Exploration into Child Care

127 Pages·2022·37.551 MB·English

by  Peter Boss

Routledge Revivals
Exploration into Child Care
Originally published in 1971, this title explores childcare in the period
betweentheChildrenActof1948andtheSeebohmReportof1968.During
this time Children’s Departments and social work expanded beyond all
expectations.Inthedevelopmentsofthesetwodecadestheauthorstudiesthe
historyoftheChildCareServiceandakeyexampleoftheprocessesofsocial
policy. The contents are a chronicle of events that shaped developments in
theserviceinEnglandandWalesduringthattime.Todayitcanbereadand
enjoyedinitshistoricalcontext.

Exploration into Child Care
Peter Boss
Firstpublishedin1971
byRoutledge&KeganPaulLtd
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2023byRoutledge
4ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
andbyRoutledge
605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©1971PeterBoss
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilisedin
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Publisher’sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprintbutpoints
outthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalcopiesmaybeapparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes
correspondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletocontact.
ALibraryofCongressrecordexistsunderISBN:0710069650
ISBN:978-1-032-44147-4(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-003-37075-8(ebk)
ISBN:978-1-032-44157-3(pbk)
BookDOI10.4324/9781003370758
Exploration into child care
by Peter Boss
University of Leicester,
School of Social Work
LONDON
ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL
First published 1971
by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.,
Broadway House,
68-74 Carter Lane,
London, EC4V sEL
Printed in Great Britain by
Northumberland Press Ltd.,
Gateshead 8
© Peter Boss 1971
No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from the
publisher, except for the quotation of
brief passages in criticism
Contents
General editor's introduction vii
1 Introduction 1
2 The Children Act 1948 4
'Whose Children?' 4
The Curtis Report 12
Provisions of the Children Act 1948 22
Child care in the social services 25
3 The Children Act in operation 34
Startin9 the service 34
Numbers in care 36
Problems of accommodation 44
Foster care 51
Chan9es in residential care 53
Adoption work 56
Child protection 58
Approved school after-care 59
4 Policy developments-the Children and Young
Persons Act 1963 63
The child ne9lected in his own home 63
The co-ordination issue 65
The In9leby Report 68
The~~Act ~
Effects on the service 75
5 Policy developments-future trends 81
The call for a family service 81
V
CONTENTS
The Seebohm report 85
'Children in Trouble' and the Children and Young
Persons Act 1969 90
Home Office reorganization 95
6 Manpower and training 98
7 Postscript 108
Guide to further reading II3
Tables
Table I Number of Children in Care and
Received and Discharged 1949-1959,
England and Wales 37
Table 2 Number of Children in Care and
Received and Discharged 1960-1968,
England and Wales 41
vi
General editor's introduction
In its modern form, the Child Care service started from
the publication of the Curtis Report and the enactment of
the Children Act of 1948. It was envisaged then as a com
paratively minor service for neglected and deprived
children, headed by a local authority officer, probably a
social worker, who could stand in loco parentis to them.
In the next twenty years, both Children's Departments and
social work were to expand beyond all expectations. The
acquisition of preventive powers by Children's Depart
ments under the 1963 Children and Young Persons Act,
and the merging of two systems of residential care under
the 1969 Act, have widened the scope of the work of
Children's Departments. Instead of providing a small,
specialized service, they are now providing in many areas
a broad, family-based service with a number of developing
specialisms. In the same period, social work has changed.
Case-work techniques have become more sophisticated,
and have been matched by a developing interest in group
work and community work.
The Seebohm Report of 1968, with its emphasis on area
planning, unification of responsibility at the local level,
and citizen participation, gives a new twist to the kaleido
scope. As Mr Boss says, the period between Curtis and
Seebohm provides a distinctive period for study. In the
vii