daphnedill i certainly know of Rainhill and my sister trained at another such institution called Greaves Hall . I'm sure 'Care in the Community' was before .2003 but I have mixed feelings about institutionalised care. Certainly many of the 'inmates' or patients felt safe and secure within these places and were, under the best regimes, care for, fed, clothed and had company.
The concept of Care in the Community is a good one but only for the right people. This was, IMO, a case of throwing the baby out with the bath water and the idea that there is a one-fit for all.
Most of all such a project needs funding, monitoring and constantly updating. Sadly, under successive government is had just petered out until our streets are full of the homeless, the alcoholic, the mentally disturbed and those who are a danger to themselves (mainly) and a danger to others (occasionally).
A society can be judged on the way it treats its poor, its waifs and strays, its old people, its animals and those who cannot cope by themselves.