MODELS OF ADVOCACY

Models of Advocacy for Residential care for young people

Models of Advocacy for Residential care for young people

Introduction

Advocacy belongs to the family of conflict resolution. Conflict can be resolved using two parties or three parties depending on whether a model for mediation, conciliation, negotiation or advocacy is used. Advocacy means to advocate for or defend how you feel about something by advancing a certain viewpoint.

The different forms of advocacy are not necessarily mutually exclusive and do not have neat boundaries, for example: Self Advocacy, Peer Advocacy, Best Interest Advocacy, Statutory Advocacy, Crisis Advocacy, Professional/Specialist Advocacy, Political Advocacy - can include lobbying and is the advancement of particular viewpoints at a political level on behalf of a group of people.

Discussion

Each year, across England and Scotland, around 8000 young people aged 16 and over leave care (Berridge 2000, p55-61). Despite a general decline in the use of residential care, a significant proportion will leave from a residential placement. For some young people, the transition from care will run smoothly; however, for others it will bring disadvantage and difficulties (Biehal et al.1995, p21-28). The difficulties associated with leaving care have been widely acknowledged by professionals working with care leavers and are evidenced by national statistics and an increasing body of research carried out over the past three decades. The over- representation of care leavers in statistics on homelessness and unemployment, together with reports of the high incidence of mental and physical health problems and early parenthood, give some indication of the vulnerability of this group and of the problems they face (Biehal et al.1995, p21-28).

Research suggests that young people leaving residential care are amongst the most vulnerable in the care system. As a group, they are more likely to have experienced greater difficulties prior to and during their care careers. Many will already have experienced one or more foster placement breakdowns and a high proportion will exhibit challenging or complex difficulties. The fact that young people leaving residential care may he more disadvantaged is likely o be a reflection on the type of young person accommodated in residential placements rather than the residential system. There is indeed evidence to suggest that residential units are better able to cope with difficult behaviour and may prove more appropriate for older children entering care, for which foster placements are less likely to succeed (Biehal et al.1995, p21-28).

The collective voice of young people leaving residential care has long been central to our understanding of the issues facing all care experienced by young people. The Who Cares? project of the 1 970s, which brought together young people living in children's homes to explore their care experience, was at the forefront of raising awareness of the difficulties associated with living in and leaving care. This was followed by a number of small exploratory studies, mainly focusing on residential care, which highlighted negative in-care experienced coupled with poor post-care outcomes and a lack of sustained support (Bullock 1999, ...