49.
22
Success in helping a department out
of trouble is the best way to establish ourselves. Two offices of the P.W.D. have come to involve us much more in their work following cases in which a good deal of patient explaining was necessary in order to make essential projects reasonably acceptable to local public opinion.
50.
Our relations with the Social Welfare Department went through an unhappy phase because a good deal of what I describe under the heading "Services for the Community" is bound to come under any good definition of community development the responsibility of a Division of the S.W.D. At first we detected some resentment at our amateur efforts in this field but D.S.W. has now decided to regionalise his community development work and the first four District Community Officers working in four City Districts have just been appointed.
51.
Publicity given to a scheme a C.D.O. was starting to help people find jobs was noted with surprise by the Commissioner of Labour. This led to discussions between the officer running the Local Employment Service and C.D.O.s. The L.E.S. has since extended its contacts with commercial employers whom C.D.0.s were interested in and we have refrained from publicity for the modest schemes operated by two C.D.O.s who put notices of vacancies in their shop windows.
52.
In the short time we have been operating our impact on departments has been primarily at the local level. Among junior officers I am afraid we sometimes appear as interlopers but I believe more senior officers are beginning to see that C.D.O.s can often help them. Our impact on policy
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