I have chosen to develop a small residential unit specifically for four young people looked after and accommodated by the local authority. I will evidence the demonstrated need for such a facility, discuss the practice principles and highlight how the facility could be responsive to the local community.
In identifying the need for this resource I looked at the shift in attitudes and the changes in policy and legislation. The state responded to rising concerns about the standard of care within children’s residential units. A number of factors influenced this including the large numbers of children in the 1970’s coming into care and an increased public expenditure and costs of residential care. A second consideration was the controversial inquiries and investigations into child abuse within residential facilities. As a result, some local authorities started to make cutbacks by closing some of their residential facilities. Additionally the Griffiths Report 1988 and the Audit Commission were unsupportive of the government’s community care policies and highlighted the problems between the NHS and local authorities. Adcock 1988. The White Paper ‘Caring for people 1989 brought about significant changes in the provision of all community care services.
By the 1980’s there was a diversion from residential care to foster care and adoption with the government placing a greater reliance on community based resources. The 1990’s saw a continuation of this trend with the development of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 which attempted to balance the responsibilities of parents and local authorities in relation to child protection to provide a clear framework for intervention. The Act also imposed tighter and more clearly defined limits on the powers of local authorities in relation to young people and their families and subjects them to more clearly defined possibilities of being challenged by young people or their parents.
I looked at the local authority within West Dunbartonshire and the services they have in place that meet the needs of vulnerable children and families within its area, specifically residential care.
As the resource will be situated within the West Dunbartonshire area the Children’s Service Plan 2001-2004 was a point of reference in identifying demonstrated need. West Dunbartonshire is one of the largest unitary authority areas in Scotland and there are presently over 69,200 children aged less than 16 years. The 1991 census identified West Dunbartonshire as having the third highest levels of multiple deprivations in Scotland. Hayden et all 1999 p 51 suggests, ‘’children who come into care are drawn are drawn overwhelmingly from families with multiple disadvantages. They are more likely to come from a single parent household, to live in poor quality housing with low family income. And with these factors combined, the chances are one in ten that a child will enter the care system’’. It is estimated that 27% of all children who live within west Dunbartonshire live on income support, 16% lived in one parent households and 31% in a household with no earner. Within one year, the social work department placed over 273 in community placements and residential establishments and supervised over another 480 in the community. WDC 2001-2004.
The C(S)A 1995 puts an emphasis upon partnership with parents, who, under legislation retain responsibility for parenting when they are in difficulty far more than previously. The Act requires that local authorities intervening in family life prove that they have made every effort to retain the child within the family. They must also take reasonable steps to prevent children in their area from suffering ill treatment and/or neglect.
The 1991 DoH document ‘Working Together’ emphasises the need for inter-agency collaboration in order to access a range of skills needed to create and promote successful projects.
LOCATION/SIZE/SCALE
The setting for the unit will be situated within a residential area of West Dunbartonshire, close to local amenities, e.g. shops, leisure facilities, restaurants, post offices. An existing purpose built building previously used for respite for the elderly is vacant within the la area. The building has 8 bedrooms all en-suite, 2 sitting rooms, 1 large kitchen, 1 office and 1 ‘staff’ toilet . The building is all on one level and has wheelchair access and an operational security system. Although I have chosen this 8 bedded unit 3 of these bedrooms will be utilised for leisure and recreational facilities, e.g. quiet room and family/contact room. The Children’s Home Regulations state that there should be a place for family and friends to visit (Willow 1996). One bedroom would be used for temporary emergency admissions. In line with National Care Standards every child will have their own bedroom with en-suite facilities, a lockable door, natural daylight and approximately 12 sq mt of useable floor space. Each room shall consist of a bed, wardrobe, dressing table and mirror, chest of drawers and television. The child should be able to control the heating lighting and ventilation within the room. Each child should be encouraged to participate in the decoration of their room and the choosing of their furnishings. This would give the young person a sense of ownership and individuality. Davis 1995 p 127 points out,’’ young people must be cared for as individuals who live in groups, and not as groups who also happen to be individuals’’.
PURPOSE OF RESOURCE/AIMS/OBJECTIVES
The unit will provide 24 hour care in a stable, safe and secure environment to children who are unable to be cared for by their families. The primary purpose was meeting the needs of children combined with the dual purpose of meeting the needs of community. I researched the material in relation to; the client group by age, gender and their vulnerability of admission to care. I also took into consideration the geographical area displacing the highest level of need for a child group care resource. The research viewed was considerable; however for the purpose of this assignment I have condensed the evidence below.
Just over 11,200 children were looked after by local authorities in Scotland at 31 March 2002, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year and demonstrated the need for additional residential units to support this increase. Madge (1994) identified common features of children in residential care. Many had school difficulties, neglect and abuse were common factors and most children came from one parent families, Charkrabarti and Hill p19 2001. Research by Alcock (1997) shows that one parent families are amongst the poorest with a ”high proportion of lone parent households on a low income with over 70 percent receiving Income Support, Bradshaw and Millar (1991). There is therefore some circumstantial evidence that poverty or lack of access to adequate resources may be implicated in the events, which lead to children being ‘looked after’ by the local authority. Chakrabarti and Hill 2001 state, ‘Groupcare should never be looked at as a last resort for these children but rather as a place to improve the attachment and skills of children so that hey are better able to cope when they are returned home”. P160-170.
The aim of the service is to help children reach their fullest potential, develop knowledge, skills and understanding that will promote changes in their attitudes and behaviour. The resource would offer children in constructive re-experience through formal recreation, friendships with other children and relationships with adults and statutory education appropriate to their needs. Parrott 1999 p71 highlights, ‘the social services inspectorate 97 acknowledged three in four care leavers have no academic qualifications therefore good liaison with the educational establishment of the child is essential’’.
The objectives of the resource will be set out in line with the national care standards which will include best principles as outlined in the Care Standard Act 2000. These include;
1 good basic care
2 a feeling of safety
3 rights and responsibilities
4 individuality and development
5 education
6 health
7 moving from care placement
8 involving the child’s family.
REGISTRATION AND INSPECTION
The unit will comply with the Scottish Commission for Regulation of Care under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 and the SSSC, a statutory body established by the Act. This has important implication for care providers and care users. Children’s homes standards are now regulated under the National Care Standards and under part 1, inspection, registration, complaints and training will be carried out in compliance with the above.
STAFFING AND TRAINING
The staffing within the unit is an important factor in the daily running of the unit and a high degree of flexibility is required. Being a statutory organisation, the management structure within the unit would be defined within the organisation structure of the local authority.
The team would consist of:
External manager, with a social work and management degree
Unit manager with a social work degree and a management qualification, or working towards a management qualification which should be in line with the SSSC.
Deputy Manager with a social work qualification and again either a management qualification or working towards one i.e. SVQ level 1V..
On shift 3 day/back shift workers,
2 wakened night shift workers
and on call 2 sessional workers, again in line with the NCS and the SSSC basic grade staff would be required to have a minimum of HNC in Social Care and/or SVQ 111.
Domestic and cleaning staff, a handyman/woman and a gardener would also be employed.
Team meetings would be on a weekly basis to ensure that team morale is kept up and supervision would be on a regular occurrence. This would also allow everyone the opportunity to ensure that everyone is working in conjunction with the aims and objectives of the organisation.
The Kent report 97 and the Utting report 1997 critically evaluated the quality of past childcare practice. Both reports clearly stated that staff clearly have a responsibility to ‘blow the whistle on colleagues who display abusive behaviour’. Howarth 1999 p187
Opportunities for qualifications and professional development will be available for all staff members.
Training in areas such as alcohol/drug misuse and self-harm will be available. Training on meeting the needs of children from minority ethnic groups would be included in the policy and procedures of the resource. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 s17 places a duty on local authorities, ‘to have regard as far as practical the Childs religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background’. Durrant cited in Webb 1996 p89 suggests, ‘much serious damage has been done to black families… in the name of social work intervention’’. To promote equal opportunities to ethnic minority groups, local authorities need to take action against discrimination and recognise when it is occurring.
Participation within the community can have a major impact on the resource. The local council must take responsibility for involving the community in the proposed initiatives for the development of the unit. The recruitment of staff from the local area is one way in which the resource could be responsive to the community and advertisements could be placed in local newspapers and job centres. Service users should be involved in the recruitment of staff if they felt comfortable doing so.
CHILDRENS RIGHTS/RESPONSIBILITIES
I conceived that children would be brought to the unit for a visit prior to them moving in. This would give them an opportunity to meet with their key-worker and help reduce anxieties and prepare the young person for moving in. This would be in compliance with the NCS.
Admission and discharge procedures will be discussed when the young person enters the unit with the latter forming part of their care plan. In compliance with the Children (Scotland) Act, under section 31(1) a review will be held within six weeks and thereafter at regular intervals. Any resources or supports should be established and put in place prior to discharge. The discussion of house rules and boundaries would also be raised and agreed upon. Children would be involved in all stages of this, promoting their right to participation from the onset.
The key worker would seek to understand the young persons needs during assessment and is part of the care plan and agree objectives for the intervention. House meetings would take place once a fortnight but children can raise concerns, problems, and anxieties with any members of staff at any times.
Children’s rights should be consistently respected and they should be involved in decisions affecting them in the running of the home. Willow (1996) points out ‘children must participate to feel respected, valued and have full citizenship’.
Children have the right to respect, dignity, privacy, confidentiality, choice and treatment as an individual and as set out in the National Care Standards under the heading Best Practice Principles. Children would be supported in protecting their rights including survival rights, protection rights, developmental rights and participation rights.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion the way staff manage themselves and the events, has a significant impact on the child’s life and every effort should be invested into the safety and welfare of children. However, the provision of residential care must be a positive choice, as this remains an important resource for many young people.
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