Advocacy

 

So, what is advocacy? Well, put simply, advocacy means having someone to help you deal with some of life’s difficult times; it means getting your views heard when decisions are being made about your life!

Advocacy is the process of one person helping another to represent their views. The person giving the advice is called an advocate, and they will help you to be actively involved in decisions that affect your life. This could be by either helping you to say what you want to say yourself or will represent the issues and views on your behalf – only after first ensuring that they have been fully briefed and understand the issues, of course!

When there are decisions that will affect you, advocates can help you to choose what you want to happen, and they can also give you guidance on how you can make your views clear to adults so that they recognise your wishes and feelings.

Advocates are totally independent, which means that they’re not employed by any Health or Social Care services. And the really great thing is that they are trained to know the law and to be able to talk with you sensitively and honestly – so they’ve got the tools to help allow you to build a better future.

 

Advocacy Services

If you aren’t happy with your experience of any Health or Social Care service and you want to make a complaint about it, you can refer yourself to one of the following two local advocacy services below.

The National Youth Advocacy Service

Devon County Council commissions advocacy services from the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS for short).

If you are a Devon child in care age 4-18 or a care leaver (up to age 25 years old) and you want support with getting your voice heard about something you would like to stop, start or change you can call NYAS on 0808 808 1001 or email them at help@nyas.net and they will complete a referral to the Devon service for you.

Alternatively, ask your Social Worker or Personal Advisor to make a referral to NYAS for you. This service is also available if you are privately fostered, if you are adopted and you are experiencing difficulties with your adoptive family and if you are a Devon child in care or care leaver but you live in a different part of the country.

 

Devon Information, Advice and Support

Also known as DiAS, Devon Information, Advice and Support can offer you advocacy support:

• If you are a young person with special educational needs or a disability and are 16 and 25 years old.
• If you are in the process of moving from Children’s to Adults’ services.
• If you are the parent or carer of someone who is in such a situation.

In any of these cases, call DiAS on 01392 383000 and ask for ‘Devon Information, Advice and Support’. Alternatively, you can email devonias@devon.gov.uk or ask your Social Worker to make a referral to Devon Advocacy Consortium for you.

---

Find out other ways to get your voice heard.