childcare-50years

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8 reading of the Welfare Services Bill in 1949 in the Northern Ireland House of Commons: "I think most people still imagine that the welfare officer is a very well meaning busybody who goes around delivering hot soup to the deserving poor. Welfare work consists in providing the link between the family, the education service, the health service and the employment service therefore it is necessary to know a great deal about legislation, about all the voluntary social services agencies that are working in a particular field." World War II heightened awareness of people's emotional and psychological needs as well as material needs and this helped shape a common view that it is important to support people at times of distress. The value of social work in terms of its skill in human relations was also starting to be recognised and this would have an impact on the content of social work training. In 1950 Titmuss described the reasons for the growing awareness of the value of social work during this period as follows: "They knew about people and about distress. They could help to bring the whole array of statutory and voluntary agencies to bear on the several needs of a particular individual at a particular urgent point in time and they were qualified to report in practical terms on the way in which one service reacted on another and on the people needing help". Social casework was thus recognised as an important development in the relationship between the individual or family unit and the new public sector. Social work education and training in Northern Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s In the 1940s and 1950s there was one social work education and training course in Northern Ireland - the two year Diploma in Social Studies at Queens University in Belfast (QUB) which was accepted as a 50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 172
8 basic qualification in social work. This 'generic' approach to training reflected the welfare structures in Northern Ireland where the full range of local authority social service provision came under the umbrella of generic welfare committees. The teaching content of the course included statistics, economics, philosophy and law. Legislation studied included the Welfare Services Act 1947 and later the Children's Act 1950, the Factory Act and the Education Act. Social health, psychology, welfare benefits and the care systems were also included together with weekly observation visits and practice placements. Observation visits and placements covered homes for older people, children's homes, general and psychiatric hospitals and also voluntary sector agencies such as the Belfast Charitable Institute. There was one main 10 week placement. This could be broken into 2 week periods and gave brief experience of such varied settings as the Council of Social Welfare in Bryson House, factory personnel departments, local authority welfare departments and hospitals, again demonstrating the intention that people with this qualification were expected to be able to work with a broad range of client groups including children and in a variety of settings. Following training the only option for further study was to leave Northern Ireland. Poor housing conditions and gross overcrowding in 1950s Belfast with up to 20 people living in a "two up two down" terraced house meant much of the work of welfare officers focused on giving assistance in cases of eviction of families, children being maltreated, housing problems, overcrowding, and people who were in debt to moneylenders. Adoption and fostering (known then as "boardingout") were also covered by the local authority associated with the drive to move children out of residential homes and into family environments. Compared to today, adoption assessments were less thorough, focusing more on practical and material arrangements such as the number of people in the home, employment, and finances. In the "workhouse wards" at the Belfast City Hospital both 50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 173
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50 A Better Future 40 30 20 10 Depa
Page 5 and 6:
PREFACE There is both an acceptance
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Finally, I am indebted to Mr Selwoo
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1 decisions, taken in the late 1940
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1 1946 which resulted in the Childr
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1 recognition of the effect of the
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Chapter FOSTER CARE 2 Background an
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2 adequacy of the supply of foster
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2 residential care to children wher
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Both these issues were addressed in
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2 "On balance and taking into accou
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2 Numbers of children fostered and
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2 Safeguarding children in foster c
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2 Prior to the adoption of the Nati
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2 • encourages partnership workin
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2 "The most important general issue
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2 The main achievements in foster c
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2 The Human Rights Act 1998, also b
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3 Adoption of Children Act (NI) 192
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The social context to 1947 3 Povert
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The management and structure of ado
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3 cent were under 2 years. Third pa
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3 baby boy: the child's mother did
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3 The management and structure of a
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3 Adoption (NI) Order 1987 however
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3 figures available show that in 19
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3 situations, Catholic lists remain
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3 The Adoption Allowances Regulatio
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3 population) had been freed or wer
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3 Table 4 - Number of children adop
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3 could be assured within the law t
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adoption. In the near future, few p
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3 The post placement and post adopt
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3 professional responsibility for s
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3 Church of Ireland Adoption Societ
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3 • the establishment of speciali
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4 During the 1950s the main concern
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4 • every attempt was to be made
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4 failed, however, to anticipate th
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4 "Boards should seek to reduce the
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4 taken to ensure that these childr
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4 Practice, however, soon establish
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4 • the need for a complaints pro
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4 Kincora, as early as 1967, there
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4 • there were social, economic a
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4 Table 7 - Number of children in c
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4 The Child Welfare Council Report
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4 within homes as a consequence of
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4 The past 50 years have, therefore
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4 The devolved administration, the
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Chapter 5 JUVENILE OFFENDING Develo
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5 • the view that imprisonment wa
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5 the order did not appear as a cri
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5 Having commenced with a small gro
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5 The decline in numbers of young p
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5 considerably, juvenile liaison bu
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5 years the percentage of cases giv
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3. Working with young offenders req
Page 123 and 124: 5 remanded or placed in a secure un
Page 125 and 126: Chapter DISABLED CHILDREN Introduct
Page 127 and 128: 6 In the absence of a full and read
Page 129 and 130: 6 in Northern Ireland designed to p
Page 131 and 132: 6 are known are receiving either ca
Page 133 and 134: 6 other conditions. This became the
Page 135 and 136: 6 cent of children who fell within
Page 137 and 138: 6 Sixteen percent of parents said t
Page 139 and 140: 6 The treatment of handicapping con
Page 141 and 142: 6 Nursing Team) and the Children's
Page 143 and 144: 6 The 1950 Children and Young Perso
Page 145 and 146: 6 them) her young siblings made a j
Page 147 and 148: 6 Legislation and the development o
Page 149 and 150: 6 based homes and hostels. Some chi
Page 151 and 152: 6 The Children Order was implemente
Page 153 and 154: 6 In an ever-changing social contex
Page 155 and 156: Chapter 7 CHILD PROTECTION Origins
Page 157 and 158: 7 the 1908 Act did not allow such a
Page 159 and 160: 7 under the supervision of a probat
Page 161 and 162: 7 Boards to set up registers on chi
Page 163 and 164: 7 supposed satanic abuse in the Ork
Page 165 and 166: 7 can be uncomfortable to the profe
Page 167 and 168: 7 Work like this is not given much
Page 169 and 170: 7 Alongside these educational progr
Page 171 and 172: 7 the responsibility of one agency
Page 173: Chapter SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION & TRA
Page 177 and 178: 8 proposed a two year generic socia
Page 179 and 180: 8 in Residential Care for Children
Page 181 and 182: 8 CCETSW's report "Care for Tomorro
Page 183 and 184: • high expectations are placed on
Page 185 and 186: 8 people that are involved across a
Page 187: 8 7. Since the 1990s there has been
Page 190 and 191: 9 Because our society is in the pro
Page 192 and 193: 9 specific commitment to improve co
Page 194 and 195: 9 who wish to work in the care serv
Page 196 and 197: 9 establish a contract with SCIE to
Page 199 and 200: BIBLIOGRAPHY • ‘Adoption of Chi
Page 201 and 202: • Department of Health, ‘Adopti
Page 203 and 204: • O’Halloran, K. ‘Adoption La
Page 205 and 206: • Tresiliotis, J. Shireman, J. an
Page 208: ISBN 0-946932-07-7 Published by: De
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