“I could tell from the bruises on Jenny’s* body and the fear in her eyes that something wasn’t right.”
*This story is a true account, but the names have been changed to protect Jenny and her family’s privacy.
By just four years of age, violence had become a normal part of Jenny’s life.
Every week she’d watch her father abuse her mother. Jenny soon learned it was safest to hide under her bed whenever her father came home drunk, while she worked out what sort of mood he was in.
When Jenny’s mum fell pregnant, the family dynamic changed. Jenny increasingly became the target of her father’s rage. Her mum did everything she could to protect Jenny, but she feared what would happen to her unborn baby if she put herself between her violent husband and frightened daughter.
Her dad would ridicule Jenny, break her toys, and laugh at her. If she left her things lying around, he’d push and punch her and drag her by her hair to her room.
Jenny’s mum was trapped in a heartbreaking situation. She wanted to keep her little girl safe, but if she left him, she knew they would have nothing. And she feared what he might do.
Escaping her violent home
Jenny’s Kinder teacher Siobhan* first raised the alarm. “It was a hot summer’s day, and she was wearing a jumper,” Siobhan remembered.
“I encouraged her to take her jumper off and saw that her arms were covered with bruises.”
The bruises added to Siobhan’s concerns about the way Jenny always flinched at physical contact and avoided eye contact with her father when he picked her up from Kinder.
She had no choice but to report her concerns to Child Protection Services.
After taking a detailed report from Siobhan, a child protection caseworker decided urgent action was needed to investigate Jenny’s living situation further. When she visited Jenny’s home the following day, the caseworker concluded Jenny was in immediate danger and placed her in emergency foster care.
Jenny didn’t want to leave. Her home wasn’t safe, but it was the only one she knew.
Jenny’s first weeks in foster care
For the first time in her life, Jenny was safe, but she still had a long journey of healing and recovery ahead of her to come to terms with the horrifying violence she had experienced.
The impacts of that trauma could be clearly seen in the way she behaved and interacted with others.
Jenny had always been a quiet, withdrawn child, but the trauma of being removed from home made her stop speaking altogether.
At school, Siobhan says Jenny found it hard to settle.
“She often sat alone, staring into space and became distressed when teachers tried to engage her. She was quick to anger when another child took a toy she was playing with.
Supporting her long journey to healing and recovery
Things began to change for Jenny when she started seeing Children Ahead Case Worker, Janis*. Janis understood that Jenny’s behaviour was a response to the violence and trauma she had experienced.
Over the next year, the two met weekly to help Jenny learn to process and communicate that trauma so she didn’t have to carry it into the future.
“At first, we just played games, read stories and had fun together,” she explained. “The focus was on building trust and a relationship so the journey of healing could begin.”
It took about six months before Jenny felt comfortable opening up about her father’s violence and the trauma of being removed from her family.
Slowly but surely, Janis helped Jenny find ways to express the pain and loss she had experienced and regulate her anxiety and emotions so she could just enjoy being a child again.
At the same time, the Children Ahead team were working to build the network of care around Jenny that she needed to thrive. That included supporting Jenny’s mum to make the decision to escape her violent husband and create a safe environment where she could raise her newborn and one day be reunited with Jenny.
Janis also helped Jenny’s mum enrol in parenting courses and group therapy sessions. That meant when the time came for Jenny to come back into her life, she’d be ready to provide the safe, nurturing environment Jenny needed to thrive.
Jenny is now thriving with the care of the Children Ahead team
With the support of Janis and Children Ahead, Jenny is learning to trust and interact happily with other children and adults in her life.
“She loves show and tell, gives everything a go and for the very first time has a best friend,” Siobhan beamed.
Jenny is also back living with her mum, who managed to free herself from her husband and find a safe, secure home for her family. She loves being back with her mum and getting to know her little baby brother.
“Jenny would not be where she is today without Janis and the Children Ahead program. It's helped her heal and given back her childhood,” Jenny’s mum said.
More children like Jenny need long-term therapeutic support
For every story like Jenny’s, there are many more children out there struggling to cope with the painful and lasting impacts of violence. We need your help to make sure they get all the care and support they need to turn hurt into healing and leave their trauma behind.
Your generosity helps provide a child like Jenny with the intensive, individualised care they need to heal from the hurt caused by extreme violence.
Please make a life-changing donation here.
