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78
Parent Guidance
The Area Committee recommended a scheme to deal with behaviour problems
in children under five, and the County Council agreed that the North East and
North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Boards should be asked jointly to
arrange for the employment, as an experiment, of a psychiatrist for one
session a week in this Area to advise medical and health visiting staff in the
method of helping parents of children with behaviour problems and to deed with
cases specially referred to him.
Experimental Play Group for Children under Five
As an adjunct to the scheme for dealing with behaviour problems it is
further proposed to set up at Park Lane Clinic and Day Nursery during 1955 an
experimental "play group" where children with such problems can mix and play
with other children.
The scheme envisages the co operation of the Child Guidance staff and it
is hoped to report progress at an early date.
Daily Guardian Scheme
The supervised daily minding of children under school age, whose mothers
are in full-time enployment was established in this Area in 1947, It
commenced very modestly with three married women who were prepared to take
into their own homes, children whose mothers could not make any other satisfactory
arrangements for minding by the day.
Each guardian is paid one shilling a day for each child placed with her,
irrespective of payment received from the mother. There are no retaining
fees and payment commences after registration and evidence of the receipt of
the child. No guardian may accept more than two children. The selection of
guardians is limited to those who are prepared to keep to the rules of the
scheme and are approved by the health visitor for the district. The health
visitor is also responsible for visiting the child after placement.
The high standard expected of a guardian and the care health visitors
have taken in keeping to the standard, have no doubt largely contributed
to the success of this scheme
The scheme has gradually increased year by year. There is no local
difficulty in obtaining applicants for this type of work* on the contrary,
more apply than are registered and we are in the happy position of having more
registered guardians than children who require daily minding.
At the close of 1954 where were 144 daily guardians on the register, of
whom 82 were minding 89 children.