Social Services Committee Research Articles

Sweeping redesign of Wyoming's MH services policy underway

Wyoming is redesigning how it provides behavioral health services, and while most of the details are still to be determined, it seems clear fewer people will qualify for state‐funded treatment. The upshot, however, according to advocates, is that by focusing scarce resources on those who need help the most, the state can prevent expensive and painful cycles of institutionalization and family breakups, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported July 5. House Bill 38 — Community behavioral health‐priority populations, passed during the 2021 legislative session, requires the Wyoming Department of Health to reconsider the state‐funded mental health and substance abuse system. Wyoming pays for many mental health and substance abuse services provided through a network of community behavioral health centers. In recent years, the state put about $44 million annually into such programs, but demand for services consistently outstripped funding and supply. Then budgeters reduced mental health funding by $7.5 million annually — roughly 17%. That reduction was put in place July 1, the first day of the fiscal year. House Bill 38, the result of a years‐long effort, was an attempt to get the most impact out of that oversubscribed investment. One of the mechanisms to that end involves establishing priority treatment groups. A report is due to the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee Sept. 1.

Effectiveness of the Upazila Management Committee (UMC) on Social Security: The Case of the Sadar Upazila of Brahmanbaria District

The Cabinet Division of the Government of the Peoples‟ Republic of Bangladesh formed the Upazila Management Committee (UMC) on Social Security on 27 August 2018 to manage the overall coordination; monitoring and evaluation; database management; and beneficiary selection of all the social-security programmes being implemented at various government agencies in an Upazila. As per the administrative records, there were no documents available to prove that any UMC meeting held in the country and thereby it seemed to be not being functional since its establishment. Therefore, this baseline research was conducted to (a) assess the level of functionality of the UMC; (b) identify the causes; (c) find out suggestions to overcome the challenges. It was found that out of 64 upazilas, randomly selected one from each district, only 2 UMC meetings were held, and only 7 Upazila Nirbahi Officers had knowledge about the notification of the UMC. Since its establishment, the UMC of the Brahmanbaria Sadar has not been effective and functional. The reasons being (a) noncommunication of the notification with the UMC members through the formal procedure and (b) prominence of the activities related to the National Parliament Election. Therefore, the following recommendations have been made – (a) direct and formal communication of the notification of the UMC with the members especially with the chairperson and the member-secretary; (b) training and awareness building for the UMC members; (c) rigorous monitoring by the Department of Social Services and (d) District Management Committee and the Divisional Management Committee should also be made functional immediately

Pragmatism and practicalities: Residential placement and reintegration of young males who have sexually abused

Human service responses to sexual abuse perpetrated by young people are often extensive and expensive, and yet many aspects of these responses remain contentious. In 2007, as members of Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW), we prepared a submission to the Social Services Committee for the Inquiry into the Care and Rehabilitation of Youth Sex Offenders. This paper expands on points made in the ANZASW submission, with a particular focus on availability of suitable residential placements for young men who have sexually abused. The paper then considers issues relevant to reintegration of these youth into the community following a period in residential placement.

News @ a glance

Aboriginal health: A study of 4000 Quebec Aboriginal people in 23 native communities and 3 cities reveals that the majority smoke tobacco and are overweight or obese. The interview-based study, carried out in 2002 by the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Committee, was

Small State Notches Big Prescribing Battle Victory

Small State Notches Big Prescribing Battle Victory

From rhetoric to reality. Part 2.

A consultation exercise on the future of services for older people which I undertook recently for a local authority social services committee, revealed - predictably - a wide diversity of opinions. But there were deep variations, too, in the abilities of the stakeholders we were consulting to put across their points of view, and I saw it as an important part of my role to try to compensate for these differences when listening to people who clearly had difficulties in communication. Carers and relatives, groups who often go unheard, were, in this situation, both articulate and in most cases well-organised. I had only to advertise my availability for their point of view to be expressed powerfully, by individuals and groups, orally and in writing, some of it moderately expressed, some of it put across with passion, even anger.

The African-Centered Worldview

Social work interventions with black families and children have been source of controversy, conflict, and disquiet for many decades. Research evidence continues to indicate that Black communities are overrepresented in those services that involve social control functions such as juvenile justice system in its dealings with young Black people, compulsory admissions to psychiatric units, and child protection. Black families are underrepresented in receiving preventative and supportive aspects of service delivery (Barn, 1993; Clarke et al., 1993; Roys, 1993; Lambert and Rowe, 1982; Skellington and Morris, 1992). Black communities and Black professionals in field continue to voice their general dissatisfaction with social work interventions and with disabling effects of social work process (Harris, 1991). The Association of Black Social Workers and Allied Professions (ABSWAP) provided compelling evidence to House of Commons Social Services Committee in 1983 highlighting plight of Black children in care system and was active in identifying need for a legislative framework that addresses race, culture, and language in provision and delivery of services (ABSWAP, 1983). Despite introduction of 1989 Children Act, and in particular Section 22(5)(c), which clearly requires local authorities to give due consideration to the child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background in provision of services and service delivery, Black children of all ages and both sexes continue to be overrepresented in public care system

Psychiatric clinics in homeless hostels – your flexible friend

The increasing awareness that serious mental disorder is common among men residing in homeless hostels has acted as a fillip towards providing new services for this disadvantaged group. Conventional psychiatry frequently fails to meet their needs, not least because of the formality and inaccessibility of the contact. Detailed psychiatric history taking, for example, is often perceived as a barrier to communication with no intrinsic benefit for the homeless. Indeed psychiatrists often appear distant to hostel staff. The Salvation Army have gone so far as to suggest to the House of Commons Social Services Committee that community psychiatric nurses are effective because of their ability to mediate with consultant psychiatrists.

The availability of epidural anaesthesia and analgesia in obstetrics

Summary. This survey analyses the provision of obstetric epidural services on national and regional bases and also by size of obstetric unit. Epidural anaesthesia and analgesia in obstetrics is not readily available to all women who wish for it, or in whom it is recommended on medical grounds, in spite of the recommendations of the Social Services Committee and other advisory bodies. Deficiencies in the provision of facilities are obvious but further analysis at a local level is required to determine the reasons and the remedies.

The Availability of Epidural Anaesthesia and Analgesia in Obstetrics

Summary. This survey analyses the provision of obstetric epidural services on national and regional bases and also by size of obstetric unit. Epidural anaesthesia and analgesia in obstetrics is not readily available to all women who wish for it, or in whom it is recommended on medical grounds, in spite of the recommendations of the Social Services Committee and other advisory bodies. Deficiencies in the provision of facilities are obvious but further analysis at a local level is required to determine the reasons and the remedies.

Britain's Health Care Experiment

Prologue: Changing political and economic tides during the 1980s forced the British government to examine anew its National Health Service (NHS). Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, pushed by the threefold forces of budgetary constraints, rising public expectations, and demands for increased productivity, undertook a revision of the service that enraged the medical profession. For the first time in forty years, British general practitioners (GPs) will cede some of their prized clinical autonomy to managers and purchasers. In this article, Patricia Day and Rudolf Klein examine the revisions to the NHS. They state, “In the context of the NHS culture, this move from … trust to contract is truly revolutionary and has perhaps the farthest-reaching long-term implications' of any reform to date. This, rather than competition, is going to “distinguish the new-style NHS,” the authors assert. Day, who received a sociology degree in London, has been a social policy research officer at the University of Bath since 1980. She has researched internal communications and organization of London hospitals, has studied the purchasing and supplies organization of the NHS, and also has studied public housing in the London borough of Camden. Klein, born in Czechoslovakia, received his master of arts degree in modern history from Merton College, Oxford, and spent several years working as a journalist with the London Evening Standard and Observer . Currently he is director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy at Bath, which he founded, and is professor of social policy there. He has been a specialist adviser to the Social Services Committee of the House of Commons, joint editor of Political Quarterly , and consultant to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He published an article on the NHS in Health Affairs , Spring 1985, entitled “Why Britain's Conservatives Support a Socialist Health Care System.”

Parliament.

Hopes of funding community care for mentally ill or handicapped people through large land sales are set to be dashed according to the Commons Social Services Committee.

Literature Review: Community-based Versus Hospital-based Care for Acutely Mentally Ill People

developments. Modern mental health policy has as its ideal a system of care where people continue to reside and to receive treatment in the local com munity and if hospital admission is necessary—which it will be for some patients—this should be as brief as possible to preserve community ties and reduce dependency. Discharge should then be followed by careful maintenance of aftercare with continuing liaison between hospital and community mental health staff. The overall service should be planned, coherent and tailored to meet individual needs (House of Commons Social Services Committee, 1985; Griffiths, 1988; HMSO, 1989). The social work contribution to the new service will encompass new ways of working and discussion of these changes will surely benefit from reference to accumulating research findings. Future mental health servi ces will also be required to provide data on their activities in the inter ests of accountability and rational planning and this will mean auditing more precisely what social work services are provided. This review will assess the quantity and quality of empirical evidence available to inform policy makers, managers and practitioners and ques tion its usefulness for developing and modifying existing services. Coverage is restricted to adults with acute mental disorders rather than discharged long-stay patients whose outcomes have been reviewed by 0045-3102/90 $3.00 © 1990 British Association of Social Workers

Comfort for carers.

The 'forgotten army' of carers looking after dependants at home is forgotten no more. Last week saw the publication of a report by the Social Services Committee ( 1 ) which, for once, goes beyond lip-service. For years, organisations representing the interests of so-called 'informal' carers have been pressing for more support, financial help and recognition for the estimated six million people who take on an open-ended commitment to care.

The availability of epidural anaesthesia and analgesia in obstetrics

This survey analyses the provision of obstetric epidural services on national and regional bases and also by size of obstetric unit. Epidural anaesthesia and analgesia in obstetrics is not readily available to all women who wish for it, or in whom it is recommended on medical grounds, in spite of the recommendations of the Social Services Committee and other advisory bodies. Deficiencies in the provision of facilities are obvious but further analysis at a local level is required to determine the reasons and the remedies.

Elderly could be evicted over cash crisis.

Thousands of elderly residents of nursing homes could be evicted unless the Government changes its plans for community care, the Commons Social Services Committee has warned.

Resignation at the Treasury: the Social Services Committee and the Failure to Reform the Welfare State, 1955–57

ABSTRACTBetween 1955–7 welfare expenditure in Britain came under serious attack. The main protagonist was the Treasury and its chosen implement a five-year review of the social services, to be presided over by a ministerial Social Services Committee. The attack rebounded, for the Committee provided the opportunity for the consolidation of the defence of welfare expenditure and for a frontal attack on Treasury assumptions. This neglected episode in Conservative government social policy places in historical context the early defeat of monetarism (with Thorneycroft's resignation in 1958) and provides the background to the establishment of the Plowden Committee and of the Public Expenditure Survey Committee. It also raises questions about the degree of post-war consensus and the failure to make the constructive development of the welfare state an objective of ‘conviction’ politics.

Social Services Committee Report on NHS Reforms

Social Services Committee Report on NHS Reforms

Social services committee demand 'slow down'

Social services committee demand 'slow down'

NHS review. JCC's evidence to social services committee.

NHS review. JCC's evidence to social services committee.