T’s offence involved the use of a weapon and excessive use of violence, which resulted in him being convicted.  On release from prison, he had significant emotional factors that impacted on his coping abilities. T suffered from depression due to the loss of family during the Syrian conflict, and there was no record of T receiving any support for the psychological impact of this trauma – other than being prescribed antidepressants. T had 5 children, 3 of whom had disabilities. One of his children died whilst T was in prison, which was a great loss for T and he did not receive any bereavement support.

T was unable to return to his family home after his offence, as Child Protection Agencies had identified that T’s children had been subjected to emotional abuse because of T’s binge drinking. T’s relationship with alcohol had to be addressed to the satisfaction of Children’s Social Services before he could be resettled with his wife and children.

As well as addressing his alcohol issues, a significant challenge to returning to his family home emerged when the Home Office made an application to revoke T’s indefinite leave to remain. The decision by the Home Office had an impact on T’s psychological wellbeing and introduced financial uncertainty into T’s life, as T had no recourse to public funds. Both factors could have resulted in a return to binge drinking and offending behaviour, however, with support this did not occur. T’s Key Worker supported him in successfully challenging the Home Office’s decision. Overcoming this uncertainty provided T with the stability and security he needed to focus on other vulnerabilities that had impacted negatively on his life.

Through one-to-one support, T began to articulate his thoughts and disclosed the continuing hurt he was feeling after being informed of the untimely death of his 14-year-old disabled daughter. T said that he wished to have bereavement counselling and Ark helped him to be referred to a suitable councillor.

T was also referred to Haringey’s Alcohol and Drug Agency where he developed strategies to reduce his binge drinking, regularly attended meetings and continued to reduce his alcohol consumption. His Key Worker accompanied him on a series of home visits, which were arranged with Social Workers and probation. During this period T also had one-to-one support with his Key Worker in relation to developing and maintaining positive and healthy relationships with his family. T’s wife was regularly informed of his progress whilst at Ark’s accommodation to ensure that she was fully up-to-date with T’s situation.

With the changes to his lifestyle and improved stability, T was encouraged to find suitable employment whilst living in supported accommodation. He found part-time employment with a restaurant, which appeared to improve T’s self-esteem and gave him the opportunity of expanding his social network.

Over time, a final meeting of professionals was called to discuss T’s desire to move back into the family home. T attended with his Key Worker to present his case. All present recognised that T had not re-offended, had met his licensing and Home Office conditions, had significantly reduced his alcohol intake, had gained employment and had completed a series of home visits successfully. Both Social Services and Probation were satisfied with the outcomes achieved by T so that he could return to live with his wife and children.