A desperate referral

MCHT received a desperate referral from the Wilson Centre Social Workers in the North Shore. They had a four-year-old boy who had been involved in a serious car accident when driving with his grandmother.

The child had broken his leg and fractured his neck and was in a halo. Grandma was also seriously injured. Wilson Centre wanted to discharge this child but due to his Grandma being seriously ill he could not return to her care and his parents were currently homeless.

Mum had previous drug issues with meth and was 28 weeks pregnant to her partner who was also a recovering drug addict. Both of them had been clean for the last six months. There is also another child who is living with the paternal Grandparents. Mum was with son at Wilson Centre while he was being rehabilitated.

Mum and partner had been staying in a Lodge (with rehab focus) which was not appropriate for the boy to move to after Wilson Centre discharged him. Mum had been working as a manager before the accident but had to give up her job to care for her son. Partner was on temp contact. Both had considerable debts and not good credit rating. We accepted them into Monte Emergency Housing so that the child could be reunited with his parents.

The family stayed for three weeks before Monte was able to find a suitable house that did not need to be renovated to suit the child’s needs. Support was also put in place for the boy’s medical care and home help. The mother was connected in with CADS Maternal support while at Monte and the partner has also engaged with rehab services. We are now working on helping the Family to address their debts.