Purpose of the intervention

Anna (aged 16, Jamaican) has a child, Khadia (age 3). She became pregnant at the age of 12 by her step-brother Roy (also Jamaican), who was 17 at the time (see genogram, Figure 1). Both Anna and Roy were then living with Anna's mother Carol and their two half-sisters, Clare and Ginette. Roy's father had died five years earlier. Anna had become pregnant at the same time as her mother. Roy first admitted and then denied being Khadia's father. He was prosecuted and found guilty of four charges of unlawful sexual intercourse and sentenced to one year's imprisonment.

Carol was initially supportive to Anna. She decided on Roy's prosecution as a result of his denial that he was Khadia's father, which led to family and community feuds, and allegations that “Anna was probably sleeping with lots of boys”. The relationship between Anna and Carol, however, deteriorated, leading to Anna and Khadia being accommodated with a friend.

This broke down after a few months and they were accommodated with a foster carer. This broke down after a year, leading to another placement, which recently also broke down. Anna and Khadia returned to live with Carol against their wishes, as social services did not have another placement to offer. The placements were considered to have broken down as a result of Anna falling out with the carers following arguments around Khadia's care, and the carers’ feelings that Anna was failing to take responsibility for Khadia.

Anna and Khadia's social worker, Maxine (also Jamaican), became concerned that Khadia's needs for stability and consistency were not being met, and about the impact that placement breakdowns were having on her, as well as on Anna (who attends college full time.) Also, a new issue had come to Maxine's attention, in relation to Roy having recently resumed contact with Khadia. Contact was said to take place at the grandmother's house, supervised by Carol and Anna.

Due to pressure of other work, Maxine had had little time to allocate to Anna and Khadia, other than dealing with numerous practical issues and offering Anna support at times of breakdowns. She had been working with them for almost a year. She had tried to do work with Anna earlier around her experience and feelings about Roy and Khadia but without success, as Anna was unwilling to explore these issues.