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The majority of these families continue to be problem families for years
and receive the attention of a number of social workers, voluntary organisations
and the assistance of local authority services. This support is a
heavy burden on the community involving the time of workers, expensive
residential acconmodation and financial assistance of various kinds.
Ministry of Health Circular 27/54
This Circular to Local Health Aithorities points out that:-
"Children in the 'problem families', where one or both parents are often
handicapped by physical ill-health or are of low intelligence or suffering
from mental instability, are peculiarly exposed to physical neglect and
risk of mental illness such as psychological disturbance and retarded
mental development. Problem families thus tend to reproduce themselves in
the next generation and cost the community an expense out of all proportion
to their numbers. Action to break this vicious circle by preventive
measures would, in the Minister's view, be a proper exercise of the local
health authorities', powers under Section 28 of the National Health Service
Act, 1946.
"The health visitor whose work now extends to cover the whole field of
prevention of ill-heedth, including prevention of mental ill-health, is by
reason of her close contact with families with young children, particularly
well placed to recognise the early signs of failure in the family which may
lead to disruption of normal home life with consequent risk to the mental
health of the children".
The Minister also "suggests that authorities should consider whether
their health visiting service can be redeployed on a more selective basis and
if necessary increased so that more time is devoted to those families where
problems are likely to arise, or are known to exist".
The Scheme for this Area
The Circular adds considerable support to the following plan which I had
intended to submit for the Committee's consideration before becoming aware of
its contents:-
The health visitor, although the obvious person to tackle problem families
and to endeavour to improve their outlook and behaviour, because of her
many and varied duties, is normally unable to devote sufficient time to this
part of her work. As an experiment, therefore, it is suggested that the
following steps should be taken with the object of re-educating families in
their own homes instead of (as is often the case) separating them:-