Anti social behaviour - by whom?

Sitting in the office idly talking, the manager and a member of staff having just left for the day. Suddenly, we hear the manager shouting, so another female member of staff legs it out. She's a rugby player, and very fit.

Wlaking down the hill, the manager and staff member saw two of our female residents being hosed down by a local member of the community. He lives near our building, and is not happy that we are here. He has suffered, like others in the area, antisocial behaviour from our guys, drinking, hanging around, empty cans and dog mess. Ironically, we have all worked hard to get on top of this problem, and it's been much much better for several weeks.

But he saw red when he saw the two women sitting on his doorstep eating, so turned his hose on them, and when they protested - probably not too politely - he went at them with a baseball bat. Allegedly. When the female staff member intervened, he hit her hard on the arm too, and the manager, who managed to wrestle the weapon off him.
There were witnesses, too, including the commissioner of drug and alcohol services, who called the police.

Feelings in our building were running high...several people threatening reprisals. but we squashed that straight away. It certainly wouldn't help. We need only positive things coming out of our building. The manager laid it on the line to the guys today in an emergency residents' meeting. If the asb continues, we could be closed down. It's that serious.

Now everyone's waiting to see how the crimnal justice system deals with the angry man.

...and another one

No wonder the average age at death of street homeless people is 42. Another of our ex residents, a young Polish girl, only 19, is dead. Reportedly, she died of a heroin overdose. Her boyfriend, a white English man, says another of our ex residents forcibly injected her, as she had refused heroin before. She was a big drinker, so his theory is that she was so drunk she didn't know what was happening to her.

Either way, another tragic waste.

Sad news

The police called to say that one of our residents was found dead behind some shops. He was only in his early 50s, so we had to keep his room untouched until after the post mortem, in case of foul play.

It was heart failure, probably not a lot anyone could do. But it makes you wonder, if he'd been in his room, would it still haev happened? Would he have had time to pull the red emergency cord? And coudl we have saved him? But anyway, at least he would have had some dignity.

We asked the commissioners, when the new project was planned, if we could open 24 hours. No was the answer. It's a very temporary project, don't want people to get oo comfortable.

Mmmm. I wonder.

Plus ca change...

Back at work after 2 weeks off. Lots of admin to catch up on, plus our organisation is so fast moving that I was right when I predicted 24-hour opening. It starts on Monday. The residents won't be allowed in their rooms all day, but activities will be on offer for those who want to take advantage of them. We've got football, walks, jobsearch, welfare benefits advice, arts and crafts....and I've offered to set up a weekly in-house newsletter, and show other staff how to do it. With a background in magazines, I've got lots of ideas.

The new manager started while I was off, really positive move. He's got bags of energy and ideas, and the right approach to people management. We're revising all our procedures and systems, and getting the manuals in place, too. As well as dealing with the day-to-day excitement created by 20 people with varying issues – and that's just the staff! Add 35 residents...

The partnership approach that we're all having to embrace has really come up trumps tackling the antisocial behaviour. It's proved an effective way to get moving, with the right senior people there to make things happen. A much-needed second wet unit for dependent drinkers will be opening soon, and the measures we've all put in place have squashed the worst excesses of shouting and bawling outside, litter (cans and dog poo), drinking groups, aggression and intimidation. It was probably just the first few days of fine weather encouraging the guys to sit outside with their mates and drink.

Lots of regulars still with us:
Mr Booze – who insists that other people are breaking into his room to urinate in his waste bin. Personally if I was going to break into anyone's room, it wouldn't be his.
Mr Personal Hygiene Problem – sees a psychiatrist every six months. The mental health services won't tell us anything about us without his consent. He thinks there's nothing wrong with him, so won't sign the consent. Stalemate.
Mr Just-A-Bit-Odd – we had to call the police to section him just before Christmas, as his weird behaviour was putting others at risk. He was taking the fuses out of plugs, and removing fire extinguishers, as well as saying odd things and wandering round without many clothes on. We'd been worried about him for ages, but the mental health services won't take anyone on board unless they are a danger to themselves or others. So – in a very unpleasant way – he was dragged off to a psychiatric ward. Because we can't refer him for assessment, only his GP can do it, our only options are through the police or A&E. So he's been there two months while they assess him. And they just discharged him back to the streets, because he didn't seem to have a diagnosable illness. In other words, he didn't tick their boxes. In their professional opinion, he's just a bit strange. Unquote. So what we've supposed to do with him if his strangeness gets serious again, I don't know. Mad is the only word for it. He's a lovely guy, that's the sadness.
Mr Complainer – he knows how to run hostels, and we're just useless. Any time he's refused what he wants, he complains at great length. I was a bit soft when I get back, and let him have a concession, but told him no more. So then when I refused him the next one, he gets all angry. Now he's going to put in a complaint against me to my chief exec. Again.

All part of the rich tapestry of life.