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Desperate Situations |
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Melanie's StoryMelanie endured several months of sexual abuse from her step father. She had repeatedly tried to tell her mother what was happening, but her mother had not wanted to believe her and told her to stop lying. Not having parental support, Melanie began to suffer from emotional and psychological problems. She became withdrawn and refused to associate with other teenagers. Her behaviour, school attendance record and standard of work deteriorated to the point that she was suspended from school. Having nowhere else to live, Melanie had no choice but to stay at home. She started to self-harm by cutting herself with razor blades in an attempt to make herself less attractive to her abuser. Again, her mother failed to accept that she desperately needed help and support, and Melanie didn't have the confidence to tell anyone else about her situation. It was only when she was in hospital following an overdose that she confided in a nurse and action was taken to help her. Melanie was referred to CCP and was discharged from hospital into our care.
Darren's StoryDarren was 14 years old when he was arrested for shoplifting. This was his first recorded offence. The Youth Offending Service contacted Darren’s mother to ask for her attendance at the custody suite whilst Darren was interviewed by police officers. The mother refused and told YOS in no uncertain terms that she wanted nothing more to do with Darren as he was a waste of space. CCP supplied and Appropriate Adult (AA) to accompany Darren and monitor his welfare. Whilst waiting in the cell with Darren, the AA learned that Darren had two younger brothers of 10 and 8, and that his parents separated 18 months ago. Despite the separation, Darren’s father had regularly returned to the family home, frequently under the influence of alcohol and exhibiting violent behaviour towards the mother and children. As a result, they left their three bed house in St. Paul’s and moved to a top floor flat in Hester’s Way. Relations between Darren and his mother were breaking down. Several weeks ago, his mother had been caught consuming alcohol at work and had been dismissed from her cleaning job. On her way home, she spent her final pay on several bottles of vodka. She hadn’t left the flat since her dismissal and frequently vented her frustrations on Darren and his brothers. She expected Darren, as the eldest child, to find a way of providing for her and his two brothers. Darren took to hanging around the town centre begging for money, but usually received only a couple of pounds a day. He dreaded going home to face his mother empty handed and began to return with food he had stolen from shops on the High Street.
Last Tuesday afternoon he came home to find a man leaving the flat. As they passed in the corridor, the man commented “I could help you make a bit of money for yourself, too….let me know if you fancy a little delivery job.” The following day they returned home. Darren’s mother let his brothers into the flat but told Darren to “get lost” as he was “useless and his little brothers could do a better job of feeding the family.” Darren spent two more nights sleeping rough before his arrest. Sam's StorySam was 13 years old and had lived with his father since his parents split up three years ago. He was estranged from the rest of his family but had been very close to his dad. They had a good relationship and Sam was doing well at school. The day before Christmas Eve, Sam's father died suddenly. Social Services needed to find him emergency accommodation so sent Sam to live with his estranged mother's family. Although this was not a suitable placement, it was the only one available due the short notice and time of year. The arrangement failed almost immediately as his mother's new partner did not want Sam to be there. Despite Sam suffering from the shock of his father's death, he was verbally abused and threatened by his mother's partner, who subsequently phoned Social Services demanding that Sam be removed from the family home. Sam was taken into Social Services care on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas in a foster home. Three days later he was placed with another foster family who failed to accept that he was still vulnerable and grieving. Within days, he was moved to a children's hostel. After the Christmas holidays, Sam returned to school, having lost both his father and his home. Following an altercation with a teacher brought on by the stress of his situation, Sam was immediately excluded from school for a month. The reason for the altercation? Sam hadn't completed the homework that had been set for the Christmas holiday. Sam was referred to the Reintegration Service and CCP, and he was eventually allowed back into school but spent most of his day alone and not in lessons. He was passed through several other foster homes, but due to the almost constant change of carers and disruption to his education, he became increasingly distressed and his behaviour worsened. Eventually he was sent to a residential school for children with behavioural and emotional difficulties. All because his father had died. Harry's Story
Harry was 19 when he was forced to flee from his family home due to domestic violence between his parents. He spent some time living between friends and eventually moved in with his sister. Harry had no job and no income and by staying with his sister he was placing her tenancy and housing benefit at risk. He could therefore not reveal where he was living and was classed as having no fixed address. This meant he could not claim benefits to which he was otherwise entitled. He started stealing to contribute to staying at his sister's house and depression, vulnerability and to lack of daily structure lead to him taking drugs. His sister persuaded him to contact CCP for help, and during his needs assessment he stated that he hoped to be arrested as this would have provided him with accommodation and he would no longer have been a burden to his family. |
A selection of real-life stories involving Desperate Situations. All names have been changed to preserve anonymity.
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