This article was first published on December 19^th, 2008.

Another Successful Year of Advocacy on behalf of People with Disability

Ninety people from throughout the county were supported by the Disability Services Advocate during 2008. The primary aim of the Partnership’s Advocacy project is to provide a free, confidential, independent and impartial support to people disadvantaged by disability. This support is offered on an individual one to one basis to those who make contact or are referred to the advocate Pauline McKenna for support. Its’ focus is to empower people to identify their needs and to access and secure social services based on those needs. It is independent of all existing service providers, thereby avoiding any conflict of interest.

Being client centred, the advocate facilitates the needs of clients on an individual basis whether that is based on their physical needs, transport difficulties or mental health difficulties. The support of the advocate can be accessed through any of the Partnerships offices throughout the county or if preferred meetings can be agreed in another convenient location in the county.

During 2008 referrals to the service came from a wide range of sources including self referral and referral from family. Other important sources of client referral during the year were service providers, disability groups and other staff members of County Monaghan Partnership.

When initial contact is made, the advocate engages with the client or where necessary his/her representative to establish the nature of the disability, the issues involved, the concerns of the client and the preferred course of action to address the client needs. The majority of those who were met by the advocate over the past year had multiple issues to be addressed. These include welfare benefits/entitlements, housing/accommodation, household benefits, medical cards, disabled persons parking permits, Following the initial consultation, the advocate’s support where appropriate focused on empowering the client to pursue some or all of the identified issues identified, with guidance on the courses of action to be pursued. In such instances, ongoing support was provided during this process. Where self advocacy was not possible or practical, support from the advocate focused on negotiating with relevant parties with a view to having the identified needs met. In this work relevant parties include family members , doctors, local authorities, various units within the Health Service Executive, the Department of Social & Family Affairs and many others. This time consuming work typically involves many letters, phone calls and meetings over several weeks and months. Thankfully, during 2008 the outcomes were mostly positive which resulted in a huge improvement in the quality of life of the client.

The project is funded by the Citizens Information Board, as part of a series of pilot projects coordinated by various locally based organisations throughout the country.