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My journey from incarceration to Family Recovery

Posted By Knifey

"My journey from incarceration to Family Recovery"

About: Lives Lived Well - Logan House

(as the patient),

I had just served 377 days in jail, possession being my top charge. Whilst incarcerated I was fighting with child safety for my 2 year old and I had also given birth in jail and had my newborn removed from me within 6 hours of giving birth. I had applied for supreme court bail, before I did that I wrote to Logan house, they replied promptly and informed me I could enter into LFR as soon as I was released from jail, completed the intake but I couldn't use their address as a bail address, luckily I had a home address to use. 

Upon arrival I was excited and keen to get the most I could out of the program, on arrival Krystin was extremely lovely and helpful. My 6 year old was able to stay with me for my first week, until they returned to school. 

The program itself I only got small bits and pieces from as I already knew a lot from the courses I completed in jail. The staff here including Tenelle, Henry, Krystin and Morgan I would like to applaud as I felt completely comfortable around them and they made me feel very welcome and understood. I did not like having my phone taken off of me at 6pm as I didn't have my children with me full time and it was very isolating. Communication between the staff is sometimes not very clear, as my parent would come every weekend Friday arvo, Saturday all day and Sunday all day every week, on my second last week my parent was told to leave even though every other weekend they had been permitted to visit for as long as they would like as my baby is breastfed and my children are under a reunification order with child safety and must be supervised while I visit. 

I do applaud Morgan for persisting in contacting my CSO to organize the start of unsupervised visits, I believe I had 3-4 unsupervised visits for 6 hours on Saturdays, I was thrilled with this outcome. 

I had approximately $1000 come off my sper, I'm hoping more will come off as I did just under 9 weeks. 

Due to my need, want and readiness I was aloud to complete the program successfully under 9 weeks, this would be due to my 15 months already clean and my drive to get home to set my house up for my kids to start to be reunified with me.

The food, lunches sometimes weren't that fresh, but just make yourself a cheese and ham sandwich, the dinners were always fresh and beautiful. 

I bonded very well with most of the women who were in other LFR units and would like to say I have made friends whilst being there. 

I also completed a circle of security parenting course while here which was great but I think maybe more courses for Mum's and Dad's would be great. 

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Responses

Response from Kris Crane, Advisor, Lived Experience, Clinical Services, Lives Lived Well 9 hours ago
Kris Crane
Advisor, Lived Experience, Clinical Services,
Lives Lived Well

Submitted on 10/12/2025 at 1:44 PM
Published on Care Opinion Australia at 4:48 PM

Hello Knifey,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to write this post. We really value your feedback, and even more so, love to hear about the amazing changes which are happening in your life.

I am glad that you found Kirsten and the team warm and welcoming, they are a wonderful crew at LFR and I will pass all your kind words on to them.

It is great to hear about the visits which you were able to have some time with your 6-year-old in the weeks while you were in the program, I love to hear about experiences like this. They keep us motivated and remind us that all the hard work is worth it.

I have spoken to the manager about some of the areas for improvement which you raised.

Thank you for raising your concerns about the visit on your second last week. While staff aim to ensure clear and consistent communication, there are occasions where decisions are made in response to program requirements, supervision expectations, or staffing considerations on the day. We apologise for any confusion or inconvenience this caused, and we will use your feedback to strengthen communication among the team so residents receive clearer guidance about visit arrangements.

It’s great to hear that you were able to reinforce the skills and knowledge you had already gained through previous programs, and that the staff helped you feel understood and supported. We acknowledge your suggestion regarding additional parenting programs for mums and dads. This is valuable feedback and something we will explore further as we continue to evolve our service offerings.

Thank you for your honesty regarding lunches. We are glad to hear you enjoyed the dinners, and we will share your feedback with our Chef so we can continue to improve quality and freshness across all meals.

In regards to phone access, we are actually currently starting a program to review this across all of our services, and are engaging clients to hear their thoughts. I will add this to the feedback.

Feel free to reach out again if you have any questions.

Again, well done, and thanks for taking the time to write this response.

Kris

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