Case studies and exercises

Mother: Leanne 

Leanne is mother to all the children. She is a twenty eight year old white British woman. Leanne has a history of childhood abuse, sexual exploitation and exposure to violence; she spent time in care and became involved in drugs at 14. 

Leanne has had little support in raising the children from any of her partners. The older children suffered some neglect, exposure to drug use and possible sex work in the home. The situation deteriorated after Leanne met Darren, father of Lacie and Carla. He was repeatedly violent to Leanne in front of the children and there was drug use and dealing in the home. Darren is a prolific offender with a history of violence and substance misuse. Leanne has threatened to kill herself if Mikey is adopted. 

Father: Drew 

The five children have four different fathers. Mikey is Drew’s only child. Mikey was conceived as a result of a brief liaison. Drew is a 19 year old black British man who works in the family fruit and veg shop. He finds reading hard. Drew has no criminal convictions and his family is not known to social services. Drew only discovered that he was a father when Mikey was three months old, Leanne having withheld information about Mikey’s paternity. Darren, father of the older children, has threatened to kill Drew more than once. Drew does not feel able to take on the responsibility of bringing up Mikey as a single parent. Drew’s mother Mel can only offer limited support because she has a disabled adult son and cares for Drew’s father, who has severe arthritis. Mel has helped Drew to make the difficult decision to support adoption for his son. 

Mikey 

Mikey has lived with foster carers Sue and Jane since birth. He was a small baby and showed some minor drug withdrawal symptoms, but is now thriving. Mikey is very close to the carers’ grown up son, Leo and shrieks with excitement when he comes in. The other child in placement, Roxanne, is two months older than Mikey. The two children laugh a lot together and tend to play alongside each other. Mikey loves the family dog and enjoys trips to the park with Sue’s Dad, who he calls ‘Gann’. 

Current Contact 

Mikey has contact with his mother three times a week and with his father once a week. On Fridays, the older children join maternal contact after school. 

Leanne usually attends contact regularly, but there have been periods when she is late or phones to say that she is ‘unwell’. Sometimes Leanne appears unkempt, bruised or fragile during contact, shivering and pale. She has to be reminded to switch her phone off and seems pre-occupied with ensuring that Darren gets the contact he ‘is entitled to’. Mikey appears content but a little subdued during visits to his mother, often falling asleep in Leanne’s arms. Leanne is gentle and tender with Mikey, kissing and caressing him, constantly telling him she loves him. She can find it difficult when Mikey wants to be off playing, rather than sitting on her lap. Mikey shows no distress at the end of visits to his mother and will sometimes get his coat and bring it to her. 

Drew was initially awkward and self-conscious during his visits to Mikey, having little experience with young children. With support from the supervisor, he has begun to relax and now spends time playing hide and seek, enjoying chasing games and helping Mikey ride a trike around the garden. Mikey is animated when he sees his father, shrieking with joy and holding his arms out. There is a lot of shared laughter and Mikey snuggles up to Drew as they look at picture books. Drew’s Mum, Mel, sometimes comes along. She brings home cooked food and sings songs from her own Jamaican childhood. Mel has provided lots of photos for Mikey’s life story book and gave him a hand-made quilt at Christmas.

Lacie and Carla are the children of Leanne and Darren, part of a larger sibling group of five, all removed from home 13 months ago (for more information on the family see Mikey’s case study above). The two girls are placed with their grandmother. The three young children have been involved in prolonged care proceedings, with high levels of contact throughout. 

Whilst in their parents’ care, Lacie and Carla were exposed to drug and alcohol misuse, violence and adult sexual behaviour.  Both children have some developmental delay and attachment difficulties. At the time of removal, the girls had matted hair and rough skin. They ate with their hands and were both in nappies. Lacie’s facial expression was blank, but she has gradually started to smile and laugh. Lacie shows a lot of self-comforting behaviour, twiddling her hair and rocking at night. Carla had little speech and relied on Lacie to talk for her. Both children appeared fearful of being bathed and Carla seemed unusually passive during nappy changes. They both flinched at sudden sounds. The girls are sometimes gentle with each other, sometimes controlling and aggressive. 

On contact days, Lacie hides her shoes. She is silent and withdrawn on the walk to the contact centre. During visits, Lacie often withdraws to the corner of the room and refuses to eat the food her mother has brought. She is compliant and smiley when Darren initiates play. After visits, Lacie appears exhausted and often sleeps for up to two hours. Carla shows no obvious response before contact. During visits, she seeks her mother’s attention, pushing and shoving Lacie out of the way. Carla throws frequent tantrums, sometimes biting herself. These are worse after contact. During visits, Carla sometimes rubs herself against Darren.