Advocacy
There is a growing recognition of the importance of advocacy for children and young people when plans are being made for their lives.
Appreciating the views and feelings of the young person helps them feel involved and can help everyone make better decisions. Working like this is not just good practice, it is also a legal requirement. The Children Act says young people must be treated with respect and this means (amongst other things) that young people must be listened to.
If a local authority is deciding what should happen to a child or young person they have to find out how they feel and what they want. They have to tell the child or young person what is happening and why.
Listening to children is at the heart of all Barnardo's work, but our work in advocacy especially shows Barnardo’s commitment to giving children and young people a voice.
Projects providing advocacy services
Barnardo’s advocacy work covers the areas of child protection conferences, family group conferences and the provision of independent sessional advocates. We also run training for childcare professionals and offer consultancy work for those wanting to set up or maintain advocacy services. Barnardo’s also provides an advocacy service for children in custody covering 13 units across the North and Midlands areas in England.
