The following are the FICE-International projects in which I have participated, or for which I was put down as the responsible person :

1 Ethical Code

This project was incorrectly titled. It referred to a proposal that FICE should draw up international standards for services for children, so that funding bodies, providing agencies and workers could all be clear about the standards expected of them. Martti Kemppainen and I were asked to undertake a preliminary examination of the subject.

The United Kingdom Government has established four independent organisations to set standards in the four countries which make up the UK - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They have produced standards which have been authorised by the respective Governments and administrations of the four countries, and these are being applied in the statutory inspections of services which these organisations are required to undertake.

For example, the National Commission for Social Care in England now has eleven sets of National Minimum Standards. In relation to children and young people, they are for :

- Children's Homes
- Residential Family Centres
- Fostering Services
- Boarding Schools
- Residential Special Schools
- Accommodation of Students under Eighteen by Further Education Colleges.

Examples of these National Minimum Standards are being obtained. Other countries may have developed similar systems. Martti Kemppainen has also done work in this area in Russia.

It is proposed that if the Federal Council wishes this project to be developed further, a Working Group should be established to :

- compare existing sets of standards
- draw up a model set for FICE for use internationally in countries which have not yet drawn up their own or in projects funded by international agencies.

It is also proposed that this project be retitled "Standards", rather than "Ethical Code".

2 Publicity

The purpose of this project was to draw up new publicity material for use on the FICE-International website and in leaflets. It was to be initiated by the President's office, which has been under considerable pressure over recent months. It has not been possible, therefore, for the necessary work to be undertaken.

In the absence of new material, the section about FICE on the FICE-Inter website has been based on existing documents and other FICE websites.

3 FICE-Inter Website

Work has proceeded on the new website, though not at the pace that was intended. It is anticipated that the website will be in action before the Berlin Congress but that the French and German versions will still need some work, checking the language for accuracy. However, the framework has now been established so that it can now be used to store and access a large volume of material, such that it will be possible to use the website for reference purposes in due course.

Members are asked to send in relevant material, such as dates of future events, reports on activities, and items for the Talk to Us section.

4 Policies

It was proposed that the new FICE-Inter website could be used to collect policies on professional subjects which have been drawn up by FICE members, so that they could be considered for adoption by FICE-International. In this way a body of policies could be drawn up so that it could become clear what FICE believes and stands for.

I was asked to circulate Federal Council members to seek policies which they wish to commend to the Federal Council, and a report requesting the information has been prepared.

5 North America

It was hoped that FICE might be re-established in Canada and the United States. Professor James Anglin is hoping to attend the Federal Council and speak about the possibility of re-establishing FICE-Canada in the near future. He will also be hosting a major conference in Victoria next year, which could be a valuable shop-window for FICE.

I have approached contacts in the USA, but have so far received no response to suggest that FICE might be revived there. No doubt Professor Carol Kelly will speak to the CF on the scope for action.

6 Australia

A number of Australians have been in touch with FICE over the years, but there has never been a formal FICE section in Australia. This has been partly because there has been limited contact between people working with children in the different States which make up Australia, which have all provided services for children separately and under different legislation.

The professionals in the different States have now come together under the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia (CAFWAA), and interest has been shown in membership of FICE. It is still a new body, with very little by way of resources, but Australians have shown an interest in maintaining international links, and FICE may prove to offer them an appropriate framework for creating helpful contacts. The main problem is that the level of fees required by FICE would use up a large proportion of their funds, as a new body. I have encouraged them to stay in touch and to express an interest in principle in joining FICE.

David C. Lane
Vice President

23rd August 2002