Care Leavers - Your right to be heard

We want our young people to be at the centre of everything we do. We want to deliver the very best services for all our young people. We also know that to do this this we must listen to you. After all, you know our services the best, what works, what doesn’t work and what we need to do to make our services better!

‘Hear Me’ brings together all the opportunities for our young people to have your voice heard, be it through attending one of our voice groups, youth club or sharing your thoughts, ideas and opinions with your social worker, independent reviewing officer (IRO), Personal Advisor (PA) advocate or schoolteacher.

 

What is an advocate?

An advocate is someone who will speak up for you or act on your behalf.  An advocate helps you to be part of decisions that affect you.  They can voice your opinions and wishes in situations that you may find difficult or challenging, such as in meetings or with people you may find it difficult to talk to or not feel safe around.  

An advocate’s job is to make sure your rights are respected and that your wishes and feelings are heard and wherever possible acted on.   Advocates are non-judgemental and focus solely on your opinions and what you want to happen. 

 

Who can be supported by an advocate?

We will provide an advocate for any child or young person who has a Doncaster social worker, even if you live in another part of the country.

If you are a young person making a complaint about children's social care in Doncaster, you can ask for an advocate to support you with this even if you do not have a social worker.

 

Read more: Advocates 

 

We will make sure you can participate if you want to. Participation is the process of involving children and young people in decision-making both individually and collectively. Participation can happen in lots of different ways, for example, group discussions, individual conversations, creative projects and much more.

'Hear Me…telling it like it is' brings together all the opportunities at the Trust for our children and young people to get involved and be heard, including:

• Hear Me voice and influence groups
• Individual conversations
• Young advisors
• Creative projects
• Recruitment and selection of staff
• Developing and delivering our Hear Me training to staff, foster carers and associated service providers
• Consultations
• Surveys and Questionnaires

Read more about becoming a Young Advisor

A Personal Adviser (PA) is someone who begins to work with you around your 17th birthday to help you get ready for becoming independent. Should you become a “Relevant” young person then the PA can start working with you at 16. They don’t replace your Social Worker; they work with you and your Social Worker together with anyone else involved with you such as education, health and housing services. Your PA will support you until you are at least 21 years old but can continue to offer you support until 25 if you need them to.

An Independent Visitor or Buddy as we call them here in Doncaster, is a trusted and stable befriender who builds a safe and caring relationship with a young person in care over time. The aim of this volunteering role is to be a positive adult role model and provide 1-2-1 time and space for a young person to talk, feel listened to, valued, and have some fun. This consistent friendship helps the young person to build self-esteem, confidence, and resilience.

We can provide volunteers for children and young people who are in care and over the age of 5.  We can also provide buddies for care leavers up to the age of 21 and in special circumstances up to the age of 25

A buddy will visit you at least once a month, with the aim of building a safe and trusting relationship with you.  You can do activities together that you both enjoy and can include anything from games in the park, going to the cinema or just getting together for a chat.

The Buddy’s role is to be a friend to you. The most important part of the relationship and time you spend together is that you have fun and enjoy each other’s company.

Read more: Independent Visitor Service

 

The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  This act makes sure that everyone responsible for using personal data must follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’   This means they must make sure the information they hold about you is used fairly, lawfully, and is transparent. 

If you have received children’s social care services from either Doncaster Children’s Services Trust or from Doncaster Council, you can ask to see your information by making a subject access request (SAR). Requests to Doncaster Children’s Services Trust are handled under an agreement with Doncaster Council.

Find out more: Seeing your information