physically safe, with possible physical abuse from Derek, the previously violent partner, being the most obvious threat to this. If sufficient evidence of this threat is assembled, then the multi-agency effort is largely irrelevant, since the Local Authority, through the Social Services Directorate, will have a clear responsibility to act accordingly under sections 27 and 17 of the Children Act 1989, and remove her from the situation.

The decision as to whether any contingent arrangements involve Eleanor only, or Eleanor and Jenny, will depend on the perceived or actual threat, and Jenny’s position in relation to this. As Asen pointedly reminds us, ‘When professionals are unable to decide whether to let the children remain with its natural family or not, this indecisiveness can be abusive in its own right: it leaves the child in a situation of limbo – which in some cases can last years – further adding to the child’s emotional or physical suffering.’ (Asen, 2000: p.227) Depending upon how matters proceed in relations between Jenny and Derek, Social Services will also be responsible for the next level of care, i.e. ensuring that Eleanor is not suffering from any forms of neglect or subsidiary abuse arising out of the situation.

Assuming that this situation is being monitored, the weight of responsibility shifts back into the educational environment: this is not to say that the social worker loses control of the situation, or becomes less relevant to Eleanor’s care: quite the contrary. In fact, by virtue of the serious nature of Eleanor’s home situation, they may well become the ‘lead professional’ within the multi-agency effort, as will be discussed below. It is simply the case that the all the professionals involved effectively have their actions governed by overlapping and interlocking statutes. At present, the latter stipulate that Eleanor should be in school: that school will almost certainly be a mainstream school, i.e. not a PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) or other specialized facility: furthermore, the law provides that every professional effort should be made to ensure that Eleanor is supported in achieving the expected educational progress. This in essence is where the social work and educational efforts will interact: since achievement of the expected progress will hinge upon Eleanor’s mental and physical well-being, as well as her innate cognitive ability, the home and school environments will become linked around this effort. The essential point here is that the social services case worker will be reliant on the judgment and expertise of the school based professionals with respect to Eleanor’s learning and emotional well-being. This is very much an open-ended process: a number of successive measures and support systems will have to be put into place before any alternative or specialized provision is even considered. In the first instance, the school’s Child Protection Officer – usually the Headteacher in the context of a Primary school like Eleanor’s – will feedback directly to Social Services, if there is any evidence of abuse. The school Special Educational Needs Coordinator will subsequently be responsible for ascertaining whether or not Eleanor has any educational or emotional special needs: if so, she must have an IEP (Individual Education Plan) classified as Step One, Two or Three, depending on their severity. The latter will also determine whether or not Eleanor may require a Statutory Statement of Educational Needs (usually referred to simply as a ‘statement’). If so, she may qualify for additional support through the Local Educational Authority’s Statutory Assessment Office. This in turn will involve the Educational Psychology Service, who will have to make a formal assessment based on observation of Eleanor in a school context. If it is deemed appropriate, she will also be referred to the Primary Behaviour Support Service, the School’s Pastoral Support Service, the Family Support Service, and the Primary Mental Health Service.

What are the implications of these potential multiple referrals from a practical point of view? As the DCFS guidance advises, ‘It is the processes involved in building relationships between agencies and between providers of services and the communities they serve, which is vital, because this is where the real work has to be done. It is a real challenge to us all, not least finding the time and space to work on these issues when many services are provided from at least 8 am to 6 pm, five days a week.’ (DCSF, 2007: p2). What this euphemizes is the attempted integration of services which proceed from a series of parallel and successive statutes. This include the Children Act 1989, the Children Act 2004, the Education Act 2002, the Learning and Skills Act 2000, the Disability and Discrimination Act 1995, The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2001, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, and the Data Protection Act 1998. The school based effort, into which the social worker must be integrated, is built around the role of the Inclusions Officer, who must in turn convene a school-specific inclusions team comprised of all the practitioners involved.

Whilst all of this sounds fine on paper, the practical challenges of coordinating the support and care of a child in Eleanor’s situation cannot be underestimated. Take, for example, the role of the Lead Professional itself. As the Children’s Workforce Development Council concedes, ‘A lead professional is not a job title or a new role, but a set of functions to be carried out as part of the delivery of effective integrated support.’ (CWDC, 2007: p.5). In other words, the role is titular only and attracts no timetabling facility or resources, but must run parallel – and crucially, in addition to – the practitioner’s other responsibilities. As the CWDC frankly puts it, ‘…clear communication is necessary between both services so that the individual is not overwhelmed with lead professional and caseload responsibilities. Speak to your manager to ensure that they take account of any lead professional responsibilities in setting your workload, and that your performance in delivering the lead professional functions is recognized and recorded.’ (CWDC 2007: p.2, para 3.14). This is far more than a Human Resources issue however. The whole rationale of the multi-agency movement and Every Child Matters initiative is to mitigate the kind of short-circuits, doublings-up and straightforward mismanagement which contributed to the Victoria Climbie tragedy. As McCullough reminds us, ‘In Laming’s detailed and damning report, twelve different occasions were identified when appropriate intervention by one or more of these agencies could have saved Victoria’s life…in his summing up, Laming noted that “the legislative framework for protecting children is basically sound. I conclude that the gap is not a matter of law but in its implementation.”.’ (McCullough 2007: p.28). The problem is that whilst the role of the lead practitioner is non-statutory, the responsibilities accrued by the incumbent are not. As the CWDC again concedes, ‘…There are particular implications for staff who may be working part-time in a multi-agency setting and part-time in their home agency.’ (CWDC 2007: p.2, para 3.14). Arguably then, the same issues which underlay Victoria’s death are potential factors in any such case, including Eleanor’s. The mere creation of a job title, i.e., Lead Practitioner, or mechanisms such as the Common Assessment Framework, guarantees nothing if the staff involved are overstretched, unsupported and undirected.

The fact that Jenny has cancelled two possible contact appointments so far is disappointing, and may well represent an impediment to the advancement of Eleanor’s care in the future. At present however, it does not constitute an insurmountable barrier to the coordinated effort of the multi-agency team, and definitely is not a pretext for inaction on their part. As the school has noted, Eleanor’s emotional well-being is questionable, indicating a serious potential impediment to her progress. As Meadows indicates, ‘Certain emotional states are frequent and salient, and become parts of feeling about the self, so that they can then influence a wide range of behaviours, such as perception, emotional expression, cognitive processing and social relations.’ (Meadows, 2006: p.438) Instruments in an around the curriculum, such as the SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) programme may be used to help Eleanor externalize and come to terms with the events which have shaped her experience: essentially these means must be tried in order to redress any lack of emotional support she is receiving at home. As Maslow points out, ‘…thwarting of these needs produces feelings of inferiority, of weakness, and of helplessness. These feelings in turn give rise to either basic discomfort, or else compensatory or neurotic trends.’ (Maslow, 1970: P.1) Also, as Samuels reminds us, ‘Basically, if the child’s needs are not met appropriately at each developmental level, the psyche becomes unable to adequately regulate self-esteem by the use of adequate mechanisms.’ (Samuels, 1977: p. 35).

The problem is that, whilst the statutory framework stipulates that the school is currently the focus of support for Eleanor’s needs, the latter obviously do not stop there. As Schaefer et al. observe, since behavioural problems in the home usually precede those occurring elsewhere, part of the focus has to be behaviour in the home.’ (Schaefer et al. 1984 p.96). Consequently, whilst ‘Inter-Professional Collaboration’ has to be an overriding consideration for the social worker, it is likely to be the case worker themselves who initiates much of the strategic action, such as the proposed ‘cold-call’ home visit. The focus on Eleanor does not of course mean that Jenny’s needs, as an individual or as a parent, can be overlooked. A holistic approach, encapsulated within an action plan and developed with the Family Therapy or Support Service will be required. However, for environmental as much as professional reasons, as will be discussed below, Eleanor must remain the primary concern within this case.

As this conclusion is being written, the manifest weaknesses of the supposedly revamped multi-agency framework have been revealed in the most devastating manner: through the death of a seventeen-month child, who was in the Child Protection Register’s ‘at risk’ category. Whilst any legislative or policy outcome of this tragedy is obviously some way off, some commentators have been quick to apportion responsibility to the inter-agency working framework. ‘When procedures become so exacting and time-consuming, the exercise of judgment is deemed neither necessary nor possible. Indeed, it will get you into trouble, because it is not part of the procedure.’ (Dalrymple 2008) Calls for less weight to be given to parental wishes and rights, and more to be placed on the safety of the child, are already being heard. The outcome of such debates, it may be argued, may have significant effects on the conduct of cases such as that of Jenny and Eleanor.

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There are many different structures for different organisations. I am going to be explaining the current structure of social services and am going to explain the effect of the management structure whilst looking at the main services that main sectors have to offer. I will explain the functioning of one social work setting and analyse the impact of social work with regards to a particular group. I will use a recent case for my chosen sector and evaluate the failings of the social services, who those failings effected and what has been done since to ensure it does not happen again.

http://www.nhssb.n-i.nhs.uk/structures/social_services.gif

Above is an example of how the Social Services Hierarchical structure looks. It follows the layout of a pyramid and derives into the base of staff level employees with usually the CEO or director at the top. There are many pros to having an organisation structure like this. It allows employees to see clearly who it is they need report to and makes obvious their levels of responsibility. This is critical to a social service organisation to safeguard not only themselves but their service users. A hieratical system, however, does also have its disadvantages. It promotes rivalry which could distract some who are particularly competitive. Martin, J and Fellenz, M (2010) suggest “Often Hierarchies are created not because they are functionally required but because they provide a venue for pushing unwanted people up in the organisation or for providing promotional avenue. These dysfunctional hierarchies are in fact the cause for reduced organisational effectiveness”

Another common example of organisational structures is Matrix. The matrix structure groups its employees by function and product. The design of this structure is rather flat in comparison to that of the hierarchy. They usually work under the head of a project manager but also have a functional head who they would report to. An advantage of this is that it allows employees to specialise in a specific field but can sometimes also cause confusion as to who to report to.

Ealing social services offer many different services: childcare and early years, blue badge scheme, child protection and safe guarding, welfare benefits – low income, fostering and adoption and care homes. Im going to look at Child protection and safe guarding. Below is the hierarchical structure that Ealing use for their Children in need team:

Again it is clear to see who is in charge and who each employee needs to report to. At the top there are the team managers; below them is the deputy team manager. The deputy would be responsible for reporting to the team manager. Below the deputy there the social workers and senior social workers who are both responsible for reporting to the Deputy team manager. Below them there are social worker assistants who report to the social workers and senior social workers.

Ealing Social services children in need team (2011) state on their website: Children in Need team offer a social work service to families where children are deemed to be ‘in need’ as defined by section 17 of the Children Act 1989. They work predominantly with: Children whose names are on the child protection register, children deemed to be in need of family support services due to an assessed level of need and children with a disability that is not deemed to be ‘severe and profound’ – the latter are referred to the Children with Disability Team. Social workers will assess family needs and draw up a family support package with parents to enable children to be safely and effectively cared for within their families. The team are trying to improve the lives of their service users by providing a support which can be empowering. They have a responsibility to ensure children and young people who may be marginalised are safeguarded whilst promoting their welfare. They have other teams who they work in partnership with such as the Youth Offending team who try to prevent re offending among youths and provide support for victims of youth crime. These statutory organisations are funded by the government. Although these teams do the best they can to improve the lives of marginalised children and youths, mistakes can and do happen. This can lead to drastic effects on not only the service user but the organisation as a whole especially if one has not followed the code of conduct provided by the social services.

There was an enquiry made intro the death of Victoria Climbie Who died aged eight on the 25th February 2000. She died from multiple injuries. Marie-Therese Kouao was Victoria’s Aunt and career she lived with her Boyfriend Carl Manning from whom Victoria received vicious abuse from. In 1999 she was first taken to the hospital by her child-minder who suspected the girl had non accidental injuries but the doctor accepted Kouao’s story that the wounds were self-inflicted by scratching at scabies sores. The child protection authorities were alerted as a precaution. Social worker Lisa Arthurworrey and PC Karen Jones were assigned to the case and conducted a home visit . Later the same year Victoria was admitted to hospital again. This time for scaulding to her head and face. Immediately doctors suspected that these injuries were deliberately inflicted. Kouao told Arthurworrey and Jones that the injuries were due to her pouring hot water over Victoria’s head to stop her from scratching her scalp and that other injuries on her were caused by Victoria using utensils. These explanations were accepted by the child protection authorities and Victoria was collected from hospital by Kouao. Evidence reveals that Victoria was forced by Manning to sleep in the bath with just a bin liner. In the same year of 1999 Kouao advised social workers that Victoria had been sexually assaulted by Manning but withdrew her statement the next day. PC Jones was to investigate this but after no reply to the letter she sent to Kouao she took no further action. Early 2000 Victoria was again admitted to the hospital. This time for a combination of malnutrition and hypothermia and she was transferred to an intensive care ward. She died the next day. DR Nathaniel Carey, the home office pathologist examined Victoria and found 128 different injury’s and scars many of which were cigarette burns. He described what he saw as “the worst case of child abuse I’ve ever encounter.” Both Marie-Therese Kouao and Carl Manning were charged with the murder of Victoria Climbie. When they were interviewed they both claimed that Victoria was possessed. They were sentence to life in prison for what Judge Howkins described as Victoria’s “lonely drawn out death”.

The death of Victoria could have been avoided had the correct decisions been made from those assigned to protect her. There were gross failures of the system. The inquiry report confirms that there were at least 13 occasions where relevant services could have intervened and help Victoria but they failed to do so. This intervention would not have put heavy demands on staff, or required great skill so it is shocking to all that no action was ever taken. Another failure was adequacy of the system. Lord Lamming argued that “had Ealing, in my view, done the job they should have done on the second day that Victoria was in this country, it is probable that all of the other agencies would not have needed to be involved.” He also pointed out that at the time of Victoria’s case Ealing Social services were spending significantly below their Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) on services for children. Child protection services also failed Victoria by failure to implement the Children Act 1989. This was described by Laming as a “basically sound legislation”. The main aims of the Act are: to bring together private and public law in one framework; to achieve a better balance between protecting children and enabling parents to challenge state intervention; to encourage greater partnership between statutory authorities and parents; to promote the use of voluntary arrangements; to restructure the framework of the courts to facilitate management of family proceedings. Had this act have been implemented it is almost certain that Victoria’s end would not have been the tragedy that it was.

Not only did these failings have a profound effect on the service user leading to her death. It also impacted the organisation as a whole. An inquiry was called after the conviction of Kouao and Manning. There were questions that had been raised about the involvement of social workers which Carole Baptiste, the Senior social worker for Victoria’s case, failed to attend. She was tried for deliberately breaching an inquiry summons and was fined ?500. Henry (2008) states “the tragic death of Victoria Climbie, in Haringey, at the hands of her great-aunt and the woman’s boyfriend, sparked an independent inquiry by Lord Laming, a children’s bill and structural changes to social services departments across the country” A database suggested by Laming was to be introduced which will have all the necessary details of 11million children including GP’s, Schools and Social workers working with them. There was also the appointment of a children’s commissioner, the merging of council education and social services departments and the establishment of local safeguarding children boards, made up of senior council officials, social workers, police, education and health staff. The inspection of children’s services has also been brought under Ofsted’s remit. If a child protection system has different structures, systems and functioning in different areas, it has the potential to cause serious complications. Because of this there were new local government structures introduced. There was also a suggestion for a national child protection agency but this was rejected. There was also a recommendation for a new Social services structure which is below:

Ministerial Children and Families board

National Agency for Children and Families

(Children’s Commissioner for England)

Regional Office

Local Member Committee

For Children and Families

Management Board for Services

To Children and Families

Local Forum

Director of children and families’

Services

Social Services

Safeguarding Children

Other

Police

Health

Services

In conclusion the organisation structure for the Social Services is critical to the smooth running of the services they offer and to the safe guarding of their service users. If legislations and policies are not followed then the structure can fail not only the organisation but the service users. The Hierarchy system is still in place with the Social Services to date and with the changes that have been implicated to not only the structure but the organisation as whole should ensure smooth running in the future with correct decisions being made by those who need to make them.

Contribute to discharge of residents from residential care

Assessment task 1

The Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an agreement established between Maori and British government in 1840. The main function of this agreement is to provide the legislation system protection for Maori people live within New Zealand from four critical issues, which are protection, participation, partnership and permission. However, it does not have the limitation that only works for Maori people, in additionally for all regions of people that living in New Zealand, which specific requires social services.

Partnership

Social service organizations must ensure that the needs of Maori are taken into account when interacting with Maori or when creating policy that could affect Maori. One key way to do this is through consultation or even better having Maori representatives on the steering committee or their Board. Maori leadership and management should be consulted when organizational policies are being decided on in order to ensure that they allow Maori to have rangatiratanga over their taonga. Te Tiriti o Waitangi applies in social services by ensuring that all social services have a bi-cultural perspective and recognise Te Tiriti.

Protection

Social service organizations must respect the right of Maori to enjoy their taonga in social service settings. To be able to make important decisions that are in their best interests. For example Maori have the protected right to make choices (Self Manage) that best serve their culture, their people that line with tika and kawa, their traditions and customary practices.

Participation/permission

There must be service accessibility for Maori. Te Tiriti applies in social services that Maori models of well-being (Te Whare Tapa Wha or other Maori health models) are utilized rather than workers using western models when working with Maori. Maori must be free to speak Te Reo Maori and to participate in any Maori spiritual or cultural practices if they wish to do so. Having brochures in te reo for Maori clients.

All social services as well as society must respect their privacy and ask for permission before implements any action that relates to Maori people.

Assessment task 2

Discharge Planning

What people in the community would you need to liaise with throughout the discharge planning process for Miri and why?

The people in the community i need to liaise with throughout the discharge planning process for Miri are CYFS, police, and whanau hui. For CYFS, it is because of Miri is just 13 years old girl, the CYFS has responsibility of Miri. For police, it is a case of domestic violence by her mother’s partner, the police has responsibility to check protection orders and as much as possible to help Miri. For whanau hui, the family meeting or whanau hui can identify Miri’s key whanau members who involve in and they also can providing appropriate support to take care of their own and Miri. And also has school, local iwi, WINZ to involve in this case to assist the discharge planning process.

Why is it important to include other people(community, family/whanau) in the discharge planning for Miri?

The first thing for all of the other people include in the discharge planning for Miri is let them out in the community, and then relevant support from both side physically and spiritually to identified this plan, the second thing is gathered all of the relevant information to discharge, make sure all of the process can be understand and informing other agencies of plans as they may close the case, then consider about the finance, time and other resources. It is important to include other people in the discharge planning, more and more helpful people can identify the plan and help Miri go back to normal life. It is important to remember that social workers do not co-ordinate the planning of the family meeting or whA?nau hui in isolation. The co-ordination must be carried out in conjunction with key members of the family or whA?nau.

What are two things you could do to make sure the safety and well-being of Miri are your first consideration?

The first thing is Miri’s mother’s support, if her mother still has drug and alcohol problems that means Miri can not return home safely, and also need develop a safety plan for Miri if she need help. The second thing is key whanau leaders involve through the entire process so they can take responsibility of Miri’s well-being, whanau are also aware of the support structures put in place.

Management of discharge

What is the purpose of a discharge plan?

– To outline conditions or criteria for discharge

– To know where the resident will reside after discharge

– Appropriate safety and protective factors are put in place

– Provide information on all options available to the resident once discharged

What resources and other provisions would you expect to see in the discharge plan for Miri?

I expect to see Child, Youth & Family, school and whanau in the discharge plan for Miri.

How would you manage these resources and provisions?

For Child, Youth & Family i would regarding status of benefits, and for school i would regarding plan for Miri go to school like take school bus. For whanau, i would like to put all social services in place for Miri and whanau, visit whanau and Miri every once in a while.

Assessment task 3

Context/setting

Child, Youth,& Family residential home

Individual/group

Age group

Summary of reason for discharge

PG

13

She has completed three months supervised care in CYF home as required by Youth court judge because of her anger issue and hurting herself

(task 3) placement diary-(student to complete)

Student name

YUTING SHEN

workplace

T.H.

Written summary

What objectives in the residential care plan have been achieved?

For PG, she has been found the way of how to control her anger issue and known how bad it is to be angry, and she also found the reason why she is always be anger and she knows that anger would effect her judge and made mistakes.

What objectives in the residential care plan have been partially or not achieved?

Sometimes PG still lost control when things trigger her to be angry and because of this she has a little afraid of be in a group.

Name the people in the community who are significant in this discharge planning process. Why are their roles significant?

PG’s family member can assist social worker to figure out the reasons and changes why she could discharge and the community caregivers also can report about PG’s situations and daily behaviors, and psychologist also can prove PG’s psychologist changes, and other higher level of social workers who knows PG’s situations could provide useful information like how often she hurting herself when she feels angry.hild, Youth, & Family case worker – prior to her youth court appearance; CYF was already involved with KT’s family. Doctor could provide her medical record. And there also has PG’s friends, school teacher, and neighbors are sighificant in this discharge planning process. Education providers while she is in care – they will have useful information on her school conduct and educational/academic progress

What family or whanau aspects have been considered?

For family or whanau part, PG’s parents, brother or sister who older than her, and other family or whanau who are close and helpful to her have been considered to involve in this planning process.Ability for PG to return to her family home.Key whA?nau leaders to arrange visit for PG and her whA?nau to have whakapapa re-connections and provide cultural support.Key whA?nau leaders need to put in place on-going whA?nau support with tiakitanga (nurturing) and manaakitanga (hospitality) of PG and her whA?nau. On-going whA?nau hui for support and involvement for the well-being of PG and her whA?nau.

What caregiver are available to the resident after discharge?

Psychologist is necessary because she has a little afraid of be in a group, and Physical or Mental Health needs. Youth Justice requirements. Safety from self endangerment. Those are the cares she needs

What accommodation options in the community are available to the resident?

For PG, she needs monitor and she is not enough to live independently so she needs lives with other people who is older than her, to prevent PG hurting other residents and herself during the community.

What financial, educational and vocational needs does the resident have?

PG is just 13 years old, so she needs goes to school or study at home, and learning like other kids as same age,or she can has an alternative education program, and she also has financial support from her parents to charges for medical and daily life like food.

What are the relevant legislative requirements?

Any orders made by the Youth Court judge e.g. an electronic curfew or completion of community work.

At 13 years old, PG is not legally old enough to decide about her own care, so CYF involvement is required.

How did you made sure that everything you did was always focused foremost on the current and future safety of the person being discharged from residential care?

Meeting and communication

Date

Notes/ key points of your observations and/or inputs throughout the discharge planning process

12/09/2014

Discussed with the social worker how a shared care arrangement can work, bearing in mind PG’s parent is a shift worker.

Held whA?nau hui with key whA?nau leaders. Facilitated whA?nau hui to identify whA?nau needs and help them to implement their own resources to cater for the shared care of PG.

Other notes (reflect on the discharge planning process)

Frequency of updates sent to the CYF case worker. Requirements to check youth court rulings in file, and ensure the relevant ones are completed prior to discharge.

Assessment task 4

(task 4) placement diary- (student to complete)

Contribution to managing the discharge of a resident from residential care

Date

18/09/2014

Workplace

T.H.

Questions (answer)

For this placement, what is the liaison process for dealing with significant people in the community?

All communications are made by the lead social worker.

All communications to ensure whA?nau inclusiveness. Informed consent was gained from the whA?nau to discuss issues with appropriate agencies.

How did you ensure confidentiality was respected?

Communication was done in collaboration with the lead social worker, PG, and whA?nau. All case notes securely filed & locked away. Files not left open on desks etc.

For this placement, what resources, other provisions, and arrangements are required?

Confirmation of enrollment in an alternative education program if PG can not goes to school. Ensure on-going whA?nau hui is held and facilitated by key whA?nau leaders to provide whA?nau support where required. Shared care plan to be agreed. WINZ benefits- e.g child support payments by PG’s parents.

What are the important consideration in managing these resources or arrangements?

That PG understands the requirement to attend alternative education. WhA?nau hui is an important consideration because it provides whA?nau support for PG and her whA?nau, under the guidance of key whA?nau leadership.

Date

Communication with people in the community (record observations, actions etc)

21/09/2014

Contacted the alternative education provider regarding hours, policies, student rules and other requirements.

Confirmed electronic tagging appointment with police youth liaison officer.

Contacted key whA?nau leaders and arranged on-going weekly whA?nau hui to support PG and whA?nau needs.

Sourced information about Youth Interest Groups

Following service provider standards:

Discharge checklist completed.

Management of discharge in line with standards

Notes/key points of how the discharge was managed in accordance with the workplace’s standards/requirements

Follow the services provider standards and the must has discharge checklist follow the list step by step to do the discharge planning process.

Other notes (reflect on the discharge management process)

Difficulty in checking appointment times for electronic tagging.

Time spent in checking individual aspects (such as alternative education) before discharge checklist could be signed off.

Difficulty at times making contact with whA?nau to arrange whA?nau hui.

Assessment task 5

During the process from discharge planning process, i have fully followed the Treaty of Waitangi and policies and procedures from the service such as the privacy act, the human rights, the confidentiality protocols as well as the Treaty of Waitangi. We have made the consideration of the client’s status and maintain the privacy and personal safety. I have fully analysis the client’s personal status such as health history, personal behavior, habits.

The case of PG, read more of the notes from his social worker regarding how social service theory applied in this case. Social work knowledge, skills, and values. Human development through the life span – taking into account the impact on the emotional development of PG. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Services – applying an understanding of the social service provision available. Organization and management in the social services – understanding my role in the discharge process, and the decision making structure of the organization. For example‘Quality through whose eyes, What quality social work looks like to young people in care’s by Jonelle Crawford. Providing the opportunity for PG to say what she thinks, what she needs, and what is working for her.

YUTING SHEN ID: 13010123 01-10-2014

Social services play a vital role in the prevention of cruelty to children, and their actions have been controversial in the past and will continue to be in the future. They have an immense amount of power in their hands and are able to tear apart a loving family as well as save an endangered child’s life.

The aim of this study is to analyse the extent to which social services should exercise their power in order to fulfill the duties they owe to society. In order to explore this subject, it will be necessary to critically analyse the pre existing legislation that has governed this area, and study how the law has evolved over the last century.

It is an area of law that has and will continue to develop. There are also major problems within the social services organisation itself, such as underfunding and significant staff shortages, and it will be necessary to analyse and critique its current effectiveness through the use of a number of reports.

Whilst the lack of resources is undoubtedly affecting the effectiveness of the social worker, recent reports in the media have suggested that there is a vast amount of bullying and degrading treatment within the organization itself. A case highlighted is that of

Substantial changes have been necessary in the law surrounding child abuse over the past century as high profile and prolific cases of neglect have been brought to the attention of the public by use of the media.

This is a necessary area of study due to the fact that cases are continuing to come to light. The recent case of Khyra Ishaq

Chapter One: Background to the Children Act 1989:

A common theme that seems to occur throughout history is that it takes a major event to shock the nation in order for dramatic change to occur within the law, rather than the law changing in order to prevent such occurrences in the first place.

During the 1980’s, professionals were becoming increasingly aware of the existence of child abuse in society as a result of cases such as those of Jasmine Beckford and Tyra Henley. Jasmine Beckford had previously been placed in the care of Brent Social Services for a period of two years prior to her death. However, she had only been seen by a social worker once during a period of ten months, and was left in the hands of her stepfather who battered and starved her, consequently resulting in her death at the age of four years old.

Supervision orders for children at risk were first introduced in The Children and Young Persons Act 1932. Previously, there was precious little legislation available to protect children in need. This was a substantial addition to the law and granted protection to children who were experiencing abuse

The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 was the first attempt in statute in order to curtail the effects of child abuse and make it clear the obligations and duties of a carer. Part 1 of the Act details the role of the parent – that a child is deemed to be neglected in a matter likely to cause injury to his health if he has failed to provide food, clothing, medical aid or lodging for him, or if, having been unable to otherwise provide has failed to take steps to procure it to be provided under the enactments applicable in that relief. In addition to this, the statute also states that it is the responsibility of the court to ensure the welfare of an abused child by “taking proper steps for removing him from undesirable surroundings, and for securing that proper provision is made for his education and training”.

According to Lord Diplock, under the 1933 Act, the parent must neglect the child “intending, or at least foreseeing, that the probable consequence of neglect is that the child will suffer injury to his health”. This statement causes confusion in cases that involve neglect, however. It is clear that the 1933 Act places great importance over how the offence was committed and whether it was wilful and deliberate.

One of the failings of the act is that it gives full discretion to the courts in protecting abused children and gives them no direction whatsoever in making such a life impacting judgement. More investigation into the circumstances and needs of those at risk was needed in order to find a suitable home for such children, and the courts did not have the knowledge or abilities to re-house them.

The case of Dennis O’Neill highlighted the failings of the 1933 Act and brought further radical change to the law surrounding child abuse. Dennis, together with his younger brothers were taken into the care of their local authority on the grounds that they needed attention. He died after being taken into foster care and was found by a pathologist to be undernourished and physically abused. Dennis O’Neill was subjected to horrific attacks at the hands of his foster parents and these attacks took place on a regular basis.

This case shocked the public and political figures, who were particularly alarmed to find out that the foster father, Mr Gough, had been known to the police and had a conviction for violence. It was therefore deemed necessary for a public enquiry to be held in order to determine the exact failings made by the authorities involved, and it blamed the two local councils that dealt with the case.

It was evident that the provisions of the 1933 Act were vastly inadequate in their role of protection and that major change to this area was needed. With this in mind, the Children Act 1948 established a Children’s Committee in each local authority to carry out the functions detailed in The Children and Young Persons Act 1933. A Children’s officer also had to be appointed who had relevant experience and be assisted by an adequate number of staff. In effect, this Act established social services as it divulged responsibility away from the courts and placed it with the local authority.

The Children’s Committee was supposedly staffed by those who had experience with children and would be able to cater to their needs and find them new homes where they would be loved and cared for effectively. However, events over the past 40 years have shown that the there is a great level of difficulty in providing effective protection for children at risk.

Following Jasmine Beckford were further shocking cases of child abuse that displayed obvious neglect by social services, and this led to a difficult period for workers in this profession, who were unsure as to which approach to take upon dealing with children at risk. A balance was clearly needed, and enough information had to be acquired quickly in order to determine whether to remove a child from their home, which could have devastating consequences upon family life if the risks of abuse were unsubstantiated.

the threat of child abuse appeared to be on the increasing. The John Patten Guidelines were released in order to provide professionals with advice during a period of unrest with regards to child neglect.

The Cleveland scandal of 1987 shocked the nation to the core, and led to further changes and major additions to the law in the form of the Children Act 1989. This case differed in that it was an example of the state causing the abuse to the infants rather than their parents or guardians. A total of 121 children were diagnosed as being sexually abused by Dr Marietta Higgs and her assistant Dr Geoffrey Wyatt. Together, they used a controversial and unproven test known as RAD – reflex anal dilation. Children had to undergo an invading and degrading test on their buttocks, and the memories of which have scarred some for life. A girl who was taken into care after being diagnosed with RAD continued to have nightmares about her ordeal twenty years after the event, and claims that the two doctors ruined her childhood.

The children diagnosed under Dr Higgs regime were removed from loving families and placed into care, whilst in some cases the parents were sent to prison. This had devastating results, and destroyed happy families. Even once the parents had been cleared by the courts of any wrong doing, many felt reluctant to show their children affection once they had been returned.

The Children Act 1989 originates from two reports. In 1984, the Parliamentary Select Committee on the social services recommended that the government should enable a review of child law to take place. This led to the formation of a government committee known as the Child Care Law Review who produced a report titled ‘Review of Child Care Law’. During the same period of time, the Department for Health and Social Security carried out a review of the law relating to child care and made a number of recommendations relating to child care, foster homes and child minding. Most of these recommendations were accepted in to a government white paper regarding child care and these proposals were brought before Parliament as part of the Children Bill.

Second Chapter – Provisions of the Children Act 1989 and the legislation in practice

The Children Act 1989 brought major change to the law regarding child abuse, and introduced a number of new principles to the legal system. Its main priority was protecting the welfare of the child, which was granted paramount importance in any dispute over care or parentage of an infant.

The 1989 Act stated that it was the responsibility of the local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of any child that was in need within the area, and must provide a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s need. Therefore, social services must be sufficiently staffed and have a reasonable amount of funding in order to fulfil its role. Whilst considering a child’s welfare, their feelings and wishes must be taken into consideration together with any effect removal will have upon the family including the parents. The Act gave further guidance to local authorities once they had taken the child into care, and their duties and responsibilities in ensuring the welfare of the child is maintained. The local authority has a responsibility to house any child taken into care in a healthy environment, and ensure that the wishes of the child are taken into account when making such decisions. It was therefore not always best to remove the child from their home if support could be provided in the form of monetary relief in order to sustain the child’s welfare.

In order to keep a child with its family, it was made clear that those in need of protection together with their families should be offered support under part three of the Children Act. Only when voluntary methods of helping are unable to protect those at risk should the powers under parts four and five be used. According to June Thoburn and Ann Lewis in ‘Partnership with parents of children in need of protection’, these powers should only be used when actual or suspected significant harm or likely significant harm is at risk.

A positive element of the 1989 Act is the establishment of the Family Assistance Order, which granted support to families experiencing a difficult change such as divorce and separations in order for the child in question to remain with its family. However, this order is only to be used in ‘exceptional’ circumstances and consent must be obtained from each person involved with the order. An order of this kind would provide an example of the state providing a positive intervention into family life. Unfortunately, as it can only be used in exceptional circumstances, a Family Assistance Order is granted rarely despite the benefits it could potentially afford a family in need.

In addition to the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, the 1989 Act gave further definition as to what a ‘child in need’ is. It states that a child should be taken into care if “he is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or have the opportunity to achieving or maintaining, a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of him of services by a local authority”. Furthermore, a child whose health could be impaired without the intervention of social services should be taken into care. This also extends to disabled children.

If social services believe that a child is in danger of ‘significant harm’, they are entitled under a new provision of the 1989 Act to seek a child assessment order( CAO). The courts must be satisfied that the applicant has reasonable cause to suspect the child is at risk, that the assessment will be able to determine to what extent that risk applies, and that the applicant will not be able to carry out such assessment without an order being made

If the risk of harm is deemed to be ‘an immediate danger to the child’, an emergency protection order (EPO) can be applied for. Unlike the CAO which is a non-urgent remedy, the EPO is an order which enables a child to be restrained in or removed to a place in order to protect their welfare.

The court is only likely to make such an order if they are satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that the child is likely to sustain significant harm if not removed to accommodation by the local authority or does not remain in the place they are currently being accommodated in. Whereas a CAO order needs the belief of the applicant, an EPO requires the court to be satisfied that the child is in danger, and they will therefore sufficient evidence will need to be provided to convince the courts of this and that urgent action is needed. Whilst the above orders may seem to contradict the principle that a child is best cared for at home, the orders must be carried out with this element in mind. Therefore, a child should not be removed from parental care longer then is strictly necessary and can be returned home even if the EPO is still in force.

As well as the above orders, the court can also make care and supervision orders in order to ensure protection of a child in need. These may only be made if the court is satisfied that the child concerned is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm and that the harm or likelihood of harm is attributable to the care given to the child, or likely to be given to him if the order were not made. However, as the courts are under a duty to promote the upbringing of a child with its family, local authorities are under duty to fully explore alternative methods before applying for an order to be made under this Act. Furthermore, the welfare checklist must also be adhered to for an order to be made. Whilst the wishes and feelings of a child may have some influence, they will not override any of the other provisions of the welfare checklist, and the courts will need to assess whether the child is of the maturity to make any judgment at all.

The 1989 Act makes apparent the courts intention that a child is best cared for at home with their families. However, whether this is the most suitable option is certainly a major issue in society, and is very much dependent upon the circumstances surrounding each individual case. It is arguable that the Act should not place emphasis on this belief as professionals who follow this rule and take the child’s wishes into account could come to a conclusion that is not in the best interests of the child. It places social workers in the mindset that taking a child into care is not in the best interests of the child, and this could perhaps provide an explanation as to why further horrific cases have occurred following the Cleveland scandal.

Residential family centres were also created by the 1989 Act which allowed social workers to assess the relationship between the family outside of the marital home. The parents stay at the centre for a period of time with the children and are assessed by social services as to how capable they are in their role. Parents are also given the help and guidance they need in order to look after them.

The Children Act 1989 acknowledges that the relationship between the local authorities is of great importance when dealing with a child in need, and they must act in partnership. The Act places a duty on the relevant children agencies to provide information and assistance to the local authorities and also places them under duty to assist with the care plan formulated in respect of children. Following the Cleveland inquiry, it was apparent that the relationship between the relevant authorities was lacking, and the 1989 Act appears to acknowledge and remedy this situation by placing them under duty to act in order to safeguard children.

In order for a child to remain with their family during a difficult period, a service was established under the 1989 Act that was provided to the child in order to meet their needs in all aspects. Parents need to receive help in bringing up their children if they experience difficulties rather than taking them straight into care. This is a useful addition for professionals, as it gives them the opportunity to assess the family in a different environment and also provide help and guidance to a family in need.

There are arguments to suggest that the removal of a child from their home can be mitigated by providing frequent access, and that there must be a presumption that a parent will be able to see their child unless they have acted in such a way that makes contact heavily detrimental for them. However, this could potentially cause distress and upset to a child who has experienced abuse, and may also distort their true wishes and feelings. Access was denied to the parents and carers in the Cleveland scandal.

Further developments arrived in favour of keeping the child with its family from the European Courts of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act, In particular, article 8 – the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence. Article 8 offers protection for a person’s family life from arbitrary interference by the state. This right was framed extremely broadly. However, this is a qualified right which means that there can be an interference with a person’s family life providing it is lawful, serves a legitimate purpose, is necessary in a democratic society and is not deemed to be discriminatory.

Whilst Article 8 may appear to be restrictive upon social workers, one could argue that they must be able to justify their actions before intervening in a family environment, and certain aspects of privacy must be upheld. A recent case highlighted this aspect, as social workers placed a CCTV monitoring system in the bedroom of a couple with learning difficulties in order to determine whether they were fit parents. This forced the couple to cite the Human Rights Act in order for the surveillance to be removed.

Chapter Three: Failings of the Act – Victoria Climbie and Baby P,

The Children Act 1989 was not a cure for child abuse, and cases continued to come to light for many years after the implementation of the Act.

Arguments exist to suggest that the aim of the 1989 Act for children to remain in their families is incorrect when dealing with those that are severely abused. There is much emphasis on professionals to work with the family and improve the level of care they offer in parenting. This places social workers under pressure to work “therapeutic miracles” with the family, and failure to do so makes their job harder to carry out. Social workers were expected to work in partnership with families who were often uncooperative and unwilling to allow them access into their family, and the law itself placed the families under no obligation to be honest and work with them. Society did not make them feel empowered to act on their powers and make calls for action.

Furthermore, it was far more difficult for social workers to obtain a care order then it was prior to the 1989 Act being implemented. Social workers needed a higher level of evidence in order to satisfy a court that a care order was appropriate, and they had to return to the courts for scrutiny in order to make any decision. As a result of this, social workers were more likely to carry out a lengthy assessment of a child at risk rather than immediately remove them from their home. It took a great deal of time to carry out the necessary assessments and apply to the courts, the child at risk was often in a more abused state by the time they had reached care and this was obviously not in the child’s best interests. To some extent, this goes against the welfare principles as stated in the 1989 Act, and is somewhat contradictory. There is also a great amount of expense involved when applying to the court, and as a result of this, social workers were under pressure to carry out their assessments extensively and leaving the child in a potentially harmful environment for a longer period of time.

The Children Act 1989 to some extent gave social workers an excuse when failing to act in a case of child abuse. It could be argued that this was the case with Rikki Neave, whose drug addicted mother had repeatedly called social services for help, and had even asked them to take her son away into care. She had abused her son by burning him, throwing him across the room, and had even told a social worker that she would kill her children if they were not taken from her. Social services failed to remove the child from his mothers care and he was found dead. Theoretically, social services could argue in their defense that they complied with the 1989 Act with regards to keeping the child with its family, and that they needed to compile an assessment in order to be granted a care order by the courts.

In 1991, there were a total of 60,000 children in care. This figure had fallen dramatically to 40,000 by 1995. This decline in figures shows the effects that the Children Act 1989 had on the number of children in care, and could perhaps be viewed as a positive result of the Act’s implementation. However, it could also be argued that the number of children being abused had not reduced so significantly, and therefore there were simply more children living at risk.

The provisions of the Children Act 1989 were not enough to prevent the failure of professionals to safeguard Victoria Climbie, and this case of horrifying abuse was brought to public knowledge after her death in 2000. It is clear from this case that despite the legislation in place to deal with child abuse, it was the authorities themselves who acted negligently and failed to act on their duties as detailed in the 1989 Act.

Haringey social services were made aware of Climbie after her first admittance to hospital. The doctors warned social services of her injuries as a precautionary measure, but the social workers assigned to the case failed to take adequate measures to investigate how the injuries had occurred. An inexperienced social worker had been assigned to Climbie, and despite her making two visits to the family home, she failed to realise that her carer’s were putting on an act and the child was in grave danger.

Social services were yet again alerted to Climbie after her aunt reported her partner for sexually abusing the infant. However, she later dropped the allegations. Social workers had a meeting and decided to make further contact with the family, but failed to take the adequate steps needed in order to do so. After making three visits, a social worker reported that the family had most likely returned to France, and the case was closed on the same day that Climbie died.

There were a number of organizations that were involved with Victoria Climbie prior to her death. Climbie was known to local authorities, including Haringey, Ealing, Brent and Enfield. She was also known to three housing departments and two hospitals, two Metropolitan police child protection teams and a centre run by the NSPCC. It could only be concluded that there was a complete lack of communication between the agencies, despite the Children Act 1989 placing emphasis on the importance of agencies working together and sharing information

In total, social services missed twelve chances to save Victoria Climbie. The Victoria Climbie Inquiry found that there was a total absence of good professional practice. The interventions that should have occurred would not have required any exceptional skill and neither would it have placed heavy demands upon the staff involved. It is therefore evident that the failures of the services to act in this case represented serious professional misconduct.

As will be detailed in chapter four, further legislation arose from the Victoria Climbie inquiry, with Lord Laming’s report making a total of 108 recommendations for fundamental change to the way social care, healthcare and police child protection services are organised and managed at a national and local scale. The report led to the foundation of the Every Child Matters programme together with the Children Act 2004.

Haringey council found themselves in trouble once again when the baby Peter case occurred in 2007. Baby P sustained over 50 injuries during an eight month period and had been on Haringey council’s child protection register throughout this time. His family had been seen a total of 60 times by agencies including social workers from the council.

Baby P was first removed from his mothers care after he was taken into hospital with severe bruising, and the paediatrician judged that the injuries were not likely to have been accidental. She wrote in his notes that he should not be allowed home, and a police protection order should be sought if necessary. He was discharged and placed informally in the care of a family friend whilst social workers and police investigated the cause of his injuries. This resulted in Baby P’s mother being arrested and the toddler was put on the child protection register.

He returned back to the care of his mother a month later and she promised to cooperate with social workers and ensure she cared for her baby in order for his named to be removed from the register. However, she continued to neglect her son and her partner abused the baby. Baby P was taken into care in April 2007 but was released back to his mother once he had the all clear from the hospital. His mother continued to deceive professionals into allowing her to keep the baby and tried to conceal further injuries by smearing chocolate over his face.

Senior police officials decided that Baby P should not be allowed to live with his family, and sought legal advice to see whether he could be taken into care, but staggeringly, Haringey council’s lawyers decided that there was not enough evidence to meet the relevant thresholds. Here is proof that the emphasis on keeping a child with its family as established under the 1989 Act leads to difficulties in removing a severely abused child from their home when it is necessary.

Chapter Four: Further legislation as a result of these cases

It became evident following the case of Victoria Climbie that further radical change was needed to protect the lives of endangered children and that the Children Act 1989 was not sufficient legal governance in this area.

A public inquiry was established in order to find the exact causes of Climbie’s death, and following this was a report headed by Lord Laming. He reported that none of the government funded agencies can emerge from this report “with much credit”. Lord Laming claimed that the problem with child protection did not lie with the legal framework but its implementation and that there were major discrepancies with the staff that work with children.

Lord Laming made a total of 108 recommendations in his report. The most significant recommendations include the every child matters initiative. This government initiative was introduced in 2003 and its main aims are to ensure that a child has the support needed to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being. It was the responsibility of the multi-agency partnerships to work together in order to meet the detailed framework surrounding each theme of the initiative. Lord Laming also reported that the failures of the police, social workers and hospital staff were partly due a lack of accountability.

Lord Laming suggested that the only way to address this issue would be to create a children’s minister who would be held accountable to the cabinet. Partly in response to the Lord Laming report, Margaret Hodge was appointed as the minister for children in 2003. Her role was to oversee the policies governing children at risk as well as other significant child governance.

The Every Child Matters green paper was published by the government in response to Lord Laming’s inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie. This green paper recommended policy changes backed up by legislation, and the Children Act 2004 was designed to respond to the findings of the Lord Laming inquiry.

The 2004 Act established a children’s commissioner. Under S2 of the Act, the children’s commissioners role includes promoting awareness of the views and interests of children in England. The Children’s commissioner has a wide role, which includes encouraging persons exercising functions or engaged in activities affecting children to take account of their views and interests; advise the secretary of state on the views and interests of children; consider or research the operation of complaints procedures so far as children are concerned; consider and research any other matter relating to the interests of a child and publish a report on any matter from the above list.

The Children’s Commissioner role is to be concerned with the views and interests of children relating to a number of aspects of their well being. These include their physical and mental health and emotional well being; protection from harm or neglect; education, training and recreation; the contribution made by them in society and their social and economic well-being. They may also conduct an inquiry into an individual child if they feel it may raise issues of relevance to other children.

As well as establishing the Children’s Commissioner, the 2004 Act provided a response to Lord Laming’s report which heavily criticised the lack of co-operation between the services that deal with children. The Act places a “duty to cooperate” in order to improve the well being of a child at risk. This was designed to prevent further cases of children “falling through the gaps” such as Victoria Climbie, and ensure that all services such as the police, doctors and social workers are under a specific duty to communicate and work together to promote the well-being of an endangered child.

A key instrument in the enforcement of cooperation between agencies was the creation of electronic records for every child in the country. This record made it easier to trace a child who had moved to a new area and was therefore transferred between local authorities. It could be argued that keeping details of children on electronic record is a breach of article 8 of the Human Rights Act, and critics have made clear their view that these files will destroy the confidentiality of medical and legal records. Doctors, teachers and the police will have to alert the system to a wide range of concerns, and two reports on a child’s record could be sufficient to provoke an investigation.

Whilst the electronic records system may appear to be an effective provision in order to ensure that child mistreatment is monitored, there was a great deal of confusion as to what would be deemed as a “concern”. Dr Eileen Monro of the London School of Economics said that if a child fails to make progress towards state targets, detailed information would be gathered and this would include judgements such as whether the parent is providing a positive role model as well as sensitive information such as their mental state. This could mean that parents are forced to bring up their child in line with what the state deems is best rather than as they themselves see fit.It c

Welfare services are significant elements in a society, which welfare should provide, to what extent the welfare can be provided and how to provide may vary among different society. There are some models help us to understand the factors affecting the welfare system such as the Residual Welfare Model and the East Asian Welfare Model. We will examine whether Hong Kong a typical example of these two models by analyzing the social welfare policies.

Social welfare refers to the well-being or betterment for individuals through direct benefits, services or disposable income (Wong, 2010). According to Ronald B. Dear, Social policies are those principles, procedures, and courses of action established in statute, administrative code, and agency regulation that affect people’s social well-being. Social Welfare Policies are some sort of these social policies. “‘They may be thought of as those policies that affect the distribution of resources’ Richan (1988). In the following analysis, we will 5 main kinds of welfare policies which are housing, education health care, social care and social security to illustrate whether Hong Kong a typical example of both the East Asian Welfare Model and Residual Welfare Model or not.

There are various characteristics of the Residual Welfare Model, the individual characteristics, economic characteristics and the characteristics of government and state.

For the individual characteristics, people are recognized to be self-independent, self-interested and self-responsible.

For the economic characteristics, ‘laissez fair’ economy and the ‘invisible hand’ are upheld since people believes that market can solve the social problems and to maintain the well- being of the society.

The government and state are the major providers of social welfare and control to what extent the welfare can be provided. Under RWM, the government and state should not over burden itself with social welfare/ services and interfere with individual right and interests. Therefore, only the basic welfare should be provided i.e. law and order, defense, transport and communication infra- structure. Welfare seems as residual, temporary and substitutes of the normal structure of supply which means the family and the market economy. Only when the normal structure of supply breaks down, social welfare and services should be provided. In order to avoid the reliance on the welfare system, some of the welfare/ services may come with the stigma of ‘dole’ or ‘charity’ element. The poor is the major group of people to receipt welfare and they always recognized as the incompetent second class members of society. To ensure the welfare can be provided to the people in need, welfare will always have selectivity. The most common method is by means test.

According the Mishra, the main features show that a minimal government or state is preferred. The government just wants to provide welfare for the paupers and poor which is just minority group of the society.

The services provided are just serving the basic need for them and range of statutory services is limited. Combining all these elements, welfare is just a safety net, confined to those who are unable to manage otherwise.

Main features

Residual

1. State responsibility in meeting needs (ideology of state intervention)

Minimal

2. Need-based distribution as a value (ideology of distribution)

Marginal

3. Range of statutory services

Limited

4. Population covered by statutory services

Minority

5. Level of benefits

Low

6. Proportion of national income spent on state service

Low

7. Use of means test

Primary

8. Nature of clients

Paupers/ the poor

9. Status of clients

Low

10.Orientation of the service

Coercive

11. Role of non-statutory agencies in welfare

Primary

Fig.1, The main features of Residual Welfare Model, (Mishra, 1984)

Whether Hong Kong a typical example of Residual Welfare Model?

We used the 5 main kinds of social welfare policies in Hong Kong to illustrate Hong Kong is adopting the RWM or not.

Education

Hong Kong provided different schemes for people to pay for their education fee. One of the education subsidy schemes is Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme. Government will subsidize the parents to meet towards school fees for pre-primary education of their children in the form of Pre-primary Education Vouchers.

In addition, Hong Kong government announced 12 years of free education in Policy Address 2009-2010. It provides 12 years compulsory free education to children.

For the Tertiary students, Tertiary Student Finance Scheme was released. Government provided larger amount of subsidies to tertiary students. The total amount of grant paid by government is $621.93 million in 2009-10.

Fig.2, Publicly-funded Programmes Summary of Statistics

The Continuing Education Fund (CEF) subsidizes adults who willing to pursue continuing education and training courses. Adequate applicants will be refunded 80% of their fees, a maximum sum of HK$10,000. Apparently, government pays effort on the education policies and the population covered is really broad.

Health Care

For the Clinics part, 70 % of primary consultations take place in private sector while others take place in government funded clinics.

Moreover, there are 41 public hospitals in Hong Kong. However, there are only 12 private hospitals. And the Hong Kong’s 12 private hospitals provide a total of 2794 beds. It less than 10% into the number of hospital beds in Hong Kong.

Furthermore, in Healthcare Reform (2009-2010 Policy Address), government decided to increase the healthcare expenditure from 15% of the Government’s recurrent expenditure to 17% by 2012. The strategy of healthcare reform reflects the government’s direction of healthcare in the follow few years will still highly intervene in the healthcare services.

All of these healthcare policies show that government has a quite high level of intervention and these services are open to all the Hong Kong residents without any selectivity. As a result, the health care does not match to the principles of residual welfare model.

Housing

Government also had launched lot of policies about housing. There are about 710 000 public rental housing in the Housing Authority’s portfolio, housing about two million people.

Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) was introduced in 1997 to enable at least 250 000 families living in public rental housing to buy their flats at an affordable price which is lower than the market price.

Besides, Home ownership schemes (HOS) is another ownership scheme. It is designed to assist residents to buy their own flats and HOS flats are subsidized public housing.

It is easily to find that government had interfered a lot in the housing supply. The population covered not just focus on the minority. Therefore, it differs from the principles of residual welfare model.

Social Care

In the field of social care, it provides a wide range of services taking care of the elderly, children, young people, disabilities, the victims of domestic violence, etc. This is quite different from the RWM since the population covered is large. The most common method adopted by the HK Government to provide the welfare services is to form partnership with non-government organizations. The government give a “Lump Sum Grant’ to the NGOs and they provide the services to those in need. The expense on the Social Welfare Organization occupied the third large proportion of the total expense on welfare in Hong Kong.

Fig.3, The expense of the social services organization

Social Security – Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme

The characteristics on providing services on social security seem more close to the RWM. The aim of social security is to provide for the basic and special needs of the members of the community who are in need of financial or material assistance (Social Welfare Department, 2008). It is a short- time help.

CSSA is a safety net for those who cannot support themselves financially and bring their income up to a prescribed level to meet their basic needs (Social Welfare Department, 2008). The old age, single parent and unemployment are the three major groups of people of to apply CSSA (Statistics on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme 1998-2008, 2009).

In order to select the most needed, people apply for CSSA should go through the financial tests. They need to pass the income and assets tests. Office interview and home visit will conduct to investigate and verify the applicants’ circumstances and information provided.

Since this is a short-time help, the government do not want people rely on it, there is some special arrangement for those aged 15-59 in normal health to actively seek full-time jobs and participate in the Support for Self-reliance Scheme of the Department (Social Welfare Department, 2008).

Sub-conclusion

In the 5 main kinds of social policies, only the social security seems to be the typical example of residual welfare model. Social security just provides short-term help and to fulfill the basic needs of the recipients. Moreover, a series and comprehensive investigation and financial test are needed. And the CSSA may cause the Stigmatization. People may have bias on those CSSA recipients. Besides Government pays effort to teach and encourage the recipient to work in other to leave the safety net. In this sense, it conforms to the principle of residual welfare model.

On the other hand, the other four categories of social welfare policies are not much like the residual welfare model. They are more like universal benefits and services having no or less selectivity, because benefits available to everyone. Those policies not only provide basic needs of individual but also to improve the quality of life, cultivate the citizens, and so on. Therefore, the expenditure on welfare keeps increasing. Thus, Hong Kong is not a typical example of residual welfare model.

The East Asian Welfare Model (the EAWM)
Definition

There is another model related to social welfare policy which is the East Asian Welfare Model. It shares the Confucian ethics and value emphasizing on education, strong family relations, benevolent paternalism, social harmony, discipline, respect for tradition and strong work ethic. To determine whether Hong Kong is a typical example of The East Asian Welfare Model, we can see if it matches the elements of the model.

Dominated on economic concerns

In the EAWM, welfare policies are dominated on economic concerns in order to improve the productivity of labour force and provide strong working incentive. As it aims to help increasing the productivity of an economy, it is also called as a “productivist” social policy. Hong Kong does match this element.

There is a concept of “from welfare to work”in Hong Kong. When more people have their own jobs, the numbers of CSSA recipients will decreases and the productivity of an economy will be increased too.

Targeted employment assistance for various CSSA Recipients

In Hong Kong, the government targets employment assistance for various CSSA recipients. For example, the Three trial Enhanced Community Work Projects which includes training elements in 2005 to 2006 were aimed to enhance the employability of participants. Up to October in 2006, there were 145 Intensive Employment Assistance Projects which provided intensive employment assistance services to unemployed CSSA recipients. Hong Kong government also supports for Self-reliance Scheme (SFS) that encourages and assists employable recipients to take up paid employment so as to make them to become self-reliant. This scheme includes Active Employment Assistance programme and Community Work programme. They aimed to help people finding jobs and thus increase the productivity of Hong Kong.

Regulator rather than provider

The Hong government acts as a regulator of welfare policy rather than a provider in EAWM. Hong Kong matches this element since Hong Kong government contracts out the services by giving funds to different organizations and asks them to provide welfare services for it. For example, it provides funds to The Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council to build Family Crisis Support Centres in order to tackle family crisis. It also gives funds to Po Leung Kuk and Childtime International Nursery Limited to build up child care centre so as to provide child care services. It gives funds to St. James’ Settlement and Hong Kong Society for the Aged to provide elderly services such as building up Elderly Community Centres.

Way to maintain social stability and legitimacy

In the EAWM, welfare has been seen and used as a key element to maintain social stability, to get the legitimacy of governments which lacked democratic legitimacy and to ameliorate grievances. Hong Kong matches this element. In Hong Kong, the Chief Executive and government officials are not elected by universal suffrage. With less legitimacy, welfare service becomes one of the tactics to pacify the grievances and to maintain social stability. Welfares can keep social stability as when people’s needs have been satisfied, they are expected not to commit crimes. Hong Kong government does do a lot to give financial assistance to the poor. For example, CSSA Scheme gives financial assistance to those who cannot support themselves. Social Security Allowance (SSA) Scheme provides monthly allowance to Hong Kong residents who are severely disabled or 65 years old or above. It shows that Hong Kong government uses welfare as a tool to maintain social stability, and so as to retain the legitimacy of the government.

Low social welfare expenditure

Hong Kong Government expenditure on social welfare is low compared with the Western countries. The welfare expenditure (% of GDP) of some western countries is above 20%, some are up to 29%. In Hong Kong, the welfare expenditure (% of GDP) is around 8% due to the low tax rate and the reliance on the market and the family to provide welfare.

Hostile to the idea of welfare state

Hong Kong is also hostile to the idea of welfare state. In the welfare states, the tax rate is high such as the corporate tax rate is 25% and the personal tax is up to 58% in Denmark. The high tax can support rate of large welfare expenditure. Welfare states provide comprehensive coverage of welfare including old-age pensions, unemployment benefits health and childcare services. The welfare is also very favourable since is more than the basic needs. In Sweden, the unemployed will receive 80 percent of his or her normal income under the unemployment benefits. However, in Hong Kong, the tax rates are extremely low compared with the OECD standards. The corporation tax rate is 17.5% and personal tax rate is only 16%, around 1/3 of the OECD standard. Hong Kong is one of the places with the lowest tax rates, named as tax haven. The low tax rates encourage competition i.e. the harder you work and more you gain.

In the White Paper – Social Welfare into the 1990s, government stated that it worked hard to improve the dependency culture and remind the citizen’s incentive to work and undermines the productive engine of the economy”. It is to encourage self- independence and responsibility.

Significant role of the family

The family plays a significant role in Hong Kong social welfare. Hong Kong is influenced by the traditional Confucian culture which is family oriented. The role of family is measured not just by its affluence but also by its core values, the kindness, caring for others and mutual support. The family members support and look after each other. The number of elderly living with their son is higher than that in Western countries. The Government policies also promote the family values to lighten the dependency on social welfare system. Under Hong Kong tax system, allowances are given to the taxpayers who taking care of their children, parents and grandparents. It is to encourage family members to look after the youth and the elderly. Besides, the Public housing allocation policy will give special consideration to the family with elderly. The housing policy is family oriented. In the Policy Address 2009-2010, CE suggested to set up a “Happy Family Info Hub” to promote family core values, and to introduce family education as well as support services for the family. (Policy Address 2009-2010)

Piecemeal, pragmatic and ad hoc welfare development

Welfare development in Hong Kong is piecemeal, pragmatic and ad hoc. There is no comprehensive long term development plans on social welfare, for example, the public housing policy in 50s, the aims of the policy is to settle the fire victims of Shek Kei Mei squatter areas. Besides, The Government legitimacy is shattered in the 67 riot. After that, Government started the social security policy including public assistance scheme, old age and disability allowances in the early 70s. The aims of the social security policy are to deal with critical issues and maintain society stability. Social welfare policies are reactive measures to address ad hoc issues without long term planning.

Conclusion

In conclusion, only social security policy in Hong Kong fit the Residual Welfare Model but other policies such as housing, education, health care and social care do not fit the model. On the other hand, the social welfare systems in Hong Kong fit most of the elements of The East Asian Welfare Model. Therefore, we do not agree that Hong Kong is a typical example of both models since it is not a typical example of the Residual Welfare Model but a typical example of the East Asian Welfare Model.

This essay will be an analysis of my social work practice in my recent placement at Murston Primary School in Sittingbourne, Kent. This piece is a reflective piece on my time at this school and the issues I encountered while I was there. In order to accomplish this, this essay will be broken down into several sections.

The first section will serve as an introduction to the placement setting. It will provide a brief overview of the school and the area of Sittingbourne. The next section will move on to look at some of the issues that I encountered during my time at the school. Schools offer an interesting area of study for social workers because as a colleague of mine argued, “every issue comes through those school gates”. This essay will consider some of those issues and how they are resolved in this setting. It will consider some of the theories at play in this environment and examine what works well and what doesn’t work so well when it comes to practicing social work in schools. I will reference specific examples from my own time there to illustrate this. The third section of this essay will then turn to take a wider view of some of the issues at play in terms of having social workers in schools. Although social work placements in schools are fairly commonplace these days, they still do raise some fairly specific issues.

Throughout this essay, the focus has to remain on the service users, in this case the pupils at the school and to a lesser extent their parents and how their needs are being met. It will consider how anti-oppressive practices are at play in this setting and how successful they are. I want this piece to be a reflective piece. Reflection is a key component of learning within the caring professions as it forces you to critically analyse and evaluate what you may have done differently and what you will do differently should you encounter the same or a similar situations again. It would be useful to apply my experiences to a particular model of reflection as it will help me greater understand what I have learnt and help me to be critical about certain aspects of the experience as a whole. The reflective model I have chosen to use for this essay is Borton’s (1970) Developmental Model for Reflective Practice. It is one of a number of models I could have chosen (John’s model of reflection,1994; Kolb’s learning cycle, 1984; Atkins and Murphy’s model of reflection, 1994; Gibbs’ model of reflection, 1988 ) but Borton’s model best suits my purpose.

The model that Borton devised is based on 3 separate elements that work in a sequential, cyclical order. The first stage is the descriptive stage, or the ‘what?’. It makes the practitioner consider what the issue was, what their role in it was, and what the response was to the actions taken? The second stage is the ‘so what?’. This forces the practitioner to consider the theory and knowledge building that is an essential part of reflection. What do the events tell or teach one about the service user, about myself and about the model of care that I am applying. What was I feeling at the time and did these feeling affect my actions? What could I have done differently if presented with the same situation again and how has my understanding changed as a result of what I have been through. The final stage of this model is the ‘now what?’. This stage looks at how the situation can be bettered in the future. This is when broader issues may come into play.

Murston Primary School in Sittingbourne, Kent is a mixed, non-denominational school with approximately 140 students. Because a nursery school was opened last year, it now caters for students aged between 3 and 11. The majority of the students are white British but there are a few students from minority ethnic backgrounds. The population which it serves is fairly stable but temporary housing in the local area means there is some degree of transience and some pupils joining in Years 1 and 2 have had no previous experience of school. A high proportion of pupils at this school have been identified as having learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Their needs relate mostly to learning, speech and language difficulties, behavioural, emotional and social needs, autism and physical disability. A recent Ofsted report rated the school as good. The report stated that the school, “provides a good standard of education within a very safe, caring family atmosphere” (Ofsted, 2008: p. 4).

The school is in the Borough of Swale. While much of this borough is fairly affluent, there are a few pockets of deprivation. Sittingbourne is one of these areas. This is reflected by the well above average take up of free school meals.

This essay will now focus on three issues of the many issues that I encountered in my time at Murston Primary School. These are bullying, the inclusion of children with autism and finally self-harm. I have chosen these three areas to focus on because they are three quite diverse issues. Bullying is one that is widely covered and is a common problem in most schools in the UK. The inclusion of children with autism is a growing area of study as more and more is found out about this disorder. Self-harm among young children is an area that is often ignored because of the stigma that it still holds in our society. However, it is a very real problem and one that I encountered during my time at Murston Primary School.

Bullying is, “an unfortunate reality which occurs across disparate cultures and educational settings at about the same rate” (Carney and Merrell, 2001: p. 364). Hazler (1996) defines bullying as, “repeatedly (not just once or twice) harming others. This can be done by physical attack or hurting others’ feelings through words, actions or social exclusion. Bullying may be done by one person or by a group. It is an unfair match since the bully is either physically, verbally and/or socially stronger than the victim”.

Bullying has been identified as one of the top concerns that parents have about their children’s safety when at school. In response, the government has made tackling the problem of bullying a top priority. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) recently published, Safe to Learn: Embedding Anti-Bullying Work in Schools (2007). This report sets out a framework for schools to use in formulating anti-bullying strategies. A certain amount of leeway is given to schools to formulate their own responses to bullying but there are certain elements that all anti-bullying programmes should contain. The victims of bullying should be able to be heard; they should know how to report bullying and get help; they should be confident in the ability of the school to deal with the problem; they should feel confident that steps are being taken to help them feel safe; they can receive help to rebuild their confidence and they have to know that they can receive support from others. Those involved in bullying have to be aware that there are sanctions and learning programmes that will hold them to account for their behaviour and help them realise the harm they have caused. These pupils have to develop their emotional skills so that they can learn to behave in ways that won’t cause harm to others. They also have to learn how to repair the damage they have caused. The school as a whole has to be clear about the anti-bullying stance. There needs to be a collaborative effort between staff members and pupils to develop the anti-bullying work in the school. All pupils have to be clear that they can prevent bullying. Most importantly perhaps, anti-bullying has to be regarded as a collaborative effort not just within the school but with other schools within the area and with other agencies.

Not as much attention is given to the problem of bullying in primary schools as much of the focus is on the transition that pupils make when they move from the smaller, more personal environment of a primary school to the larger, and much less supportive secondary school environment (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998). Pellegrini and Long (2002) argue that bullying during this transition is, “a deliberate strategy used to attain dominance as youngsters enter a new social group” (p. 260). However, another cause of bullying is the rapid changes that occur in body size. This is especially the case for boys. Pellegrini and Bartini (2001) argue that these changes lead to a reorganisation of social dominance hierarchies. The bigger the boy is, the more dominant he becomes over his smaller peers. This change is usually witnessed in secondary school as puberty doesn’t occur in males until the early years of secondary school. Hazler (1996) argues that bullying is most common between the ages of 9 and 15. There was a child at Murston Primary School who was much physically bigger than many of the other boys in the school who had had a history of fairly violent behaviour towards some of the other boys in the school.

I will refer to this boy as John. John is 11 and is in year six, so he is in his final year at Murston. He is from a minority ethnic background and he only joined the school the year previously. John has been identified as having some learning difficulties as his reading level and language levels are well below what they should be at his age. He is also a recipient of free school meals. John has had difficulties in adjusting to Murston and has been bullying two students in particular. Murston has a well developed anti-bullying plan which is especially important considering the high proportion of vulnerable students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school has a teacher who is in charge of the anti-bullying programme. She is well known to all the other staff and pupils. She is a well liked member of staff by the pupils and she has an open door policy where students are made to feel welcome. This policy may be so successful because as Smith and Shu (2001) argue, younger children are more likely to tell someone when they witness bullying. Other teachers are required to tell her if they suspect anyone of being bullied or bullying. In most cases she is able to successfully mediate between the two parties with parental involvement in all cases. However, in extreme cases she will contact the LEA who will first send a social worker to work with the two parties and then an educational psychologist. I was able to observe one of her sessions with John and also his educational psychologist who had been involved from when the problem had first been identified.

Olweus (1993) argues that sometimes staff at school can model bullying behaviour by belittling and threatening students. This was certainly not the case at Murston. John had not learnt this behaviour from his teachers. John was not a popular member of school. This is supported by Carney and Merrell (2001) who state that, “in early grades bullies tend to enjoy average or somewhat below average popularity among peers” (p. 370). John also bullied alone which is contrary to many of the theories of bullying that suggest that bullies tend to bully in groups (Smith and Shu, 2001). It became clear that John was acting out because he was having feelings of inadequacy due to language levels being so much lower than many of the other children in the class. He felt excluded from many of his peers and bullying was a way of getting rid of his frustration.

It would be useful to briefly apply Borton’s (1970) Developmental Model for Reflective Practice to this experience. This essay has adequately covered the ‘what?’ so far. I felt that the school was handling the problem well and were recognising that some cases require outside help. Because it had taken the educational psychologist many sessions to build up trust with John, I wasn’t able to participate fully as the school felt they were at quite a delicate stage with John. However, just from observing I learnt about the frustrations that cause bullying. Murston Primary School is in quite an advantageous position when it comes to bullying. Being so small, it is easy to identify problems when they arise and it is possible to deal with problems more effectively. I don’t think they can do much more in their anti-bullying programme.

The second issue this essay will look at is the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder in schools. This term covers a range of developmental disorders from autism to Asperger syndrome. This essay will focus on autism because there were several children at Murston Primary School with autism. There are three distinct behaviours that characterise autism. The first is that autistic children have difficulty with social interaction. Secondly, autistic children experience problems with verbal and nonverbal communication. The final characterising characteristic of this disorder is unusual, repetitive and very limited interests. Barnard (2002) states that the rate of autism spectrum disorder reported by teachers is three times higher in primary schools than it is in secondary schools. Autism is classified as a mild learning disorder and because of this, children suffering form it are encouraged to go to mainstream schools such as Murston.

Inclusion is a contentious issue in educational circles. It implies, “Inclusion implies a restructuring of mainstream schooling that every school can accommodate every child irrespective of disability” (Avramidis and Norwich, 2002: p. 131). The idea first came to the public attention with the publication of the Warnock Report in 1978. Croll and Moses (2000) state that, “support for the principle of inclusion of all children in mainstream neighbourhood schools has achieved widespread support, at least at a rhetorical level” (p. 4). It is often seen as the ideal but an ideal that is not fully achievable. The critical element to inclusion is how the teachers respond to it. Avramidis and Norwich (2002) argue that, “teachers’ beliefs and attitudes are critical in ensuring the success of inclusive practices since teachers’ acceptance of the policy of inclusion is likely to affect their commitment to implementing it” (p. 130). The view in the UK was fairly positive. Clough and Lindsay (1991) found that on the whole teachers were fairly happy with inclusion, provided the support was in place for them. However, inclusion is now widely seen as somewhat of a failure. Schools want to seem like they are inclusive, but they have yet to make adequate provisions for pupils with special educational needs. A 2004 Ofsted report entitled, Special educational needs and disability: towards inclusive schools, supports this view.

There are many issue surrounding the inclusion of autistic children in ordinary state schools. Murston is an inclusive school and an inclusive school that unlike many other schools is able to cater to the needs of students with autism. Barnard et al. (2000) state that inclusive schools, “must ensure that appropriate learning or other positive experiences take place. It is not simply about where an individual is educated or receives services or support; it is about the quality of such a service or support. Inclusive education is a process involving the restructuring of the curriculum and classroom organisation” (p. 6). Murston is certainly well equipped to deal with the demands placed upon them by these pupils. The school has realised that to adequately meet the needs of its service users it needs to involve the expertise of other agencies. Input has been sought from a number of specialist professions including educational psychologists, speech, language and occupational therapists. Teaching assistants have received extra training in dealing with children with autism and there are regular workshops for teachers as well. Not only are the teachers well trained, but there are a range of intervention programmes in operation to help not only the students with autism but also without autism. The 2008 Ofsted report made special mention of the provisions that Murston offers these students by stating that, “outstanding care, guidance and support mean pupils are exceptionally well looked after. Staff cater for everyone’s needs very well, including those children who are particularly vulnerable” (p. 5). Barnard et al (2000) argue that parents are happiest when schools recognise the individual needs of their child. From my time at Murston, I would say that this is a priority for the school.

As with the issue of bullying, Murston is in a fairly advantageous position due to it’s size. It is able to offer such fantastic support because it has a relatively small number of students. Although it does have a higher proportion of students with autism than many other schools in the area, most of the teachers I spoke to seemed very positive about the work they were able to do.

It is possible to apply Borton’s (1970) Developmental Model for Reflective Practice to my experience of inclusion. I got to assist in a few classes and on a number of instances helped out the children with autism. I didn’t feel sufficiently trained to deal with some of their more specific problems. However, my experience did teach me the importance of treating each child as an individual. I feel that Murston has a good system in place, aided by the fact that it is a very small school. It would be useful for them to be able to share some of their knowledge with other schools in the local area. This essay will now consider the final issue that I encountered in my time at Murston Primary School.

Deliberate self-harm is when someone injures or harms themselves on purpose. This can take many forms. It can range from taking an overdose to cutting or burning oneself. Gunnell et al (2000) claim that it is a problem that is growing and affecting more young people than ever before. Because of the social stigma attached to it, it is often a problem that goes unreported and as such there are no hard statistics about it. However, a 2004 report published by the Office for National Statistics estimates that about 1 in 12 children and young people deliberately self-harm. This leads to well over 24,000 hospitalisations every year.

There are numerous reasons why children and young people self-harm. If the individual is feeling worried, trapped and helpless by a problem they may be having, self-harm is a way of regaining control of the situation. Self-harm is also a way of relieving tension. Children sometimes lack the necessary language skills to truly express their emotions. This leads to them bottling up their feelings. The only way of releasing these is through self-harm. Thirdly, self-harm can be a form of punishment if the child or young person is feeling guilty about something they may have done or witnessed. Finally, self-harm may be a way of helping the child to feel connected after the emotional numbness that often follows a traumatic event.

Self-harm is often seen as something that girls do. Young et al (2007) do not go along with this assumption. They argue that while women are more likely to take this behaviour forward into later life, levels are similar between young girls and boys. Boys tend to favour the more violent methods whereas girls are less violent. One might expect that this activity is higher among people from lower socio-economic backgrounds as well but West and Sweeting (2004) dispute this. They argue that in actual fact this is not the case. Levels of health are the same across all groups of children and yond people in today’s society.

While I was at Murston Primary School, there was evidence that a girl in year 6 had been deliberately self-harming. I felt that the situation was dealt with very well by the staff at the school. The problem was identified quickly and guidelines based on a Royal College of Psychiatrists fact sheet were followed. The student was made to feel comfortable and it soon transpired that her mother had been quite seriously ill for some time. Her case was referred on to social services and her GP but again, the value of treating this girl as an individual meant that she was able to open up to staff in the first place. Self-harming behaviour is an indication that something is going seriously wrong in the life of that young person. There are no quick fixes to this problem. I feel that the school has a more than adequate care structure to deal with this problem.

Overall I felt my experience at Murston Primary School was very positive. I got to witness firsthand a wide variety of issues that affect the students on a day to day basis. I only chose the three examples above as I felt they gave an indication of the wide variety of issues that exist in a school setting. Having social workers in school is still a relatively new concept in many parts of the country. I felt that maybe this school was not set-up to have a full time social worker on the staff but I don’t think it needed one as it was a very small school. However, I do realise the value of schools working with social services, especially in areas such as Sittingbourne that do have fairly high levels of deprivation. There are a number of issues that arise from this and schools, working in collaboration with social services and other local agencies are best equipped to tackle these problems of social exclusion.

Most of the staff in the school were happy to allow me to shadow them but I felt a certain amount of hostility from some staff because it felt like I was looking over their shoulder and questioning their methods. This was not the case, for the most part I was simply observing. I did not feel it prudent to get involved in most cases because I had no knowledge of the background and in many cases the pupils already had a number of people from the caring professions already working for them. I was able to offer my help and expertise when it was required but for the most part I was happy to observe the interactions within this complex and challenging environment.

Bibliography and References

Avramidis, E. and Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: a review of the literature, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(2), pp. 129-147.

Barnard, J. (2000). Inclusion and Autism: Is it Working?, London: NAS.

Barnard, J. (2002). Autism in Schools: Crisis or Challenge?, London: NAS.

Carney, A.G. and Merrell, K.W. (2001). Bullying in Schools, School Psychology International, 22(3), pp. 364-382.

Clough, P. and Lindsay, G. (1991). Integration and the Support Service, Slough: NFER.

Croll, P. & Moses, D. (2000). Ideologies and utopias: education professionals’ views of inclusion. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 15(1), 1-12.

DCFS (2007). Safe to Learn: Embedding Anti-Bullying Work in Schools, HM Stationery Office.

Eccles, J. S., Wigfield, A., & Schiefele, U. (1998). Motivation to succeed. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.),

Handbook of child psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 1017–1096), New York: Wiley.

Gunnell, D., Shepherd, M. and Evans, M.(2000). Are recent increases in deliberate self-harm associated with changes in socio-economic conditions? An ecological analysis of patterns of deliberate self-harm in Bristol1972-3 and 1995-6, Psychological Medicine, 30, pp. 1197-1203

Hazler, R.J. (1996). Breaking the Cycle of Violence: Interventions for Bullying and Victimization, Washington, DC: Accelerated Development.

Ofsted (2008). Murston Infant School: Inspection Report, HMSO.

Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school, Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.

Pellegrini, A. D., & Bartini, M. (2001). Dominance in early adolescent boys: Affiliative and aggressive dimensions and possible functions, Merrill–Palmer Quarterly, 47, pp. 142–63.

Pellegrini, A.D. and Long, J.D. (2002). A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the transition from primary school through secondary school, British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20, pp. 259-280.

Smith, P.K. and Shu, S. (2001). What Good Schools Can Do About Bullying: Findings from a Survey in English Schools After a Decade of Research and Action, Childhood, 7(2), pp. 193-212.

Warnock Report. DES (1978). Special Educational Needs: Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People. London: HMSO.

West, P. and Sweeting, H. (2004). Evidence on equalisation in youth from the West of Scotland. Social Science and Medicine, 59, pp. 13-27.

Young, R. Van Beinum, M., Sweeting, H. and West, P. (2007). Young people who self-harm, British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, pp. 44 -49.

Kate Satchell
Reflection on personal experience in practice, relating to the legislation and standards applicable in my workplace and how legislation impacts on the communication process.

During this report I will draw on the information which I spoke about during my presentation. I will reflect on my personal experiences in practice, relating to legislation and standards that are applicable to my setting and research how legislation impacts on the communication process. I will draw upon my organisations practices, policies and procedures which facilitate effective communication and will identify any barriers which exist. The organisation that I work for are called First City Nursing Services and I will refer to them throughout my report, I have received confirmation that this is ok to do so.

Communication is a great deal more than just speaking verbally to another person, it’s all about getting your message and point across via obtaining information, giving information, sharing ideas, opinions and views and it is important to have good communication between service users and the service providers which assists in building a good rapport. There are four types of communication which include verbal, non-verbal, written and assisted communication for example, through use of computers etc. (buzzle.com, 2010)

As a domiciliary care worker I care for numerous service users with a variety of different care needs. Occasionally issues will arise if the member of staff who entered the individual’s house before myself has failed to fill in the Progress Notes/Medication/Nutrition Charts with all relevant information. This can cause inconsistencies especially where medication is involved as it may become unclear whether or not medication has been given. This may result in medication being missed, as the unrecorded dose cannot be given again in case of an overdose. First City have a very strict policy on recording and reporting and any staff member found not recording relevant information will be called in for a meeting and may face disciplinary action. (First City Handbook, 2015)

Health and social care is strongly influenced by different cultures, beliefs and values but it is also influenced by the guidance which is provided by legislations, charters, and codes of practice. Organisations like First City Nursing follow the guidance within these documents as it ensures that they are within the law in their practice.

A way in which legislations, charters and codes of practice influence the communication process is demonstrated by the fact that they allow the provision of equality. The current laws which guide the practice of health and social care are based on the principle of equality which does not allow discrimination of any individual, this includes staff, service users and anyone else involved in the service. (Equality Act, 2010)

For example, legislations such as those which provide fair employment, sex discrimination acts, racial discrimination etc. are some of the laws which have an influence in practice. These laws create a framework of the behaviour of the healthcare professional and form the basis of how they act and how they communicate. For example: the correct way of behaving to stay within the law is implemented into the policies and procedures and job description. The consequences of going against legislations will be a critical factor in the observance of a good communication practice (Cambridge Training & Development, 2000).

The Data Protection Act 1984 provides a good example of legislations in communication. This act provides protection to information which is confidential and should only be used when nescarry and for reasons known by the indivudals involved. Service users could lose trust from the service providers if confidential information is given out, making it important for laws to provide protection for this. Certain legislations are also made available to provide equality and anti-discrimination in the workplace. These factors are highly influential in shaping the communication practice and activities of people in health and social care (Moonie, 2005).

The code of practice is also highly influential in communication practices especially in consideration of the fact that they can affect confidentiality and privacy of information. For instance, the use and access to the internet for health and social workers are often limited and defined by codes of conduct, depending upon the institution, to be assured of good communication practices and work ethics. An example of this may be service providers using Facebook or other social networking sites and breaching confidentiality of a service user or of the service itself. First City Nursing have a very strict policy relating to this and suggest that no photos are taken when in uniform, no information regarding work or work locations is shared and any staff member in breach of this could face disciplinary action

The Data Protection Act provides restrictions and limitations on the use and access of personal information, especially those of the clients or the patients. Some of this information includes personal information, medical records, treatment history, and credit information. Record keeping is very important and should be adhered to and followed strictly. (Essays, UK. 2013)

Legislation, regulations and codes of practice as looked at within this report as well as in my presentation provides a number of benefits for the health and social care sector. It sets guidelines and standards which assist with meeting the individual needs, ease of administration of procedures, making efficient administrative practices, accurate documentation, and fostering a more dynamic communication practice. (Essays, u.k 2013)

Communication aids also provide assistance in improving practice, accountability, and quality of care. It allows service users and their service providers to communication effectively, enabling a person centred approach to be used by finding out the individuals wants and desires for their own care.

There is a great need for improvement in communication within the health and social care sector but by being able to identify ways by which such could be improved, via reading the written communication and speaking verbally with service users and providers, the health and social care sector can begin to pinpoint ways in which communication is failing and needs to be improved, this can lead to updates of legislation and the organisations policies and procedures.

In this paper, I aim to discuss the historical and political context of social work provision for the elderly. By using and reviewing the views expressed in previous work on the elderly in our society, I hope to demonstrate the context in which social work and social care operate. One of the concerns of this essay is the impacts of discrimination and oppression on the elderly. I will discuss how listening to the views of service users is crucial to developing effective methods of providing social care.

In the last two to three decades, a fairly wide body of academic work has become available, approaching the issues of ageing and of care for the elderly, within the discipline of Social Policy. Social Policy is an interdisciplinary field born from, and derived upon, other social sciences – economics, politics, sociology etc. (Tinker:1992:3) Within this field, the specific discipline of gerontology – the study of ageing – has developed in recent decades because the elderly population has increased so sizeably in the last 50 years. Cherry Rowlings wrote in 1977 that while in 1951, just

13% of the British population was of retirement age, by 1977 this had increased to 17.3%. (Rowlings:1981:27) Since the 1970s we have seen this trend continue.

This change can be attributed both to comparatively low birth rates, and the increased life expectancy. Businesses, the professions and the media are finding now that pensioners form one of their biggest markets. (Tinker:

1992: 3)

Rather than using medical and biological models, social gerontology focuses on the ways in which social and cultural factors influence people’s experiences of growing older. Tinker writes that the ‘elderly’ are unusual in that they have been labelled a ‘special group’ in our society, and yet the only think that marks them out is their age – unlike groups seen as ‘deviant’ they are ‘normal’ people – and we all expect to join this group in time. (Tinker:1992:4) However, although not labelled ‘deviant,’ the elderly have nonetheless been constructed as a problem, as Jacki Pritchard writes:

“An elderly person is thought to be of no use once they reach retirement age, probably because they are not seen to be producing anything for the society in which they live. They are considered to have ‘had their life.’”

She notes that this differs from other cultures, in which capitalism is less advanced. (Pritchard:1992:16)

And Nicholas Bosanquet has noted that the rate at which the elderly population is growing causes great anxiety in society. He cites Professor

Sir Ferguson Anderson as saying in 1976, “Britain faces social disaster because of the rate at which the proportion of elderly people is rising.” (Bosanquet:1978:7)

He goes on, “The emphasis has come to be more and more on the elderly as a burden – even as a threat to the standards of service or opportunity enjoyed by the rest of the population.” (Bosanquet:1978:79)

Changes in medicine have made illness and disability a problem particular to the elderly. Diseases that effected the young in previous centuries, have been controlled or wiped out in this country, and now children and young adults can expect to be in good health. Similarly, disability from birth is relatively rare; and blindness, deafness and mobility problems are impairments by far most commonly experienced by the elderly.

(Bosanquet:1978:21)

The medical model of disability has traditionally seen disability as naturally and inevitably arising out of a physical or mental impairment. The more contemporary social model, however, has argued against this, in saying that whilst a person may have a natural impairment, it is society’s failure to accommodate people with this difference to the ‘norm,’ which disables them. For example, though a person may be unable to walk and require the use of a wheelchair, this does not inevitably make their life so very different from the life of an able-bodied person. Rather, it is a lack of easy access to public buildings and transport, poor adaptations in housing and so on, which turn this impairment into a striking disability.

In the case of elderly people, because ill health and disability is now so much restricted to the oldest generations, it is seen as natural and inevitable that older people will lead very different lives from younger adults, and that the quality of their lives will decrease. However, this can be seen as only a construction, as many of the problems faced by older people could be altered by changes in public provisions and social care. Bosanquet notes that mental health, most significantly depression, are as great a problem as physical health for the elderly. He writes that this is because the most important factors people attribute to their happiness at all stages of life, are ones which elderly people are least able to take for granted. These include:

oHealth

oFamily life/friends. The elderly will almost inevitably face bereavement, but also having decreased transport/mobility, and fewer places to go where they can meet and make friends, both increases their sense of isolation and decreases their independence.

oFinancial/ home stability. The elderly live on pensions. The decrease in their health can lead to them losing their home. (Bosanquet: 1978:10)

The elderly are increasingly separated from the rest of the population. They suffer great isolation. But policy has been seen only as pension policy.

Nicholas Bosanquet argues that the Government needs to intervene not only when the elderly person has no relatives, but even in addition or instead of care from family. He stresses that policy must increase choice and opportunity, as the elderly find themselves unable to decide and control their own futures. (Bosanquet:1978:75-77)

One of the most fundamental issues facing the elderly is the problem of housing. Bosanquet reports that since the 1970’s, governments have been concerned with designing special flats for the elderly. These solve some housing problems and give people the opportunity to form small communities with others in their own age bracket. (Bosanquet:1978:92) He writes that this is not a new idea; in the Majority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Law I 1909, there is mention of special housing for the elderly.

However, the views of what elderly people require from housing has been deeply flawed, due to a failure of policy makers to listen to the ideas of the elderly, about what they need in day to day life. After the Second

World War, there was great interest in building small housing for the elderly. However, reports of the time did not view it as necessary to provide many special features or fittings for the elderly. The post-war Rowntree Report stated that bungalows were the preferable type of housing;

two-story houses provided problems for pensioners with impaired mobility, and the elderly often did not like living in flats, as they were not considered private or independent enough. The report stated that houses for the elderly people must be built with easy access to local shops, close to the person’s family and friends, and near housing for younger generations so that the elderly did not feel ‘cut off’ from the rest of society. The report did state that flooring and any stairs in the property must be designed for safety and ease of manueverability. This would mean using non-slip materials on flooring, and ensuring that stairs were neither too steep or built around awkward angles. However, these precautions aside, there were no provisions made for wardens or for providing a safe environment for those with health problems. (Bosanquet:1978:95)

Subsequently, between 1945 and the early 70’s, a good number of small flats were built, but these were not reserved exclusively for pensioners and many housed younger adults. Very few were built with any special design features which would have made them safer and more convenient for the elderly.

More recently the idea of sheltered accommodation has grown up, though many people see this simply as a compromise before the nursing home. (Bosanquet:1978:97)

Bosanquet concludes that the elderly need schemes which help them find a new lifestyle and to decrease their sense of isolation. Luncheon clubs, good neighbour schemes, day centres and holiday schemes are essential provisions in his view. He believes that these services are more important than simply focusing on income support; however policy makers have tended to see this is a luxury, rather than one of the essentials of government spending plans.(Bosanquet:1978:97)

He argues that services should increase their focus on the over 75s.

Younger retired people are more likely to still be living with spouses and in their own homes. More years after retirement, however, and any savings the person may have had will likely have run out, and pensions become increasingly inadequate whilst the cost of living actually increases, as for example the elderly person needs to spend more on maintaining their health, in heating bills and medicine/doctors fees. (Bosanquet:1978:124)

While this and many other books on the subject of elderly people outline the historical, political and economic factors in pensioner’s lives, they do not all cite the opinions of elderly service users themselves. Very often social policy and research is based on accounts given by social workers, or by representatives of a vulnerable group – for example the families of children or in this case elderly people. To address this, Jacki Pritchard’s book The Abuse of Elderly People includes a great deal of anecdotal evidence and transcriptions of interviews with elderly people. By focusing on cases of actual abuse, the book may appear to be dealing with an extreme aspect of poor care for the elderly – it may not be expected that abuse is a concern of the majority of older people. However, the principles of the book are useful as it outlines some of the ways in which older people are discriminated against, and how many of their needs and interests are oppressed. Pritchard is keen to stress the different areas in which elderly people may be abused – 1. Physical, which includes medical maltreatment and neglect. 2. Psychological abuse, including threats of abuse, humiliation, harassment, emotional neglect and threats of any kind of abuse. 3. Legal abuse, including material and personal exploitation. (Pritchard:1992:21)

Elderly people are not always given

othe right to choose

othe right to privacy

othe right to independence.

Pritchard considers it vital that if a person is mentally sound, and chooses to stay with their family even when the professional considers the family to be abusive, then the social carer must do no more than offer the elderly person support and inform them of their options. However, of course, there are different standards over what is mentally sound, and even what to do if someone is not. She is also keen to point out the difference in practices between the various professions involved in an elderly person’s life. Very often, the policies of the doctors, care home nurses, and social workers arein direct conflict, and the normal policies of one may seem unacceptable to another. Subsequently, what is important returns to ensuring the rights listed above are honoured, and judgement of whether or not this is done can be made only by the elderly person’s own experience. (Pritchard:1992:25)

Pritchard reports that carers are more likely to become abusive, when they themselves are denied adequate support. The carer’s sense of isolation, their resentment towards the tasks they undertake, and their lack of external support, leads to an increase in abusive behaviour towards the elderly person being cared for. As a common sense measure, therefore, policy must be adapted to provide support and respite for carers, in the interests of all parties involved. (Pritchard:1992:33)

In conclusion, it has been seen that many of the problems that elderly people face could be significantly diminished by improvements in social care. Rather than being ‘natural’ effects of ageing, these problems are more frequently caused by discrimination in society against older people. As society has placed most significance on the needs of younger adults, there have not been adequate provisions made for the elderly for housing, health care and social integration. In response to these needs, social work needs to take steps to reduce the oppression of older people. This will involve maximising elderly people’s ability to make independent choices in their lives, and to enjoy the same standard of life as younger adults. Above all, social workers and researchers should listen to service users as they explain what services they need.

Bosanquet, Nicholas (1978) A Future for Old Age: Towards a New Society.

Temple Smith: London.

Pritchard, Jacki (1992) The Abuse of Elderly People: A Handbook for

Professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishing: London.

Rowlings, Cherry (1981) Social Work with Elderly People. Harper Collins:

London.

Tinker, Anthea (1992) Elderly People In Modern Society, Third Edition.

Longman: London and New York.

Introduction

At its most basic social work is a consistent and organised approach to the social problems of families and individuals. It is an approach that focuses on helping people to help themselves (Moore, 2002).^[1]Most practitioners enter social work because of a commitment to social justice, or at the very least a desire to help others and to see improvement and positive change in people’s lives. Modern social work, along with other public services, is being increasingly run along business lines and market principles. Today’s social worker therefore is confronted with the managerial approach, performance indicators, care managers and care packages. Given the current state of things where everything is guided by budgets and the need to satisfy those in charge by processing a case as quickly as possible one wonders whether a social worker has time to be guided by general ethical principles, let alone a specific code of practice. In the current climate it is easy to forget that social workers are committed to the view of the intrinsic human worth of each individual, and the concomitant view that each person deserves the best care and advice possible.

In 1948 the Universal Declarati^[2]on of Human Rights came into being. The declaration encapsulates a view of the inherent worth and dignity of the human person. The declaration espouses the notion of individual freedom on the basis that such freedom did not infringe the rights of others, these are the rights on which much of social work practice is based. This paper will begin with a general definition of ethics. It will then look at the ethics and values which underpin social work practice. There will be an assessment of social work values and of their relevance to anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice.

Ethics

Ethics are general moral principles that are intended to inform the governing of human behaviour. Thus, most people would hold to the view that some things such as cruelty and murder are always wrong, or unethical. Ethical codes, however, may be based on moral principles, but are not as generalisable or universally applicable. This is because they refer to particular professions and the way in which professional behaviour is governed. Such ethical codes cannot be said to be neutral or value free because they are contextual. They arise within a certain context and are applied to a particular purpose as such, ethical codes are influenced by the ideologies held in that context (Butler, 2000). The context being examined here, is that of social work practice. Codes of practice and ethics are often idealistic, because they may be seen as providing a blueprint for how a social worker should act when it is impossible to legislate for every situation, and this may result in a false sense of security (Banks, 2003). Social workers therefore, need to be able to recognise when the code of practice within which they are required to work, does not operate within a framework that is informed by human rights and social justice (Husband, 1995).

The Client’s Needs

Shon (1991) has argued that:

Professionals claim to contribute to social well-being, put their clients’ needs ahead of their own, and hold themselves accountable to standards of competence and morality. (Schon, 1991:11-12).

Some critics maintain that the way in which social services often operates is self-serving rather than serving the needs of the clients, yet social workers do police themselves and their profession. The way in which they do this is to think critically about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and what moral implications this may have. Certainly social work ethics should not lead anyone to believe that the social work profession should serve itself, rather the needs of the client should be most important. One of the ways this is achieved is by establishing clear relationship boundaries early on. This is because involvement with a client that is too personal is contrary to what the BASW has to say about social work ethics and values.

The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work (BASW,2001). ^[3]

Social work practice, in order to be ethical practice must be centred on the needs of service users Social workers of necessity intervene in people’s lives and have an influence on situations, ethical decision making is therefore a vital component of social work practice (Osmo and Landau, 2001). The Association is there to give advice to social workers on what constitutes ethical decision making in different contexts.

Ethical Decision Making

Decision making has to be grounded in the values and ethics of social work. Some of the issues that social workers have to deal with and that involve them in ethical decision making centre around balancing the rights of one individual against others, around public welfare and issues of institutional and structural oppression. This can make life difficult because the social worker has then to identify when institutions and structures are being oppressive and how the values of social work may be used to combat this. Decision making is also problematic because social workers are committed to confidentiality with respect to the people they work with. Sometimes a social worker is faced with a situation where he or she may, for the greater good, be forced to break the ethic of confidentiality because the client may be a danger to themselves of someone else. This causes a conflict of values and the social worker has, with the help of his/her supervisor, to balance the needs of the individual against the needs of the greater good.

At the very least social work should begin with a clear commitment to social justice which seeks to challenge poverty and discrimination in all its forms because social work has its roots in the nineteenth century moves to eradicate poverty and unemployment.

Everyone has the right to be protected from abuse and to be treated with respect. This is not easy when Government discourses express concern for inclusion and equality e.g. for those with mental health problems, then employ discourses which ignore factors such as race, gender and class and social circumstances, that are pertinent to any proper understanding of a person’s condition. The Human Rights Act of 1998 makes it mandatory for local authorities to act in ways that are conversant with the Act. Social workers help with the problems faced by people with disabilities. Social workers have a duty to be conversant with the Human Rights Act and the Community Care Act of 1990. Social workers are faced with making decisions concerning what defines a person with disabilities and also how to assess their needs. If the wrong form of care is prescribed, e.g. detainment under the Mental Health Act for a person who does not fulfil the specified criteria, then this could be an infringement of human rights.

Social workers are duty bound to base their practice on concepts of human rights and social justice but at the same time they need to be more aware of how the inequalities that they see in society might affect their practice (Cemlyn and Briskman 2003). Society does not always operate in the best interests of the individual person, furthermore, the introduction of market principles into social care can mean that the legal framework within which a social worker has to act may also (however much it is unintended) work against individual rights. Some commentators e.g. Challis (1990) maintain that prior to market principles and managerialism being introduced into social care, social workers operated with a much greater degree of freedom. It is arguably the case that the social worker is duty bound to act in accordance with a process that is informed by the valuing of the human person and the concept of human rights, and may, therefore, need to be prepared to work outside of a framework that (albeit unintended) prevents them from working according to this ethic (Cemlyn and Briskman, 2003). Wolff (2002) speaks of virtue ethics being the root of social work practice because of its concern with a just society and justice for individuals. Bearing this in mind social workers seek to engage in anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice in all that they do.

Anti-discriminatory and Anti-oppressive Practice

An emancipatory and anti-oppressive attitude is a critical component of ethical social work, social workers should be people enablers, enabling people to stand up for their rights and giving them a voice. Horton and Pattapen (2004) argue that in contemporary society individuals are often disempowered in numbers of ways and feel unable to cope with the rules that guide their lives. Social workers deal with the distress that results from this and in their practice should question social systems wherein an increasing number of people suffer from injustice, oppression, and exclusion from mainstream society. Anti-discriminatory practice means taking account of structural disadvantages i.e. how the structures of society often work against certain groups e.g. those with disabilities, women, and ethnic minorities. It also means that the social worker takes care not to use discriminatory language and to do their best to promote the dignity and self-worth of service users.

The ethos of the worth of individual human persons is often counteracted by current social work practice. Under the guidelines for social care social workers help individuals to choose what is best for them, in practice however, care managers are the people who hold the budgets and budgetary concerns can often be discriminatory disenfranchising the person that the social worker is trying to help (Postle, 2000). Social workers try to avoid this happening but they work in a state institution that often inadvertently works against the best interests of service users. This is why social workers need to be trained to view the world from the perspective of others so that they more easily recognise how the system oppresses (Moore, 2002)..

Conclusion

The ethics and values that underpin social work practice are dedicated to social justice and recognition of the inherent worth of each and every individual. Social workers do their best to work in partnership with service users and to do this in a way that includes and empowers people. Social workers are dedicated to help people move forward and take control of their lives, the idea is to shift the power balance away from the social worker and towards the person that needs help. The structures of society are, in some ways, discriminatory and oppressive and social workers recognise that white masculine values disadvantage people and they are therefore committed to anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice in their work.

Bibliography

Banks, S. 2003 From oaths to rulebooks: a critical examination of codes of ethics for the social professions European journal of Social Work Volume 6 No. 2 July 2003 p. 133-144

British Association of Social Workers (2002) The Code of Ethics for Social Work.http://www.basw.co.uk/.

Butler, I 2000. A Code of Ethics for Social Work and Social Work Research http://www.elsc.org.uk/socialcareresource/tswr/seminar6/butler.htm

Cremlyn, S and Briskman L. 2003 “Asylum, Children’s Rights and Social Work” Child and Family Social Work 8 (3) pp. 163-178

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1

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social policy on homelessness “Housing First”. In this paper I will include the history of this policy, how it was created, when and the basic elements of this social policy. To every issue there are opposing views and I will present those views along with the policy. No social policy is perfect and along with the strengths I will also expose weaknesses, the points will be explained throughout this paper. First I will discuss what homelessness is and then what are the factors that lead a family, child, vet or anyone for that matter into the category of homelessness.

Homelessness

What does being homeless mean? It means not having shelter, a place to sleep, eat and be protected against nature’s elements. This issue is a concern to social service providers, government officials and policy professionals. Homelessness has been a major social issue In America but it is during financial crisis that this problem raises. The word itself “Homelessness” has a bad connotation, when the word homeless is uttered the immediate thought is that of a substance abuser, vagrant or a person with a mental illness. Although these are contributing factors they are not the sole reasons why a person ends up homeless. There are also other contributing factors such as poverty, unemployment, social exclusion (such as sexual orientation), natural disasters, foreclosures, war or disability. Now in 2012 and as of recent years we have seen the U.S economy decline economically a result from the housing bubble burst, bank crisis and wars. These events have skyrocketed chronic homelessness, it is of no surprise that the precursors to the U.S recession are a major contributor (Szep, 2008).

Beyond Shelter

In order to understand the social policy called Housing First we must first discuss the history behind it.” Housing First” was introduced by a nonprofit organization called Beyond Shelter, this organization is based in Los Angeles. The non-profit organization Beyond Shelter was founded in 1988 in Los Angeles to fight poverty and homelessness within families with children (retrieved from http://www.beyondshelter.org/aaa_about_us/aaa_about_us.shtml). This organization introduced a model system called Housing First aka “rapid rehousing”. In 1996 the United Nations selected this model as 25 U.S best practices.

Housing First

Housing First is a public policy it is an alternative to a system of emergency shelter/transitional housing progressions(http://www.beyondshelter.org/aaa about us/aaa about us.shtml).It focuses homeless families to be able to move back into permanent housing. This is done first acquiring housing as soon as possible then providing counseling. It also focuses on intervention providing social services after the housing has been acquired rather than providing temporary shelter or transitional housing first (http://www.beyondshelter.org/aaa about us/aaa about us.shtml). In contrast to other programs where the issues that lead the person to homelessness are addressed first before helping the person acquire housing hence the name given to this public policy Housing First. For example many social or public policies function first by getting the homeless person from the street to public shelter, from public shelter to transitional housing program and from there to their own apartment. In the housing first or rapid housing the homeless person is first placed in an apartment or house then pin pointing the issues that lead to become homeless. The federal government uses this to guide federal policies in attacking the problem of homelessness by rent assistance, housing stabilization. In 2009 The Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP) provides homelessness prevention

assistance to households that would otherwise become homeless, and provides rapid re-housing assistance to persons who are homeless as defined by section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302).In 2008 Congress appropriated $25 million in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants for 2008 to demonstrate the effectiveness of rapid re-housing programs to reduce family homelessness( retrieved from http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/housing_first ).

Strengths

The strengths of this policy is that homeless people get a housing as soon as possible without conditions. Thereby, afterwards getting the necessary help to assist them in maintaining a permanent residence. The common practice of assistance to family homelessness is some kind of temporary housing. The problem is, when that runs out, people are still homeless. “; This approach is simply to get homeless people off the street and into a stable, more permanent environment (http://www.beyondshelter.org/aaa about us/aaa about us.shtml)”. The idea is that a person can do better once placed in a permanent housing. Then receiving the services they need to maintain that permanent housing. This policy also helps to foster self-reliance instead of dependence (http://www.beyondshelter.org/aaa about us/aaa about us.shtml).Also, Intervention services, housing options, and transitional support for the foster care system are strategies to end youth homelessness.

Weaknesses

The federal policy formed on the model of housing first is a good idea but economically how long can the federal government sustain this program. The burden falls on state and local funding to non-profit organizations to support these services. Now with the current state of economy can this realistically continue to financially support this policy? There is a need for all types of housing for all kinds ‘of homeless people, families with children, elderly and individuals with disabilities or addiction. When you champion one methods then what about the other programs that have transitional housing or shelters you create a competition for funds. The roots of the problems must be attacked first not the other way around and opposite of the “Housing Readiness” philosophy, which believes that people need to address issues that may have led to their own homelessness before they enter permanent housing. If anything in social work it is known and practical t used different methodologies .Housing first seems to ride on the idea that it is better to do the opposite. I don’t know about this because I think I would rather attack the problem that has caused homelessness for example if the reason for being homeless is finding a job to sustain oneself, finding services to a mental issues or substance abuse then that is more viable than getting a house first . How can one maintain the cost of paying even if it subsidized by the government without being able to keep a job because of substance abuse lack of employment or perhaps a mental disease. I understand that the model of Housing First also assist with these social services after they have a permanent home but again the root of the problem should be taken care of first. I believe that one must learn to become long term self-sufficient before being placed in the responsibility of permanent housing. Also what about immigrants? How would an immigrant homeless person be able to even participate in such a program? They would be ineligible to participate in such program without being a citizen or permanent resident. According to Paul Boden executive director of Western Regional Advocacy Project, he quotes “How can they cut Section 8 but believe in Housing First as a concept? They’re cutting housing but doing Housing First. It’s not just ironic; it’s hypocritical (Law, 2007, NHI)”.

My Interview

Now as far as the person I interviewed as part of my homeless policy project I would not see how this policy would apply to him. My interviewee would not be able to participate in this program for the simple fact that he is an illegal immigrant. If are undocumented, you are not be eligible for federal programs. Perhaps he would be in a separate category because of immigration status. I think in his case immigration policy would have to change in his case before the homeless policy does.

Conclusion

This policy is a very good policy in my eyes but there are shortfalls regardless of these shortfalls it does not fall short form being innovative. When attacking social problems there are variables and different perspectives. Scenarios are case by case and a one size shoe fits all is not realistic nor is it practical. What works for one population may not necessarily work for the other. Now our public, social and federal policy on homelessness is well intended it is not perfect. Affordable housing is a must and in order for that to occur our economy must be stabilized. It is like a domino affect the fall of one chip knocks the rest down and to get these chips back up it must be done one at a time. It is a long ardous time consuming process that must be done carefully and patiently. Every policy that we instill must be carefully reviewed evaluated and make sure that it applies to everyone and not just a certain population.