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to occupy subnormality hospital beds who could well be sustained in hostels in the community, whilst waiting
lists for hospital admissions for those needing hospital care remain depressingly long. This Council's earliest
projected undertaking in this sphere is a hostel for 30 females which figures in the development plans and
programme of capital works for 1971/72 at an estimated cost of £75,000.
At the end of 1968 the Council was maintaining in informal foster care 47 subnormal persons in
establishments provided by such organisations as the Brighton Guardianship Society; the Ravenswood Foundation;
the Sons of Divine Providence, Teddington; the Retarded Children's Aid Society; Camphill Village
Trust Ltd.; as well as various convents and privately-run registered homes.
In order to afford to parents some respite from the constant burden of caring for retarded children
at home, to permit family holidays, or to meet crisis or special situations in the home, such as illness or confinements,
short term care arrangements were made as needed. Seventy-seven such temporary placements were
made in hospitals and thirteen residentially elsewhere.
"Homelea" Hostel, 191 Willesden Lane
This Hostel for 12 subnormal working boys has continued to function well.
The Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent arranged and carried out a somewhat adventurous
touring and camping holiday abroad, making excellent use of the minibus lent them by the Willesden Association
for the Welfare of the Handicapped. The staff reported that the venture ran as smoothly as planned
and that the Hostel residents were very stimulated and happy by seeing so much of France and even part of
Italy.
I have felt a little uneasy whether this journey has indeed given the boys so much more than a similar
holiday in England might have done, bearing in mind the not inconsiderable risks involved with a large group
of dependent youngsters, including two additional very young children of staff. However, undoubtedly the
officers felt it was all very worthwhile.
There has been a change at the Hostel in the degree of medical practitioner involvement. For some
time it had been felt that the residents needed more attention from a general practitioner than the average
patient on his list and that the staff needed the support of a family doctor in the physical management of the
boys.
Therefore, it was arranged that an interested general practitioner should be offered a small number of
sessions to be devoted to the boys within the Hostel setting. It was fortunate that such a doctor could be found
whose surgery is within short walking distance of the Hostel, and staff as well as boys have benefitted greatly
by this additional support, especially during the latter part of the year when some of the residents became
quite disturbed and others suffered from physical ailments.
There were few discharges or admissions and it has to be accepted that the period of stay in this
Hostel will always be very much longer than at a mental after-care one.
Neasden Junior Training Centre
This establishment has outgrown its original premises and I am writing in the knowledge that next
year it will no longer exist there and in its new home (Kingsbury Junior Training School) may not even be a
matter for this annual report. In November the Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons that the
decision had been taken to transfer the responsibility for the education of severely subnormal children from
the Health to the Education Services. This would in no way adversely affect staff conditions of service or
training. The news was received with great satisfaction by the majority of people involved in the work, but
there are still considerable difficulties to be faced and many questions regarding responsibilities for the most
difficult, often multiple-handicapped, children's care yet to be solved. The Department of Health and Social
Security have consequently conducted a survey of a limited number of Special Care Units, including the one
attached to this Centre. This was done specifically to assess whether it would be deleterious for multiplehandicapped
children to be segregated from those suffering from simple mental retardation of a high degree.
We were in a position to prove that certainly in some cases, in the present set-up, transfers from the Special
Care Unit to the Training Centre proper were easy and speedy. This would probably not have been the case,
had the two units been the responsibility of different departments. This would certainly not have been to the
advantage of the children concerned. I feel strongly that it would be wrong to perpetuate a dichotomy merely
with separation at yet a lower level of handicap than before. It is to be hoped that the Ministers concerned with
the problem will not be swayed by the bogey of "educability" but rather view the matter as one of the needs
of all children in much wider terms.
The forthcoming move has necessitated a change of policy regarding the designation of such establishments
and, accordingly, the new one will no longer be termed a Centre but will be called "Kingsbury
Junior Training School".
The major part of the year has been a very difficult one for the Centre as to the staff situation and the
consequent increase in the waiting list for admission. Recruiting of qualified or even only experienced staff has
never been quite so difficult as in this year. I feel sure that the most important factor for this was the low
salary scale offered. More and more local authorities have departed from the "Assistant Supervisor Scale"
and, by raising salaries, have attracted staff who might otherwise have applied for posts at this Centre. This
has meant that classes of young children had to be amalgamated for varying periods of time, thus not only
depriving children of individual teaching, but also putting a considerable amount of stress on the staff. Consequently,
the teacher sickness rate rose, giving rise to even more difficulties in this vicious circle. The least
affected fortunately, were the Special Care Unit and the Transition Class at St. Margaret's Church Hall. This
latter continued to function well in spite of substandard premises. All the children in this Class are now ready
for transfer to the temporary Adult Training Centre which it is hoped will be opened on the premises of the
present Junior one at Neasden. Happily, we can look forward to a substantial improvement in this situation
in that next year, with the expected opening of the new school, the new staff establishment will be on the
substantially higher "Supervisor/Teacher Scale" and this, together with the attraction of the new building,
should encourage applicants of the desired calibre.