Kevin

Kevin joined our Community Integration Service as a result of offences committed to support his use of Heroin. As is often the case, despite being on Methadone treatment he was also injecting Heroin and using Crack Cocaine. Kevin was homeless and staying at the Night Shelter and acknowledged that his life was chaotic and that now was the time to make big changes.

Kevin joined forces with a key worker and together a package of support was put together. Kevin joined groups looking at Relapse Prevention and Preparing for the Dangers of the Weekend (when support is harder to access). He also began one to one sessions working to a care plan.

Soon the chaos began to reduce as Kevin established a positive routine to his life. He obtained Supported Housing and his use of Class A drugs stopped. His medication changed, he received support around Hepatitis and other health concerns, and registered with a dentist.

By now Kevin needed not to make but to maintain the changes he had made. He learned life skills such as cooking and budgeting. He also attended the Recreation Group and Feelings Group and had access to IT & Basic Skills Tuition. He continued with one to one support sessions and to attend Relapse Prevention.

Kevin is now working towards employment by identifying and overcoming barriers to finding work, creating a CV, taking advice about disclosure of criminal convictions and interview techniques and accessing Job searching facilities.

We are grateful to Kevin for giving us an insight into his life and we wish him well as he continues to make progress.