Some of the options available to you are described 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.

Additional support for carers in North Yorkshire

Your local carers' centre or carers' resource will be able to provide more information about advocacy for carers. These are organisations whose purpose is to give practical and emotional support to carers. For more details, see the carers' centres in North Yorkshire page.

You may also take part in the North Yorkshire carers' forum. You can use the forum to have your views as a carer heard. See the North Yorkshire carers' forum page for more details.

	Related information from NHS Choices Links to information about advocacy for carers on the NHS Choices website. Carers direct The carers directsection provides information, advice and support for carers. Stigma and discrimination As a carer, you may feel that people disregard or look down on you because your experience is different from their own. This is known as stigma. If as result of stigma your rights are infringed, this is known as discrimination. For more information see the stigma and discriminationpage. Caring and discrimination Alex Fox, director of policy and communications at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, talks about the stigma attached to caring and why it is important that carers have access to support and advice about their rights. Also, carer Sharon Coleman describes her experience of discrimination at work and how she successfully fought for her rights at the European Court.

Social care Apply for social care support and advice

Useful downloads Supporting carers in North Yorkshire - a statement from North Yorkshire County Council 2011-2012 [482kb] [pdf] This statement aims to combine the main principles of the 'Recognised, valued and supported' and 'Carers at the heart of the 21st century families and communities' national reports and to outline our commitment to supporting carers for the next 12 months. Supporting carers in North Yorkshire - a statement from North Yorkshire County Council 2011-2012 (easy read format) [281kb] [pdf] An easy read version of the 'Supporting carers in North Yorkshire - a statement from North Yorkshire County Council 2011-2012' document.   Weblinks Please note: All external websites open in a new browser window and NYCC is not responsible for the content of external websites. National Youth Advocacy Service The National Youth Advocacy Service offers advice, information, support and representation to any child or young person who wants to have their wishes and feelings taken into account when decisions are made about them. Contacts Customer services centre (social care enquiries) Full contact details for the customer services centre, including how to call in personally, can be found below. social.care@northyorks.gov.uk Tel: 0845 034 9410 Fax: 01609 532009 Full details for Customer services centre (social care enquiries) Compliments, complaints, comments and concerns (adult social care) Help us get it right. Please tell us your views about adult social care services provided by North Yorkshire County Council. Your comments can help us to improve our services and plan for the future. social.complaints@northyorks.g... Tel: 01609 532638 Fax: 01609 532025 Full details for Compliments, complaints, comments and concerns (adult social care)