Missing teen returns home after five months. What happens next?

A 14-year-old girl who had been missing for just over five months returned home on Wednesday, prompting relief among her family, but also raising questions about her whereabouts during her absence and what happens next.

For social workers like Fabian Sargeant, recovery is only the beginning of what is often a complicated process.

“There are a number of things to consider when you hear of situations involving teenagers, quote unquote, ‘running away’,” he said. “Understand that, in a normal situation, someone does not just run away. If the fundamental needs of that individual are being met . . . an environment that creates the space for that person to run would not exist.”

He pointed to the “fundamental needs” of children, which go far beyond food and shelter. Sargeant said many people do not realise that a teenager’s emotional and psychological world is often fragile and under pressure. “Young people have emotions… they can become stressed, they can become frustrated. We dismiss those feelings,” he said. “They are now trying to find themselves, trying to fit into the world, trying to determine their own self-identity. Oftentimes that clashes with the adult’s perspective in the space.”

If abuse is present, the child may leave home as a means of escape.

“In these situations where there is abuse, it must be reported to the Child Care Board,” he said. That includes not just physical or sexual abuse, but neglect. “Not feeding a child, not paying them attention, not attending to their education . . . that must also be reported.”

Once a child is found, the response must be multi-layered. “An assessment must be done,” Sargeant explained. “You have to assess that child’s social disposition . . . where they are mentally, emotionally. You have to determine if there was any form of abuse, if there are any drug-related matters. . . if they were kept against their will.”

Sargeant shared disturbing real-life experiences.

“A mother told her daughter in front of me, ‘You know how to get your money.’ This young lady was prostituting her body to feed the household,” he said. “The mother had about another four or five young children . . . you could see the expression on the young lady’s face.”

In other cases, the dangers are hidden inside the home.

“We also have a culture . . . of incest within families or within households in Barbados,” he said. “Because of this thing called being shamed and embarrassed, it is very, very much underreported.”

He added: “There are many people who would tell you that they were raped or know someone who was raped . . . and I will say an aunt, because we often think it is only men who commit rape.”

Mental illness, grief and trauma are also major factors. “A young person may lose a relative . . . not necessarily only to death, but to prison or somebody travelling overseas. That is considered a loss. People grieve differently.”

And once the child is safe, reintegration poses new challenges. “Students now will be pointing fingers. They may be laughing, they may be belittling,” he said. “There is a degree of bullying that may very well happen.”

Support, therefore, cannot stop at a counselling session.

“You cannot have counselling alone. There are other needs that these young people have,” Sargeant said. “It all starts with an assessment . . .it breaks down all aspects of that individual’s life in a stratified way, and then uses each segment to determine how best to approach any form of help.”

When asked about cases of abuse of children with mental health challenges, he responded: “There is legislation that speaks to that, you know, in terms of persons taking advantage of anyone with a mental disability.”
Though he did not name the specific law, there is legislation in Barbados which includes provisions in the Offences Against the Person Act and the Sexual Offences Act that criminalise the exploitation of persons deemed unable to give informed consent due to mental incapacity.

For the social worker, the law is only part of the response. He stressed that the first priority is a comprehensive, person-centred assessment.

“It all starts with an assessment. You have to assess that child. You have to assess the psychological, the mental, the emotional, the physical,” he said. “That will determine any type of situation or challenges that probably could have led to that.”

louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb