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SOCIAL WORK WITH THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED
Each social worker's time is divided between work in the field of mental illness and of mental handicap.
The finding of suitable vacancies for short-term care of the mentally handicapped in times of family crises
has become increasingly difficult. With a decreasing number of vacancies available, particularly for the more
severely handicapped, parents are forced to carry on for many months in almost impossible conditions thus
endangering their own mental and physical health. This can result in the handicapped child having to leave
home permanently, whereas if short-term care could be provided when needed, a family might, after a suitable
break, continue to care for their handicapped member for perhaps many years. This absence of suitable
vacancies has caused great distress to parents and much frustration to social workers who can spend days of
their time in fruitless search for a suitable vacancy.
RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATION
Islington has two purpose built hostels in the planning stage. At present the extent of residential
accommodation is five bed-sitting rooms for women recovering from mental illness (which are rented by
the Council from the Islington Society for Mentally Handicapped Children) and privately-run accommodation
which accepts educationally subnormal men. The Council contributes towards the cost of board and lodging
in suitable cases. Both schemes are closely supported by mental health social workers and two of the
social workers run an evening group at the men's "hostel".
STUDENTS
The training aspect of the work has increased during 1969, making a heavy demand on our social
workers' time. A large number of students from both basic and professional social work courses have been
received in the section. Their length of stay may be as long as six months or, for some purely observational
placements, as short a time as two weeks. Medical students from nearby hospitals continue to visit for one
day a month in order to go out with mental health social workers and see something of the day-to-day
activities of the section.
A newer development is the regular visits from student psychiatric nurses from Friern Hospital, two
nurses coming in the spring and two in the autumn to spend two weeks in the section. They accompany
social workers on home visits and assist in emergency admissions as well as seeing something of our day
centres and other mental health activities. We are very glad to welcome these visitors to the department
and social workers find student training a most interesting and stimulating part of their work.
TRAINING CENTRES FOR THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED
A new centre, the Isledon Road industrial training centre, opened on 3rd November 1969 in premises
previously used for Civil Defence purposes. This centre has accommodation for 40 young men and women
who are capable of fairly advanced industrial work and who in some cases may later qualify for work in open
industry.
Bennett Court training centre now has an almost equal number of men and women. It is a lively 60
place centre with a mixed programme which includes industrial work, carpentry, cookery and education
classes, with outings and other activities to further social training. The Isledon Road and Bennett Court
centres join forces for regular visits to the local swimming baths.
The modern, light church hall vacated by the former Camden Road Adult training centre is to be
opened as the new Holloway special care unit, to cater for a group of 10 children from five years upwards
with a physical as well as a mental handicap. This unit is necessary because of the long waiting list for the
Rosemary special care unit.
The Rosemary junior training school with its capacity for 102 children from 5-16 years (including 12
in the special care unit) had 93 children on the roll by the end of the year. Good progress was maintained
in spite of staff changes and the fact that two teachers have been seconded for two-year training courses
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