challenging families
Challenging families to tackle the intergenerational cycle of youth crime
18 months ago the Carter family’s problems had escalated to crisis level. Years of domestic violence had left single mum Kelly, 39, extremely aggressive. Rules and boundaries were non existent within the household and the family were incapable of communicating with one another. Kelly went out every night and lacked the control and skills to effectively parent her three sons Josh, Callum and Jack.
Josh, 17, was involved in a gang, a drug user and a PPO (Persistent and Prolific Offender) who was in custody for two counts of street robbery. His two younger brothers, Callum, 15, and Jack, 11, were both diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and at risk of following in Josh’s criminal footsteps. Neither attended school and, on top of this, arguments with neighbours meant the family were on the fringe of being evicted from their council property.
Despite being visited by a plethora of agencies over the past 10 years, each struggled to engage with the family and the Carters weren’t given the support needed to turn their lives around until January 2009 when Leicester’s Youth Crime Family Intervention Project (YC FIP) intervened.
The Spurgeons’ project provides intensive support to vulnerable families and adopts a ‘whole family’ approach, recognising the interconnectedness between children’s and adults’ problems, to address underlying issues that put children and young people in danger of offending.
The YC FIP targets families who display multiple risk factors and where at least one member is a PPO, like Josh whose behaviour is disruptive and has clearly identifiable negative outcomes for his siblings. Through persistence and assertiveness, Spurgeons’ key worker, Natalie Creedy, works intensively with families like the Carters, up to 14 hours a week, to ‘grip’ families’ problems by coordinating a multi-agency package of support and using a combination of rewards and, where appropriate, sanctions to motivate them to change their behaviour and address underlying issues.
And, as she admits, it isn’t easy….
After rejecting help from numerous agencies over the years, Kelly and her boys were referred to the YC FIP in January 2009 and were extremely hostile towards the intervention as Natalie reflects. “From January until May I had constant battles with Kelly, all she did was try to push us away. She was aggressive on the phone and when I went round to the family’s house she’d swear at me, abuse me or simply ignore me, but because of the ethos of the FIP, which is that we don’t give up, I continued to knock on her door everyday. “The boys needed routine and structure, particularly with their ADHD, but Kelly didn’t understand this; there were no proper meals being cooked and she was going out every night.”
A turning point eventually came however, when Natalie drove Kelly to Josh’s detention centre shortly before he was due to be released. She used the two-and-a-half hour round trip to build Kelly’s trust as she explains: “Not speaking during this time would have been difficult so I started chatting about the FIP and what we could do. We had to make the journey four times in total and ended up spending at least 10 hours in the car together so we got to know one another quite well. Kelly told me she was fed up with different people from a total of 17 different agencies walking in and out of her family’s life, but the key thing with the FIP is that the key worker never changes, which helps provide consistency. Having this time with Kelly made her realise I wasn’t just another agency, but a human being too. She was unable to put the phone down or slam the door in my face and as soon as she began softening to me, the boys did too.”
A behaviour contract is crucial to the effectiveness of the FIP and a contract was drawn up between the Carter family and Natalie setting out the changes that needed to happen, the support that would be provided to facilitate those changes and what would happen if such changes weren’t made. Timescales and reviews were built in to ensure accountability, as well as the possibility of sanctions to motivate change as Natalie explains: “If Kelly didn’t get Jack to school, for instance, the sanction would be that Education Welfare Officers would get involved, and if Josh didn’t sort his offending out, he’d be back in custody.”
A coordinated plan for the whole family was developed setting out the contribution different services would make and, as is frequently the case, it included a parenting programme.
When young offenders are released from custody, those thought to pose a high level of risk, like Josh, are released on a Detention Training Order, requiring them to spend the second half of their sentence in the community under the supervision of the Youth Offending Team. The court required Josh to be on an Intensive Support and Surveillance Programme as a condition of the community period of his sentence and as part of this he was obliged to spend two hours a week with Natalie.
Natalie worked directly with all members of the Carter family over an 18 month period, either at home, or in the ‘family room’ at the YC FIP office, which provides a ‘safe’ environment to encourage individuals to open up as she explains: “Sometimes it’s too chaotic to work with individual members of a family at home, but it’s crucial they’re objective and prepared to say where they think things are going wrong for progress to be made. Kelly would never have been able to deal with structured support sessions which we usually offer, but I managed to get through to her by talking in the car while I drove her to various appointments. During these times she’d share her problems and eventually we started tackling her parenting.”
Unfamiliar with receiving praise herself as a child, Kelly was unable to praise her boys, but since attending a parenting support group, facilitated by Natalie entitled Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities, she’s beginning to do so. “Getting Kelly to say ‘Well done, you’ve done a great job!’ was three weeks’ work,” explains Natalie. She’s also less aggressive now. We have six weekly reviews and at the earlier ones, she’d always get up and storm out, but recently she hasn’t done this. She’s calmed down a lot and is able to express herself now without swearing. Kelly’s also learning to drive which is another big step as Natalie explains: “Kelly has an ambition now whereas before she’d have thought she couldn’t do that.”
The YC FIP’s impact has been equally noticeable with the boys. When Natalie first started working with Callum he was on a part-time timetable and skipping school, but by accompanying him to school and sitting with him during lessons, Natalie’s support meant he left with qualifications and is now seeking advice on further education. Josh has now finished his licence, he’s got an apprenticeship and hasn’t committed any further offences, and Jack’s enjoying school, having been reintegrated on a part-time timetable after Natalie managed to get Kelly to sign his SEN – a statement of special educational needs, which previously she’d refused to do.
“If we hadn’t intervened, Kelly’s family would have had a major breakdown, they’d reached crisis point and couldn’t go on the way things were,” reflects Natalie whose role entails entering families’ homes and observing like TV’s Supernanny Jo Frost who travels the length and breadth of the country to help desperate parents deal with their badly behaved children. “I do unannounced and announced visits, often at anti-social times, which means turning up when I think something’s not quite right. If mum says she’s in at 10pm, for instance, and the kids say she doesn’t get home until 2.30am, I’ll go round at 11pm and check,” explains Natalie. “Some families are so entrenched; that’s how life’s been for years. Many of their problems are intergenerational and my role’s to break through these barriers.”
After 18 months, Natalie’s officially finished working with the Carters, but she’ll continue to keep track on their progress, despite starting work with a new family. “All the families we work with are very similar to Kelly’s, although no two families are the same; the issues are alike, poor parenting, domestic violence, drug and alcohol misuse, poverty. There’s a pattern and it’s about nipping it in the bud before it escalates. Hopefully Callum and Jack won’t follow in their brother’s footsteps and Kelly learning to parent effectively will have repercussions on the boys if they become parents in the future.”
And, in spite of the abuse she gets from families, Natalie insists her role’s rewarding, but says a sense of humour’s vital. “It’s about perseverance. I feel proud of Kelly because I’ve had to parent her and as a parent you automatically feel proud. She’s come such a long way, all the family have. The police now go round because they haven’t heard from them and want to check everything’s OK, not to make arrests. The YC FIP’s proof that sometimes families need someone who’s committed and Kelly was testing that.”