When Chloe Pomfret was taken to A&E by her teachers aged 16, and explained to workers that she was suicidal and homeless, she was told to go home, run a bath and journal.
“I remember sitting down and the woman saying she hadn’t read my file and for me to fill her in on what had happened. I explained that I was suicidal, homeless and that I had been in care and had no one around me and didn’t know what to do. The suggestion was, ‘Why don’t you go home and have a bath, go for a walk, journal some things?'”
“I’ve just told you I’m homeless. What do you mean go home and have a bath? It’s ridiculous. I just discharged myself. I thought nobody understands, and even when you do reach out for support, there is none that is adequate.”
Shorts
Pomfret, now 23 and originally from Manchester, had entered the care system aged five. She lived with a foster family for three years before being later “reunified” with her father, and when that relationship broke down she moved in informally with her grandfather. When he died she became homeless at 16.
