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2<br />

• regular review of boarding-out allowances by a Child Welfare<br />

Council;<br />

• the establishment of a Child Welfare Council.<br />

Legislative and policy context since 1950<br />

The experience of the evacuation of children in Northern Ireland due<br />

to World War II differed from England. Prior to the Blitz of April 1941<br />

there was a general feeling of complacency in Northern Ireland<br />

regarding its susceptibility to a bombing campaign. A limited<br />

evacuation of children, therefore, occurred until after the April Blitz.<br />

Immediately after that, some 22,000 women and children were<br />

evacuated from urban areas. Unlike England, however, where many<br />

children were evacuated for the duration of the war, in Northern<br />

Ireland the evacuation lasted for 9 months. Children's experience of<br />

life away from their families varied but the duration of the<br />

separation of children from their families was shorter than in<br />

England. In England several thousands of children were never<br />

returned to their parents and became the responsibility of the newly<br />

appointed children's departments in 1948. Children's experiences in<br />

England had considerable impact on welfare services and policy.<br />

These changes extended to Northern Ireland and the foundation for<br />

a modern child care service was laid as a result of the Report of the<br />

Care of Children Committee (September 1946), known as the Curtis<br />

Report. The Curtis Report urged that each child in care be the<br />

personal concern of the new children's officer and their staff -<br />

personally known to them and able to rely on other known people<br />

for stable relationships and consideration of their needs. Curtis was<br />

also concerned about the multiple placements of children and the<br />

separation of siblings, issues still of concern to those working in the<br />

child care field.<br />

In Northern Ireland, the White Paper 'The Protection and Welfare of<br />

the Young and the Treatment of the Young Offender', (Cmnd.264)<br />

paved the way for the Children and Young Persons (NI) Act 1950,<br />

which brought Northern Ireland into closer line with England and<br />

Wales. Section 90 of this Act directed welfare authorities to provide<br />

50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND<br />

18

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