Tanya’s Story

At 22, Tanya had three children aged under five – Lisa, Johnny and Anthony – a recent history of domestic violence and was trying to support her two younger siblings. She was under enormous financial, emotional and housing stress. Despite help from Jannawi’s Family Program, Tanya’s children were placed in out-of-home care. Jannawi continues to work with Tanya to bring her children home.

In one of many violent incidents, Tanya’s son Johnny was physically abused. After Johnny’s father was jailed for violence, Tanya and her children were referred to Jannawi for support and to establish whether she was a safe and protective parent.

Tanya had lost her mother who had been her chief emotional support, her father was estranged, and she was also trying to support two younger siblings.

In those early months, Tanya would often forget to come in, cancel appointments or be unavailable when we arrived at her home. When she did attend, Tanya was distant and we saw a lack of connection and warmth between her and the children – a consequence of domestic violence and trauma, which can impact on mother/child relationships.

Tanya eventually began to relax, feel safe and trust Jannawi to remain non-judgemental when supporting her to make better choices regarding her children, family, relationships and decisions. Working long term with clients is critical to allow engagement, trust, insight and sustainable change – particularly when there is a history of trauma.

Six months later though, Lisa, Johnny and Anthony were placed in out-of-home care following several reports to the Child Protection Helpline. Jannawi had made some of these reports because of our concerns about issues including supervision, parent/child interactions, nutrition and boundaries.

In keeping with the Jannawi philosophy that all communication be open and honest, we told Tanya of these concerns and discussed our reports with her as we made them. Immediately following her children’s removal, we offered support, empathy and a structure for Tanya to engage with Jannawi, which she chose to accept. Over time Tanya learned to plan ahead and make decisions based on what was best for her children, and she consistently attended weekly counselling sessions.

Jannawi also provided facilitated contact for Tanya with Lisa, Johnny and Anthony. In keeping with the Jannawi philosophy of working with parents, early childhood teacher Iman supported Tanya to improve her parenting and connection with her kids, helping her to recognise her own competence as a parent. Tanya began to call Jannawi for advice and asked us to accompany her to appointments outside Jannawi, to court for support and to help her move house. As Tanya gained trust in the service, her connection with her children also grew stronger.

Long-term involvement with Jannawi has given Tanya space to come to terms with the issues that brought her family into the child protection system. She has displayed personal growth, insight and sustainable change, and has developed a clearer awareness of who are the safe and supportive people in her life.

But that was not the end of the story. Tanya’s fourth child was also removed at birth, despite Jannawi having no concerns for baby Linda. Amid her overwhelming sadness, Tanya has found the inner strength to keep coming to Jannawi, persisting with frustrating and lengthy court processes. She says she will ‘never give up’ until she can ‘bring my kids home where they should be’. Each hurdle Tanya overcomes allows her to experience her own competence and anticipate success ahead.