What is advocacy?
Everyone has the right to speak up for themselves but not everyone can do this easily. That is where advocacy comes in. Advocacy gives people a voice when they find it hard to express their views, but more than that, an advocate will make sure that decisions are about you.
Advocacy is when someone supports you to speak up, or speaks on your behalf, to make sure you are involved in decisions made about you.
Some people have a legal right to an advocate.
Advocacy services offer confidential, free and independent support. Independent means they represent your wishes without giving their personal opinion and without representing the views of the National Health Service or the local authority.
Advocacy services for adults
We have a single advocacy service in partnership with Cloverleaf Advocacy. This service is run by locally based advocates across North Yorkshire.
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 anyone.
The service can help if you:
- want to have a say about what happens to you
- are struggling to stay involved in decisions about your health and wellbeing or about where you live
- know someone else who needs support
You may meet with an advocate at your home or, if you'd prefer, at a neutral place.
Cloverleaf Advocacy
Contact
Email: referrals@cloverleaf-advocacy.co.uk
Phone: 01609 765355
Website: Cloverleaf Advocacy website
Online referral forms: Cloverleaf Advocacy online referral forms
Cloverleaf Advocacy
5th Floor
Empire House
Wakefield Old Road
Dewsbury
WF12 8DJ
What the service covers
Cloverleaf Advocacy offers the following types of advocacy:
- Care Act statutory advocacy
- non-statutory advocacy, to promote a person's wellbeing in situations when carrying out any of their care and support functions
- independent mental capacity advocacy
- deprivation of liberty safeguards the relevant person's representative
- independent mental health advocacy
If you are not eligible for independent advocacy, Cloverleaf can help you find alternative sources of support, information and advice.
Advocacy for children and young people
Children and young people should be listened to when making plans that directly affect their lives.
The National Youth Advocacy Service provides advocates for young people involved with education and social care services who may have an issue they want considered.
What the service can do for children and young people
The National Youth Advocacy Service can:
- work alongside children and young people who are looked after, care leavers, children in residential units and children excluded from school
- support any child involved in child protection investigations which are proceeding to a child protection conference, or any whistle-blowing situation, including attending meetings about such investigations
- support any child on the threshold of being looked after and who is attending family group conferences
- support children and young people pursuing a complaint through the complaints procedure
They will:
- help provide them with the information about their rights and options
- help clarify their complaint and what they would like to happen
- provide support at any stage in the complaints system, including any formal hearings or interviews
- advise and inform any child or young person in need and who is involved with social care services of their rights and responsibilities
- attend review meetings with children and young people and help them put forward their views in a way that is clearly understood
Getting an advocate from the National Youth Advocacy Service
The National Youth Advocacy Service prefers a child or young person to contact them directly. However, they will accept a request for an advocate from someone else, for example, a social worker or parent.