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131
During the year, the department gave financial help to 35 young
unmarried mothers at the request of the local Moral Welfare
Workers who, in their turn, placed the girls in various mother
and baby homes. (See also page 114.)
Four mothers were maintained by this department in the
Greenlow Society Hostel.
SERVICES FOR THE HANDICAPPED
Although, at present, some categories of handicapped people
fall outside the National Health Scheme for pecuniary benefits it
is the aim of our community services to help all individuals towards
self-support and an independent life, such measures including
rehabilitation and training for regaining capacity for work. Where
this is found to be impractical, a solution is sought by the department
which endeavours to give the handicapped the greatest of
physical and mental freedom compatible with his/her underlying
condition. Attainment of these objects means a personal social
service to individuals or families and, ipso facto, a demand for
more social workers in the local authority services.
Again it is necessary to state that until a sufficiency of trained
social workers becomes available it is inevitable that some of the
social work will have to be sustained by persons qualified by
practical experience and limited training and to whom we already
owe a great deal for the maintenance of standards of the present
services.
General
Whilst it can be said that the staffing situation did not improve
during the current year, wastage was less than previously. Unfortunately,
we were unable to recruit any Home Teachers of the
Blind to supplement the department's one social worker so
qualified and the position in this respect, therefore, remains
unchanged. Despite the scarcity of qualified staff, integration of
workers in the social field, consequent upon the department's
reorganisation, enabled all services to be maintained.
Some 381 guests participated in the ten Christmas and New
Year parties organised for the handicapped of which five were
held at the Maze Hill Training Centre where their success was
assured by the co-operation of the Head Teacher and her staff.
Again, following precedent, £40 was donated by the Mayor from
his Christmas Fund towards the cost of gifts for the younger
handicapped.
An innovation in 1967 was the arrangement made for handicapped
persons to undertake their own Christmas shopping. On