Parents will be able to ask if someone close to their family is a sex offender under new pilot schemes in England.

A play that follows the lives of young care leavers as they grow up and branch out on their own opened in London this week. Written by David Harrower, 365 presents the stories of 14 teenagers, aged 16 – the point at which they leave care – and over.

Almost half of community mental health patients in England are unable to access any out-of-hours care, an NHS inspectorate survey suggests.

Rachel works in a voluntary sector organisation supporting vulnerable tenants in East London. She has also worked for a national charity working with people with learning difficulties. She spoke to Socialist Worker.

A new national voluntary sector umbrella body that claims it will be the biggest representative of users of health and social care services across the UK held its inaugural conference this week in a bid to sign up members and decide which issues to address.

The struggle for funding facing charities working with vulnerable and disenfranchised women speaks volumes about the crisis facing hundreds of thousands of single-issue voluntary groups working with those falling through the gaps in social care provision across the UK.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) and the Department of Health have endorsed a new guide aimed at helping Local Authorities boost their overall performance in the care of blind and partially sighted adults.