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programme, to examine and advise on the treatment of backward children and those
presenting difficult problems of behaviour and education, and to refer suitable cases to a
child guidance clinic for further advice and treatment.
(f) Divisional case conferences—Arising out of a review carried out in 1943 which took
cognisance of the 'Feversham' recommendations the Council decided to set up in each
education division a small standing conference, colloquially known as the 'problem'
case conference.
Each conference meets at regular intervals, either fortnightly or monthly. It consists of
the District Inspector of Schools, who acts as chairman, the Divisional (Education) Officer,
the Divisional Medical Officer, and the District Organiser of Children's Care Work, who
acts as secretary. Others who may attend, either regularly or for specific cases, are psychiatrists,
educational psychologists, representatives of voluntary care committees etc., while
headteachers are welcomed for discussion on children from their schools. Teachers of
children who present problems from the educational or behaviour angle and others are
free to seek the help of the conference, whether or not medical considerations appear to
be involved. The need of children for special schooling may be in question, whilst others
may have difficulties in their homes.
The conferences have the advantage of working as a team—the foundation underlying
so much child guidance work—and the fact that the secretary is the District Organiser of
Children's Care, who is responsible for the general organisation of social work for pupils
and their parents ensures the proper co-ordination of all aspects of case-work carried
out by the education authority.
Some twenty years ago, when most of the school medical treatment under the Education
Act of 1921 was done by voluntary bodies, who were paid only nominal sums by the
Council, the relatively high cost of child guidance led inevitably to the concept of
'screening' and pre-selection of cases, in order to ensure that no problems were referred
to clinics which could be solved in other ways and thus to reduce the cost to the Council.
These considerations are no longer overriding, but the work done by the conferences,
apart from selection of cases for referral to clinics, is of such value and is so welcomed
by teachers, amongst others, that the system continues to operate successfully in London.
Table (i) shows how the work of the 'problem' case conferences increased from their
inception in April, 1944 to a peak about five years ago, since when the number of new
cases dealt with has averaged rather more than 1,800 a year and that, allowing for cases
'kept on the books', there are about 3,800 children, less than one per cent of the total
school roll, being dealt with in a year.
The conferences have disposed of the cases brought to their notice in four main ways—
reference to child guidance clinics; to me for medical action; to the education officer for
'educational action' such as reference to an educational psychologist, change of school,
special remedial class, enforcement of attendance, etc., and for ' other action' such as
reference to a moral welfare agency, dealt with by juvenile court, received into care, etc.
The major method of disposal has been the reference to a child guidance clinic and the
steadily increasing percentage of the cases so disposed of, from only 50 per cent in the early
years to 80 per cent in the later years, has been shown in the table. The need in the earlier
years for such a 'screening' procedure is apparent and the figures illustrate how over
the years the referring sources have themselves, by a better appreciation of what child
guidance can do, become more selective. Nevertheless the value of the conferences should
not be measured by this alone and, as has been said earlier, they continue because they
serve a useful function in the wider educational organisation.
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