Kate was a young mother who was living in unsuitable accommodation. Welcare’s team empowered Kate to turn her life around and start making plans for how to bring her daughter up in a safe loving home.
I’ve lived most of my life in care because my mum and dad had problems with both drugs and alcohol. I’m only young, but I love my baby girl. I was trying to bring her up in my step-father’s house. But he and my stepbrother are both drug users.
I was referred to Welcare, and a family support worker helped me think about what was most important for my daughter. I needed to keep my baby safe, and that meant finding a safe place to live in and making a real home for us both. I had no idea how to manage money and no friends or family. The people at Welcare really helped. We used the star tool to identify what stage I was at with my goals, and talked through how to work towards them in manageable steps.
After 6 months of working with Welcare, I’ve sorted out my benefits, and I’m hoping to be re-housed. In the meantime, I’ve got a plan of how to keep my baby safe while we’re still living with my step-dad. I go to Welcare’s Crawler Club for mothers and toddlers, and I’m making some news friends with the other mums there. There’s lots more to do, but things are looking up.
Welcare uses the Family Star tool to help families monitor their progress towards mutually agreed goals. When Kate revisited Family Star to measure progress towards her goals, she scored herself higher on all the identified areas of concern. While still working towards fully reaching the goals for her and her daughter, Kate is proud of all that she has achieved so far.