- General Advocacy
- NHS Advocacy
- - Before you make an NHS complaint
- - What do you want to get out of making a complaint?
- - The complaints process
- - How to start a complaint
- - Local resolution meetings
- - The response letter from the NHS
- - The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
- - How we can help
- - Frequently Asked Questions
- - Useful Contacts
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)
- Care Act Advocacy
- Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)
- Relevant Person's Representatives
Advocacy Support to Access to Benefits and Debt Advice
Who: criteria for clients accessing this service are:
- 18+ and living in York
- an additional need such as mental ill-health, learning disabilities, physical and sensory impairments, communication difficulties, autism and other needs that present barriers to accessing benefits and debt advice
- welfare benefit or finance related issue, leading to risk of debt and or poverty
What: We will provide advocacy to support clients to access a range of advice services around benefits and debt, to make decisions and put advice into action. We will not provide specialist benefits and debt advice, but aim to reduce or prevent poverty and debt by supporting clients to access advice. This is a small project, at any one time our capacity will allow us to work with around 5 to 8 people.
We will: | We won’t: |
Go to benefits meetings, assessments and appeals with clients | Give financial or welfare benefits advice |
Support clients to access advice | Provide befriending, counselling or open-ended support |
Support clients to make informed choices |
Complete benefits forms for clients |
Help clients have their say and communicate their needs |
How: an advocate and a team of volunteers specially trained in advocacy skills will work one-to-one with people throughout processes relating to applying, reapplying or appealing a benefits decisions, putting in place a debt management plan etc. Throughout our support we will promote our client’s self-advocacy skills and knowledge of their rights, further reducing their risk of being in poverty in the future.
When: we are open for referrals for this project. To refer someone for this support please contact York Advocacy Hub on 01904 414357, or email office@yorkadvocacy.org.uk
Download & Links
- General Advocacy
- NHS Advocacy
- - Before you make an NHS complaint
- - What do you want to get out of making a complaint?
- - The complaints process
- - How to start a complaint
- - Local resolution meetings
- - The response letter from the NHS
- - The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
- - How we can help
- - Frequently Asked Questions
- - Useful Contacts
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)
- Care Act Advocacy
- Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)
- Relevant Person's Representatives