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county, namely, Kensington and Paddington; Islington, Finsbury and Holborn; Stepney,
Poplar and Bethnal Green; Southwark and the northern parts of Lambeth and Bermondsey.
From 1961 a grant has been made to the Family Welfare Association towards their work
with families with problems. In 1964 a small grant was made to the Elfrida Rathbone
Committee (Islington Branch) to enable that Committee to continue its work with problem
families having educationally sub-normal children.
The Council also provided training courses for selected home helps who were willing to
work with problem families, helping them under the direction of the health visitor or social
worker to be self-supporting.
Since 1954 the Council has been associated with special home-making courses for
selected mothers. Some of these have been organised by voluntary committees under the
auspices of the London Council of Social Service, with financial support from the Council;
others are run by the Council's own staff. The courses provide for regular weekly meetings
of small groups of mothers known to have problems, including some mothers from
' problem families
Residential establishments for young children in care
Private residential establishments and those under the management of the Children's
Committee are visited regularly by the Council's medical officers, who advise on hygiene,
child health and problems of any children whose development is causing concern. Also
the progress of handicapped children is discussed with the nursery staff and, if necessary, the
question of additional investigation, treatment and training discussed with the visiting
medical officer.
A register is maintained of physically and mentally handicapped children and individual
case histories are regularly reviewed by a senior medical officer, so that constructive plans
can be made for special education or long-term care.