Case Studies

I started working with Sam in September of 2019, she came to me as an extremely withdrawn/neglected young woman, I had little information about her past and family life but knew she was on the child protection register for neglect and that she had a child exploitation worker due to being exploited by the local travellers.

On our first meeting she made no eye contact, she struggled to talk to me and appeared very low, she had on dirty clothes and smelt, her hair was unkempt and she had head lice, there was also a problem with her speech.

I had a few sessions with Sam and took her out on her own, we visited parks something she had never done, I can remember on one occasion her asking me what this certain bird was;( it was a swan) we would cook together and it was soon very apparent this was probably one of her only meals, as we gained trust I asked her about her family and gently asked if she knew why social services were involved, she opened up slowly, but had no understanding that not having the basic things in life were neglect , this is because she had never new any difference. I put a programme together about self-care, and told her that we did this with all our students so she didn’t feel “singled out.” During this time I realised she never even had her own toothbrush, she lacks basic understanding of why we even need to keep ourselves clean, I spoke to the team and it was agreed with could buy her some essentials, also after speaking with other agencies it came to light she only has one pair of
knickers and one bra, so we told her as a reward for all her hard work we would also treat her to some other bits, as social services needed her to have some bits but knew her family wouldn’t have them if they got wind that social services had paid for them so we went and purchased some clothes as well, I bought her washing powder and showed her how she could hand wash her own clothes as her family didn’t have a washing machine, we bought deodorants and shampoos , I told her how often she should wash and to brush her teeth. She bought some underwear, she had only ever had hand me downs so she had to try many sizes, there was about £4 left and I told Sam, with this money she could buy anything she wanted with it…. She chose to buy more sanitary products. This young woman had never had them before.

During our session it came to light her speech issues had caused her to be bullied in school and that her speech appointments had never been followed up, I contacted the hospital and she had problems with pronouncing her S’s it wasn’t known why as appointments were missed and she was discharged, but we got some paperwork and practiced some worksheets and over time and as her confidence has grew, and her speech and confidence is substantially better.

I was shocked that Sam was no longer in school and asked her why as she was no trouble, she told me that her parents couldn’t afford the shoes and the school had given her some, the other kids were bullying her about her shoes and her speech, she also said that she was always asked to take her jumper off and just wear her blazer, I asked her why this bothered her and she eventually told me, that she likes to wear lots of layers so that, if someone was to rape her, they would have to get through many layers of clothing first!

We did more work on sexual health from this and also tried to build up her self-worth, as well as documenting and passing over all this information to the relevant agencies. As time passed Sam showed an interest in cooking and had a real flare for it, so we got Sam some voluntary work experience in a local youth café, Sam shone, she fitted in perfectly probably for the first time, she learnt many skills and also gained ASDAN qualifications, she interacted with customers and staff and became an instrumental part of the team, there was also other volunteers at the café with disabilities and Sam was wonderful with them, she understood what it was like to be different and to feel isolated, she was emphatic, helpful and patient they also had great relationships with her.

I also got to know her family during this time plus the partnerships, social services, other provisions, and other workers involved. Sam was struggling at home, as were mum, dad and the other siblings, I would have to write a report each week on any issues raised and also keep Sam’s trust whilst safeguarding her and her siblings. It became apparent Sam was getting low again and smoking a lot of cannabis at night to cope, I used my counselling skills to try and get to the bottom of it and exploring some issues, we worked on harm reduction and minimisation, but I also thought she needed to see a doctor, I took her to the appointment with her mums consent, and the doctor, thought she should see the school nurse, during this appointment I prompted Sam to tell them things she had told me, about self-harming, low moods, losing weight, not being fed at home, and the constant nits and scabies she kept getting and the conditions at home, she spoke and got very upset, but more people were now aware.

We bought her some more lice treatment and also spoke to mum about how to treat and maintain. A meeting was put together to tell mum and dad how she was feeling also.

I took Sam to the opticians, dentist, and to the sexual health clinic, got her a bank account, health and hygiene certificates and she gained qualifications in life skills. Sam’s mood started to lift.

We started to work on what Sam wanted to do in the future, we made her a CV and she decided she wanted to work in a local shop, we spoke about self-care and how to behave in an interview. We posted all her CV’s and she got two job interviews and a trial, we were both ecstatic, unfortunately there was a big social service meeting and it looked that Sam would be going into care out of the area so the trials never happened but Sam remained focused.

Currently Sam is supposed to have finished with ourselves as she is 16, but the partnership have asked us to continue our support as we have been so influential in her education/life, and she still needs our support, which we are continuing to do until Sam is working full-time and in a more stable place.

Since she has been with us Sam is a totally different girl and hopefully we have given her all the skills and educated her not only by getting her ASDAN qualification, health and safety qualification but also the skills she will need in life to live independently and fulfil her real potential.