Case Studies

NB – all names have been changed for confidentiality reasons.

Abi and Shakira

Abi and Shakira, sisters aged 8 and 9, were referred to Chance by their school in conjunction with Social Services. They live with their mum, Makeeba, and an older brother. Their parents are separated and although their mum does not know where their father lives he irregularly turns up, takes them out and lavishes them with gifts. Both girls were on the child protection register for neglect.

Abi had no stable friendships with peers and was very controlling and bullying. Shakira’s school felt that she quite introverted and gets ‘left behind’ in the family for not acting out. She was starting to exhibit bullying behaviour and this caused concern as an indicator to developing more bad behaviour. At referral both girls scored only just over the criteria on the Goodman’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; Shakira scored 18 and Abi 17.

Abi was matched with Samantha, a teaching assistant. They went to the cinema and the library, made cakes and spent lots of time talking. In the first three months they worked on some maths, drawing and improving her manners. By the time of the review Abi felt that she was already getting better at controlling herself at school and mum felt that she was getting better at this as well. Abi and Samantha’s goals were to find a sports club, to do some spelling and to write and perform a play about getting angry.

Shakira was matched with Jenny, a Project Manager for a marketing company. Together they joined the library and read quite a few books and started a scrapbook to record everything that they were doing, as well as go on some trips. After three months mum could already see some improvement in Shakira’s reading and Shakira was pleased that she had worked out their expenses and added up all the receipts. For their goals they agreed to write 8 book reviews, go trampolining and find a drama club.

At the end of the mentoring Abi’s SDQ score had reduced to 8, a reduction of 9 and bringing her below the threshold for having a behavioural difficulty[1]. At the graduation ceremony her best friend came along to celebrate her achievements with her family – a huge improvement for someone who had previously been unable to form close friendships with peers. Her teacher had seen improvements in her concentration, anger management, self control and frustration management.

Shakira’s scores were even more impressive. Her final SDQ score was 4 – a reduction of 14 and significantly below the threshold for having a behavioural difficulty. Within the SDQ the pro-social scores are also interesting to look at. These scores look at the positive social behaviours that a child may have. At referral Shakira had a pro-social score of 5, which is on the borderline between normal and abnormal. By the end of the mentoring her score was the maximum 10, showing that not only had her poor behaviour reduced, but her positive behaviour had increased.

The mentoring also contributed to improvements within the family and to Makeeba’s self esteem. At the point of referral both Social Services and the school found Makeeba disinterested and very difficult to engage with. The Chance UK mentors, two professional women giving their free time to provide support to children, treated Makeeba as an equal and involved her as much as was appropriate in the mentoring. Makeeba responded to this and valued what the mentoring was giving to her family.

During the mentoring the children were taken off the child protection register and Makeeba found the motivation to go to college and get a job. There were, of course, other interventions that contributed towards this, but the impact of the two mentors in the household had a big influence.

James and Cliff

James was referred to Chance at the age of 8 through the Hackney Family Support Team. There was concern about the level of parental supervision he was receiving and his unstable home life. He was displaying very challenging behaviour, including fighting, lying and an inability to form relationships with peers, to the point that he faced exclusion from school.

James was matched with Cliff, a volunteer mentor who met regularly with him for 2-4 hours a week for a year. They worked on specific goals as well as going swimming, playing football and visiting a museum.

At the point of referral there were concerns that his mother had an alcohol problem and this came to light during the mentoring year. The Chance UK parent worker supported her to address this issue and others connected to it. Support was given to help her engage with social services and also to help improve her self esteem. She was also referred on to a counselling service which she is now regularly attending.

Having Cliff as a male role model helped James to improve his behaviour and set and maintain boundaries. James also felt that he was more polite and had good manners. At the point of referral and at the end of the programme James was assessed using the Goodman’s strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. At the beginning of the programme his mother scored him at 32, reflecting the real difficulties that they were having at home. By the end of the programme this had reduced to 16 – an amazing reflection of the positive changes in his behaviour at home.

James’ teacher felt that there had been a definite improvement in his behaviour. “He does not throw a tantrum in the way he used to, which makes incidents quicker to deal with - although James occasionally lies about an incident he is now more likely to admit the truth.” James suffered from low self esteem but by the end of the mentoring he was starting to be able to accept praise from staff and was starting to believe in himself. He had also made close friendships with three other children where previously he had no close friends. His teacher stated that “James is more likely to talk about disagreements with peers instead of lashing out as he used to.”

[1] According to the Goodman’s Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) a score of 16 or higher out of a possible 40 indicates a behavioural difficulty.