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37
MENTAL SUBNORMALITY
Number of new cases during the year 99
The final arrangement made for these new cases was as follows:-
No further action 15
Number taken into Council's community care 84
A further breakdown of the 84 persons taken into Council's community care during
the year, showing the type of care arranged, was as follows:-
Admission to private homes, etc. 5
Receiving visits from Mental Health Social
Worker 84
Attendance at training centre 14
Other type of community care 4
Note:- Some people were receiving more than one type of care
Total number of mentally subnormal persons receiving community
care at the end of the year 501
PREVENTION OF BREAK-UP OF FAMILIES
The task of dealing with problem families brings in many of the Health
Department workers - the health visitor is probably one of the first to meet
the families and notify their existence to the Health Department - the routine
work then continues as a matter of liaison between many categories of workers
in different departments. As far as the Health Department is concerned the
position is as follows:-
On January 1st, 1965, there were two full-time caseworkers and a senior
social worker with a part-time case load in the former L.C.C. Health Division
No. 4. Two long-term students under the supervision of the latter had started
work with limited case loads before the changeover. One full-time caseworker
moved to another borough and the other was promoted to a senior position on
April 1st. During the year two new caseworkers were recruited to take their
places. In spite of these difficulties a service of supportive, intensive
casework has been maintained throughout the year; service was not withdrawn
from any family because of staffing difficulties, and care was taken to ensure
that no individual family had more than one change of caseworker. At the
beginning of the year 24 families were being supported with a total of 104
children and at the end of the year 21 families with a total of 89 children.
Eleven cases were closed during the year, of these nine were thought to be.
able to use the normal services and two refused help. Three families were
transferred to other agencies. Only eleven new families could be referred to
the caseworkers during 1965; the drop in number being due to the fact that
one of the new caseworkers was recently appointed and had not built up a full
case load.
The routine work of the caseworkers consist of weekly and often more
frequent visiting to most families and includes evening visiting on an average
twice a week. Some families require less support for a time and then may
suddenly require intensive daily support during a crisis. A great deal of the
caseworkers' time is spent in discussion and correspondence with other people.
As an example, one family consists of illiterate parents, the mother being
crippled from polio, with five little children. Apart from the help that
these parents need to give adequate physical and emotional care to their children,
their social problems have involved the caseworker in consultation with the
health visitor, head teacher, care committee worker, housing officers (welfare
and management), National Assistance Board officers, Income Tax officers, gas
and electricity board accounts' departments, Ministry of Pensions and National
Insurance, social workers from the Welfare Departments of this and another
Borough, British Polio Fellowship, and a hospital medical social worker.