[Report 1949] / Birmingham Education Committee, Special Services After Care sub-committee.

  • Birmingham (England). Education Committee. Special Services After Care Sub-committee.
Date:
1949
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1949] / Birmingham Education Committee, Special Services After Care sub-committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    and wife finally re-united. Another married woman is living in great discomfort and on strained relations with her husband in her own home which contains a total of seventeen occupants. Many are living in lodgings under difficult conditions, for example, a married couple, both defective, whose efforts to bring up their child in a single-roomed lodging were handicapped by a refusal to grant them lighting or cooking facilities. Lastly, there are the cases of low-grade defectives living in overcrowded homes, where conditions are neither suitable nor adequate for them to receive the necessary care or comfort. Wherever possible in such cases assistance is given and constant co-operation is maintained with the City Estates Department. In view of the present rate of house allocation, however, no early alleviation of the problem can be expected. A further problem which has become acute during the post-war years is the extreme shortage of vacancies in institutions for the mentally defective. The present lack of accommodation is particularly serious in the case of young children suffering from severe defects. The case of a helpless child or of a child who does not appear to benefit by any available form of training frequently proves an intolerable burden to parents who are faced with other home and family responsibilities. Several mothers in extreme ill-health are being forced to continue the care at home of these children often for long periods with little or no help. The lack of vacancies for adult cases is especially disadvantageous for young males, many of whom would derive benefit from a period of institutional training and discipline. Delinquency itself is not a major problem as is shown by the Com- paratively small number of cases who have appeared before the Courts. During 1948 and 1949 there were 94 such persons, out of a total of 4,702, of whom only nine were women. The following were the offences with which they were charged: Theft 33 House, Shop and Factory breaking 21 Indecent behaviour 11 Drunk and disorderly 8 Inflicting bodily harm 4 Neglect of children 4 Beyond parental control 3 Arrears of wife’s maintenance 2 In need of care and protection 1 Aiding and abetting 1 Obtaining goods under false pretences 1 Damage to property 1 Breaking terms of probation 1 Begging 1 Arson 1 Forgery 1 TOTAL 94