View report page

education department. The Council has decided that in the first instance five social
case workers should be recruited, if possible by secondment of suitably qualified staff
who have a basic training in social science and the essential aptitude for family case
work.
The families to be referred to the social case worker will be selected by the divisional
co-ordinating committee from those families where at present most time is given by
the health visitor or where the committee judge that other factors point to the social
case worker being asked to take over. It is envisaged that referral to the social case worker
will result as part of the plan made by the divisional co-ordinating committee for
dealing with the family situation, and which has been discussed with and agreed by all
the field workers concerned. In this way the entry of the social case worker to the home
will be made easier and her function and that of the other workers will be more clearly
defined, for it is important that the number of visitors to the home should be kept to
a minimum if the family are not to be confused and irritated by an excess of advice,
admonition and exhortation from a variety of sources. The social case worker will
work through the divisional treatment organiser (who is secretary to the divisional
co-ordinating committee) and under the direction of the divisional medical officer (who
is chairman of that committee). She becomes a member of the public health department
' team ', working under the direction of the divisional co-ordinating committee, and
in this way further division of responsibility for preventive work is avoided and
co-operation facilitated with the other workers in the public health, education and
children's departments, where the Council's efforts in this field are concentrated. She
will have direct access to all other field workers and they will maintain contact with her.
She will attend meetings of the divisional co-ordinating committee whenever her
own cases, or potential cases, are under discussion, and will report back to the committee
as necessary and they will keep the progress of her work under review. Thus
the committee will act as a court of referral for discussion, consideration and guidance,
for experience has shown that there is a need for such support and direction for field
workers dealing with difficult families.
The social case workers will work in groups of two, so that team spirit may be
fostered and continuity maintained should one worker be withdrawn for any reason.
In the first instance two whole-time workers will be allocated to one division, and
one whole-time and one part-time worker (together equivalent to one-and-a-half
whole-time units) to each of two other divisions.
The duties of the social caseworker will include giving practical help in the home
on such matters as budgeting, home management, cleaning, care of children, etc., and
an essential part of the work will be concerned with the adjustment and improvement
of personal relationships within the family group. It may well happen on occasion
that the social case worker will find it necessary to be on duty outside normal office
hours—in the early morning, or in the evening or at week-ends, and so latitude in the
hours of work will be observed.
The cost of employing five social case workers is estimated to amount to .£3,450
a year.
The work of the children s department
Table III, on page 231, shows that neglect or cruelty to children is a factor which
occurs in 26 per cent, of all problem families. The Council's officers, in dealing with
cases of ill-treatment or neglect of children aim, whenever possible, to use to the full
any Council or voluntary service which may already be in close touch with the family
and, by co-ordination, to bring the other services which may be of use quickly to the
scene. The action required would depend on what is discovered. In most cases the
services concerned (e.g. health visitors, children's care committee organisation, probation
officers, voluntary agencies, child welfare officers) can and do cope and try to remedy
the family situation which gave rise to the complaint, and indeed, as already stated,
168