CHAPTER 6 - The Juvenile Court and the Social Services Department

Abstract

This chapter explains the juvenile court and the social services department. The first service to be in contact with the child and his parents, once attendance has failed, may be the education welfare officer from the local Education Department, next the juvenile court, and later the social services department. The extent to which one of these services uses another may vary from one district to another. The verdict of the court, for instance, may bring in the social services department more or less frequently. Education welfare officers, who are the majority of social workers in the education service, are employed in some areas by the social services department. Some social workers are seconded to the school psychological service where their skills may include counseling, and some may, indeed, be called school counselors. Social workers in social services departments may be in touch with children who are not attending school either because the child has been placed under the supervision of the local authority usually in whose area he resides or because of the child's committal to care of the local authority. School attendance is a legal obligation between the ages of 5–16 years, and it is the duty of parents to see that their children attend school. The law that appertains to school attendance is laid down in the Education Act 1944, sections 35–40, with various amendments in the Education Acts 1946, 1948, and 1953, and in the 1962 Second Schedule of the 1944 Act.