Leah

Leah has a cognitive disability. In her early 20s she decided she wanted a more independent life. She appreciated her mother, who she lived with, but wanted to ‘widen her skills and circle of friendships’.

To that end Leah enrolled in a program that would teach her new skills and prepare her to ‘live in the local community independently’. The program was residential and was supposed to teach her cooking, how to manage her finances and help her find employment.

Leah said in her submission that the program did not deliver on its promises, and residents ‘were left most of the time to their own devices’. She felt the staff ‘did not care about anything they did’. She needed support and encouragement from staff to be proactive and find work. Instead she was left on her own and residents did what they wanted without any supervision ‘which often was not good’.

When the program ended Leah had nowhere to live. The program staff advised Leah to share with another woman who was also a program participant. But during the first week ‘unknown men frequented the home’ leaving Leah ‘highly vulnerable’.

Leah moved back home with her mum and after speaking with the program staff they admitted they ‘had missed something about [the other woman’s] personality/behaviour’.

The program found alternative accommodation for Leah and this time she was ‘supported by a house supervisor’ who was ‘fantastic at first’. But this changed quickly and there was frequent staff turnover, ‘so it was difficult to build rapport with staff members’.

When she was in the program Leah met a man. ‘He was in my life for the next few years,’ Leah said.

He was a frequent visitor at her new home ‘but never stayed’. ‘He often demanded money and was verbally and sexually abusive’. It did not matter when Leah said no, he ‘just forced himself’ on her. She used to have lots of bruises on her which he called ‘love bites’.

Support staff visited the accommodation every day and knew what was going on but ‘never offered any assistance or contact details for crisis support’.

Leah’s mum noticed she was becoming more withdrawn but when she asked support staff how things were going she was always told Leah was ‘doing great’.

Leah said she eventually found the courage to leave that relationship, but soon became involved in another abusive relationship.

Things became worse for Leah when she moved with the new man to a private rental property in a small country town.

He financially and physically abused her and because he used illegal substances she was often mixing with ‘undesirable people’ which made her ‘highly vulnerable’. Leah described him as ‘an ideas man’. He borrowed large amounts of money in both their names ‘to work on his dreams’. But nothing came of these dreams, and when they finally broke up Leah’s family was ‘left to sort out the financial mess’.

Leah returned to live with her mum. She was fragile – emotionally, mentally and physically – and was hospitalised for anorexia and severe depression. She was treated with electroconvulsive therapy.

After leaving hospital Leah’s mum was able to engage a psychiatrist for Leah and her health has improved steadily thanks to this professional support.

Leah believes staff in the accommodations she lived in prior to her hospitalisation breached their ‘duty of care to keep her safe from harm’. No effort was made to intervene or assist her end violent relationships or engage crisis support. No-one ever alerted Leah’s family about what was going on.

Leah now lives independently with support from her NDIS package and her family. She works two days a week and enjoys her hobbies. She has good friends who support her when required and ‘is in control of her life’.

Nonetheless, the constant turnover of support coordinators and difficulty finding reliable support workers does create ‘setbacks for her being able to live a good life’.

Leah hopes staff who work in group homes, supported residential services and other facilities ‘are more proactive to report all forms of abuse in care in the future’ so what happened to her does not happen to others.