Signs Of Safety Case Example Adele Clark Early

Signs Of Safety Case Example Adele Clark Early Help Coordinator

Referral Overview

Genogram The Safety Network

3 Columns – Asking the family What are we worried about? Mum is worried about “relationships at home as there are lot of arguments and home life is stressful “ Mum and Step Dad are worried that the “younger children could get hurt when Faith is angry and this scares the other children” Mum is worried that “Faith’s temper is so bad that this could ruin her life and relationships with the family and she could distance herself or be cast adrift” Mum is worried that she "can’t make things right because Faith isn't reaching out to me" What's working well? Children attending and enjoying school and involved in positive activities out of school like Cadets Mum says she “likes being a mum and looking after her family and wants things to change” Mum has been in violent relationships in the past but is in a relationship which she says is “not violent and we respect and love each other and there has never been any violence or shouting between us” Mum said that “because I have had violent partners before who were abusive I would like help to talk about this to someone” What needs to happen? Mum said that she “needed to continue setting and following through with boundaries even when Faith’s behaviour was bad” Mum feels that “Faith needs to stop trying to be the parent and enjoy being a child” Mum would like the EHH to signpost to counselling service for her to talk about her past relationships EHH to complete 3 house to be completed with children to gather their thoughts and feelings Mum feels that “Faith would benefit from help with dealing with her anger”

Child’s Voice – Faith’s 3 Houses (Age 14) Pippa- “because of her epilepsy” Mary – “because she is little” Step-dad) Pippa

Childs Voice – Pippa’s 3 Houses (Age 8) “I like my family and my best friend is my dog” “I have 6 guinea pigs” “ I wish Faith would stop shouting” “Worry that my epilepsy wont stop” “Faith is the monster in my house”

Signs of Safety Assessment

Signs of Safety Assessment Complicating Factors - What is making it harder for this family to get where they need to be Faith doesn’t have many friends and rarely goes out and stays in the house most of the time. Mum is concerned that Faith could become isolated from family and friends because of her anger. Mum is worried that FH doesn’t reach out to her and that she cannot help her Adele is worried that Mum’s expectations of Faith are not practical or realistic and this could lead to more arguments Mum uses threats to Faith that if her behaviour continues she will not go on the “big family holiday” – this winds Faith up and makes her feel unwanted Step Dad works away 5 days a week and Mum has reduced support to deal with family life when he is away

Family Meeting

Safety Planning This is what the young person said they would do when things got too much at home, to help them calm down and be safe

Danger Statements, Safety Goals & Scaling……. . Number 1 Danger Statement 1 Keyworker from the EHH is worried that Faith being the eldest sister in the home Mary feel that she has a duty to protect and care for Pippa and Mary, because of Pippa’s epilepsy and because Mary is little, even when Faith’s mum is there to do this. MUM and STEP DAD are worried that Faith tries to “act as the parent” and the way in which Faith does this worries them because Faith shouts, gets angry, throws things, smashes things and pushes her sisters, like the time Faith pushed Pippa unexpectedly off the sofa and when she has thrown her sister’s i. Pads. Pippa is worried that when Faith gets angry she is like a monster. If Faith continues this way she Mary lose friends, members of her family will continue to get upset and arguments in the home will continue and Faith Mary not be able to go on the family holiday in March 2016. Safety Goal 1. For MUM, STEP DAD, Pippa, Mary and Keyworker to not be worried they need to see Faith leaving the parenting of Pippa and Mary to MUM and STEP DAD and when Faith gets worried about her sisters or if they annoy her, for Faith not to shout, throw things, smash things or push her sisters.

Scaling Question 1. On a scale of 0 -10 where 10 is that Faith is not trying to act as a parent to Pippa and Mary and leaves this to MUM and STEP DAD and doesn’t shout, get angry, throw things or smashes things when with her sisters annoy her and 0 is that Faith feels she has to or wants to continue acting as a parent and continues to shout, get angry, throw things, smashes things – where do you scale this? . Mum Step Dad Faith Pippa 0 N/a N/a 4 4 6 N/a 5 4 9. 9 5 What else do we need to do to get one point higher or stay where we are? Bottom Line – Faith follows her safety plan

Danger Statements, Safety Goals & Scaling……. . Number 2 Danger Statement 2 Faith is worried that her mum compares her to her dad who she remembers was not a nice person and someone who shouted and hurt them, someone who hurt her mum and a person that sexually abused and hurt her step-sister. Keyworker from the EHH is worried that when MUM or Step Dad compare Faith to her dad she feels really upset and this gets her really angry as Faith does not want to be compared to a person like this. If this continues I am worried that Faith Mary feel that she is a bad person, will continue to get angry and the fights at home will continue. Safety Goal 2 For Faith and the Keyworker to not be worried we would need the see that Faith is not compared or referenced to her dad. Where would you scale this? Bottom Line – do not reference Faith to her dad

Scaling question 2 On a scale of 0 -10 where 10 is that MUM and Step Dad never tell Faith she is like her dad even when they are really angry and frustrated with her because they know this upsets and makes FH even angrier and 0 where MUM and SM continue to tell FH that she is like her dad every time they argue. Where would you scale this? Mum Step Dad Faith 0 N/a 0 4 5 10 10 What else do we need to do to get one point higher or stay where we are?

Danger Statements, Safety Goals & Scaling……. . Number 3 Danger statement 3 Faith is really worried that Pippa suffers from epilepsy and because she has fits like the time when Pippa had her first fit and her parents took her to hospital, where Faith was so worried, scared and upset that she “went to bed and cried until her family came home”. The Keyworker from the EHH is worried that Faith could become so worried about Pippa by not knowing how well or unwell she has been during the day and she could get so stressed out that this could affect how well she can learn at school and how she acts at home by getting angry and upset. Safety Goal 3 For Faith and the Keyworker to not be worried they would need to see that Faith is kept informed about Pippa’s epilepsy. Bottom Line – Mum, Step Dad and Faith to talk about Pippa

Scaling question 3 On a scale of 0 -10 where 10 is that MUM and Step Dad will let Faith know as and when she needs to know about how Pippa’s epilepsy has been during the day and 0 where MUM and Step Dad don’t think that it should be a concern for Faith and they will only tell Faith when they want to where would you scale this? Mum Step Dad Faith 5 N/a 5 5 5 10 What else do we need to do to get one point higher or stay where we are?

Feedback from Faith Taken from the closing sum Mary: Faith said that she was worried that the Hub was closing the case as she was able to talk about things that worried her. Faith identified a teacher who she got on well with and someone she felt she could talk to about anything at home or at school that worried her.

Feedback from the family “Faith had her parents’ evening last night. Apart from Physics everything is superb and she is a superstar in Art !!! Best in her year!!! Top marks. Thank you for all your help, things have really settled down at home too”