Kate's Story
Children's Social Care - Family Support, submitted a referral for Kate*, aged 15, who was living with a family friend under a private foster care arrangement. Kate was refusing to return home to mum, even though her mum was keen for her to return to the family home. Kate had not been home in some months, and was not speaking to her mum at that time. Her family support worker, who felt that mediation would be effective within this situation, referred Kate to HAPI.
The next step was to make initial contact with Kate's mum, to explain the mediation process, and what the service involves. Kate's mum was very agreeable, and wanted to progress as soon as possible. However, Kate was very reluctant to engage with HAPI and quite a few months were spent trying to encourage her to participate.
Once Kate turned 16 years old, the private foster care arrangement ended. Unfortunately, Kate was still adamant that she would not return home to her mum. Family support were able to arrange a further private foster care arrangement for Kate, although this was only temporary. Family support and HAPI arranged a further meeting, and invited Kate and her mum. Again, Kate did not engage, so it was decided that further attempts to engage her would be made via text message/WhatsApp (as this was the preferred method of contact for Kate).
Further efforts to engage Kate did not work, and the private foster care arrangement broke down. Children's Social Care then stepped Kate up to the Homeless Protocol. Kate attended the homeless assessment with her mum. During the meeting, Kate revealed that she didn't feel it was safe to return home, due to a previous physical assault by her 20-year-old brother (who was still living there). Kate's mum stated that she had asked him to find his own accommodation and move out. Kate's brother had agreed that he would like to move out, but was unsure of his options. HAPI offered support to assist the older brother in finding suitable housing. There were no concerns around brother or his ability to live independently. He agreed that it was appropriate for him to move out, and was not forced in any way. It was agreed that Kate would access supported accommodation in the meantime, with a view to her returning home when her older brother moved out. Again, mediation was offered to assist Kate and mum with building their relationship again.
Partner work between HAPI, Children's Social Care, Family Support and the family has resulted in Kate returning home and re-building her relationship with her mum. There is now support in place to ensure that this continues.
