A grateful mother has told how her troubled teenage son and shattered family were rescued from disaster by a pioneering council support service called CATCH.
Ann, a terrified single mum, feared everything was falling apart when her child refused to go to school, fought constantly with his brother, threw things around the house and lashed out at her.
Even a call to police failed to curb his behaviour and she faced the threat of being taken to court for failing to send her son to school – as well as the prospect of him eventually having to go into care.
But the teenager’s life was dramatically turned around following a plea for help to social care workers at Buckinghamshire County Council which used its innovative CATCH team to intervene.
From being in trouble with police and unmanageable at home, he is now studying for his GCSEs and preparing to go to college.
And his mother believes this would never have happened had it not been for the dedication of a special CATCH care worker.
CATCH, short for Children and Teenager Community Help, is an early intervention service set up to support families in crisis and prevent young people, aged 11-17, from entering the care system unnecessarily.
It was launched in 2011 and has since helped around 240 youngsters put their lives back on track.
The story of Ann, now 45, and sons Charles and Jason (their real names have been changed to protect their identities) is just one illustration of how the service operates.
The mother, who works in education, was close to tears as she told how their lives began to unravel when Charles went off the rails in his early teenage years after his father suddenly left the family home.
“I was frightened. I was scared for Charles, I was scared of him, I was scared for my other son. I felt everything was falling apart,” said Ann.
“When I spoke to CATCH for the first time, I was absolutely terrified. I hadn’t heard of them before, and ringing social services was one of the hardest calls I had ever made. But, within a week, I realised it was the most beneficial I had ever made.”
Ann traces her problems back to when Charles was 11 and about to move from primary school.
It was around this time that his father suddenly left home before moving in soon afterwards with a new partner. Charles also faced the complication of moving to a secondary school in another county, leaving behind all his old friends.
“He had three main transitions that year that he didn’t quite come back from,” Ann recalled.
“His father left earlier in the year, Charles left school in July and then started a new secondary school in September without dad’s support and without his friends as well.”
Initially, younger son Jason, then 10, was hit hardest and needed counselling.
But, he then began enjoying the company of his father’s partner and his new stepbrothers during the boys’ weekly visits to their home.
Charles, however, failed to fit in and began to stop going on these visits.
“Over the course of the next two years, Charles’ behaviour started to deteriorate,” said Ann. “He started to feel he was being picked on at school and he didn’t find he was fitting in. A lot of it was his own perception.
“I rang the school who said he was happy. But he came home with bruises and wouldn’t go to anyone who would help him at school. It got to a point where he refused to go to school.”
Attempts by Ann to make him attend failed as Charles hid under the duvet in the morning and left notes around the house telling her he wasn’t going. His attendance fell to 53 per cent at its lowest point and, while school staff showed sympathy,
Ann knew she risked court action should the situation continue into the next academic year.
But things were about to get even worse as the brothers began fighting, with the younger boy often ending up with bruises from their scuffles.
“It started to become really personal between them. Things were being thrown around the house, doors were being kicked. The younger brother threatened to call the police and I stopped him so many times. I wish I hadn’t now,” she said.
Then it all came to a head one day.
“Charles faced up to one of my friends one night and he lashed out at me. He pushed me away although he didn’t hit me.
“I spoke to the police and they sent community officers out and they told him next time if he wasn’t careful, they would come out and arrest him. They were being quite hard on him to frighten him but it didn’t change.
“He got more and more angry. He shut himself away one night and I couldn’t see him and I was so frightened for him that I rang the police and social services. He was 14 at this point but he didn’t know what he was doing.”
The call was the catalyst for the turn-around. Emily, a social work assistant from CATCH, came out and spoke to Charles through the door of his bedroom.
“Emily talked to him through the door for the first couple of nights. Then he finally opened the door when he realised she wasn’t going away.”
The key was that Emily was calm but persistent and never pushed Charles to do anything. Previously, he had no feelings of self-worth and felt no one was interested in him, said Ann.
Emily returned every week and even met him at his school. Crucially, she was also available at half an hour’s notice to intervene and calm things down when a crisis erupted one day.
“One day, I rang Emily in a panic when things were being broken,” said Ann.
“I called her and she was there within half an hour and resolved it. CATCH is absolutely fantastic and I often sit here and wonder where we would be now if we didn’t have that intervention. I can’t praise the commitment, flexibility and professionalism enough.”
CATCH was the brainchild of the council’s Terri Cartwright, Head of Service of Children In Need in Buckinghamshire, who said she drew up the model in response to a gap in social care provision for young teenagers.
She explained: “Before CATCH, when we had a scenario like this, we were not nearly as flexible. I suspect Charles may well have ended up in care or he would have hurt his mother and we would have had the Youth Offending Service involved. If we had been forced to put him somewhere else, the chances of getting him back home were very slim.”
The difference, according to Ms Cartwright is that standard social workers just do not have the opportunity to work in the way the CATCH team operates.
“The CATCH remit is to respond at the point of need all week long, including weekends,” she added. “The CATCH team is set up to do what is almost impossible for a social worker to do. There is a gap in the service delivery. Social workers don’t have time to work with the intensity needed in these situations.”
The service, which has seven staff, is open from 8am to 10pm every day.
After the CATCH intervention, Ann’s family life changed dramatically again last year.
“Charles had turned himself around and was determined to go to school in September. We got back from our summer holiday and he was 100 per cent better – but then Jason’s behaviour kicked off.
“Shortly afterwards, there was a huge argument and Jason walked out and went to live with his dad. My younger son had put up with all this for long enough and rebelled.”
But at least life is now far more settled for everyone, according to Ann.
“Charles is just about to finish school and has a conditional place at college,” she said. “He will be looking for a part-time job. His school attendance is now 100 per cent. He is doing GCSEs and he really has turned himself around. He has friends and now is happy at school.”
Her message now is to warn other families, from all backgrounds, to beware of falling into a similar crisis.
“This could happen to anybody when children are going through a transition. I thought I was from a family where this could not happen. People need to realise they can get help before they reach the moment of desperation.”
And she told other parents: “Don’t be afraid to make that first move and call for help. Don’t be scared. It’s not like it used to be – things have moved forward. There is so much more in terms of social care.”
Meanwhile, CATCH’s success has prompted the council to extend the service to provide support to young children and babies as well as their families too. Junior CATCH, which officially launched on April 29 provides help to young children, babies and their parents when things at home are difficult.
Terri Cartwright, who also designed the junior scheme, said: “The thing about the service is that is there to empower the parents. Our role is to help the parents regain the confidence and ability to parent again, not for us to take over.”