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Whose agenda? Participation and Children’s Advocacy in Wales

Whose agenda? Participation and Children’s Advocacy in Wales. Imperfect present But planning a better future. Location - Cardiff. 2 hours west of London Capital city of Wales. Children in Wales. 650,000 0 – 19; 4,500 looked after. 28% defined as in ‘poverty’ = 170,000

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Whose agenda? Participation and Children’s Advocacy in Wales

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  1. Whose agenda? Participation and Children’s Advocacy in Wales Imperfect present But planning a better future

  2. Location - Cardiff • 2 hours west of London • Capital city of Wales

  3. Children in Wales • 650,000 0 – 19; 4,500 looked after. • 28% defined as in ‘poverty’ = 170,000 • 70,000 severe poverty, £130 per week, not including housing benefit. • 16 year olds don’t get 5 GCSEs = 15% • 7.5% 16 year olds no GCSEs = worst UK • high smoking girls, obese boys, poor diet. Unfit dwellings. • 37 per 10,000 on CPR – 10% more than England • 76 per 10,000 Looked After -20% - ditto – • Children all too often seen as ‘problem’ or ‘needs’

  4. Need to see child as citizen • Citizen as member of community – to be involved in decisions • About relationships of inter-dependence • Escape language of ‘futures’, practice listening now. Children right to our time. • Adult power inescapable – involve early. • Child is attentive witness to our morality. • Avoid participation as adult-defined?

  5. Rights and inclusion - Policy • Waterhouse Report 2000 - Scandals – children not listened to • Children’s Commissioner, 2001, • 2001 WAG fund LAs to commission vols to provide advocacy • Adoption & Children Act 2002, children in need have right to advocacy in complaints in relation to 1989 Children Act • 2003 WAG inaugurate ‘Children’s Assembly for Wales’, 0-25 yrs to engage with policy (2006) involved in policy decisions • Wales first in 2004 to formally adopt UNCRC in policy making. • Rights driven WAG flagship policy: Children & Young People: Rights to Action (2004) with 7 Core aims • WAG 2009 ‘Young Wales: A Guide to the Model for Delivering Advocacy Services for Children and Young People’

  6. Children’s Commissioner reports problems - Gov’t wants to know what’s going on?? • How many children get advocacy for complaint-making or other activities and what do they think of service? • What LA think of advocates & vice versa? • What impedes / facilitates advocacy at an organisational and strategic level?

  7. What do Advocates do? • Explore choices open to young people • Provide answers to questions • Stand up for young people • Complaints advice • Prepare for & attend review meetings • Seek and meet target groups of children • Participation events • Newsletters / communications/ phones

  8. Voices from care….. • She really helped us get our voices heard. To get across difficulties we have getting on buses and buildings that aren’t accessible.. • My social worker wasn’t listening and neither were the staff. If you’re a young kid you can’t get your voice heard over adults – can you? Staff said they couldn’t do anything about me being moved….. • I had a gutsful – it was going on too long. I tried all sorts of other things to sort it – my SW was useless. • They’re all scared of the advocate ‘cos they know she’s got the power! She said she (YP) wants more contact with her mum – she will go further than that

  9. Advocacy – view from young people’s focus groups • Not understood – how popularise? • Info not read /retained – more innovative? • Word of mouth – other professionals • Liked /expect – rapport, accurate reporting of their words, confidence and persistence in presenting case, provide help without making decisions, setting out options. • Emotional work – being – doing advocacy

  10. Imagining the advocate • Draw and annotate – “…..they will have a big heart, big ears for listening, a big mouth for getting heard, and good shoes to get where they’re going……” “…..would listen, have satellite ears, a big brain, and uses her head, she has open and fiery eyes, but she’s not angry, she gets attention…”

  11. Not all seen as ‘independent’in promoting the child’s voice • some respondents saw the advocacy service commissioned by the local authority as lacking independence because of their financial relationship. …..they are funded by social services which makes them biased… they are all pally pally, work close together. It’s disappointing and it lets people down…..

  12. Antipathy, Ambivalence, Approval –Responses from social workers • SW rivalry– identity & power usurpers! pro-complaints, irresponsible, don’t refer. • Advocacy becomes a cop-out = see your advocate, nothing I can do! • Advocacy & complaints an opportunity. Not a threat. Some over-referred - advocates complain co-option!

  13. Market model has problems • Network/virtual orgs, • staffing fragile with varied skills • 3 year contracts – time and trust • Marketised = distrust system • No independence for agencies • Duplication • No robust evaluation

  14. new inclusive model • National Independent Advocacy Board • Advocacy Develop. & Performance Unit • National Advocacy and Advice Service –telephone and website • Local Integrated Specialist Advocacy Service • Commissioned by consortia from voluntaries • One stop shop – complex complaints, hard to reach, wider inclusive • Government inspected • Standards to be reviewed

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