A Safety Net Full of Holes
| Published date | 01 December 1993 |
| Date | 01 December 1993 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455059304000409 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
203
A Safety
Net
Full
of
Holes
Len
Cheston,
SPO
(Housing)
in
Inner
London,
considers
the
shortfall
of
’Community
Care’
and
the
scope
for
action.
The
and
the
NHS
and
Community
Care
Act
1990
should
work
in
conjunction,
both
emphasising
treatment
and
the
use
of
resources
in
the
community.
Instead,
these
two
Acts
are
working
in
disharmony,
limiting
options
to
clients,
leading
to
finance-led
decision
making
and
bureaucratic
procedures
that
deny
clients
access
to
resources.
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The
most
immediate
crisis
was
the
loss
of
’ringfencing’,
ie
the
Department
of
Social
Security
transfer
money
to
local
authorities
for
Drug
and
Alcohol
residential
agencies.
Instead,
the
whole
DSS
transfer
budget
was
’ringfenced’
and
a
complex
formula
imposed
on
how
the
money
was
spent.
It
resulted
in
a
transfer
of
finance
away
from
Metropolitan
areas
towards
the
Shire
counties.
Many
residential
agencies
now
face
an
uncertain
future
as
they
now
have
to
obtain
finance
from
local
authorities,
few
of
whom
are
willing
to
fund
placements
for
longer
than
13
weeks.
Agencies
which
provided
longer
treatment
periods
are
now
having
to
change.
Many
of
these
agencies,
for
example
Ley
Community,
Alpha,
Phoenix
House,
were
popular
sentencing
options
used
by
courts.
Are
clients
now
receiving
custodial
sentences
because
of
’community
care’?
Many
of
the
residential
services
that
survive
may
have
to
offer
a
different
level
of
service.
Deregistration
is
an
option
being
considered
by
some
agencies,
ie
moving
from
local
authority
placement
funding
to
housing
benefit
funding
of
the
agency.
This
option
can
lead
to
a
change
inprovision
away
from
chaotic
users
to
offering
a
service
after
primary
treatment
elsewhere.
The
government’s
response
to
an
increased
housing
benefit
bill
is
unclear
at
present
but
since
this
benefit
is
the
only
form
of
government
spending
that
has
increased
unchecked
in
the
last
three
years,
it
will
not
be
long
before
some
form
of
capping
is
introduced.
Future
planning
for
these
agencies
is
very
difficult.
With
a
further
tightening
of
levels
of
funding
promised
for
1994-95,
survival
will
be
increasingly
difficult.
It
is
likely
that
there
will
be
the
loss
of
residential
treatment
resources
for
many
Probation
Service
clients.
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Community
Care
Assessments
are
proving
to
be
a
controversial
area
in
many
Probation
Services.
Should
officers
do
them
or
not?
A
Community
Care
Assessment
is
about
examining
what
form
of
treatment
an
individual
may
need.
Whilst
in
a
crude
form
that
is
the
theory,
in
practice
it
is
a
more
diverse
picture,
having
more
to
do
with
resource
allocation.
It
is
very
tempting
for
officers
to
carry
out
assessments.
Many
officers
will
have
a
great
deal of
experience
in
working
with
this
client
group.
However,
probation
management
need
to
examine
a
number
of
issues
before
undertaking
this
work.
Firstly,
how
will
this
be
done -
especially
on
those
having
PSRs
prepared
on
them
in
custody,
given
the
limited
time
available
for
custody
interviews?
Secondly,
assessors
need
to
have
a
full
knowledge
of
day
and
residential
treatment
options
available.
Do
officers
carrying
out
assessments
have
this
knowledge?
Have
they
been
examined?
How
will
the
assessors
keep
up
to
date
on
the
ever-
changing
picture
in
the
drug
and
alcohol
treatment
field?
Thirdly,
do
the
assessors
become
part
of
the
system
and
involved
in
resource-led
decision
making?
A
crucial
role
for
probation
officers
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