It got so bad that I was scared to face my problems.

18-year-old Paula* was referred through the justice system to our Y-Shac program for youth crisis accommodation. She had a tough, complex, and traumatic background, which revealed itself in difficult behaviour and poor decision-making. Paula had witnessed horrific family and domestic violence all of her young life, up to the age of seven, when the family finally escaped and her father was prosecuted. However, the family’s safety was seriously threatened by a severe backlash from the father’s family.