Ex-offender case study - Cathy's story

Cathy

Cathy was referred to us by Kent and Medway Probation's Resettlement programme. At the time of the referral Cathy was serving a sentence at HMP Cookham Wood for burglary and shoplifting. As a previous heavy heroin user, she found it difficult to get clean.

When Cathy was released she engaged with us immediately. We referred her to various housing agencies as she was sofa surfing. Within six days we secured a private tenancy in Dover for Cathy. We also helped organise her Job Seekers Allowance and Housing Benefit claims.

However, it wasn't long before Cathy rekindled her relationship with her drug dealer boyfriend, and her life became increasingly chaotic. She missed alot of appointments and was very hard to get hold of. In October, the police raided her flat and her boyfriend was arrested for possession of heroin. Cathy's landlord served her Notice to Quit because of the raid.

We managed to stop the notice by liaising with both the landlord and Dover District Council and, in December 2007, Cathy made the decision to get clean from drugs. She left Dover and went to live with her parents and is helping them bring up her two sons. She has been clean since Christmas, regularly attends Narcotics Anonymous and provides weekly drug tests.

Cathy is doing really well. She has got a voluntary job at a charity shop where she works two days a week. She completed our Getting Connected training course which we hope will prepare Cathy for the challenges of working life. Cathy has applied to go to rehab as this will help her mentally move on and help her to adjust to a life without drugs. She is still being supported by St Giles Trust and was recently transferred onto the Children and Families project. If Cathy goes away to rehab there will be support available from this project for her parents and two sons if needed.