Rosie (35) and Jim (40) have been married for 15 years and live in a quiet country village in Northumberland. They have 3 children Storm (15), Charlie (8) and Archie (3). Living in a cramped 2 bedroomed council house they struggle to live off their benefit entitlements.
Jim has been unemployed for the last year which has put a strain on their marriage resulting in a few domestic disputes. The family have a social worker and are supported by a number of agencies. Since the birth of Archie, Rosie has suffered from mental health problems which has increased since Jim became unemployed. Storm attends Secondary School in the neighbouring town. She has become quite distant in the last 6 months and has also been involved in underage drinking. Charlie is at the local Primary School where he is supported by the Inclusion Support Service due to his increasing change in behaviour. Charlie’s appearance is concerning the school as he often arrives at school late, hungry and dishevelled.
Charlie is happy when he is playing outside with his friends and can be often seen playing out very late. Archie is 3 and attends the village Nursery School. Rosie has struggled to bond with Archie, they did not plan to have another child therefore his unexpected arrival has made a huge impact on the family as a whole. Archie plays well during his nursery session although does not interact with his peers and shows signs of significant language delay. (Word Count 247)i. In 1942 William Beveridge introduced the ‘Beveridge Report’ which focused on poverty, poor education, lack of health care, poor housing and unemployment. This report was influential to the introduction of the Welfare State following the Second World War.
The government became responsible in ensuring the population of Britain were healthy, educated and employable. The significant developments resulting from the welfare state have had a considerable impact on the above family in relation to housing and the NHS. The local authority offer housing to people for many different reasons or because of financial difficulties due to unemployment. Rosie and Jim would not have been able to afford to buy an appropriately sized family property due to Jim’s employment status. If the opportunity of council housing was unavailable the family would have to access homeless accommodation, live on the streets or live with relatives possibly having to break up the family unit.
They are currently on the Council Housing list to relocate into a larger property to accommodate the size of their family. The National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 was also established as a result of the Welfare State offering free medical care, treatment, advice and other specialised services. These health services have been extremely beneficial to Rosie, Jim and their family, having had all three children in hospital receiving support from Midwives/Nurses, Health Visitors and GP’s during the 3 pregnancies. With the support of her local Health Visitor Rosie has accepted support regarding her current mental health.
The family have also had meetings with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in relation to Charlie’s challenging behaviours. (Word count 268)ii. Early intervention is to support and take action as soon as a problem emerges for children, young people and their families. It may occur at any point and doesn’t necessarily mean early in life.
The term early is in relation to the time a strategic development can be put in place in order to improve the circumstances.
