At just nine years old, Jasmine* and her sister were removed from the care of their father due to his violent behaviour.
While Jasmine’s mother cared deeply for her and her sister, her own history of trauma meant she was not coping. While only young, Jasmine felt a heavy sense of responsibility and anxiety to care for her sister as she didn’t trust her mum’s ability to support them.
Jasmine was referred to Children Ahead by her school as she was displaying extreme violence and aggression towards her fellow students due to her unresolved trauma and the instability at home.
In the playground, Jasmine would struggle when she couldn’t use her favourite equipment or when she perceived something to be unfair, which led to frequent physical incidents.
In the classroom, Jasmine was often defiant towards her teachers and could only focus when participating in her preferred class activities. Her teachers and peers saw her as the ‘naughty one’.
Jasmine felt like no one understood her and that she’d never be ‘good’ at school. Thankfully, Jasmine was able to get the wraparound, wholistic support she needed to heal and recover during her year in the Children Ahead program.
Jasmine’s practitioner engaged her in weekly specialist therapeutic sessions at school, had weekly contact with her mum, and conducted fortnightly meetings with her teachers, mum and the other professionals in her life to plan support together.
In her weekly therapeutic sessions, Jasmine worked with her practitioner to process her trauma through play-based tools like sand trays, drawing, storytelling and role-play with figurines and LEGO.
These activities helped her safely show what she was worried about and explore new ways of understanding her experiences.
Her practitioner gently used the play to help Jasmine understand that she wasn’t responsible for looking after her sister, and in turn, strengthened her relationship with her mum. Together they practised co-regulation, breathing and mindfulness after tough moments so that over time Jasmine began to develop emotional regulation skills and could verbalise her feelings rather than lashing out.
Towards the end of Jasmine’s time in Children Ahead, she showed huge strides in her engagement at school. In the past, Jasmine would avoid taking part in NAPLAN as she felt overwhelmed and doubted her abilities.
But as she began to feel more confident and regulated through her work with Children Ahead, Jasmine completed NAPLAN for the first time ever! She was so proud of herself, as were her mother and teachers.
With her newfound confidence, Jasmine was able to identify her strengths and engage more meaningfully in her interests. She even put her hand up to take a lead role in the school play!
Her Children Ahead practitioner also advocated to get Jasmine’s mother the right parenting and wellbeing supports.
After her practitioner repeatedly called and wrote letters to a support service, Jasmine’s mum was finally given a referral. Jasmine’s mum engaged fully with the service which gave her invaluable support to strengthen her parenting skills, address her mental health issues, and grow her capacity to care for two children on her own.
Jasmine’s SDQ scores absolutely affirmed the improvement her teachers and mum saw in her. Her scores, including her self-rated ones and those from her mum and teachers, improved across the board, showing that her decreasing, but ongoing challenges had an impact of zero.
Her progress was incredibly heartwarming to see, given the trauma and anxiety she had when we first met her.
We’re thrilled to share that Jasmine now actively seeks support from her teachers and plays happily with her new friends, highlighting her growing ability to make strong and safe connections with those around her.
Discover more real-life stories of children’s healing, and the impact of our Care, Prevention and Advocacy programs, in our 2025 Report to the Community.
