...a care manager, support worker, housing support officer, antisocial behaviour officer, probation officer, community support officer, learning disability nurse, a member of the substance misuse team and a note-taker.Granted, the tenant (Michael) is an alcoholic with mild learning disabilities, and the meeting has been called to discuss his possible eviction, but this kind of thing leaves the impression that the process is more for the benefit of the bureaucracy than the person supposedly being 'cared' for, and also that all this convolution unnecessarily complicates and perhaps exacerbates the problems supposedly being addressed rather than helps solve them; indeed, the text of the article arguably indicates that the sheer amount of people involved prevents the meeting coming to a decisive and meaningful conclusion on Michael's future.
Indeed, the housing officer herself perhaps gets to the simple root of the problem later in the article when she says:
Kids are not set any boundaries any more. The pendulum's swung a bit too far.Perhaps this gets to the nub of the problem more effectively than Michael's myriad 'care workers' ever will.
4 comments:
To be honest, it simply sounds like the local authority is jumping through all the required hoops to deal with the problem.
Whilst not commenting specifically, local authorities are inevitably blamed for a lack of action against anti social tenants, but in reality, it is a tortuous and expensive process that seems to me to be weighted in the favour of the individual/s.
Those who choose to behave the way they do (to the extreme detriment of their immedieate community) are invariably fully aware of their 'rights' but seem blissfully unaware of their responsibilities.
Personally, I get frustrated at just how long the whole thing takes, and even then, the outcome rests with a sheriff who is affluent enough not to have anti social neighbours, so remains blissfully unaware of just how soul destroying it can be living next to someone with a so-called 'chaotic lifestyle'.
As one expert told me, the situation is now 'generational'and kids are learning what I would describe as contempt for the community from their parents.
My comments may sound a tad harsh, but I hate to say they are true in my experience. Something has to change, but if it does, then I suspect it may be too little, too late.
Couldn't agree more, Jim.
I think the reason you have to be defensive about your comments sounding harsh is because they're a bit out of kilter with the currently dominant official approach, but I suspect most people would agree with you.
Of course, effecting change in the face of the dominant culture is a different matter altogether!
Things could change faster than you think Stuart.
The Scottish Govt is hinting at a new Housing Act which could do a lot to untie the hands of local authorities in dealing with situations like these.
Whether Parliament (and I mean ALL the parties) are willing to take the bull by the horns and acknowledge the problem and find a solution is another thing entirely.
Jim, seems unlikely!!
And the same kind of problems seem to permeate the whole of government generally and the law enforcement agencies in particular.
In an nutshell the SNP don't seem particularly predisposed to change these kind of things fundamentally, and in any case they're clearly hamstrung by the parliamentary arithmetic and the obvious lack of political will for the parties to seek consensus on anything.
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