Advocacy plays an important role in ensuring that people in need of service receive proper support and defense and are spoken of. On a global scale, it provides justice, human rights, and social inclusion. In the modern world, advocacy can be implemented in many relevant areas, considering the global pandemic and globalization the world undergoes. For this post, however, my chosen area is one of the most important ones: child advocacy.
For me, child advocacy is important because I have several acquaintances that had gone through difficult experiences when they were young, resulting in them visiting psychologists. In the current stressful world, children need advocacy for the future generation to be successful. Child advocacy involves ensuring that, during adoption, a child will take a short time to transition and fit in the right family that is free from abuse. The core issues to be examined before the process ends are the social and previous history with adoption, medical status, the absence of a criminal record on the adoption family, and the child’s specific needs. As a result, before the process is completed, it must guarantee the child’s safety.
Among the current issues that need advocacy are children being troubled at school and home, the need to take care of children’s health, and the need to empower children to make positive decisions. Over the last five years, the number of troublesome children has increased, necessitating the hiring of school social workers. I propose that they function as advisors, keeping track of issues that influence children at home and school to help them improve. As health issues concern children, and I think that social workers should assist them in getting insurance and take their Social Determinants of Health into account. The last major issue is the need to help children make the right decisions. As they can take the less optimal path without guidance, specialized workers should collaborate with them, giving them advice.
Certain measures have already been taken to deal with the aforementioned issues, providing child advocacy, with Robert Cramer being the founder. For example, hospitals such as Children’s Hospital in Colorado help with health issues, while specialized organizations such as Children’s Ombudsman agencies and Child advocacy centers exist to provide other services. Thus, Child advocacy is a complex area of advocacy that considers many issues, with all of them being important as children represent future generations.