Exploring the 'Need' for Family Centres: The Perceptions of Social Workers and Their Importance for Planning

Correspondence to Ms J. R. Fells, Wooster Arms, The Walk, Islip, Oxon OX5 2SD. Summary This article follows Gilbert Smith in questioning the usefulnessof some traditional ways of regarding need, which rely mainlyon surveying potential client populations in order to decidewhat provision a social services department ought to make. Itdescribes a small study which examined in detail what socialworkers meant when they said that certain families ‘needed’a Family Centre, and which also looked at the subsequent historyof the department's contact with those families in the absenceof such a resource. It is, therefore, based on looking at whathappened to families when the Centre was not provided, and onanalysing social workers' perceptions of the need they encountered. It is argued that, despite its limitations, such an approachcan give useful indications, not only of what services shouldbe provided but as to the specific way they should be offered.In view of the role played by social workers in assessment for,and allocation of, services, it is suggested that a clearerunderstanding of their perceptions is essential to achieve effectiveservice utilization.