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Example I:

Over a six-month period, Boston police officers in District B-3, Mattapan, had responded to 19 calls for help to a home with a mother and her five children. The children ranged in age from 10 to 17. Several of the children had a history of assaults on people outside the family. The father had been killed in a stabbing. The mother had a gambling problem and a history of assaults as well. An officer who had repeatedly responded to service calls for this family referred the case to the district based social worker. This LCSW worked with the family for a six-month period during which there were only six calls for service, a reduction of over two-thirds. The older son clearly responded to the social worker's outreach; thus one of the needs identified by the referring police officer, for an adult male counselor, was met. The other children were referred to after-school programs. The mother was coaxed into a parenting class, which has significantly improved her effectiveness as a parent and her interactions with her children. Calls for police service in the third six-month period had dropped from six to two.

 

Example II

One of YouthConnect's clients is a 17-year-old boy who had been attacked by a crack addict with a machete. One of his hands had been severed in the attack and was re-attached by emergency surgery. His other hand, his legs and his back were also severely damaged. The boy was one of four children of a single mother, who herself had a history of mental health problems and trauma. He had a history of sexual abuse by older women in his neighborhood, and had been arrested and convicted for arson when he was 14. He had spent time confined in a Department of Youth Services facility as a result of that conviction, and was being seen regularly by DYS clinicians at the time of the attack. Over the course of the last year and a half, the LICSW clinician worked weekly with the 17-year-old, his mother and the younger, 12-year-old brother, who became suicidal after the assault. The clinician provided trauma counseling, advocacy, clinical case management and worked closely with all the other systems involved in this family's life (the Department of Youth Services, the Boston Public Schools, the medical providers, SSI Disability, etc.) The 17-year-old client was finally placed in a foster home outside of the city for stabilization and safety reasons. The 12-year-old brother was reassigned to a new school that could better meet his emotional and educational needs. The mother and the 17-year-old continue to use the YouthConnect clinician for counseling and support.