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PAT Advocacy Charter

We are working towards becoming a recognised advocacy service for parents. We aspire to the standards of best practice that will ensure parents get a voice.

PAT has joined the Sefton Advocacy Forum. This group represents all the organisations in Sefton who provide advocacy. Members are working towards a common platform of standards. Members have adopted the Advocacy Charter. You can download the Advocacy Charter here. PAT parents are planning to set up an advocacy Work Group to create our own PAT Advocacy Policies.

To join this PAT Work Group and to assist PAT in working toward our goals and toward building our capacity to become an effective advocacy organisation we would suggest that you first download and read the Workbook and the Quality Standards.

If you are also interested in training as an independent Parent Advocate then we are delighted to tell you that there are now some special training courses available.

Some of these courses are FREE and some courses are available at very low cost. We are applying for funding toward the cost of training fees for PAT parents.

You might also like to read the Advocacy Code of Practice which you can download here.

About Advocacy

Advocacy is about taking action to help people to say what they want, to secure their rights, to represent their interests and to obtain services they need. Advocates and advocacy schemes work in partnership with the people they support and we take their side. Advocacy promotes social inclusion, equality and social justice.

The Advocacy Charter

Since its launch in 2002, The Advocacy Charter has been widely accepted througout England and Wales as a document that defines and promotes key advocacy principles. Thousands of copies have been ciruclated to advocacy schemes. Developed as a set of core principles for advocacy, the Charter is designed:

To inform advocacy practice and training To raise awareness of the value of Advocacy As a tool for negotiating with funding and commissioning bodies As a quality assurance mechanism

Ten Key Advocacy Charter Principles

The Advocacy Charter defines and promotes the following ten key advocacy principles:

CLARITY OF PURPOSE: This means we will be clear and honest about what we can and cannot do for YOU.PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST: This means we will ask YOU what you want to happen and give information for YOU to make choices.INDEPENDENCE: This means we can do the things that are important to YOU and not have to try to please other people or groups.SUPPORTING ADVOCATES: This means we will help and support advocates so we can advocate for you and help YOU speak out.ACCOUNTABILITY: This means we will have ways of checking what we do for you.ACCESSIBILITY: This means we will not ask you for money and we will use simple language and information that YOU can understand.EMPOWERMENT: This means we will help you to speak up for yourself and have YOUR say in how groups work.CONFIDENTIALITY: This means that we will keep information about you private and safe and not pass it on to people unless you have said we can.COMPLAINTS: This means you should be able to complain if you are unhappy with your advocate and have help from people outside the group to do this.EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: This means we will treat ALL people fairly and equally and have a policy that says how we will do this.

Quality Standards and Code of Practice

Quality Standards for Advocacy Schemes and The advocacy Code of Practice were developed in response to the Advocacy Charter.

The Action for Advocacy (A4A) Quality Standards for Advocacy Schemes are evidence based quality standards. They are an essential tool for developing and maintaining quality. They are the only nationally recognised generic quality standards specifically developed for the advocacy sector.

The Code of Practice is a set of guidelines for advocates aimed at providing clarity, support and boundaries for their practice. It offers a clear description of what is and is not expected of an advocate in their day to day work with service users.

Becoming an Advocate

People become advocates in different ways and for different reasons. There is no distinct career path and currently no recognised qualification, although there is work going on to develop one.

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Parents & Advocates Together - The Forum for Parent Advocacy!