There are several differences in the advocacy service you may receive, depending on your needs and circumstances. These are outlined below.

Your care co-ordinator as an advocate

If you have a person from social care services or a health team as your care co-ordinator, he or she will liaise on your behalf with other agencies to ensure you receive the most appropriate care. In other words, they act as your advocate. Anything you discuss with them will be treated in confidence.

You may meet with an advocate at your home or if you'd prefer, at a neutral place. The advocate will work with you until the issue is resolved. This could be weeks, months, or even years when there are ongoing issues.

Independent advocate services for adults

If you are an adult and need an independent advocate to help and support you through a difficult time in your life or you feel you are not getting the services or help you need, there are advocacy services which may be able to help.

Advocacy services help people to speak for themselves. This is a confidential, free and independent service provided by trained advocates. As a confidential service, anything you say to an advocate will not be revealed to your social or health worker or anyone else.

You may meet with an advocate at your home or if you'd prefer, at a neutral place. The advocate will work with you until the issue is resolved. This could be weeks, months, or even years when there are ongoing issues.

There are several specialist advocacy services in North Yorkshire that you may wish to contact directly. See the advocacy services in North Yorkshire page for details.

Independent advocate services for children and young people

We recognise that children and young people should be listened to and their views taken into account. Their involvement is especially important when making plans that directly affect their lives, or in designing services to meet their needs.

The National Youth Advocacy Service provides advocates in North Yorkshire for young people involved with education and social care services who may have an issue that they want to make representation about. For more details, see the information about the National Youth Advocacy Service page.

Advocacy for carers

If you are a carer and would like more information on advocacy, please see the advocacy for carers page.

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