Great Expectations

Terry Philpot

Barnet Council has introduced a scheme designed to improve the educational attainment of its looked after children. “Champions” are recruited from senior officers of the Council and from partner organisations. These benefactors do not meet the children but know about their potential and try to provide additional support or services. The scheme has been successful in not only raising educational achievement but in raising awareness of the needs of looked after children across the Council.

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A titanic task

Angela Neustatter

This article is about a charity set up to publicise the high death rate of pregnant women in developing countries and to improve care for those women

Across the pond - Freedom’s children

Patrick Lindesay

The author compares his experience of a progressive education in England, with the modern education system experiences by his children the USA.

All that Jazz

Cato Hoeben

The Children’s Music Workshop was set up to bridge the gap between the arts and schools. Working mainly in Inner London, the group have been able to help children who might not otherwise have the chance to experience music.

Attachment makes the child grow stronger

Suzanne Hewson

Many children in foster care will have some kind of attachment problem and will require the help of the foster carer to develop a trusting relationship. The author suggests that all foster carers should understand the basics of attachment and be able to recognise how dysfunctional attachment presents in children

Bad law, bad bill, bad news

Kathryn Pugh

The new Mental Health Bill has yet again failed to address the issue of age-appropriate care for children and young people. Young Minds and the Mental Health Alliance have been actively lobbying the Lords to ensure that the needs of children and young people are addressed.

Book review – another hour on a Sunday morning: a memoir

John Pierson

This is the story of a sister and adopted brother who rebel against their parents and are sent away to a school for troubled young people. Here they both suffer more abuse but survive through their mutual love and support.

Every child matters – or do they?

Reva Klein

Educational therapy is an intervention that addresses the emotional experiences that can inhibit learning. It could be used to improve the educational attainment of looked after children.

Getting to know you

Lucy McCarraher

The author has recently adopted children from another country and offers some advice, particularly around attachment issues and therapeutic parenting

Group backing

Jonathan Wells & Martyn Baker

This article reports on a research project by a CAMHS team in Towers Hamlets, which looked at what it was like for young men (largely Bangladeshi) growing-up and living in this area of London. One of the main themes that emerged was the importance of peer support or “back up”.

Indecent proposal

Fiona Bawden

Proposed changes to the legal aid system could lead to a reduction in the number of childcare lawyers. This could leave vulnerable families without the expertise they need in court.

Inside out

Sam Hart

Families can play an important role in preventing re-offending. Action for Prisoners families would like the government to do more to ensure good family contact for prisoners.

Intensive care

Terry Philpot

MIST (Multi-Disciplinary Intervention Service, Torfaen) is an intensive foster care service for children with emotional and mental health problems. The service is run by NCH Cymru, in partnership with Torfaen’s education and social services authority, Toraen Health Board, and the Gwent Health Care NHS Trust. It is a unique service in Wales, and there are 3 similar pilot projects in England. It draws on the Rosta Project, which is based in Liverpool.

It’s more than ‘just say no”

Peter MacRae

The widespread availability of illegal drugs means that all young people are at risk. Drug prevention measures try to reach young people before they start taking drugs. But with so many people at risk and so many different motivations for taking drugs, general preventative measures do not appear to be having much success in tackling the problem. Successful prevention work requires credible information, targeted support to those most at risk and reliable research.

No place like home

Terry Connor

Residential homes can still be a good option for children and young people with mental problems, particularly if their experience of family life has been traumatic. Homes that are well resourced, with a stable, committed and supported workforce can offer children a safe and secure environment.

The best of all worlds?

Yvonne Roberts

Madonna’s well-publicised inter-country adoption is examined in this article and questions whether it really is in the best interests of the child

Under pressure

Zoe Dale

This article describes the work of a Tier 2 service based in a school where most of the pupils are from the Bangladeshi community. Young Muslim women are suffering from emotional problems caused by trying to integrate with two different cultures. The benefit of basing a service in the school is the ability to support young people who would otherwise find it difficult to access traditional CAMHS services.

What after the ‘safe haven’

Jeanette Steel & Amanda Thompson

This article focuses on a piece of research carried out at Collingham Gardens, to find out whether the changes made on the unit are sustained after discharge. The unit makes recommendation regarding the type of school/education the young people needs. They state that it is important that schools need to accept and implement measures recommended by Tier 4 institutions so that children who have had severe psychiatric disorders, can continue to improve.

Book review - Garden hopping: memoir of an adoption

Terry Connor

This is a memoir about the search of an adoptee for his personal history. It follows the author’s life through adoption, finding his birth mother, estrangement from adopters and failure of his own marriage

Book review - Rites of Spring Where they missed

Yvonne Roberts

Both novels reviewed chart the effect of parents’ fragile mental health on their children’s lives. Where They Were Missed is set in Belfast during the Troubles and Rites of Spring in Hampstead Heath

Book review – a refreshing analysis of analysis

Julia Tugendhat

This book will be of most interest to analysts. It reviews the history of the independent tradition in British psychoanalysis, and compares best practice with new practice. There are sections on working with infants, adolescents and parents.

Book review – what it is like to be autistic

Oliver Russell

The subject of both books in this review is autism. One is a memoir by an autistic person who describes what it is like to be autistic and details the lives of three of his former classmates. The second book is a fictional account of autism written from the perspective of a mother coming to terms with their autistic child.

Film review – through the eyes of a child

Steve Flood

This is a story about a family struggling to function as viewed through the eyes of an eleven-year-old child.

Webwatch - Violence in the community

Rachel Hindley

Violence in the community is the subject for this webwatch. There are sites providing educational material about the cost and effects of gun crime for use in schools; sites with information about personal safety, disaster management and victim support