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77
REPORT OF THE CHIEF WELFARE OFFICER
WELFARE SERVICES STAFF
Chief Welfare Officer: J. Hanson, o.b.e., d.m.a., f.i.s.w.
Deputy Chief Welfare Officer: J. Gill, d.m.a., a.i.s.w.
Casework Supervisor: Mrs. E. K. M. Lemare-Long, a.i.m.s.w.
Senior Social Welfare Officers: D. Hilditch. C.s.w.
R. P. Messer, c.s.w., a.i.s.w.
Miss J Turner, c.s.w.
Senior Social Welfare Officer for the Blind: A. A. R. Clay, a.i.s.w.
Specialist Welfare Officer for the Deaf: P. Coward, d.d.w.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am pleased to submit my third annual report upon the
development of the Welfare Services in the Borough. I have
endeavoured to outline the main objectives, and to make an
appraisal of some of the services in order to highlight their
deficiencies. It is as important, I feel, to indicate what remains to be
done as well as what has been accomplished.
Reference was made in last year's report to the limitations
imposed on the development of the Welfare Services in the
Borough as a result of the Government's economic policy. This
stringency continued throughout the year now under review and
the general picture has been one of development within strict
limits.
A significant event was the appointment of the Specialist
Welfare Officer for the Deaf in December, 1967. Previous attempts
to make an appointment to this post had been unsuccessful, so that
I had to report both in 1965 and 1966 that virtually no welfare
service was provided in the Borough for the adult deaf and hard
of hearing. This Report only covers the first few months of this
officer's service with the authority, but many contacts with clients
have been made already and the foundations for a comprehensive
welfare service for the deaf and hard of hearing have been laid.
Another development was the setting up of a Work Centre for
the Physically Handicapped in the Penge area. This Centre was
started in July, 1967, in co-operation with the Penge Round Table,
in premises provided by the Education Department at the Alexandra
Infants School. The appointment of an Industrial Work
Organiser enabled contracts for work to be negotiated with
commercial firms and public bodies to the benefit of those attending
the Work Centre. Transport has been provided by the department
in the two special vehicles purchased in June, 1966, and in
October, 1967, respectively. It soon became clear that these two
vehicles were inadequate to meet the needs of the physically
handicapped in the Borough and several more vehicles of this type