New guide for commissioning advocacy under Care Act
Local authorities should consider expanding their advocacy services to ensure they do not underestimate the impact and funding implications of duties introduced under the Act from April 2015.
This is one of the key messages from a new guide to commissioning advocacy by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (Scie).
Under the Care Act, local authorities will have a duty to provide independent advocacy when someone has ‘substantial difficulty’ being involved in the care and support process, and does not have an appropriate individual to support them.
The Scie guide urges local authorities to review their current arrangements for existing advocacy services – including independent mental capacity advocacy and independent mental health advocacy – and consider what additional resources are needed to meet the Care Act duties.
It also recommends councils establish ‘flexible contracts’ with advocacy providers to ensure that capacity can increase or reduce in response to changes in demand.
The Scie guide to commissioning advocacy is available @ http://www.scie.org.uk/care-act-2014/advocacy-services/commissioning-independent-advocacy/