Barbara Kahan
| Barbara Kahan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Barbara Joan Langridge 18 March, 1920 Horsted Keynes |
| Died |
6 August, 2000 John Radcliffe Hospital |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Education |
Cambridge University LSE |
| Occupation | Social worker |
| Spouse(s) | Vladimir Leon Kahan |
Barbara Joan Kahan OBE born Barbara Joan Langridge (18 March, 1920 – 6 August, 2000) was a British social worker. She rose to chair the National Children's Bureau and to co-chair the Pindown Enquiry.
Description
Kahan was born in Horsted Keynes in 1920. Her parents, Alfred George and Emily Kathleen Langridge were Methodists and keen on reading. Her father was to become a railway station master. Her family believed in working for their community but it was at Barbara's prompting that she gained an adopted sister who was a Jewish girl escaping persecution in Europe[1].
Barbara was active in politics when she attended Cambridge University and she took her degree to the London School of Economics to take social science. She became a factory inspector in 1943.
The 1948 Children's Act created the role of "Children's Officer" and Kahan was appointed to one of these new roles in Dudley. As part of her work she opened their first Children's Home before moving to Oxford after two years.[1]
In 1955 she married the psychologist Vladimir Kahan. In 1981 she became a "widow and a workaholic."[2] In 1984 she began to chair the National Children's Bureau.[2]
The Pindown Inquiry was launched by Staffordshire County Council to investigate an aggressive behaviour management policy of children in their care. The investigation was co-chaired by the children's advocate Allan Levy QC LLB and Kahan who was then chair of the National Children's Bureau) in 1990 and 1991.[3] The inquiry, the first into residential care, led to the Quality Protects initiative, launched by the Department of Health in 1998, which sought to improve a range of childcare services.[4]
Her friendship with Levy (whom she had not known before the inquiry) continued until her death, whilst Levy went on to chair the Vladimir and Barbara Kahan Trust.[4] Kahan died in John Radcliffe Hospital in 2000.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 "Kahan [née Langridge], Barbara Joan (1920–2000), social worker | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-74446.
- 1 2 Philpot, Terry (2000-08-09). "Obituary: Barbara Kahan". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
- ↑ Butler-Sloss, Baroness Elizabeth. "Levy, Allan". Dictionary of National Biography. OUP. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
- 1 2 Philpot, Terry (29 September 2004). "Allan Levy". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
Bibliography
Allan Levy QC; Barbara Kahan (1991). The Pindown Experience and the Protection of Children (PDF). Stafford: Staffordshire County Council. p. 167. Retrieved 23 November 2016.