Supporting young people to return home safely
What's Important To Us
Returning home can be both an exciting and scary time for young people. It is important that we work with the young person, their family and other professionals to ensure that the situation is safe and that supports are in place to optimise success.
This key information outlines the steps and factors you need to take into consideration when returning a young person home.
Parental functioning and the home environment
When considering a return home re-examine the reasons why the young person came into care. Use the Young Person and Family consult to aid your decision-making.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Have the risk statements changed? If so, how are we addressing any new risks?
- Have the danger/harm factors been addressed? If not, is there a plan in place to ensure ongoing safety and wellbeing at home?
- Are there more strengths and protective factors?
- Is there now evidence of safety proven over time?
- If the young person has been offending, do their parents and wider family have the ability to support the young person to make better choices and change their behaviour?
- Have the underlying causes of offending (that relate to family and environment) been addressed?
Also refer to the Key Information: Returning Children Safely Home.
Young people are more able to protect themselves than young children but they still need adults around them to make sure they are safe. Particular attention needs to be paid to the vulnerabilities of disabled young people, young people at risk of suicide, young people who have been the victim of sexual abuse and those with mental health issues.
Parental substance abuse and untreated parental mental health issues need to be addressed before the young person returns home. Young people are vulnerable to the impact of this adult behaviour. Talk to the young person about the impact these things have on their physical safety and emotional wellbeing. Young people can appear resilient but in fact they may have simply developed coping mechanisms and masking behaviour to deal with their worries about their parents and to keep their true feelings secret.
Remember, as well as safety, young people need encouragement, positive re-enforcement, clear boundaries, guidance, age-appropriate responsibility and stability. Regardless of whether a young person came to our attention via care and protection or youth justice, before they return home we need to assess if the adults in their life can provide the right encouragement and support. Use the assessment triangle as a guide and TRAX as the assessment record.
The young person's voice
Maintaining an open line of communication with young people is vital. While some young people are good at vocalising their opinions it is often the ones who sit quietly while plans are made for them that are the most vulnerable.
Find out if a young person is feeling safe or if they are hesitant to return home. If care and protection concerns have previously been identified, ask the young person if they believe these concerns have been adequately addressed.
Use The Three Houses to engage with the young person, and talk to them in a place where they feel comfortable, maybe away from the office or placement.
Most importantly, listen to what the young person tells you, don't discount their fears and worries and take action as appropriate (Key Information: Engaging with children and young people).
Family dynamics - supporting positive relationships in the family
According to the Bowen Family Systems Theory (1952), families are complex units that are bonded by strong emotional connections. The ways in which members of a family interact with each other and the group as a whole are often referred to as family dynamics. Traditions, communication styles, behavioural patterns and emotional interdependence all influence the dynamics between family members.
The dynamics or interactions between family members have a critical influence on how an individual develops. Children learn communication skills, behaviours and life skills from the modelling provided by older family members. The attitudes and relationships shared between family members also have a critical influence on how we interact in the world outside of our homes.
Before the young person returns home, understand all the people in the home, the role each plays in the young person's life, the way they influence the young person, the ways in which family members interact with each other, and how they provide support to each other and treat others during times of stress. Knowing all of this will help you identify areas of strength and areas where additional support may be needed.
When offending or behavioural issues have led to a young person living away from home, pay attention to any negative attitudes that may still exist towards the young person. This is particularly important when family members have been the victim of offending. If family members still harbour anger or resentment towards the young person this must be dealt with so that the young person feels welcome when they return home and they are given a fair opportunity to prove they have made changes. Equally, pay attention to and address any unhelpful attitudes within the home such as family members who support offending behaviour or parents who collude with young people in an effort to protect them from having to face consequences.
The dynamics between siblings is also important. Are older siblings able to be good role models for the young person? How will younger siblings manage having their big brother or sister back in their lives, especially if they have become accustomed to having their parent's attention to themselves?
Preparation and planning
Many young people will have a variety of services working with them; bring all these people together when planning the return home to ensure that there will continue to be a collaborative response that meets the needs of the young person and their family.
As per the Caring for Children and Young People Policy, once the decision has been made that a young person can safely return home convene a return home meeting involving all the professionals working with the young person and their family to ensure the required supports are in place and that everyone knows what their role in supporting the young persons is.
Involve the young person and their family in the meeting. This gives them the opportunity to be part of the decision making process and take an active role in the plan as they have a vested interest in its success. The more people committed to the young person successfully returning home, the more likely there will be a positive outcome. Remember, the supports need to endure long after Child, Youth and Family has left the family's life.
Ensure everyone has a copy of the plan (including the young person) and understands their role within it, and make sure it is written in language the young person can understand.
Supporting parents when the young person pushes limits
Young people push limits; that's the nature of their developmental stage. Ensure the plan includes support for parents through testing times so that they do not give up.
Work with the parents to identify people in their wider whānau, peer group and community who can:
- help distinguish between normal and problem behaviours
- give advice about ways to avoid problems and negotiate difficult issues
- offer lots of practical ideas for dealing with issues as they arise
- take the young person or the parent away from the home to allow some breathing space when needed
- be contacted if they want advice or information
Finding people within the family's natural support system who can encourage a stressed or overwhelmed parent will go a long way to supporting the family into the future.
Planning for if things go wrong
Part of the planning with the young person, family and support systems must focus on a contingency plan in case things go wrong.
The young person needs to know who they can contact if they feel unsafe, and parents need to know who to contact if they feel unable to continue to keep the young person safe. Ideally the contingency plan will include a family member taking reasonability to act immediately to ensure the young person's safety and will be robust enough for family to be able to manage the young person safety in a crisis without the need for statutory intervention.
Make sure everyone (especially the young person) knows the details of the plan, has the ability to implement the plan and knows who to contact if the plan breaks down.
Supporting and reviewing the plan
Spend time with the young person and their family
In order to know what is happening for the young person and how things are going at home you have maintain close contact with them Remember, once a young person returns home you'll be visiting them at least once a week for the first four weeks of their placement. More intensive visiting at this particularly critical time will help you pick up on the things that aren't going so well, and will also give you the opportunity to recognise and acknowledge the things that are. Spend time with the young person somewhere that they feel comfortable and able to talk, and at the family home observing interactions between family members and talking to parents about how things are for them.
Regularly review the plan
You'll be holding regular review meetings within the first four weeks of the young person's return home and every three months from then on (see the Caring for Children and Young People policy for more detail). These will provide further opportunity for planning, discussing progress and concerns, and reviewing the supports that are in place.
