Advocacy and Children’s Rights

Contents

  1. Introduction
  1. National Minimum Standards for the Provision of Children’s Advocacy Service
  1. Core Principles
  1. The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service
  1. Appointment of an advocate
  1. Informing Children about the Complaints Procedure including what children may complain about
  1. How to make a Referral to the Children’s Society
  1. Role of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)
  1. Introduction

Advocacy is the process of one person helping another to represent their views and to speak “as if.” An advocate enables the young person either to say what they want to say for themselves, or to represent the issues and views on behalf of the young person, ensuring that they have been fully briefed and understand the issues. (i.e. their rights and responsibilities).

It should be noted that advocacy is not a long term supportive, “mentoring” relationship, not led by notions of what is “best” for the young person and furthermore, the advocates do not provide a decision-making role.

When children come into care, their relationship with all the professionals, services and systems they are involved with, such as health and education is changed. This is because the provision of such services is no longer championed, facilitated and mediated by parents or family members. It is therefore essential that children and young people who come into the Sandwell care system, have access to advocates who can represent them in order to ensure that their voice and preferences are heard.

The Adoption & Children Act 2002 gave advocacy statutory status for the first time and, furthermore, the government’s proposals for improving life chances of children in public care, places advocacy at centre stage. Advocacy, when accessed at an early stage, forms an integral part of empowerment practice.

The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child represented an historic landmark, signalling an important shift in attitudes to children and their place in society. Article 12 upholds children’s rights to participation in decision making about matters that concern them. For this purpose, the child must in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law.

  1. National Minimum Standards for the Provision of Children’s Advocacy Service
  • Standard 1: Advocacy is led by the views and wishes of children and young people
  • Standard 2: Advocacy champions the rights and needs of children and young people
  • Standard 3: All Advocacy Services have clear policies to promote equalities issues and monitor services to ensure that no young person is discriminated against due to age, gender, race, culture, religion, language, disability or sexual orientation
  • Standard 4: Advocacy is well-publicised, accessible and easy to use
  • Standard 5: Advocacy gives help and advice quickly when they are requested
  • Standard 6: Advocacy works exclusively for children and young people
  • Standard 7: The Advocacy Service operates to a high level of confidentiality and ensures that children, young people and other agencies are aware of its confidentiality policies
  • Standard 8: Advocacy listens to the views and ideas of children and young people in order to improve the service provided
  • Standard 9: The advocacy service has an effective and easy to use complaints procedure
  • Standard 10: Advocacy is well managed and gives value for money
  1. Core Principles
  • Advocates should work for children and young people and no one else.
  • Advocates should value and respect children and young people as individuals and challenge all types of unlawful discrimination.
  • Advocates should work to make sure that children and young people in care can understand what is happening to them, can make their views known and, where possible, exercise choice when decisions about them are being made.
  • Advocates should help children and young people to raise issues and concerns about things they are unhappy about. This includes making informal and formal complaints under section 26 of the Children Act 1989.
  1. The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service

All children will have the right to make an informed choice about the type of advocate who supports them. This includes preference for informal/formal advocacy, same gender, same ethnicity, same religion, and/or same language.

The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy provides advice and guidance to children on their rights, how they may access their rights, and options available should they wish an advocate to be appointed for them.

The service will signpost children to make links with other organisations and agencies that can offer them the appropriate support, advice and information based on their needs.

The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service welcomes any Referrals where there is an assessed need for independent representation on behalf of any child or young person (below the age of eighteen), in order to support them in obtaining their rights. The young person must be aware that the referral is being made and give their consent. Unless it is non instructed advocacy where the young person is unable to give consent.

The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service also works with children and young people to get their views on the services provided which will be fed back to the organisations involved.

This will include arranging/providing an independent advocacy service for any child wishing to make a complaint - see Section on Appointment of Advocate for the procedure for the appointment of an advocate where a child makes a complaint.

The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service also provides an advocacy service to Children Looked After, those leaving the Children Looked After Service and those who fall within the definition of a Disabled Child.

Its aim is to promote children’s rights, providing advocacy and participation activities.

  1. Appointment of Advocate

An appointment of an advocate for a child may be appropriate where a child wishes to be represented at a meeting (for example at a Looked After Review), assisted in making a complaint or bringing a matter to the attention of the care provider, the local authority or the Regulatory Authority (Ofsted is the Regulatory Authority). Information must be provided to all Children Looked After about how they can gain access to a suitably skilled advocate – this should be via a referral to The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service.

In relation to children who make a complaint under the Complaints Procedure - see Representations and Complaints Procedure for who may make a complaint - the Designated Complaints Manager, on receipt of the complaint, will immediately check whether the child already has an advocate and if not, seek his or her consent to make a referral to The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service.

Referrals will be made by e-mail and an electronic copy of the referral form will be attached to the complaint file.

Where the complaint is made on behalf of a child, the Designated Complaints Manager will check within 2 working days of receipt of the complaint whether an advocate is required. The outcome will be recorded on the complaint file. A referral to The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service will be made where appropriate.

In all cases, the Designated Complaints Manager will keep under review the need for an advocate to be appointed throughout the period of the complaint investigation.

Upon receipt of a referral from the Designated Complaints Manager, The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service will contact the child within 2 working days.

The Children’s Society Black Country Advocacy Service will provide advice and guidance to the child about available advocacy services within 5 working days of the receipt of the referral.

The Designated Complaints Manager will provide the advocate with copies of the Stage One response letters, investigation reports and adjudication letters - see Representations and Complaints Procedure.

  1. Informing Children about the Complaints Procedure

Children must be informed about the Complaints Procedure in a variety of ways suitable to their needs and level of understanding. Copies of relevant leaflets should be provided, for example the Children’s Guide, which is given to children before or upon admission to a children’s home. Is this just Children’s Homes or all placements?? No this is for all LAC or should be..

Where children or those acting on their behalf express a wish to make a complaint, they must be given any information or advice they require on how to use the Complaints Procedure. Such information will include an explanation of the role of an advocate and provide details of how an advocate may be appointed to assist with the complaint.

Their options must be carefully explained including information and advice on alternative methods for resolving their dissatisfaction and the option to go straight to a Stage Two Formal Investigation if the complaint is serious, complex or, at any time, if the complainant wishes to.

In these circumstances, where a child insists that they wish to make a formal complaint, s/he should be referred to the relevant manager or to the Designated Complaints Manager (Divisional Manager for Children Looked After).

If the complaint relates to a child in foster care or residential care, it may also be directed to the Regulatory Authority (Ofsted).

What Children may Complain About

A complaint may arise as a result of many things relating to statutory children’s social care functions such as:

  • an unwelcome or disputed decision;
  • concern about the quality or appropriateness of a service;
  • delay in decision making or provision of services;
  • delivery or non-delivery of services including complaints procedures;
  • quantity, frequency, change or cost of a service;
  • attitude or behaviour of staff;
  • application of eligibility and assessment criteria;
  • the impact on a child of the application of a local authority policy; and
  • assessment, care management and review. This bit doesn’t make sense
  • This is not an exhaustive list and the Designated Complaints Manager should seek legal advice as necessary.

Specifically, a complaint may be about the following:

  • the decision by the local authority to initiate Care Proceedings
  • the effect of a Care Order and the local authority's actions and decisions where a Care Order is made
  • issues relating to contact between parents and children subject to Care Orders
  • how supervisors perform their duties where a Supervision Order is in force;
  • actions of the local authority regarding applications for and duties in relation to Child Assessment Orders;
  • matters relating to applications for Emergency Protection Orders and decisions relating to the return of children who have been removed
  • the quality or accuracy of social work information or a social work report provided to a Court

In relation to Adoption, a complaint may be about the following:

  • the provision of Adoption Support insofar as these enable adoptive children to discuss matters relating to adoption;
  • assessments and related decisions for adoption support services
  • placing children for adoption, including Parental Responsibility and contact issues
  • removal of children who are or may be placed by adoption agencies
  • removal of children in non-agency cases;
  • the carrying out by the local authority of its duties on receipt of a notice of intention to adopt
  • the carrying out by the local authority of its duties in respect of:
  • considering adoption for a child
  • a proposed placement of a child with prospective adopters;
  • adoptive placements and reviews;
  • Adoption Case Records;
  • contact; and
  • Parental Responsibility prior to adoption abroad

In relation to Special Guardianship Orders, a complaint may be about the following:

  • financial support for Special Guardians;
  • support groups for children to enable them to discuss matters relating to Special Guardianship;
  • assistance in relation to contact with parents for children
  • therapeutic services for children; and
  • assistance to ensure the continuation of the relationship between the child and their Special Guardian or prospective Special Guardian.

In all these instances, the services and support of an advocate for a child/ young person must be sought. The Designated Complaints Manager has discretion in deciding whether to consider complaints where to do so would prejudice any of the following concurrent investigations:

  • Court proceedings;
  • Tribunals;
  • Disciplinary proceedings; or
  • Criminal proceedings.

If the Designated Complaints Manager decides not to consider or further consider complaints subject to these concurrent investigations, s/he must write to the complainant explaining the reason for their decision and specifying the relevant concurrent investigation.

Once the concurrent investigation has been concluded the young person may resubmit their complaint to the local authority as long as it is within one year of the conclusion of the concurrent investigation. They will need support from the advocate to understand the process.

  1. How to make a Referral to the Children’s Society
  • Gain the consent of the young person to make a referral (except where the young person is unable to give consent and you want to refer for non-instructed advocacy)
  • Contact the Society using the Freephone number (0800 652 3839) or fill in a referral form and email it to The Black Country Children’s Society
  • Referrals can be made by anybody: e.g. young people, professionals, foster carers, Social Workers.
  • Criteria for advocacy should be adhered to: children and young people in Sandwell, who are in care, leaving care, or who have a social worker
  • Information shared with the Children’s Society is likely to be shared with the young person.
  1. Role of the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)

Every looked after child/young person will have an allocated Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) whom has a number of statutory duties:

  • Monitor the performance by the Local Authority of their functions in relation to the child’s case;
  • participate in any review of the child’s case;
  • ensure that any ascertained wishes and feelings of the child concerning the case are given due consideration by the appropriate authority; and
  • perform any other function which is prescribed in regulations

As such the IRO has two clear separate responsibilities:

  • chairing the child’s review
  • monitoring the child’s case on an ongoing basis

Within this the IRO must ensure that the child’s current wishes and feelings have been established and taken into account, where appropriate.

This will include making sure the child understands how an advocate may help/support them and their entitlement to an advocate; that advocacy is an option to them whenever they want such support. It is important to remember that an advocate may be a formal appointment from a specialist organisation or an adult already in the child’s social network.

Age appropriate leaflets which are available must be given to each looked after child about the function and availability of an advocate and how to request one.