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• the need for a complaints procedure for children in care and their
parents;
• the need for effective recruitment and selection procedures for
residential workers;
• the examination of residential child care within the context of all
child care services.
The development of a policy on complaints procedure for children in
care, owes much to the Sheridan Report. The Report also made a
highly significant contribution in terms of its impact on the
development of monitoring arrangements for children's homes and
the selection and vetting of residential staff.
Public interest in Kincora continued throughout the early 1980s and
in 1984 a Committee of Inquiry was established under the
Chairmanship of Judge William Hughes. The Committee considered
instances of homosexual offences and misconduct involving children
resident in 9 children's homes. The resultant report "Report of the
Committee of Inquiry into Children's Homes and Hostels" (HMSO
1986) made 56 recommendations. Many of these recommendations
endorsed the thinking of both the Sheridan and Black Reports. More
significantly, however, the Inquiry sought to enhance the standing
and qualification of residential workers by advocating:
• parity of pay between residential staff and fieldwork social
workers, linked to professional qualifications and training
(Recommendation 6);
• that all Officers in Charge should hold a social work qualification
and that a specific timetable should be established for the
professionalisation of the residential child care system
(Recommendation 9).
In 1991 the DHSS made available the resource to implement the
"Hughes 6 Recommendation", with the aim of achieving a fully
qualified residential child care workforce within a 5 year period. The
status and standing of residential social work was also addressed by
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