childcare-50years

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Table 2 - The Number of Children in Care from 1965-2000 Year Children in care 1965 1,433 1970 1,717 1975 1,823 1980 2,444 1985 2,512 1990 2,850 1995 2,624 2000 2,422 2 The increasing numbers of children in care in Northern Ireland is typical of the rest of the United Kingdom. It is noteworthy that following the commencement of the Children Order the number of children looked after has generally fallen each year, a position which mirrors the English and Welsh situation immediately following the introduction of the Children Act in 1991. The increased use of foster care as a placement choice in Northern Ireland during the 1980s may have been linked to the increasing professional and public concern regarding children in residential settings occasioned by the Kincora scandal, which came to public attention in January 1980. Two enquiries reported on the sexual abuse of children in residential settings on foot of the allegations made against residential staff: • the Sheridan Report ("Homes and Hostels for Children and Young People" (June 1982) DHSS(NI)); • the Hughes Report ("Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Children's Homes and Hostels", 1985, Belfast, HMSO). Both these reports put in place a range of monitoring and management systems to safeguard and protect children in residential care. These children, now represent a small proportion of all children who are looked after, 11.8 per cent (March 2000). 50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 26
2 Safeguarding children in foster care Safeguarding children in foster care has increasingly come to the fore, as more and more children are cared for in the privacy of foster families' homes. Abuse of children in foster care is not new, for example: • in 1845 Benjamin Disraeli in his novel 'Sybil: A Story of Two Nations' outlined the cruelty and neglect of children by paid foster mothers. He noted that infanticide by them was "practised as extensively and legally as it is on the banks of the Ganges"; • in 1871 the Select Committee on the Protection of Infants led to legislation in 1872 to stop the abuse of baby farming; • in 1945, Walter Monckton, QC, chaired an enquiry into the death of Denis O'Neill, a foster child (Monckton Enquiry Report, 1945); • in 1997, Billie-Jo Jenkins was murdered in England by her foster father. In 1997, however, the issue of improving the safeguards for children in foster care was given increased prominence following the publication of reviews into safeguarding arrangements for children undertaken in England and Wales, and Scotland, by Sir William Utting and Roger Kent, respectively. Following national scandals within the children's residential sectors Government set up both these reviews. Both reports highlighted the need to safeguard children in foster care. Utting's report, "People Like Us: The Report of the Review of the Safeguarding for Children Living Away from Home" (The Department of Health & Welsh Office, 1997, Stationery Office), recommended that: "The Department of Health/Welsh Office should commission a Code of Practice for recruiting, selecting, training and supporting foster carers". (Recommendation 5) Kent in his report ("Children's Safeguards Review", 1997, Social Work Services Inspectorate for Scotland, Stationery Office) recommended that foster care should be brought within the inspection process 50 YEARS OF CHILD CARE IN NORTHERN IRELAND 27
Page 1: 50 A Better Future 40 30 20 10 Depa
Page 5 and 6: PREFACE There is both an acceptance
Page 7: Finally, I am indebted to Mr Selwoo
Page 10 and 11: 1 decisions, taken in the late 1940
Page 12 and 13: 1 1946 which resulted in the Childr
Page 14 and 15: 1 recognition of the effect of the
Page 17 and 18: Chapter FOSTER CARE 2 Background an
Page 19 and 20: 2 adequacy of the supply of foster
Page 21 and 22: 2 residential care to children wher
Page 23 and 24: Both these issues were addressed in
Page 25 and 26: 2 "On balance and taking into accou
Page 27: 2 Numbers of children fostered and
Page 31 and 32: 2 Prior to the adoption of the Nati
Page 33 and 34: 2 • encourages partnership workin
Page 35 and 36: 2 "The most important general issue
Page 37 and 38: 2 The main achievements in foster c
Page 39: 2 The Human Rights Act 1998, also b
Page 42 and 43: 3 Adoption of Children Act (NI) 192
Page 44 and 45: The social context to 1947 3 Povert
Page 46 and 47: The management and structure of ado
Page 48 and 49: 3 cent were under 2 years. Third pa
Page 50 and 51: 3 baby boy: the child's mother did
Page 52 and 53: 3 The management and structure of a
Page 54 and 55: 3 Adoption (NI) Order 1987 however
Page 56 and 57: 3 figures available show that in 19
Page 58 and 59: 3 situations, Catholic lists remain
Page 60 and 61: 3 The Adoption Allowances Regulatio
Page 62 and 63: 3 population) had been freed or wer
Page 64 and 65: 3 Table 4 - Number of children adop
Page 66 and 67: 3 could be assured within the law t
Page 68 and 69: adoption. In the near future, few p
Page 70 and 71: 3 The post placement and post adopt
Page 72 and 73: 3 professional responsibility for s
Page 74 and 75: 3 Church of Ireland Adoption Societ
Page 76 and 77: 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
Page 113 and 114:
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
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5 remanded or placed in a secure un
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Chapter DISABLED CHILDREN Introduct
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6 In the absence of a full and read
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6 in Northern Ireland designed to p
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6 are known are receiving either ca
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6 other conditions. This became the
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6 cent of children who fell within
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6 Sixteen percent of parents said t
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6 The treatment of handicapping con
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6 Nursing Team) and the Children's
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6 The 1950 Children and Young Perso
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6 them) her young siblings made a j
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6 Legislation and the development o
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6 based homes and hostels. Some chi
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6 The Children Order was implemente
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6 In an ever-changing social contex
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Chapter 7 CHILD PROTECTION Origins
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7 the 1908 Act did not allow such a
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7 under the supervision of a probat
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7 Boards to set up registers on chi
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7 supposed satanic abuse in the Ork
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7 can be uncomfortable to the profe
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7 Work like this is not given much
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7 Alongside these educational progr
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7 the responsibility of one agency
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Chapter SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION & TRA
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8 basic qualification in social wor
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8 proposed a two year generic socia
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8 in Residential Care for Children
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8 CCETSW's report "Care for Tomorro
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• high expectations are placed on
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8 people that are involved across a
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8 7. Since the 1990s there has been
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9 Because our society is in the pro
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9 specific commitment to improve co
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9 who wish to work in the care serv
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9 establish a contract with SCIE to
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BIBLIOGRAPHY • ‘Adoption of Chi
Page 201 and 202:
• Department of Health, ‘Adopti
Page 203 and 204:
• O’Halloran, K. ‘Adoption La
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• Tresiliotis, J. Shireman, J. an
Page 208:
ISBN 0-946932-07-7 Published by: De
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