Advocates can help parents or other family members to get their views heard when dealing with children’s services. They might help in managing discussions with other official agencies.
Children’s services should help parents that need support to find an advocate. Some charities run projects that support particular groups of parents. An example is advocates for people who have suffered domestic abuse.
Advocates do not need any specific training. They should know about child welfare and family law. Parents and their advocates can get specialist advice from Family Rights Group’s advice service.