Children's Advocacy in Wales: Organisational Challenges for Those Who Commission and Deliver Advocacy for Looked after Children

Abstract

Andrew Pithouse and Odette Parry set out results from a Welsh Assembly Government-funded study of all children's advocacy services commissioned by local authorities in Wales. The results are presented in relation to key organisational themes that include the characteristics of children's advocacy services in Wales and the views of advocacy services held by local authority staff. Particular prominence is given to matters concerning looked after children where it will be seen that (a) advocacy providers tend to deliver case- or issue-based services and do relatively less in the way of cause-based advocacy, (b) most advocacy providers see themselves as both insufficiently funded by and independent of those commissioning their services, (c) local authority staff typically view advocacy as a service of benefit to children and families rather than of any direct benefit to authorities and (d) there remain significant difficulties in providing advocacy for ‘hard-to-reach’ children such as fostered children, children in respite care and children placed out of the local authority area. The paper concludes that there is a strong case for national government in Wales to promote a step-change in the way children's advocacy is organised so that a more strategically coherent and regional approach is taken that can deliver an independent, equitable, accessible and more uniform quality of advocacy provision for vulnerable children and young people.