Case studies
Krystal, born in 1989, has been in the care of Child, Youth and Family since the age of six, and was placed in a care and protection residence for 15 months at the age of 16, given that all local caregiver options had been exhausted due to her aggressive behaviour.
Today, Krystal lives independently and has a job. She has made the huge transition from being institutionalised, with no place to call home, to living in her own place with a surrounding support network in a community environment.
Krystal grew up in a home with two intellectually disabled parents who neglected and abused their children in an ongoing pattern of inter-generational abuse and family dysfunction. No one has been able to determine exactly how many respite caregivers Krystal has had since being removed from the care of her family, but all placements ended within two to four weeks due to Krystal’s aggressive behaviour. She has attacked her caregivers, bit, hit and spat on other children, and tortured small animals. She, herself, has an intellectual disability, as well as anxiety and attachment disorders and inappropriate sexualised behaviours. She was repeatedly excluded from schools, and had no friendships or steady relationships in her life.
Child, Youth and Family provided support care as long as possible, and Krystal was placed in a care and protection residence for 15 months, as all local caregiver options had been exhausted. There were no viable options of a specialist or family for her to live with, and residencies lacked staffing support.
Agency managers from Child, Youth and Family, disability and health applied for an interagency plan with HCN funding. The first step was locating a specialist to complete a comprehensive ecological assessment to provide detailed information on Krystal’s environmental, educational, therapeutic and intellectual needs - a resource that was not locally available.
Goals for Krystal included:
- moving her into her own residence in a community with trained/experienced support caregivers, which would allow her to build independent living skills and create networks within the surrounding community
- maintaining ongoing, supervised contact with her family
- ongoing therapy to address Krystal’s health and safety needs and to provide her with self-management skills
- teaching Krystal living skills, such as budgeting, cooking and domestic chores
- enrolling her in literacy and numeracy courses suitable to her level and learning style
- involvement in IHC-based peer groups
- providing access to an animal centre where Krystal can explore her love for animals in safe and supervised environment.
Krystal was transitioned from the care and protection residence to a skilled residential provider, who helped provide stabilization. From there, Krystal was moved to a community placement.
Although she lives on her own, Krystal has access to staff support whenever she needs it, and an “on call” caregiver sleeps in an adjoining flat with a connecting door. Krystal has two pets that she looks after, she is making progress in holding conversations and making friends, and she is able to hold a job. She speaks to her father every day on the phone, and has some contact with her mother and siblings. Caregivers report that incidents of Krystal’s acting out have reduced from four incidents per month to one every six weeks. Krystal says that she’s “very, very happy” with her house and with the people around her. She is proud of her achievements.
“The outcomes for Krystal that have been achieved through the interagency process have been excellent, and her life is now full of promise,” said the Services Coordinator for Krystal’s interagency team.