‘She probably didn’t realize that it wasn’t normal,’ Jill offered. ‘I mean, what comparison did she have?’
‘True,’ Nina said, and the IRO nodded thoughtfully.
‘Have you referred Melody to CAMHS?’ he now asked Neave.
‘Yes, she’s on the waiting list, as it’s considered non-urgent.’ While Melody should have the therapeutic help she needed, NHS resources were scarce. More and more children were being referred for counselling, so a young person who was suicidal or self-harming, for example, would take priority over someone like Melody.
Neave finished by saying that contact would restart once she’d met with the clinician, and that she’d also be visiting Melody later this week, which was news to me.
‘So contact will be restarted this week?’ the IRO asked.
‘Or early next week.’
He finished writing and then asked Nina to speak. Nina didn’t have a lot to say as she was still ‘familiarizing’ herself with the case and had yet to meet Amanda, which she would do shortly. She said that when she’d visited Melody at my house Melody had asked to see her mother, and Nina agreed that contact should be re-established as soon as possible, and added that she wasn’t sure why it had stopped. ‘Children visit parents in hospital, even in prison,’ she said.
‘Contact stopped because Amanda was sectioned. She wasn’t well enough,’ Neave said a little curtly, apparently taking Nina’s remarks as criticism.
‘But she is stable enough now?’ the IRO said. ‘The child must have seen her mother like it when she was living at home.’
‘I will know more when I’ve met with the psychiatrist responsible for her care,’ Neave said.
The IRO finished writing, thanked Neave, and then looked to Mrs Farnham and Miss May. ‘Would you like to tell us how Melody is doing at school?’
Mrs Farnham spoke first and began by pointing out that Melody had only joined the school last September, and prior to that had received very little schooling so was a long way behind. She read out some test results, explained what the school was doing to help her catch up, then she passed to Miss May to speak. She flushed up a little as she spoke, gave some examples of the type of work she set for Melody and said she was an enthusiastic learner and had no behavioural problems, unlike one of the boys on her table. She said Melody did talk about her mother a lot, and that she updated me in the playground at the end of school on most days.
‘Has Melody ever talked to you about her life at home before coming into care?’ the IRO asked.
‘Not really. She tells me she misses her mother and often talks about what she is doing now with Cathy, but not much before then.’
The IRO asked her if she had anything else to say and then, thanking her, turned to Jill. ‘Would you like to add anything? Then we’ll ask Melody to join us.’ Gareth wouldn’t be asked to speak; as a student social worker he was there to observe and learn how reviews were conducted.
‘My role as Cathy’s supervising social worker is to monitor and support her in all aspects of her fostering,’ Jill began. ‘We are in regular contact and I visit her every month when we discuss the child she is fostering. Cathy is an experienced and dedicated foster carer and I know she will ask for help and advice if necessary. Melody has settled in well and I am satisfied that Cathy is providing a high level of care. I have no concerns and shall be seeing her and Melody again later this week.’ Which, like Neave’s proposed visit, was news to me.
The IRO thanked Jill and then asked if Melody could be brought into the meeting. Miss May left to fetch her. The bell rang, signalling the end of school, and Mrs Farnham asked if she could go as the Head wasn’t in school and she really needed to be in the playground as the children left.
‘Yes, you go,’ the IRO said. ‘Thank you for attending.’
She said goodbye and left. While we waited, the IRO looked through the booklets that Melody and I had filled in and Jill took out her diary and asked if she could visit on Thursday after school.
‘We’ll be back around four,’ I said. I made a note of the visit as Jill entered it in her diary.
‘I’ll come at the same time then on Friday,’ Neave said. I wrote this down too.
‘You’re popular,’ Nina quipped with a smile.
The door opened and Miss May came in with Melody, who looked shyly at me. ‘Hello, love, come and have a seat,’ I said. It must have taken a lot for her to come into the Head’s office and be faced with all those adults. She sat next to Miss May on the chair Mrs Farnham had vacated.
‘Thank you for joining us, Melody,’ the IRO said. ‘How are you?’
‘OK,’ she replied quietly.
‘What do you like doing at school?’ he asked.
‘Work that Miss May sets,’ she said in the same small voice.
‘What sort of work is that?’ he asked. Melody didn’t know. ‘Maths? Reading? Art?’ he prompted.
‘Yes,’ she said.
‘This meeting is about you,’ he continued, ‘to make sure you are receiving all the help you need at home and school. Can you think of anything you need here or at Cathy’s?’
Melody thought for a moment and shook her head.
‘So you’re happy at school and being well looked after at home with Cathy,’ he said as he wrote. ‘That’s good. I see from the review form you completed that you like having your own bedroom and playing with Cathy’s children.’
‘Yes,’ she said quietly.
‘Good. I’ve also read that you are sad because you are not seeing your mother at present. Your social worker, Neave, will arrange for you to see her in hospital shortly.’
‘When?’ Melody asked, suddenly losing her shyness and speaking out.
‘I should be able to tell you when I visit you on Friday,’ Neave said.
‘Is that OK?’ the IRO asked.
Melody nodded.
‘You also ask on your review form when your mother will come out of hospital. We’re not sure yet but Neave will talk to you about that too when she sees you. Is there anything else you’d like to ask the review?’
I thought Melody was going to shake her head shyly or say a small no as she had been doing, but, looking directly at the IRO, she said firmly, ‘I really do want to see my mummy. I know she’s being looked after in hospital, but I still want to see her very soon.’
The IRO smiled kindly. ‘Yes, I understand, and your social worker is going to arrange that. All right?’
She nodded.
The IRO then wound up the meeting by setting the date for the next
