whose agenda? participation and children’s advocacy in wales
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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 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Whose agenda? Participation and Children’s Advocacy in Wales
Imperfect present But planning a better future
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
Location - Cardiff• 2 hours west of London• Capital city of Wales
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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’
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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?
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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’
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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?
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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…”
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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…..
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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!
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
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