On reflection I should have seen it when I heard Leon Fulcher’s brilliant lecture during a CELCIS conference in Scotland some years ago, but for some reason it only dawned on me last week! For decades there have been discussions about the distinctions between residential work and field work, social work and residential care and the like. But what I had missed completely was the role of music in all this.

Put simply, in social work there is no music. Think of the assessment process and the forms; think of the meetings involving children and young people; think of management; think of training and the lectures; think of the whole ethos including the administrative offices, and you immediately get the point. This is a world, a way of operating, in which music has no place.

Then think of foster and residential care, and the penny drops: there is music of all sorts: on TV, Ipads, Ipods, MP3s, radio, and still, against the odds, children and young people actually playing instruments or singing themselves. There is music being discussed, background music, concerts, dances, and film music. One is a world devoid of music: the other is replete with it.

If this sounds obvious to every reader, I am sorry that it has taken me so long to catch up. But, I hear you say: why does it matter? What might it mean or signify? And this is the point that struck me: if you are dealing with assessment, administration, planning, and with matters of the mind, then music is of little relevance. In fact it may get in the way. But if you are dealing with matters of the heart, and spirit: with feelings and the deep inner world of a person or a … Continue reading …

Reading through some of the desperately sad accounts of time spent ‘in care’,
one word screams out loud and clear….SHAME.
Shame that as young innocent vulnerable children
we were subjected to a regime similar to adult prison life.
Shame that we were physically sexually and emotionally abused
by the very people who … Continue reading …

Paul Carter offers an insight into the world of the child with autism. It may have been written specifically to offer support to prospective adoptive or foster parents of such a child or children.

The information is set out in an … Continue reading …

This book is for the foster carers or adoptive parents of children who have been or are Looked After by the state. It hopes to develop good practice, which will support the child through some turbulent times.It offers some disheartening statistics in the introduction –… Continue reading …

I have lost count of the number of people over the years who have shared with me their ideas for a new home for children. Some were so creative and stirring that they still linger in my mind. And yet I cannot recall any who have subsequently asked me … Continue reading …

In my opinion this is the best text book about residential child care for a very long time. When reading it, I found myself wanting to say, “Hear, hear” three or four times per page.

In addition to … Continue reading …

In February 2013 there was a report by Robert Francis QC, into one of the health trusts in the UK (Mid-Staffordshire). Among the findings he listed from an earlier report (February 2010) were the following:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Patients were left in excrement in soiled bed clothes for lengthy periods.

Assistance was not … Continue reading …

If you were in care in Northern Ireland, or if you know someone who was, this message is for you.

The Historic Institutional Abuse Inquiry is an independent Inquiry set up to investigate abuse of children in residential institutions (but not schools) in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995. Abuse could … Continue reading …

Since the last Newsletter we have published twenty-six items - a mixture of articles and reviews.Keith White has continued to provide his monthly In Residence column, touching upon a variety of challenging issues fundamental to the way children develop and can be helped - giving them space to learn, the need to take time to judge outcomes, the impact of every individual on a community, the importance of thanks, why having a philosophy of care is fundamental, and opportunities for healing.

Valerie Jackson has written about:

- the importance of the kindness of friends when under pressure, and

- the need to think carefully in planning to open a children’s home.

She has also contributed two book reviews:

- Safeguarding Babies and Very Young Children by Harriet Ward et al, and

- Toddler Adoption by Mary Hopkins-Best.

Sadly, we have carried two obituaries of outstanding figures in child care.

David Lane wrote about Haydn Davies Jones and Professor Carol Kelly has contributed an appreciation of the work of the late Martha Mattingly.

Niels Peter Rygaard has written a description of a promising international scheme to offer training for child care workers world-wide.

Noel Howard has written about the latest development in the Republic of Ireland - children’s rights being enshrined in the Constitution.

Also on the international front, Helga Stefanov has given a fascinating perspective as an observer of international child care developments over nearly forty years.

We have had a number of pieces referring to developments in the UK, such as:

- VOICE’s concern about the need to register child care workers (especially nannies),

- our Comment on the need for a new philosophy to underpin inspection,

- Tom Church’s article on internet safety,

- our Comment on Jimmy Savile’s legacy,

- Chris Durkin has written about the value of sport for all, as a legacy now that the Olympics are well and truly over,

- an idea from David Lane that survivors of abuse, even if unable to take other legal action, could make sworn statements,

- our Comment on the implications of the sad demise of the Social Care Association.

There is guidance from ICSE and ACAL on writing expert witness reports for Court.

David Lane has written a couple of book reviews:

- Bridging the Generation Gap by Hilary Robinson, and

- Steven Appleby’s delightful Collected Loomus Cartoons.

Finally, we have included a summary by Charles Sharpe of the contents of the latest goodenoughcaring journal, which we commend to you.

We hope you find these contributions interesting, useful, stimulating and/or entertaining, and we hope that you will think of sending in an article too.

Dr. Martha Mattingly, Professor Emeritus of Applied Developmental Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, died on February 4, 2013. Martha leaves a legacy which contributed to the development of the Child and Youth Care profession in significant ways. Among her contributions is leadership in writing and implementing the Association of … Continue reading …

In project cooperation with the Social and Health Care College, Aarhus, Denmark, the Danish Psychologist Association, the European Psychologist Association, and the European Union, Leonardo Division, EU partner countries, institutional leaders and foster family managers from Crete, Italy, Romania, Spain and Turkey.Intro: This paper describes the development of the open … Continue reading …

The item below is based on a Press Release from VOICE. Twenty years ago there was a combined campaign for the registration of all child care workers. When the General Social Care Council was set up, it was decided to hold the campaign in abeyance. In the event, the GSCC … Continue reading …

There is a sense in which we can lose sight of a vital element of what it is to be human, (that is, a growing, learning, exploring, relating, creative being) if we are content with mere doing, making, helping, tending, nursing, caring, teaching and the like.Social Care (assuming that the … Continue reading …

I have read in the papers that following the scandals in Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust the government is planning tough new measures of inspection with fiercer inspectors: the same approach but more stick. This piece is suggesting that the philosophy of regulation needs a fundamental change and that … Continue reading …

24,000 school children have set out their vision for how to make the internet a safer and more enjoyable place, as part of the largest schools survey about internet safety conducted in the UK.The ‘Have Your Say’ research, commissioned by the UK Safer Internet Centre to mark the 10th Anniversary … Continue reading …

At the last count about 450 people had made allegations that the late Jimmy Savile had assaulted them sexually. There are those who say that people are jumping on the bandwagon in the hope of obtaining damages from his estate. From our understanding of sexual abuse we prefer to start … Continue reading …

I am sure that is the title of a song or book.Over this recent Christmas break, my daughter was taken seriously ill with a life-changing spinal condition, which meant that she spent her Christmas in hospital and her child spent her seventh birthday and her Christmas Day away from her … Continue reading …

As we enter the New Year memories of the Christmas season still linger. We have had greetings from members of the extended family of Mill Grove around the world, and many have called in over the holiday period. Among those who arrived was a person I will call … Continue reading …

This note carries a warning. I am not a lawyer, and it is possible that there are good reasons why the idea I am putting forward is nonsense. But if the solution I propose is nonsense, are there better ways of solving the problem?

Reasons for Action

When people who … Continue reading …

In our new issue Tracey Jarvis gives an account of her experience of being a key worker in a residential child care setting; in her article Access All Areas - a developmental perspective.Janet Rich stresses the importance of assuring that care leavers have ready access to support resources.

Cynthia Cross provides … Continue reading …