Children in Care

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): LCC/CH

Title: Children in Care

Date(s): -

Level of description: Fonds

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CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s): London County Council

Administrative/Biographical history: It was only after the Children's Act of 1948 that Councils of the Counties were required to establish a Children Committee. Shortly after saw the establishment of Children's Departments which took over the functions of the Education, Welfare and Public Service departments and worked to ensure that the 1948 Children's Act that had consolidated much of the existing laws concerning children and child care was implemented accordingly.

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CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: The records comprise of correspondence, reports and pamphlets. The issues covered in the records include homeless children, residential nurseries, children's homes, hostels, residential homes, and residential hospitals for children and family homes.

There are several records of note in the found in the Miscellaneous papers and files of the Children's Department Records:

League of Coloured Peoples Ltd (ref: LCC/CH/M/24/1, 1951 - 1958).

The League of Coloured Peoples was established in 1931 and incorporated into a limited liability company in 1953. The aim of the organisation was to 'provide facilities for the adoption of coloured children in Great Britain' (taken from a report in the file dated March 13th, 1958). The file contains correspondence and notes on the activities of the League in trying to establish itself as a government registered adoption agency.

Statistics - Annual Departmental Summary (ref: LCC/CH/M/37/4, 1957 - 1963).

The statistics cover case loads, the reception and discharges of children in care, as well as statistics on the number of children leaving foster homes and children who had been boarded out. The figures are divided according to month of year and London district. Also included in this file is a pamphlet entitled 'Children in Care in England and Wales' (1962) with listed areas, percentages and types of homes.

'C' Division: Special Groups of Children (Ref: LCC/CH/M/46/2, 1959 - 1962)

The 'C' Division of the Children's department was concerned with children of colour, although it was made clear that the activities of the committee were not to be made public. The children were Africans, African Caribbean, and Asian children as well as those children 'whose parents spoke foreign languages'.

The file contains papers, correspondence, reports and pamphlets covering the problems of finding homes for the children; the ongoing discussion with commissioners and consulates regarding these children and reports and letters covering meetings with the West Indies Commission and the then Pakistan High commissioner.

There is also information on the work on Mrs Lewis, a black matron in charge of Ladywell Nursery during this period, the names of of organisations contacted for advice and consultation (including the Indian Medical Association, Indian Worker's Association, India League, Punjabi Society and the Migrant Office), newspaper clippings covering the children in care (The Daily Mail (May 20th, 1960) and the Sunday Times (May 22.1960), and an extract of the House of Common debate on this same issue.

This file also contains correspondence related to the first ever newspaper advertisement specifying the 'race' of a child - Angela Broadley from Ladywell Nursery, and documentation on discussions held on how to define children of colour.

'C' Division: Children with no Homes ('Twilight children') (ref: LCC/CH/M/46/3, 1960 - 1964).

This file consists of papers, reports and correspondence relating to young people living in London whose parents are from the 'West Indies or Ireland or the northern part of the country. The issues revealed in the reports include: the 'culture' of the groups; the LCC's position; gender differences; young women in care; near delinquent children living away from home. Reports include: Children's Officers report on near-delinquent children, LCC report on Assistance to Young Children Living away from Home. Also included is correspondence from various Children's Officers.

Also included is correspondence between the C division committee and the Young Christian Workers, the LCC Education Department; the University of Bristol's Department of Education (Bristol Social Project) and the West London Mission.

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CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

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Language/scripts of material: English

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ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

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DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: June 2000

Interest: Caribbean, Black, Asian

Specific group:

Subjects

Ethnic groups

Social welfare

Adoption

Children

Personal/Corporate names

Broadley, Angela

Indian Medical Association

Indian Worker's Association

India League, Punjabi Society

Migrant Office

Punjabi Society

League of Coloured Peoples

Places

London, United Kingdom