§ Mr. Galleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make available the report of his Department's social work service on services for handicapped children.
§ Mr. Newton:I have placed in the Library copies of a recent report on services for handicapped children by the social work service of DHSS. The report is also being made available to directors of social services and to appropriate statutory and voluntary bodies. It provides an authoritative view of contemporary social services for handicapped children, and should prove to be of value to directors by providing information which they can use to appraise their own services.
The report reflects the need for policies and systems which consider the handicapped child first of all as a child but also provide social services, often in collaboration with other agencies, appropriate to the particular handicap and handicaps. Its recommendations are designed to assist local authorities to remedy known deficiencies by making more cost-effective use of the resources available. Many are directed towards improvements in assessment, review and collaborative arrangements.