Yes, telling the story needs to be to local and national press and not
audiences of psychologists and psychotherapists.
richard pemberton wrote:
> I dont really get this. I know this list has a strong
> academic/philosophical bent but how is miriam writing 4000 words going
> to help this local crisis? I would have thought solidarity and help
> thinking through the politics and the local and national alliances
> necessary to survive and be really effective in such situations might
> have more going for it. Getting the young people themselves to write
> and getting this published might be more interesting and efficacious?
>
> Richard
>
>
> On 1/26/08, *Craig Newnes* <[log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
>
> I am thinking about it
> 5 words wasted
> c
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* miriam hollis <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 26, 2008 1:49 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] crisis in the community -
> New Thread
>
>
> I am thinking about it
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:39:37 +0000
> From: [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: crisis in the community - New Thread
> To: [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> unequal access to services?
> :cuts in funding that cause us to work for nothing?
> :using empty properties to provide a service when
> there is no funding but willing and skilled service providers?
> : making complaints to the local authority?
> : "whistle blowing" against a local authority
> provision for seekers of asylum??
> : providing referral services to GPs who claim to
> have nowhere else to refer?
>
> So that's 3,942 words to go
> cx
>
> Remember the entire Torah can be summarized in 10 words -
> "Love strangers as you would yourself - the rest is
> commentary" Hillel
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Penny Priest <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 23, 2008 8:06 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] crisis in the
> community - New Thread
>
>
> ...All of 'this', I would say.
> Obviously a very difficult task in just 4000 words,
> but one definitely worth trying. You have already
> started below. Good luck with the writing but with the
> work too.
> Penny
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* miriam hollis
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 23, 2008 3:40 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] crisis in the
> community - New Thread
>
>
> On: unequal access to services?
> :cuts in funding that cause us to work for
> nothing?
> :using empty properties to provide a service
> when there is no funding but willing and skilled
> service providers?
> : making complaints to the local authority?
> : "whistle blowing" against a local authority
> provision for seekers of asylum??
> : providing referral services to GPs who
> claim to have nowhere else to refer?
>
> which is "this"?
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:28:34 +0000
> From: [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: crisis in the community - New Thread
> To: [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
> Miriam, Would you be prepared to write a paper
> on this for J of Critical Psychology,
> Counselling and Psychotherapy? 4000 words max
> by March.
> Craig
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* miriam hollis
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 23, 2008 11:11 AM
> *Subject:* Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] crisis
> in the community - New Thread
>
>
>
>
> I havent really introduced myself before.
> I am a psychotherapist and I work in a
> number of different places to pay the
> bills. However, five years ago I was
> working in a project for young people and
> part of my work was working with children
> who are seekers of asylum who are without
> family (unaccompanied minors). The funding
> was severed unceremoniously and the young
> people lost their training course (which
> gave them access to my project) and
> triggered almost without exception, other
> issues of loss and fear, unsurprisingly. I
> took the decision to continue the work.
> For a year social services (unaccompanied
> minors) made referrals and apologised for
> no funding and permitted me to use their
> offices to see clients. At times I saw my
> old clients and some new referrals
> throughout the day. Within a short amount
> of time it became manifest that there were
> issues, not about previous trauma, journey
> trauma, loss etc, but appauling treatment
> by the local authority. At first I
> believed this was a simple error in
> communication and tried to mediate. it
> became clear that the local authority were
> not obeying the most recent legislation in
> provision for unaccompanied children, but
> were doing so deliberately ( they told
> Connexions advisors that our City was
> exempt from the legislation). I pursued
> this and found that children were not
> brought clothing after their initial
> arrival. Children who had been in the
> system three years had not been bought new
> clothes. responsibility for education had
> been delegated to Connexions who created a
> whole new department to cater for this.
> Most children were not put in schools (
> fourteen, fifteen and sixteen year olds).
> It also became clear that a community
> worker employed by the local authority,
> and working in the office used by the UAM
> was verbally abusing the children - he was
> shouting at them regularly, and also told
> them that if they did not stop claiming
> that their were faults in their properties
> he would report them to Immigration and
> that they would be raided early one
> morning. I discovered that this person had
> entered into a business arrangement with a
> well known letting agency Manager ( who
> rented houses to the UAM team for the
> housing the children - shared housing in
> three or four bedroomed accommodation
> without supervision) and they had
> purchased houses together and were having
> them managed by the same letting agency to
> the team that he worked in and children in
> their care were living in them.
> Photographs taken of the accommodation
> were shown to the refugee Council who
> investigated and were told all the
> problems had been repaired.
> We had so many problems perculating up
> that I was regularly referring the
> children to solcitors and the refugee
> council, who eventually set up a surgery
> here to offer the children support. Two
> years after the problems, with
> photographs, and land registry documents
> were submitted to the local authority head
> of social services, no action was taken.
> Only after a youth advocacy service became
> involved after a late and short
> introduction to the needs of UAM ( their
> work was funded only for nine months and
> they no longer take the referrals) the
> community worker was suspended and then
> dismissed.
>
> Meanwhile I was no longer invited to sit
> on committees regarding the needs of UAM,
> most of the statutory agencies chosing to
> maintain professional links, and was
> advised that the local authority had
> expressly stated that they would not
> attend meetings if I was in attendance.
> There are too many incidences to set them
> all out here. However, we have become a
> trusted agency not only by children,
> adolescents but also adults in the
> merciless asylum system. Our reports
> continue to be commended by asylum courts
> for their standard and objectivity, and
> have been used as strong supporting
> evidence for asylum claims that have been
> in jeopardy due, predominantly, to the
> decreasing amount of time available for
> case workers to be funded by the Legal
> Services Commission ( via the Government)
> to prepare their cases.
> In five years we have received no funding
> and rely on donations. When the donations
> dont come in we pay the bills ourselves.
> We are so shoe string it is difficult to
> see how it all holds together sometimes.
>
> The office that we use is in a building
> that is owned by the local authority but
> had been standing empty for ten years
> before social activists moved in. After a
> year, they offered us a space which we
> have used for two years. This is
> controversial but there are many
> justifications for using empty spaces
> productively for the needs of the
> community who are already under threat of
> having no service provision at all if
> their asylum claims fail ( although our
> work with people has led to many cases
> being reopened and status awarded). We
> have post grads who dedicate themselves to
> research to support clients who dont know
> how to find the evidence that they need.
> We are running courses for women to help
> them to learn the skills. We have run
> international film nights for small
> groups, where the audience chose the film
> from their own country. We meet shop, cook
> and eat according to their particular
> culture. We watch the film and new
> arrivals or long awaiting a decision
> individuals talk with host community about
> lives lost and hopes for the future. We
> have all learnt so much about one another.
>
> Yet yesterday I arrived at my office and
> for the second time found that it had been
> broken into. The office is pretty secure,
> but on one occasion the outer lock had
> been picked and the inner door kicked in.
> This time they just kicked in the door.
> The office was ransacked but nothing other
> than ram in the computer stolen. Many
> people came to the office shocked by what
> had happened while we waited for the
> police. While people tried to check the
> building they were pelted with missiles by
> bottles, paint by individuals with
> catapaults. When the police arrived they
> saw no need to investigate the
> catapaulters who were atop a three storey
> building with no external means of getting
> in, saying that they had no powers to
> search - the witnesses say the people came
> from inside the building above the office.
> The police took an hour to persuade to
> send someone to take finderprints. The
> forensic team have yet to tell me when
> they will be coming.
>
> There are so many projects that are
> difficult to get continuing funding for.
> Seekers of asylum are having their rights
> as human beings erroded all the time, most
> recently their entitlement to healthcare.
> Today it feels like very hard work to put
> it all together again. Yet I know that
> when I go to the office there will be a
> dozen people willing to help.
>
> When I saw the discussion about bankers
> commencing I, too, felt a strong reaction.
> This is why.
>
> Miriam H
>
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