Druids Heath School, was opened in 1940 as a school for boys with special needs. In 1977 it became Druids Heath assisted community home. (Known as Druids Heath Centre since September 1980.)  The main building was closed in 1980 The unit was officially closed in 1988.

THE NEW DRUIDS HEATH

The Barnardo work at Druids Heath School, near Walsall and Birmingham, has been going on since 1940. Since that time over one thousand boys in trouble have passed through its doors. For many years it was a 'block' school with large dormitories, but in the 1970s the school was split up into four house units, with separate teams of male and female staff. Close links with the families of the boys and with the community became an increasingly important part of the work. Last year 1980 the old school building which had been in use continuously in some form of child care since 1903 was closed and the new Druids Heath opened.

The new complex may be thought of as a wheel. At the hub there is an Administrative Unit, and Education Unit for 72 young people, and an Alternative Care Unit for 10 young people who are going through a period of crisis. The other general type units are in the local communities in which the young people live and in which their problems have arisen. Each unit has its own identity, its own address, its own' place in the street and not as part of a large campus institution. The plan is to have up to fifteen social workers under a leader and deputy operating from these units and staff are residential, field and community workers at different times in the week.

This new federal concept of child care which Barnardo's is pioneering rests on four important concepts: (a) Juvenile offenders are best dealt with in the community.

(b) 'Through care' by the same team of workers is better than residential care followed by 'after care'.
(c) Residence, home supervision, group work, family placement, independent living are all required and valid, but should be options within one scheme. Young people should be able to move from one to the other, without being constantly on the move from one establishment to another, more importantly they should have the chance of living in the same area and keeping in contact with the same people.
(d) The need for a place to live should keep all the different options of education placement open and not close any doors of opportunity.

It is a magnificent scheme which will need very skilled and dedicated staff to make it work. It is very exciting that Barnardo's should be associated with pioneering work once again.

Mr J. R. Bright Director of Druids Heath, Midlands Division

Reproduced from The Guild Magazine Summer 1981