Provision of Children's Advocacy

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

The promotion and provision of advocacy services in Bracknell Forest Council Children Young People and Learning (CYP&L) is based on the understanding that access to good quality advocacy empowers children who are going through very difficult times.

1. Introduction

Advocacy in all its forms seeks to ensure that people, particularly those who are most vulnerable in society, are able:

  • To have their voice heard on issues that are important to them;
  • To defend and safeguard their rights;
  • To have their views and wishes genuinely considered when decisions are being made about their lives.

The aim of advocacy for children and young people receiving services from Children's Social Care, is to make sure they are protected and their rights are upheld, by providing an opportunity for their views to be listened to and properly considered.

An advocate can provide support to children and young people by:

  • Supporting them to say want they want;
  • Making sure their voice, wishes and feelings are being heard;
  • Listening;
  • Helping them to make a complaint;
  • Making sure they understand their rights and that these rights are being respected;
  • Helping them to obtain the services they are entitled to, and
  • Supporting them in meetings.

Advocacy is not:

  • Information – This is a collection of facts and data which helps to improve understanding of a situation or problem.
  • Advice – This is guidance about what could or should be done about a situation or problem.
  • Mediation – This is the resolving of a situation or problem between two or more people by someone called a mediator. A mediator may express their own views and opinions to help everyone involved to agree.

2. Principles and Values

The promotion and provision of advocacy services in Bracknell Forest Council Children Young People and Learning (CYP&L) is based on the understanding that access to good quality advocacy empowers children who are going through very difficult times. It can also significantly improve the safeguarding of children within Looked After, Child in Need and Child Protection systems and positively impact their experience of the system. Advocacy also has the potential to increase both the child's and the parents' engagement in Children's Social Care's processes and improve outcomes.

3. Policy Statement

Any child or young person receiving a service from Bracknell Forest Council Children's Social Care is entitled to an advocate, independently supervised by an Independent Advocacy Service. The advocates' role is to support children and young people to defend their rights and get their voices heard, whether in the decision-making processes in their case, or in Child Looked After reviews and Child Protection Conferences and Reviews, Family Group Conferences or to make a complaint.

These advocates will have received training in legislation and children's rights as well as in advocacy skills and will adhere to National Standards for Advocacy practice.

Children and young people will receive age appropriate information informing them of their entitlement to advocacy at appropriate times during their journey through the Children's Social Care systems and staff will be proactive in promoting the service.

Children and young people will also be encouraged and supported to develop self advocacy skills and to make use of informal advocacy arrangements where appropriate.

The transfer from children's advocacy provision to adult service provision will be planned effectively so there is no disruption.

4. Scope

To be eligible for Independent Advocacy you need to be in care, in receipt of after-care, living away from home or a Child in Need. This document covers advocacy for children and young people from minimum 7yrs (including those leaving care) up to the age of 25.

5. Legislative Framework and Statutory Guidance for Children's Entitlement to Independent Advocacy

Providing access to independent advocates allows Bracknell Forest to demonstrate compliance with domestic and international law and statutory guidance. The legislative and guidance framework under which advocacy is provided is set out Appendix 1.

6. National Advocacy Standards

The government developed and published National Standards for Advocacy practice in November 2002. These standards cover advocacy for children and young people (including those leaving care) up to the age of 21. The ten standards set out the core principles that children and young people can expect from professionals providing advocacy services and would apply both to advocacy we provide in house and that commissioned from external providers.

6.1 Core Principles

  • Advocates should work for children and young people and no one else;
  • Advocates should value and respect children and young people as individuals and challenge all types of unlawful discrimination;
  • Advocates should work to make sure that children and young people in care can understand what is happening to them, can make their views known and, where possible, exercise choice when decisions about them are being made;
  • Advocates should help children and young people to raise issues and concerns about things they are unhappy about. This includes making informal and formal complaints under section 26 of the Children Act 1989

6.2 Standards

Standard 1: Advocacy is led by the views and wishes of children and young people.

Standard 2: Advocacy champions the rights and needs of children and young people.

Standard 3: All Advocacy Services have clear policies to promote equalities issues and monitor services to ensure that no young person is discriminated against due to age, gender, race, culture, religion, language, disability or sexual orientation.

Standard 4: Advocacy is well-publicised, accessible and easy to use. Standard 5: Advocacy gives help and advice quickly when they are requested. Standard 6: Advocacy works exclusively for children and young people.

Standard 7: The Advocacy Service operates to a high level of confidentiality and ensures that children, young people and other agencies are aware of its confidentiality policies.

Standard 8: Advocacy listens to the views and ideas of children and young people in order to improve the service provided.

Standard 9: The advocacy service has an effective and easy to use complaints procedure.

Standard 10: Advocacy is well managed and gives value for money.

7. Options for Advocacy

7.1 Self Advocacy

Self advocacy is when a young person speaks up or takes action by themselves or is helped to speak up for themselves.

Using an Advocacy Service should be a learning experience for the child, which does not create dependency. One intended outcome is that the advocate will help children and young people develop the ability to represent themselves more effectively in the future. Ideally advocates will eventually make themselves redundant. Part of this process will include supporting the young person to prepare for meetings, being alongside them when they represent their own views and prompting and reminding them regarding what and how they want to express themselves.

7.2 Informal or Peer Advocates

Children can choose someone they already know to act as an informal advocate for them, for example a parent or other adult relative, their carer, social worker, teacher, their Connexions personal adviser, or a friend or relative who is the same age. This person can help the child to prepare for their meeting, accompany them and speak on their behalf.

Alternatively the child or young person may ask someone who has the same disability, illness, condition or circumstances as them, or an organisation which represents and supports them, to speak up or take action for them. This is also known as “peer advocacy”.

The job of an informal advocate is to make sure that the people responsible for the child or young persons care, know how they feel and to help the child or young person understand why decisions have been made. It is important that this person can be objective. For instance a person cannot be an advocate if they are involved in a complaint. An information leaflet for informal advocates is available.

Children's Social Care encourage the use of informal advocacy and will promote this alongside the Independent Advocacy Service, helping the young person to choose which would be most suitable for their situation.

7.3 Independent or Directed Advocacy

Social care staff regularly advocate on behalf of the children and young people they work with to ensure their views and wishes are heard. Similarly other informal advocates such as friends and family or health care staff can all be supportive and helpful. However there are some circumstances where a child/young person may need someone else to help with this role. For example, it may be difficult for informal advocates if the child or young person wants to do something they disagree with. For professionals particularly, the duty of care to the people they work with means they will be unable to support a young person if there is an overriding safeguarding issue, or a complaint against the organisation or some other conflict of interests.

An Independent Advocate can represent the child or young person's wishes without trying to influence, or giving their personal opinion. It is solely the child's view of what they wish to happen that an Independent Advocates will act upon.

7.4 Non-instructed or non-directed advocacy

Where someone cannot ask an advocate to raise issues on their behalf a non instructed or non directed advocate will use different ways of finding out what they might want to say. A person may not be able to instruct for a number of reasons, including:

  • Communication difficulties;
  • Lack of comprehension;
  • Severe learning disability;
  • Dementia.

8. Promotion and Accessibility of Advocacy to Children and their Families

All staff working directly with children and young people are responsible for promoting the advocacy service at appropriate points during the child's journey through the system. This includes social workers, family workers and their supervisors and managers, Independent Reviewing Officers and Child Protection Chairs, the Child Participation Worker.

New workers will receive information about advocacy provision and their responsibility to promote it as part of their induction to CSC.

Advocacy provision should be considered alongside other needs at the Life Chances Team and Core Group Meetings.

Age appropriate publicity about the advocacy service is available and widely distributed. This publicity has details of how to contact an independent advocacy service and the Child Participation Development Officer.

The service has a phone number for self referrals or young people can contact the Child Participation Worker, foster carer or social worker to refer on their behalf. Information about the service can also be accessed via the Bracknell Forest Council website

Provisions for those whose first language is not English and for those with communication difficulties will be made.

Young people who live out of the Authority can access the Advocacy service, if our local provider is not able to allocate an advocate then a spot purchase will be made through another provider.

9. Provision of Advocacy in CYP&L

9.1 Advocacy in Child Protection

There are nine principal reasons for offering independent child protection advocacy to children. [1] Independent advocacy:

  1. Empowers children who are going through very difficult times;
  2. Safeguards children within child protection procedures and actions;
  3. Ensures children's views are listened to and a fuller picture emerges of the child's life, wishes and concerns and therefore a more credible assessment of their best interests;
  4. Increases the child's engagement in child protection processes and outcomes;
  5. Provides the child with an additional trusted mechanism for raising concerns;
  6. Ensures the child remains everyone's focus;
  7. Increases parents' engagement in child protection processes and outcomes;
  8. Brings about wider changes in policy and practice;
  9. Helps local authorities demonstrate compliance with domestic and international law.

Bracknell Forest Children's Social Care offers access to independent advocacy for child protection conferences for all children aged seven and above, with the aim of incorporating their views into the decision making process. This is available for both new (ICPC) and ongoing (review) cases unless the child opts out of the service.

Bracknell Forest will also offer Independent Advocacy to a child who is involved in a LADO process who need support to ensure their voice is heard.

Those children and young people who opt out of Independent Advocacy will be encouraged to consider using informal advocacy (see Section 7.2, Informal or Peer Advocates).

[1] Independent Advocacy in Child Protection Conferences. Guidance for Policy Makers NCB Feb 2013

9.2 Advocacy for Children Looked After

All looked after children whose care and progress is being reviewed are entitled to an Independent Advocate. The child's social worker and the Independent Reviewing Officer will ensure children looked after have been informed of their right and will support the child to access the service or choose an informal advocate if preferred (see Section 7.2, Informal or Peer Advocates).

9.3 Making a Complaint or Representation

Children in receipt of social care services (CLA CiN and Care Leavers) who wish to make a complaint of some kind about the Children's Services they are receiving are entitled to an advocate and the Local Authority is responsible for making arrangements for advocacy provision.

9.4 Advocacy for children in Secure Accommodation

Young people in secure accommodation are entitled to an Independent Advocate for both their CLA Review (see Section 9.2, Advocacy for Children Looked After) and their Secure Review Meeting and these meeting should be held separately. The young person should always have an input to the Secure Review. Their Social Worker or the key worker in the unit should take responsibility to prepare the young person for the review. Young people should be encouraged to put something in writing to go alongside the other reports.

The young person should also be offered the services of an advocate (most secure children's homes have regular visiting advocacy services). If the young person is remanded to secure accommodation the Youth justice Board will provide the advocate. Advocates can help young people prepare their contribution to the review and attend with them, or on their behalf, if they so wish.

The role of the advocate is very distinct from that of an Independent Person. The advocate should not be approached to be a panel member.

9.5 Advocacy for Children with Disabilities

For children and young people with disabilities advocacy is equally important and can lead to considerable improvements, both in their and their families' lives. The advocacy process

itself can bring significant benefits to the individual child, through improved confidence, self- esteem and independence.

Children and young people with disabilities are entitled to advocacy in all the situations described above. However advocates working with children with complex health needs, communication needs and severe learning disabilities face particular challenges and barriers. In some cases those individuals most familiar with and to the young person may be the most appropriate person to advocate for them. In some cases specialist providers may be required.

9.5.1 Funding for Specialist Advocacy Providers, including non instructed advocacy

Funding for specialist advocacy providers must be approved by the Head of Service CSST following an assessment of need.

9.5.2 Transition to Adult Services

Young people who are making the transition from children's to adult services are entitled to advocacy, commissioned by Adults Services, to support them through the process.

9.5.3 Independent Mental Capacity and Independent Mental Health Advocates

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Mental Health Act 2007 introduced the roles of Independent Mental Capacity Advocates and Independent Mental Health Advocates.

Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 an independent advocate should be provided to those over 16 who lack the capacity to make their own decision about medical treatment or changes in their care and have no friends or family to support them. The Mental Health Act 2007 included a duty to provide advocacy for people, including children and young people, subject to compulsory powers under the Mental Health Act 1983. The duty to make arrangements for the provision of Independent Mental Health Advocates transferred to the Local authority in 2013.

10. Monitoring Quality of Advocacy Provision

The National Advocacy Standards, set out in Section 6 above are the criteria against which advocacy provision will be monitored.

Feedback will be gathered from Children and young people using the service, their Social Worker, their Parent/carer and their IRO/CPchair where appropriate.

A quarterly monitoring meeting and an Annual Report will be required from the Provider.

11. Process for Accessing Independent Advocacy

11.1 Promoting Advocacy

Written information on Informal and Independent Advocacy (leaflet postcard see Appendix 2: Information to Promote Advocacy) is given to and discussed with all children and young people

  • By their Social Worker when they become looked after, as part of their Child Looked After Pack;
  • By their Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) or their Social Worker prior to their first Looked After Review or Child Protection Conference (CPC);
  • On making a complaint.

All staff are responsible for continuing to promote the advocacy service at appropriate opportunities, to those children and young people, and their families, with whom they are working (see Section 8, Promotion and Accessibility of Advocacy to Children and their Families).

In Bracknell Forest all young people who wish to make a complaint or representation, who have a CPC or Looked After review are offered an independent advocate unless they wish to self advocate, or choose an informal advocate or specifically decline the service. This is to ensure they have the opportunity to be supported through the situation by someone independent from CSC. Referral to the Advocacy Service should be recommended to young people and their families as normal practice.

11.2 Parent/Carer Permission

For children who are not looked after under a care order, parental permission must be sought prior to a referral being made. If family or young person refuses independent advocacy but their social worker believes they would benefit from one then an advocate can be arranged and placed on stand by.

11.3 Referral

Referrals are made on Mosaic Advocacy Referral form via the Children's Participation Development Officer (CPDO) in Quality Assurance and Safeguarding.

A referral form and risk assessment is completed by the worker (Social worker or IRO or CP chair) and sent to the CPDO a minimum of five working days prior to the date advocate required. On receipt an advocate will be spot purchased.

Once a match is found the CPDO will inform the referrer who the advocate is and the advocate will contact the family/young person to arrange a contact.

Once advocacy provision is confirmed the referrer will update Mosaic and ensure “Advocate” is checked on the CP 1 forms or LAC Review invitations. The Social worker should then ensure “Advocate” is checked on future CP1 forms and CLA Review invitations. This will ensure that there is continuity of service for future meetings and allow data to be collected on uptake of the service.

Appendix 1: Legislative Framework and Guidance relating to Provision of Children's Independent Advocacy

Click here to view Appendix 1: Legislative Framework and Guidance relating to Provision of Children's Independent Advocacy.

Appendix 2: Information to Promote Advocacy

Click here to view Advocacy for Children.

Advocacy leaflets for children and young people are available from CSC Admin or the Child Participation Development Officer.