Dean's Story
Dean Stevens aged 3 years was accommodated to allow his mother, Jo Stevens, who had mental health problems to receive inpatient treatment. Whilst Dean was looked after Ms Stevens reported that her own experience of parenting was very poor and she had no idea of how to play with Dean.
As a result, Ms Stevens and Dean started to attend the local Family Centre where, Play Worker, Jenny Miller, who after being a volunteer at the Family Centre, took up a full-time post and studied for both a National Vocational Qualification Level 2 and 3 in Playwork, developed Ms Steven's play skills.
When Dean was 14 years old, he unfortunately received a reprimand or formal caution from the Police, following his admission of guilt for a minor shoplifting offence. As a result of this he was referred to the Youth Offending Team to take part in a voluntary programme to prevent Dean from further offending. In the Youth Offending Team Dean worked with Social Workers, Police Officers, Educational staff, Health staff, Probation Officers and Substance Misuse Workers to look at the triggers to his offending and develop strategies to prevent his involvement in further criminal behaviour.
On leaving School, Dean entered the catering business but after a couple of years, he felt he wanted to move back into education. At 22, he started a Level 2 NVQ in Children's Care Learning and Development and progressed through A-levels on to a BA in Childhood Studies at University. During his degree, he did a holiday job with a holiday playscheme where he eventually became playscheme co-ordinator.
After completing his degree, he spent a year working in a respite unit for children with challenging behaviour. He then applied for a social work studentship with his local council. He is now in the second year of a Diploma in Social Work (DipSW) with the Open University and about to enter a placement with a voluntary organisation.
Dean is sure he would not have got the studentship without his degree, which also gave him an important insight into child development. He has found the academic work challenging, especially the legal side, because of the amount of detail involved. He finds the placements easier, although it was initially hard to link practical experiences with theoretical concepts.
Despite some stress, Dean has found much job satisfaction from helping people and feels he has changed considerably, particularly in terms of his self-confidence and teamwork skills. Dean's ambition now is to pass the course and work with children in long-term care.
