Child advocacy supports children in vulnerable situations within society by speaking and standing up for them. It assures the protection of children’s rights and freedom and is vital since children are not responsible for their self-sufficiency. Different child advocacy groups are guided by the need to serve the best interest of children, and their main aim is to prevent child abuse and neglect that is likely to be suffered by children. Preventing child mistreatment is a critical issue, and the need for advocates will be discussed in this paper, as well as the issues in child advocacy.
There are distinct reasons why children need advocates that have been highlighted. They include the need to be heard because children have less political power in society. Young people do not have a say in decisions in their lives and cannot address decisions made against their lives (Wright & Jaffe, 2014). Children are powerless in society, and often adults make significant decisions about their lives without consulting their participation. In addition, the youth need advocates to protect and stand for their rights, interest, and freedom. They rely on their guardian to speak and care for themselves, which calls the importance of advocates. Advocacy plays a significant role in standing for the young ones in the court of law since they lack a sufficient voice in court matters affecting their lives.
Outlining an advocacy plan requires one to understand the goals and outcomes of the project. Goals and outcomes are collectively the efforts to change and make improvements for a specific group of children. There is a need to have clear goals defining who will do the work, what forms the work, and the number of beneficiaries the project will affect after a specified period. Activities in the advocacy outline need to be clearly explained and connected to their respective goals. Other key areas in the advocacy plan are the person to do the actual job and the period needed. This answers who will conduct the activity while time gives the period for the project. There is a need for performance measures and budget allocation to evaluate the project both internally and externally. To ensure a great outline for the project, one should incorporate the six steps toward child advocacy with the planning blueprints.
Understanding the core issues of child advocacy is important for expressing them effectively and directly to the world. From my experience and interest, the two potential issues in child advocacy that speak to me are child health and child abuse. These issues are important in modern society because protecting the youth from abuse by the people in power is worth pursuing. With the current high mental health cases, ensuring children’s health is important since they require someone to express their battles and fights. I have picked these two issues because society has been digitalized, and everyone only cares about themselves.
There is insufficient existing data on child health and abuse related to the need for advocacy; hence it is worth addressing these two issues. The main stakeholder for child health is the beneficiaries of children, and the government is a stakeholder in the health sector. The stakeholders in child abuse are beneficiaries of the young, collaborators who are other groups supporting initiate and gatekeepers. Child abuse is framed as a community since it has a major connection to the community, while health and wellbeing are framed as level two issues that touch on childcare and maltreatment.
Reference
Wright, A. C., & Jaffe, K. J. (2014). Six steps to successful child advocacy: Changing the world for children. SAGE Publications.