Rachel Fyson

Independence or protection – does it have to be a choice? Reflections on the abuse of people with learning disabilities in Cornwall

This commentary will use recent events in Cornwall to highlight the ongoing abuse of adults with learning disabilities in England. It will critically explore how two parallel policy agendas — namely, the promotion of choice and independence for adults with learning disabilities and the development of adult protection policies — have failed to connect, thus allowing abuse to continue to flourish. It will be argued that the abuse of people with learning disabilities can only be minimized by policies that reflect an understanding that choice and independence must necessarily be mediated by effective adult protection measures. Such protection needs to include not only an appropriate regulatory framework, access to justice and well-qualified staff, but also a more critical and reflective approach to the current orthodoxy that promotes choice and independence as the only acceptable goals for any person with a learning disability.

Human Rights and Social Wrongs: Issues in Safeguarding Adults with Learning Disabilities

This paper uses a framework of human rights to explore the high levels of bullying and abuse experienced by adults with learning disabilities. It will identify the different needs of people with different degrees of learning disability before moving on to focus on the particular needs of those with mild learning disabilities who are targeted within local communities. It goes on to suggest a need for a change in assessment practice, away from task-oriented functional assessments and towards assessments which pay greater attention to social abilities and community dynamics. In concluding, the authors argue that present policies and their underpinning principles are at times too dogmatic and call for a greater recognition of the diversity of needs and vulnerabilities which exist across the learning disability spectrum.

Outcomes following adult safeguarding alerts: a critical analysis of key factors

Purpose – This paper seeks to report some of the findings from an evaluation of adult safeguarding in one English local authority. The evaluation was commissioned in the context of concern regarding the number of safeguarding investigations that resulted in inconclusive outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – All adult social care teams in the local authority were asked to complete a short pro forma about the five most recent adult safeguarding alerts that they had managed to completion. Data collected included: characteristics of the alleged victim and alleged perpetrator; details of the professionals involved; whether or not a safeguarding plan meeting/case conference was held; and the outcome of any investigation. Respondents were also asked to comment on factors that they perceived to have helped or hindered the investigation.Findings – Findings suggest that a significant number of variables influence the likelihood of cases resulting in a conclusive outcome. These variables included not only the chara...

Independence and learning disabilities: why we must also recognize vulnerability

Services for adults with learning disabilities are currently based on the promotion of four key principles: rights, independence, choice and social inclusion. This paper will argue that, while these principles are welcome, they need to be balanced against a fifth principle ‐ that vulnerable adults should be adequately protected against the risk of abuse. It will draw on both recent high‐profile cases of violence and abuse against people with learning disabilities and research evidence to explore whether current plans to transform adult social care through the use of self‐directed support and individual budgets offer a safe future.

Anti-social behaviour orders and young people with learning disabilities

This paper sets out to critically explore the use of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) in relation to young people with learning disabilities. It brings together an emerging body of evidence, from a range of sources, which suggests that these marginalized and vulnerable young people are over-represented amongst those made subject to ASBOs. In this context it will provide a critique of existing practice, within both welfare and criminal justice agencies, which is typified by a lack of awareness and understanding of learning disability. Finally, it will suggest that the concept of diagnostic overshadowing may provide a useful way of thinking critically about current ASBO practice, and suggest that approaches which fail to address the underlying difficulties faced by young people with learning disabilities are unlikely to produce positive outcomes.

Independence and Learning Disabilities: Why we Must also Recognise Vulnerability

Services for adults with learning disabilities are currently based on the promotion of four key principles: rights, independence, choice and social inclusion. This paper will argue that, while these principles are welcome, they need to be balanced against a fifth principle ‐ that vulnerable adults must be protected adequately against the risk of abuse. It will draw both on recent high‐profile cases of violence and abuse against people with learning disabilities and on research evidence to explore whether current plans to transform adult social care through the use of self‐directed support and individual budgets offer a safe future.

Acquired Brain Injury, Social Work and the Challenges of Personalisation

Increasing numbers of adults in the UK are living with acquired brain injury (ABI), with those affected requiring immediate medical care and longer-term rehabilitative and social care. Despite their social needs, limited attention has been paid to people with ABI within the social work literature and their needs are also often overlooked in policy and guidance. As a means of highlighting the challenge that ABI presents to statutory social work, this paper will start by outlining the common characteristics of ABI and consider the (limited) relevant policy guidance. The particular difficulties of reconciling the needs of people with ABI with the prevailing orthodoxies of personalisation will then be explored, with a particular focus on the mismatch between systems which rest on presumptions autonomy and the circumstances of individuals with ABI—typified by executive dysfunction and lack of insight into their own condition. Composite case studies, drawn from the first authors experiences as a case manager for individuals with ABI, will be used to illustrate the arguments being made. The paper will conclude by considering the knowledge and skills which social workers need in order to better support people with ABI.

Progress on Participation? Self‐Advocate Involvement in Learning Disability Partnership Boards

The aim of the research described was to gather information about both the objective and the subjective experiences of self‐advocates who had attended learning disability partnership boards, in order to promote effective practices. Findings show that, although people with learning disabilities were present at meetings, a variety of barriers limited their ability to participate actively. Problems included lack of financial and practical help as well as the limited availability of accessible information. There were also, however, examples of good practice, and many self‐advocates were pleased at how their local authorities were beginning to implement effective partnership working practices. Ways of supporting self‐advocates and other people with learning disabilities to fulfil a truly representative, rather than a merely symbolic, function at partnership board meetings are discussed.An accessible summary of these findings is available to download from the project website: www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/NorahFry/Strategy/papers.htm

Inclusion or outcomes? Tensions in the involvement of people with learning disabilities in strategic planning

Social inclusion is a key principle that underpins the provision of services for people with learning disabilities in England. Learning Disability Partnership Boards, which are responsible for local strategic planning of learning disability services, hold a particular role in promoting inclusion since they are required both to operate inclusively and to achieve inclusive outcomes. This study sought to explore the extent to which these ambitions for inclusion were being achieved. It consisted of three phases: a scoping exercise to elicit the views of key stakeholders; a postal survey of Partnership Boards (response rate 51%); and semi-structured interviews with Partnership Boards members in six local authorities. Findings suggest that Partnership Boards are struggling to fulfil their dual role, with tensions emerging between the desire to operate in fully inclusive ways and the ability to affect strategic change within local services.

Planning for Change? Learning Disability Joint Investment Plans and Implementing the Valuing People White Paper

Valuing People outlined ambitious plans for improving services for people with learning disabilities in England. Strategies to realise these goals were to be taken forward through the new structure of learning disability partnership boards, based in the first instance on local joint investment plans (JIPs). This article reports findings from an analysis of the first round of learning disability JIPs, compiled as the implementation of the White Paper began, and reviews the implications for the development of robust local strategies and action plans.