Care Act Advocacy in Dorset
Our Care Act advocates help people in Dorset with assessments and reviews of their care needs by Social Services. On this page you can find more about Care Act advocacy and how to make a referral.
The Care Act came into force in April 2015. It gave people who have substantial difficulty getting help, and who have no-one else who can support them, the right to an advocate to help them express their views and wishes.
Our video about Care Act advocacy explains more:
What do Care Act advocates support with?
Our advocates can help people with:
- Needs assessments
- Carer’s assessments
- Care and support planning
- Care reviews
- Needs assessments for a child
- Assessment for a child’s carer
- Keeping safe from harm (safeguarding).
Our advocates help people:
- Understand the process
- Communicate their views
- Understand their rights
- Challenge a local authority decision with which they disagree.
Who do Care Act advocates help?
The Care Act says that the person must have ‘substantial difficulty’ taking part in assessments and reviews of their care needs. The law doesn’t define what ‘substantial difficulty’ means, this is left to the social worker.
The person may have difficulty in one or more of the following areas:
- Understanding relevant information
- Retaining information
- Using or weighing up information
- Communicating their views, wishes or feelings.
Referrals for Care Act advocacy must come from the Social Worker. We have an online form you should complete. The link is enclosed in the following download:
