Hear Me

What is advocacy?

Advocacy is a way of supporting and enabling young people to express their views, wishes, feelings and concerns.

An advocate is someone who provides advocacy support when you need and ask for it. An advocate might help you access information you need or go with you to meetings, in a supportive role. You may want your advocate to write letters on your behalf, or speak for you in situations where you don’t feel able to speak for yourself.

What does the Hear Me service do?

Hear Me is the advocacy service for children and young people in Herefordshire. We provide a professional, confidential and independent service for children and young people when they need support in representing their views with the local authority. An advocate can support you with a particular issue, difficulty or complaint, and then will not contact you again unless you need help with another issue.

Who can use the Hear Me service?

We can provide advocacy to you if you have a specific issue with the local authority that you need representation for, or support to speak up, and you are:

• A young person placed in foster care by Herefordshire Council
• A care leaver aged under 19 (or under 25 years if you have a learning disability)

We also provide an advocacy service for young people who need support or representation at a child protection conference, who are:

• Aged 10-19 years old (or under 25 years if they have a learning disability)

Young people in these groups can contact our service at any time, without anyone’s permission.

If you are a professional working or living with an eligible young person, then you can contact us direct as well. But it is essential that the young person concerned has given their permission for you to contact us, and has asked for the service, as it is always young person led.

What can Hear Me help with?

Some of the common issues that we can help young people with, include:

• Contact with family
• Representation at LAC reviews
• Having a different opinion to your social worker
• Appealing or complaining about a decision or service you receive from the local authority
• Planning and preparing your views for a child protection conference
• Wanting someone to speak for you if you don't feel confident to speak for yourself