Professional or Paid Advocacy
Professional advocacy is for people who need help to represent their views around a specific issue or problem.
A paid advocacy worker works with a person to help them ‘speak up’ for themselves or represents their views for them.
An advocacy worker may only need to work with a person for a short time.
An advocacy worker is:
- On the side of the person
- Trained in different issues
- Supported by other staff
- In contact with other professionals such as care managers, community nurses etc
- Kept up to date with latest information
Volunteer Advocacy
Volunteer Advocacy is a partnership between an unpaid volunteer and a person with a learning disability. A volunteer is someone who can support their partner to make their views known.
A volunteer advocate is:
- On the side of the person with a learning disability
- Supports their partner to participate in their community
- Receives training and on-going support from Central Advocacy Partners Advocacy
House Link Advocacy
A House Link Advocate is a means of having an advocacy presence in shared houses. House Link Advocacy provides the opportunity for residents to speak up about the issues that affect them as a group. Usually there is no pressing advocacy issue and the role is more of a safeguarding one. The House Link advocate also attends reviews.
House Link Advocates visit a group of people in a house on a regular basis and offer support with issues such as:
- Money handling
- Choices
- Respect
- Privacy
- General well-being
Any concerns that the advocate has would be raised initially with the staff in the house, recognising that Central Advocacy Partners works in partnership with other professionals to provide excellent service to people with a learning disability.
House link advocacy uses a partnership approach to highlight what is working well and where improvement and development is needed in the future. House Link Advocacy is user focused and will speak out for the rights of people to pursue their interests and protect their rights.
