Case Studies

David

(name has been changed)

David came into care at the age of 13 following a conviction for two serious offences and was considered a high risk of reoffending by his youth offending team. David experienced difficulties in care, with a number of placements ending prematurely because of his offending behaviour and the level of risk he posed to himself and others. Eventually David went to a secure unit and from there had a planned move to a BMC single occupancy home.

The staff team at the home worked closely with the allocated clinician to consider David’s day-to-day behaviours, area of difficulty and how these areas could be addressed.

Individual weekly therapy sessions were facilitated for David and the care team ensured that David attended weekly appointments with the youth offending team and encouraged him to work with the local CAMHS.

Multi-agency working between his allocated BMC clinician and his youth offending team permitted an updated risk assessment to be undertaken for David. The close working relationships around David allowed for a deeper level of understanding of his individual needs and how his difficulties might present. This allowed his care team to be responsive and support his development.

David made considerable progress following initial high levels of incidents, with physical interventions required on a near daily basis. Over time his levels of aggression, and interventions reduced considerably and it was evident that David had developed positive attachments with the care team.

After ten months, David’s staffing ratio was reduced to 1:1. He then started to have free time and unsupervised contact with his family progressing to overnight family contact and reduced contact with his youth offending team. Positively, David continued to attend his individual therapy sessions on a weekly basis.

Consistent successful multi-agency working was achieved for David with regular meetings held between social services, registered care manager, allocated clinician, youth offending worker and the local police. Towards the end of his placement, the assessed risk to himself and others had reduced to allow his social worker to plan with his care team for his return home in a safe and supported way.

Elenor

(name has been changed)

Eleanor came to us from a secure unit at the age of 16. Having suffered abuse and neglect for most of her life, she had a history of arson, violence, severe self-harm, and was a persistent young offender who also formed inappropriate attachments to female staff.

Eleanor came with an extensive list of ‘labels’ including severe attachment disorder and personality disorder – we worked with the ‘person’.

Eleanor’s long term therapeutic placement with us involved cognitive behavioural therapy, outdoor activities, consistency, boundaries, routine and role modelling.

Eleanor did not commit any criminal offences whilst she was with us and has now gone on to live independently near her siblings. She is also capable of maintaining appropriate relationships with both men and women.

In the final stages of the placement, we worked closely with Eleanor, her social worker and other agencies from the placing authority area to plan for a transition back to her home area.

This involved a detailed and sensitively handled exit plan which included an outreach support package that we provided during the first few months of independent living.

Peter

(name has been changed)

Perhaps the best person to tell you about Bryn Melyn Care is a young person who we’ve looked after. Peter came to us when he was 12.

His mother was schizophrenic, his father committed suicide and Peter had a history of neglect and severe physical and sexual abuse. As a result his presenting behaviours included violence, inappropriate sexualised behaviour and very poor social skills.