Human Rights and Social Justice Local Authority  Perspectives  Empowerment  Pursuit of Social Justice  Ethical & Practice Challenges  Power

Relevant Housing Acts  Housing Act 1919 & Housing Act 1966  Made provision for housing of the elderly and homeless  Provision for Central Government subsidy to local authorities for construction of housing & high-rise flat complexes  1988 – Housing Act, benchmark in housing legislation. This Act covered all Homeless People, not just those made homeless by L.A. actions. It empowered the local authority to provide for the homeless, members of the Traveller community, extended powers of the L.A to assist non-profit housing associations & voluntary organizations involved in the provision of housing  1998 Housing Act (Traveller Accommodation)

Local Authorities in Transition  Welfare Role of the Local Authorities – began late 30s  Public Service Policy – 1948 – Dublin Corporation employed first Welfare Officer, by 1950 two Welfare Officers employed  1980s – including senior social workers, youth & community workers, chief welfare officer/head of social work – 32 welfare officers/social workers  Dual Role: The Welfare Officers provided a social work intervention service to the Corporation Tenants and helped to keep the Councillors in touch with their electors, facilitating negative & positive feedback concerning policy developed & instituted at city council level.

 1970 – Mid 80s – changes in how L.A. funded – key developments that had implications for Social Inclusion as a function of Local Government  1971 – Eastern Health Board & other Health Boards set up. Public Health Function removed from the local authorities. This severed the connection between the 17 th century Poor Law administration & the Local Authority  1980s – 1992 Emergence of groups solely dependent on public housing – lone parents & acutely homeless. This group also included the victims of domestic violence rendered ‘homeless’ into women’s refuges.

Areas of Policy Input & Influence  Priority Scheme for housing list applicants  Evictions - Advocacy – Confidentiality – Records  Tenancy Transfers  Estate Management & Neighbour Mediation  Homeless  Diversity – Promoting Racial Equality ‘Many Peoples – One City’ – Awareness Training  Travellers Rights  Older Persons

Human rights refer to basic international accepted standards of absolute liberties, freedoms and protections to which all peoples are entitled by virtue of their humanity (United Nations, 1948; 1993). However, human rights declarations and charters form only part of a discourse of human rights that is constantly being constructed, challenged and re-constructed (Ife, 2008: 151). While there is an elaborate literature on human rights beyond the traditional legal formulations (see Ife, 2008; Wronka, 2008) for our purposes we accept Ife’s (2008: 152) argument that for social workers, human rights must be grounded in practice and “it is the relationship between the discursive construction of human rights and the practice of human rights that is critical”. Extract from UCD School of Applied Social Science Working Papers Series 2013, McCarthy & Keenan Human Rights and Social Justice: Challenges for Social Workers in Working with Men who have Perpetrated Sexual Crime Human Rights, Social Justice and Anti-oppressive Practice in Social Work

References & Bibliography  Local Government in Ireland Inside Out eds. Callanan & Keogan IPA 2003 – Madden ‘Social Inclusion & Local Government’ ch.23  ‘‘Reclaiming Social Work for Equality’ Niall Crowley, IASW Journal, 2010 Social Work in an Unequal Society (archives)  ‘Social Work & Human Rights’ Elis Envall, IASW Winter 1993 Irish Social Worker vol.11:5.  ‘’Defining Social Work for the 21 st Century: The International Federation of Social Workers’ Revised Definition of Social Work’ Isadora Hare, International Social Work 2004; 47:407  CORU Code of Professional Conduct & Ethics for Social Workers, 2011  IASW Code of Ethics 2009  ‘Local Authorities are an Integral Part of the System of Representative Government’ Madden, M.Soc.Sc (Social Work) 1999.