Josh was referred into Moving On due to a relationship breakdown with his foster family. Josh had no other family members that could support him and a limited friendship group.
Josh is a care leaver and had unfortunately experienced some childhood trauma but was looking forward to moving into his own property.
After a short time of living on his own, Josh began to struggle with the responsibilities and outgoings to manage his own tenancy and could not find a job to increase his income. His mental health and motivation began to dip and he started abusing substances.
Josh continued to engage with his support worker weekly and, despite her picking up on the signs, Josh was not fully honest and open with her to access the correct support, but benefited socially from having his weekly support visits.
Josh’s support worker continued to see him every week and reach out inbetween appointments to check he was okay. Josh began to trust his support worker and felt that she would be there for him regardless of his choices and began sharing the significance of his substance misuse and his mental health.
He and his support worker discussed his mental health and historic trauma together, and initially he declined additional support. Josh was not aware how much these could impact his current and future lifestyle choices, health and feelings.
After addressing underlying issues with his support worker over a few months, Josh accepted a referral into mental health services as he felt he wanted to understand and close his past. He moved into a smaller property in the town centre which made him feel less isolated and more accessible for appointments at the job centre and doctors. Josh was then able to manage his low income for his bills due to smaller outgoings and he and his support worker completed a budgeting session.
Josh’s mental health was still a struggle as he had no routine, his sleep pattern was poor and he spent most of his days around the house due to having nothing to do. The next step was Josh and his support worker discussing college/apprenticeship and work opportunities. He had initially agreed to college but soon realised that he didn’t think he was mentally in the right frame of mind to go back to college and wanted hands-on work. Josh’s support worker referred him into an employment provision and he is now working with them towards employment and receiving regular support sessions with a mental health worker and feeling the benefits of this.
Josh has currently stopped his substance misuse as he is now feeling positive about his future with the right support in place. He continues to engage positively with his support worker and is now very open about his future worries and his ‘addictive personality’. Regular chats and healthy boundaries are discussed between Josh and his support worker to ensure the triggers are identified and protector factors are put in place before he declines again.