P. is 24 years old that is on the Autism Spectrum Disorder, has Learning Disability and several other diagnoses. One of the brands that fall under the Catalyst Care Group – Leaf Complex Care, started supporting P. in the most challenging time of his life and coming up with support solutions that would significantly impact his and his family’s lives.

Reflecting on the past: The story of P. before Our Care and Support

Due to the lack of appropriate schooling options in the area, his family engaged in discussions with various services to find the best education for P. He had a couple of placements in different schools, but none has been suitable for his complex needs. His mother wasn’t keen for her son to join residential school but eventually found a suitable option that focused on developing the needed life skills and allowed him to thrive.

The school unexpectedly closed after three years, and P had to be moved at very short notice. Eventually, the family found a seemingly better school for P. Unfortunately, little did they know that this would be the start of a downward spiral for P.

1. was living in a shared house with four other individuals diagnosed with autism. Despite this, P did not receive the level of support he needed. During the holidays, P. would return home with his family.

However, they noticed P. became more withdrawn and isolated in his room. He had gained weight, and his skin deteriorated, indicating he was not doing well.

P’s behaviour had become erratic, and his family couldn’t understand why as he started getting agitated and aggressive, nearly starting a fight. P. kept repeating that he did not want to return to his placement, indicating something was wrong.

Facing the Challenges

Several weeks into the new term, the placement for P. broke down completely. P. had become violent and experienced a psychotic episode, prompting the police to be called in for assistance. Fortunately, the police were able to handle the situation well, as P. became excited at the sight of the police car, which helped to distract and calm him.

1. was then brought back to the family home, but due to his mother’s inability to provide adequate care, social services intervened and arranged for him to receive five hours of daily support. One night, the situation at home became critical, and P. attacked his mother, resulting in a concussion.

Realising this was an untenable situation, his sister contacted social services, and a Rapid Response Team was swiftly dispatched to manage the crisis.

That Rapid Response team was Leaf Complex Care, one of the brands under the catalyst Care Group’s umbrella. Our support workers came into P’s life, providing him with a 24/7, 1:1 support package.

How Meeting Our Support Workers Changed Everything?

Two hours following the social worker’s call, a crisis carer from Leaf Complex Care arrived at the scene, marking a turning point. Anton was part of the team that arrived and worked with the family for a year. During the first five months, Anton provided daily assistance to P.

“I can honestly say that Anton, Kebba and Ion saved P’s life.” – says the mom.

In the other placement, he worked out that he had to use violence to get his way and learned to dominate. He tried this with the carer, but he would stand his ground and would put in boundaries. P was also on a lot of medication to manage his behaviour, and at the time, his anxiety was extremely high.

With diligence and empathy, a positive impact emerged after much effort and dedication.

“Anton started taking him out, going shopping and doing other fun things. He was able to do this because he had built up trust – and P had lost trust in everyone. I spent a year virtually housebound with Anton. I could not leave as P would get anxious if I left.” – says the mom.

At a certain point, social services discussed with P’s mother that our care provider would be retained with another provider. The reason is that Leaf Complex Care was intended to provide crisis support, a short-term solution. It was communicated that Leaf Complex Care would still be involved to ensure that the transition to the new provider and P’s move to a new home was successful. However, the risk was still involved. After the transition, the situation with the new provider escalated, leading to P’s behaviour becoming challenging after the carer left and locked him in the house.

After this, the provider served notice with immediate effect, and our provider was reinstated on a 2:1 package to start with – again with Anton and Kebba – and with a plan to decrease this to 1:1 once P had stabilised.

The Transformative Impact of Our Support Workers

Anton and Kebba, our devoted support workers, usually work on managing short-term crisis packages with people with complexities. They had developed a strong fellowship with each other and agreed to stay on the package and work with P. As a team, they collaborated and shared knowledge, with the ultimate goal of ensuring P’s independence.

“The team and I work together and learn from each other. Everyone is working to make sure P is independent. Leaf Complex Care make it look very easy, but they work incredibly hard and plan for everything; they monitor noise levels of where they go, check out what food is available and so on. They are person-centred and support P in a humanised way of care to make his own choices and to live his best life. They meet his needs 100%.”

With the support and nurturing care from our support workers, P. started socialising over his football activity. Our support workers help P. to manage his diabetes by encouraging healthy habits and a healthy diet. This led to his skin improvement, regaining self-confidence and a more fulfilled life in any segment. P. started feeling calmer, and our support team helped him to reduce his medication intake. He started processing things and crucially has trust in Anton and Keba.

“As his mum, I will always have his back and will never stop worrying about him. But, with Leaf Complex Care working with him, I can relax. I know he is in safe hands.” – his mum.