childcare-50years
childcare-50years
childcare-50years
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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 />
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