Ms B was collected by staff from prison into Guthrie House in July 2015. She had a history of violent offences and had no family or community supports. In addition she was of interest to the media.
Ms B settled into the Program and made significant gains in her stability of her mental health. Ms B’s case work centred in referrals for counselling to address her childhood sexual assault and domestic violence inflicted upon her. Other significant interventions were put into place to prepare Ms B to eventually leave Guthrie House and reside in the community. Long-term accommodation was sourced for Ms B on the South Coast, and her Guthrie House case worker travelled continuously to the South Coast from Enmore to ensure furniture, clothing, food and the basic essentials were provided for Ms B in order for her to settle into her new home. Further, the Guthrie House case worker arranged for AOD and psychological counselling for her to attend within her new locality and several home visits were conducted by her Guthrie House case worker to accompany Ms B to her initial counselling services.
The residential and after-care services provided to Ms B were exhaustive and resource intense but her Guthrie House case worker was at the forefront of Trauma Informed Practices in transitioning Ms B from custody to independent living in the community.