l/o/g/o 1 themegallery powertemplate advocacy workshop for professionals working with...
TRANSCRIPT
L/O/G/O
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ThemeGallery PowerTemplatewww.themegallery.com
Advocacy Workshop for Professionals Working with Victim/Survivors of Sexual
Violence
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Context
2 Literature Reviews Advocacy Roles & Advocacy Skills
Advocacy Standards & Advocacy Domains
Advocacy Role Workshop
WA participants and agencies National Opportunities
FaHCSIA Advocacy Project July 2012 - March 2013
Reference Group Virtual Tour and Consultations Research
George Jones Advocacy Centre March 2011
2 Child & Family Advocates MOU with Police, DCP, DoTAG, Health
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Sexual Violence context• Between 15 to 30% of females and 3 to 5 % of males are
sexually abused as children (Fergusson & Mullen, 1999).• About 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men have experienced sexual
violence since the age of 15 years (ABS 2006)• The trauma or impact of sexual violence can be extensive and
lifelong with physiological, psychological & social injuries: – reducing a person’s capacity to study, work– effects on building & maintaining friendship and family
networks– impact raising of children – Increased likelihood of suicide and self-harm, mental health
issues and drug use – doubling of the risk of adult sexual violence for women of
those who were abused as a child (54% versus 26%)
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Literature Reviews • Advocacy roles are well established in : Mental Health,
Disability Services, Aged Services , Domestic Violence
• Advocacy with victim/survivors of sexual violence is an emerging area of proficiency. USA Child and Family Advocate/Victim Advocates (1980s), UK Independent Sexual Violence Advisors late 1990s, Australia has some Counsellor/Advocate positions (Victoria, Queensland, WA)
• Victims of crime, particularly sexual violence are vulnerable because of the nature of the violence they have experienced as well as the nature of some services aligned with the criminal-justice (rather than victim-justice) system.
• Victims/survivors seek flexible and practical forms of support in the immediate aftermath of sexual violence. Support, advocacy and information were their priority requirements.
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• Advocacy roles have enhanced the work of multi-disciplinary or interagency teams, enabled service providers such as police investigators to focus on their core duties, decreased the attrition rates in justice systems and led to increased reporting to police.
• Full-time advocates emphasise independence of their role from the criminal justice system and importance of consistent, continued support from ‘report to court’ or for as long as required
• Despite increased understanding of the needs of victims of sexual violence and some changes to the criminal justice system victims/survivors mostly continue to choose not to report; conviction rates have gone down in Australia, Canada, England and Wales; victims/survivors generally don’t feel justice is served;
• There is an urgent and long-standing need for broad based, victim/survivor focused, advocacy type roles to complement and enhance existing justice, health and social-welfare services
Literature Reviews
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Benefits of ISVA Involvement• More positive experience for the victim
• Victim is well informed and therefore empowered to seek justice through the courts
• Victim feels integral to the case and is less likely to withdraw (less attrition)
• Confidence in the System increases (leading to wider public confidence)
• The victim is less anxious and more capable as a witness
• A support network ensures that the victim is able to access appropriate on-going support, leading to a healthy lifestyle
• “As a reform to a system that is effective, cost effective and affordable the ISVA is hard to beat”. “They have had a substantial impact on victims they have supported to date”
The Stern Review Home Office UK 2010
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Continue Learning in WorkplaceContinue Learning in Workplace
Connect with Own RoleConnect with Own Role
Practice Issues for Each ElementPractice Issues for Each Element
Learning Outcomes
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Elements of Advocacy RoleElements of Advocacy Role1
Peer Support - NetworkingPeer Support - Networking5
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Workplace Learning
Reflective PracticesCoaching, Mentoring, SupervisionFlexible Learning Opportunities
Pre-Workshop
Preparation
Course context
Professional Qualification
Advocacy knowledge
attitude skills
Strength based
Child abuse
Cultural
Systems
Trauma & Attachment
Sexual Violence
Role Legitimacy
Role Adequacy
Role Support
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Workshop goals
Focus During Workshop.
Confirm
Your text in here
Challenge
Confirm what you
know & do
Collect something
new Challenge your ideas
and practice
Collect
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Advocacy Elements
Advocacy
Key Elements
FeedbackComplaints
Empower
Interagency
JusticeSupport
InformedDecisions
ClientLed
AccessibleKnown
Practical EmotionalSupportIndependent
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Definition of AdvocacyAdvocacy is an approach which aims to protect the personal, legal, and societal rights of an individual..
“Advocacy is taking action to help people:• say what they want• secure their rights • represent their interests and • obtain services they need. Advocates and advocacy schemes• work in partnership with the people they support and• take their side. Advocacy promotes • social inclusion, equality and social justice.”
The United Kingdom’s Action for Advocacy definition is:
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Types of Advocacy
IndividualIndividual
SystemsSystems
SelfSelf
PeerPeer
Professional representation & support
Advocate for selfMay require support
A cause or broad political, legislative, community system
Support from someone who has/had similar
issues
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Other Types of Advocacy
LegalLegal
SmileSmile
CitizensCitizens
ProfessionalProfessional
Legal representation Volunteer community member
Because you can … Paid & trained in advocacy & related field
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Role Boundaries
• How much of your role centres around advocacy?
• Are there any tricky boundary areas within you role or across professions?
• How is advocacy work and professional development supported (or is it just taken for granted staff know how to do it)?
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Tip…
“The most important principal to remember is effective support requires all workers to ensure a survivor’s active choices are made BY the survivor, not FOR the survivor.”
(South East Centres Against Sexual Assault, 2012)
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Advocacy within in various roles
Advocate Role Independence AccessibilityParticipationConsistency Wellbeing Choices
Advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy
Counsellor RolePast Trauma
Recent TraumaRecovery
Justice/Protection Roles Child Protection
Police Prosecution Investigation
Court Support Safety
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Scenario
Court preparation officer*14 year old Aboriginal girl
Small rural community
Wants to give evidence
*
*
*Pressure from grandmother & community*
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Kathleen’s Advocacy Practice
Engaging – built trust*Respectful of prosecutorBelieved concerns
Followed client’s lead
*
*
* Decision making technique
Stated role boundary*
Facilitated self-advocacy
Genuine
*
*
*
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Independence & Bias
Cultural Independence
Organisational Independence
Operational Independence
Professional Independence
Psychological Independence
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C) Don’t KnowB) AboriginalYounger, Rural
What you know…
A) Middle Class
Who will have a more difficult time dealing with and healing from a sexual assault?
A 35 year old, white, middle-class woman with many social & agency supports
A young Aboriginal girl, small country town, minimal agency supports
????
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C) Don’t Know
What you know…Every person is differentIndividual prediction = prejudge = bias
C) is the correct answer
You really just don’t knowtill you learn from them…
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Intersectionality
• Intersectionality looks at the intersection of things like culture, gender, class and education; their relation to oppression and how this manifests in individuals.
• It also asks professionals to critically review themselves as part of the dominant culture which is also part of the intersectionality of the victim/survivors experience
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1) Ordering, commanding, directing
2) Threatening, warning
3) Advising, giving solutions
4) Lecturing, arguing
5) Moralizing, preaching
Dr Gordon’s 12 roadblocks
You’re not smart enough
It’s not safe / I’m uncomfortable
There’s something wrong with you
6) Judging, blaming, criticizing
7) Praising, agreeing
8) Name-calling, ridiculing, shaming
9) Interpreting, diagnosing, analyzing
10) Reassuring, sympathizing
11) Probing, questioning, interrogating
12) Withdrawing, distracting, humoring
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Advocates follow the R.U.L.E.
Resist the “righting reflex” or need to fix it
Understand victim/survivor’s motivations
Listen to the client
Empower
More engagement skills
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Informed decision-making• It reflects the ethical principle that a person has the right
to decide what is appropriate for them, taking into account their personal circumstances, beliefs and priorities.
• This includes the right to accept or to decline the offer of services and to change that decision.
• In order to exercise this right to decide, people require the information that is relevant to them.
Queensland Health
Guide to Informed Decision-making in Healthcare
2012
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Empowerment• em·power v.
1. invest with power, especially legal power or official authority.
2. to equip or supply with an ability; enable
The word empower arose in the mid-17th century with the legalistic meaning (1) Shortly thereafter it began to be used with an infinitive in a more general way meaning (2)
www.thefreedictionary.com
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Voice of a 13 year old Survivor
“People just think because you are younger,
what you have to say isn’t as important as
what they have to say because they are
older, which I don’t believe in at all. My
advocate definitely takes what I have to say
seriously. She doesn’t treat me as if just
because I’m younger that my say isn’t
important. She actually does the opposite.”George Jones Child Advocacy Centre
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Parent of a 5 year old Survivor
“I liked how they introduced themselves to
both of us – and they included my daughter
as much as me in all of our interactions
together. She was involved in all the
conversations when we were together as a
group; you know I could tell they thought she
was important.”George Jones Child Advocacy Centre
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Summary Client-Led
Conscious Use client focus skills – e.g. listening
Bias Reflective practice & supervision .
When to lead, when to take charge.Sensitive
Info Well packaged information & options.
Decisions Facilitate decision-making
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Implications of ‘justice’ statistics
Detention
Convicted
Prosecution starts
Reported to police
Victims/Survivors
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
4.5 (0.7%)
11.5 (1.8%)
28 (4.3%)
100 (15.5%)646 (100%)
Adapted from Daly (2011) Conventional and innovative justice responses to sexual violence pp 4-5
Data from Australian victimisation surveys and findings from Australian attrition research 1990 - 2005
What are the implications for advocates and the most vulnerable?
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Accessible and known
Who are these victims ? why don’t they report?
Who are they most likely to tell?So…?
Do you have a role with unseen clients?How? What?
Your Role
?
What has your agency done to reduce barriers or outreach?
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False
Forensically astute advocate
True
Advocates should know enough about the law to be able to help a victim/survivor work out which offence the offender should be charged with and which charge should be filed in court.
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False
Forensically astute advocate
Advocates don’t give legal advice !!
- The police gather evidence and lay charges
- The prosecutor decides what charges are filed in court
www.advocacyrole.org
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Feedback
• “I think an advocate is so vital at investigation – or pre-investigation stage- when survivors are grappling with the issue of whether to report or not.” Adult survivor
• “For many years, I think, police saw us as likely to
contaminate the evidence or say something stupid … Once the police realise our role is not interfering in the process but supporting the victim through the process, and that this actually gives them some space to do their work … then they see the benefit.” (Director, Gold Coast CASV in Parkinson 2010)
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Advocate’s legal/forensic role
Maximise legal benefits Maximise legal benefits
Information & supportInformation & support
Minimise harmsMinimise harms
Liaise & representLiaise & represent
SafetySense of justiceCompensation
Re-traumatisationPerpetrator danger
Loss of controlLoss of voice
Processes & StepsInterviews, investigations, Medical & forensic evidenceSupport through processes
Facilitate connectionsVictim focus not forensic focus
Present client wishesKnow what’s going on
AdvocateAdvocate
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Amy’s Story
• 13yr old girl
• Challenges – adolescence– older parents– older siblings parenting her
• History of school bullying, school refusal• Counselling• Incident of SA by older peer at school
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Current Mainstream System• Interview
– Police Station– Specialist Child Interviewers
• Investigations– Child Protection– Police
During Investigation Bullying worsens
Amy asked to print off emails related to
Offender
2 serious suicide attempts
Refused to continue with counselling
Family struggling
Amy acting out
School refusal
Bullying continues
Charges laid
Referral to Child Witness Service
Dept Child Protection,
Police
Investigating Officer:
6 months
• Criminal Justice Process• Court Support and Preparation• Trial• Victim Impact Statements
Co
un
sellor
Ch
ild W
itness
Service
Amy’s Story Cont…
Counselling re bullying, not involved in planning
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Ch
ild an
d F
amily A
dvo
cate
Alternative System• Interview
– George Jones Advocacy Centre– Advocate support from day of interview– Specialist Child Interviewers
• Investigations– Child Protection– Police
During Investigation Bullying worsens
Amy to print emails related to Offender
2 serious suicide attempts
• Support Amy during Investigations Family Support
• Tutoring• Practical Assistance• Information provided about CJS
Introduced to a new counsellor at her pace
Criminal Justice ProcessAdvocate Liaises PoliceAdvocate Liaise CWSDPP and Court inputTrial and Follow up Support
Co
un
sellor
Amy’s Story Cont…
Ceases counselling
Family strugglingAmy acting outSchool refusalBullying continues
Charges laidReferral to Child Witness Service
Dept Child Protection
Police
Investigating Officer: 6 months
Ch
ild W
itness
Service
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Justice: more than conviction
Information
Validation
Voice
Control
Outcomes
Justice:more thanconviction
Justice:more thanconviction
Haley Clark
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Crisis Intervention
Defining the problem1
Ensuring survivor safety2
Providing support3
Examining alternatives4
Making plans5
Obtaining a commitment6 Prins & Ruzek
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
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Feedback
• “In my previous contact with services they have just closed the case without any support offered or referrals made…. [At this centre] I liked the continuity of the service, the constant reassurance, and the communication – all the time I felt like I knew what was happening. Also how they have involved the other networks in my daughter’s life – the school, GP and day-care” (Parent of child victim, George Jones Child Advocacy Centre).
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• P61 (VS4): I mean I’ve got to say, the whole organization, they’re so there for you all the time. You know, [ISVA] supported me all the way through with the Police and everything. She reported it for me, came to the interviews with the Police, she’s been to hospitals and doctors with me, she helped me get off alcohol, and drugs. I just can’t, you know what I mean, without these [people] I truly wouldn’t be here today. And I say that with my hand on my heart. And even when my husband’s phoned a couple of times to try to see what he can do, they’ve even tried to help him. They’re so supportive all the way down the line…
Feedback
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• P43 (VS3): If I hadn’t had any support I really, to be honest I think I’d have ended up losing the plot, and me kids would have been in care, because I’d hit rock bottom with what had happened. I needed to be strong for me daughter and me family, and [ISVA] helped me do that (Robinson, 2009).
Feedback
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Workshop goals
Focus During Workshop.
Confirm
Your text in here
Challenge
Confirm what you
know & do
Collect something
new Challenge your ideas
and practice
Collect
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Workplace tasks
1
2
3
Link with supervisor re today’s issues including reflection on bias
Review the Advocacy Role Webwww.advocacyrole.org
Note work advocacy practices
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Advocacy Role Day 2
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Advocacy Domains
Advocacy
Key Domains Empower
JusticeSupport
InformedDecisions
ClientLed
AccessibleKnown
Practical EmotionalSupportIndependent
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Action planningAction planning
Children, young people & familiesChildren, young people & families
System’s advocacySystem’s advocacy
Today’s session
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3
4
Interagency support & collaboration Interagency support & collaboration 1
Skills self-assessment & Prof DevSkills self-assessment & Prof Dev5
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Advocacy Domains
Advocacy
Key Domains
FeedbackComplaints
Interagency
Children and Families
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Po
ssib
le A
dvo
cacy
Inte
r A
gen
cyR
ole
sDevelopmaintain
teamsSurvivorcomplaints,
praise &ideas
Feedbackexplain
decisionEnsureagenciesSurvivorfocused
PresentSurvivor
needsrights
Case tracking
Liaisewith your
Supervisor
Broadersystemsadvocacy
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Victim/survivor’sexpectations
Info
rmed
cho
ices
Expertise & confidence
Victim/Survivor
Timely independent support
Contact
Closure
Acc
essi
ble
to s
ervi
ces
Hon
esty
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Interagency Collaboration• Tony Morrison classified collaborative responses into 5 groups:
1. Communication: individuals from different disciplines talking together.
2. Co-operation: low key joint working on a case-by-case basis.
3. Co-ordination: more formalized joint working, but no sanctions for non-compliance.
4. Coalition: joint structures sacrificing some autonomy.
5. Integration: organizations merge to create new joint identity.
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Interagency Work
What kind of interagency, multi-agency multi-disciplinary or client focused planning groups are you involved in?
What is working well within your groups?
What could be improved?
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Challenges
• What are the challenges in advocating for victim/survivors
• Within your own agency ?
• Within multi- agency teams ?
• Within multi-agency settings where you are not part of a MDT ?
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What can help?
• Protocols (examples)
• Being clear about Confidentiality & Information Sharing
• Relationships (video)
• ? Other
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Interagency partnership
“I guess partnership working would be key… because we have such a cohesive communication strategy with paediatricians, social workers, children and adults services, probation, crown prosecution service, the voluntary agencies. If any agency saw that there was some kind of problem or had an issues or needed to discuss an issue, they would know exactly who to phone up to, and we would resolve things together” (ISVA in Robinson 2009.)
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Interagency relevance for me?
Role now
Approach,Skills
StoriesSuccess
Discuss what’s happening for you and your agency re interagency work. 5 min small group, 10 min large group .
MyWorld
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Reception
Intake process
Non direct work with Children/YP
Children seen with family
Direct work with children
Evaluation/Feedback/Complaints
Child/Family Centred Practice
Awareness/recognition of workers/agencies strengths, limitations and biases
Marcus McKay ‘Through a child's eyes’
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Children & young people’s feedback
• 6 year old girl “she was great, she helped me to get my anger out”.
• 12 year old girl “my advocate is perfect we do things to help heal things from the past. I had been told I was lying at another place because all I did was play. Here my advocate believes me and that makes me happy”
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Children & young people’s feedback cont…
• 14 year old girl “ The advice she gave was really helpful and she understands me and everything. Like she told me what I could do.... and gave me tutoring and stuff and said I could come here whenever I wanted to if I felt down or anything. She is always happy and smiling, bubbly and everything. She is probably the best person I have ever spoken to. I could trust her more and felt more comfortable.... not under any pressure. She’s really nice and easy to talk to and she is a good listener.
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Children & young people’s feedback cont…
• 16 year old girl “It was helpful just having someone to talk to and we did some drawing and wrote stuff down... it was easier cause I didn’t really wanna talk about it. She listened and gave me good advice and different things to do. She helped me and my sister with strategies on how to deal with stuff... which was helpful. She just changed it and made everything seem easier to deal with and helped build trust between me and my mum and dad and just made everything easier with having someone to talk to.”
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Feedback
• “I liked how they introduced themselves to both of us – and they included my daughter as much as me in all of our interactions together. She was involved in all the conversations when we were together as a group; you know I could tell they thought she was important. Staff of the advocacy centre understand that families go through unforeseen circumstances everyday day”. Parent of a 5 year old girl
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• “The Advocate was like a rock and supportive and listened to us. Basically she listened to all of us individually then worked with all of us and gave us strategies to work through it all. She was a really good mediator between the family, she kept the peace between the family and it was just really helpful. She pointed us in the right direction, giving strategies for the individual and the family. She spoke to me and my husband as well about having time to ourselves to keep our sanity..... it was good how she spoke to us all individually and also as a family.” Parent of 14 & 16 year old girls
Feedback
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Child & Family Advocacy
Key Concepts
Issues
Rights based advocacyChild, Parent, Community
Child Inclusive
Child Informed
Consent & Privacy
Child Protection
Mandatory Reporting
Best Interests
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Consent & Privacy
Clear explanation Understanding• Clear, simple language
• Verbal & written
• Development
• Language
• Consequences
• Age & Maturity
• Mental state
• Alcohol, drugs
• Hear back to confirm
• Language
• Signature• Mature Minor
• Trauma & Severity
Consent
Know your agency’sPolicy & Procedures
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Gillick Competency
• "...whether or not a child is capable of giving the necessary consent will depend on the child’s maturity and understanding and the nature of the consent required. The child must be capable of making a reasonable assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the treatment proposed, so the consent, if given, can be properly and fairly described as true consent”. Mr Justice Woolf
• See NSPCC Factsheet for more details
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Summary: Advocacy Role with
Children and Families• Your comfort with working with children
• Child inclusive / child informed approaches
• Rights based advocacy
• Supporting the right of the non-offender parents
• Child protection and child safety
• Consent and Privacy – Parents, tweens &teens
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Advocacy Domains
Advocacy
Key Domains
FeedbackComplaints
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Domain – Client Feedback• Before: Service Design
• During: Checking in re services being received, client led? Meeting needs?
• After: Client Feedback on services provided, outcomes achieved
• Feedback to whom? Service provider/MDT/others?
• Complaints/Concerns, Praise/Suggestions
• Utilising opportunities/systems in place
• Systems Advocacy
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Ideas for Client Feedback
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Computer based surveys
• Others……..
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Workshop goals
Focus During Workshop.
Confirm
Your text in here
Challenge
Confirm what you
know & do
Collect something
new Challenge your ideas
and practice
Collect
L/O/G/O
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Thankyou for your attendance, your participation and your passion !!!