Young people tell us that they get a lot out of coming to YPDAAT, here you can read about young people’s experience of the service and how they feel YPDAAT has helped them. Please be aware that the names of young people in this section have been changed in order to protect their identity.
Sam’s Story – and his support from YPDAAT
Sam’s life so far……
Sam (*not real name) has overcome a lot of difficulties in his life. His early years were challenging and there were lot of things happening with his family such as domestic abuse, drug and alcohol use, criminal behaviours. Sam and his brother had been on a Child Protection plan for some time and had involvement with Children’s Social Care. He enjoyed going to school and the staff at school liked him so much they helped him to get an apprenticeship which he really enjoyed and was excelling at.
Sam’s mum had recently moved out of the area with his younger brother, he was doing really well, was living in supported accommodation, had a job, had a car and things were going well for him.
What were we worried about?
When Sam was referred to YPDAAT he was 17, he wasn’t having much contact with his family, his mum was still living away, his older brother is in prison. Unfortunately, Sam had been arrested for drug driving so lost his car and his license and also his job. He was also at risk of losing his housing. His emotional wellbeing wasn’t very good and there was a risk that things would get worse for him and he would become really vulnerable and possibly his emotional health would get worse.
Worry statement
Lisa (YPDAAT), Rachel (YJS), Mark (Barnardo) and staff at his semi independent placement were worried that if Sam didn’t take up the offer of support to help him make things better like they were for him before he got arrested then his mental health would get worse, possibly leading to depression which would stop him from doing the day to day things he enjoyed. His substance use may get worse which would then make his mental health worse, he may not be able to get another job and would end up homeless. Other people may see Sam as very easy to exploit and he could end up having to sell drugs or do other “jobs” to help pay for his own drugs or pay off debts. Sam may have to have a social worker to help him if these things got worse.
What was working well?
Sam was really motivated and keen to get his life back on track. He was keen to work with services that were offered to him to help support him through this time. Sam showed a high amount of resilience and the ability to grow and develop into a healthy and well functioning adult.
What needed to happen?
His substance misuse worker talked to Sam about a EHAT, even though his mum wasn’t living in the area he felt that he could have his own EHAT and we would hold regular meetings to make sure that Sam’s plan was working well and everyone was doing what they said they would do to help him. We asked Sam if he wanted his mum involved and he didn’t think that this was something that he wanted at this time.
Sam met regularly with his worker from the Youth Justice Service and YPDAAT and a referral was made to Barnardos to help Sam discuss his feelings and problems and to improve how he was feeling. We also referred Sam to the Healthy Living Service, because he was living in supported accommodation he felt that it would be good to have someone help with cooking on a budget and how to make simple meals for himself.
How did this help Sam?
Sam successfully completed his intervention with YJS and kept his appointments and didn’t have any further involvement with the police.
Sam worked well with YPDAAT and reporting that he is no longer smoking cannabis on a daily basis. He continued with support from YPDAAT and Barnardo’s after he completed with YJS.
He found employment again and had started to work, his accommodation was more settled and he was happy still living there. Sam is becoming more ready for independent living and adult life after he turns 18.
Sam said that he felt much better about himself and his situation and his wellbeing scores had improved compared to when we started working with him. He was also having more regular contact with his mum and brother.
The Early help plan helped Sam to see what services were putting in place for him and he actively attended his meetings and told services what he felt that he needed to happen.
Sam didn’t really know Early help or EHAT’s were a thing he thought all support had to involve social workers. Sam felt his plan kept him motivated and focussed and pushed him to achieve and do well for himself.
Sam thought the workers were really supportive and didn’t judge him, he felt they genuinely cared about his situation.
He would tell other young people in difficult situations to access any support what is available but to be really honest about what is going on for them so the right help can be put in place.
Sam felt he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he has done without the right support,
Sam feels that he has also learnt an awareness that life isn’t always, in his words “ Rosey “ “but its about taking the rough with the smooth and knowing I can achieve and to not give up”