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Although friendly supervision is discontinued at about the age of 18 (unless active
assistance is still required), a number come to notice again at a later stage, sometimes some
years later, when further help is required. This may arise from such factors as homelessness
following the death of a parent, appearance before the courts, illegitimate pregnancy or
sometimes problems following on marriage. In all such cases, any possible help or guidance
is given. This also applies to those subnormal persons returning to the community after a
period of hospital care, when efforts are made to assist rehabilitation.
The maladjusted school-leaver—After-care of the children leaving the schools for the
maladjusted is now the responsibility of the public health department. Some of these
children require little if any follow-up, having made a good adjustment during the last
months at school; others require help in varying degrees from placing in suitable lodgings
to arranging attendance at a psychiatric clinic or admission to hospital. The service includes
giving supportive help to the family, landlady or hostel staff as the case may be.
With children who are in the Council's care there is liaison between the mental health
social worker and the child care officer as and when the need arises, the mental welfare
officer taking over normally at the age of 18 if continuing help is required. This applies
also to the subnormal.
Hostel placing: Dover Lodge—The main bulk of the social work connected with this
hostel for up to 13 sub-normal girls in work falls mainly on the division in which it is
situated, although mental welfare officers from other divisions play their part where they
have a special relationship with the girls or their families. Close contact is maintained with
the hostel and it falls to the lot of the social worker to find alternative placement when
girls are ready to leave or are found unsuitable for retention there. The role of the social
worker includes close co-operation with the Youth Employment service, child care officers
and, of course, the staff of the hostel on anything concerning the general well-being of the
girls; this includes employment conditions, recreational activities, holiday arrangements
and general social training. The girls admitted to Dover Lodge are almost invariably
those with either no home or homes into which they cannot fit satisfactorily. They are
often lacking in a sense of security and sometimes with consequent delinquent tendencies.
As a result, what may appear prima facie to be a disproportionate amount of the social
workers' time and effort has to be spent on work at this hostel. This will probably
apply also to future hostels, whether for the mentally ill or the subnormal.
Hostels of voluntary bodies—The foregoing applies, to a lesser extent, to those boys and
girls maintained in hostels run by bodies such as the National Association for Mental
Health, the Church Army, etc; while the mental welfare officer is not quite so involved
during the stay at the hostel, there is usually a great deal of community care work to be
done subsequently, sometimes for many years on any one particular case. One such lad,
since leaving the hostel, has been placed by the mental welfare officer concerned four
times in lodgings, once in resident employment, three times in other employment and twice
in other hostels. Each of these placings represents much time-consuming effort on the part
of the social worker and this pattern seems likely to continue.
The educational role of the mental health team—One valuable effect of divisionalisation
of the service has been the closer contact and liaison with general practitioners, outpatient
clinics, day hospitals, health visitors and other social workers, and the various
social agencies, with the resultant exchange of ideas and information and improved
mutual understanding. The mental welfare officers have actively participated in the
meetings held at divisional level to which general practitioners and others were invited.
During the year the Principal Mental Welfare Officer, her deputy and the divisional
mental welfare officers (in some cases their deputies or the psychiatric social worker)
have given talks on mental health to various local groups, including health visitors and
other social workers, mothers' meetings, branches of the Society for the Mentally
Handicapped, Rotary clubs and groups concerned with old people's welfare, etc.
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