Eligibility Criteria

All referrals made to Advocacy (Essex) Services Ltd will be assessed in accordance with the following criteria. To be eligible a person must be a citizen of Essex (excluding Southend or Thurrock) and either

• a vulnerable adult as defined in the Department of Health and Home Office's 'No Secrets' guidance document published in 2000, i.e. "a person aged 18 years or over who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation"
• a person defined within the scope of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970
• a person defined within the scope of the Mental Capacity Act 2005
• a person within the local authority area who will come within the definition of S47 of the NHS Community Care Act 1990
• a person eligible for services in compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act
• a family carer of person(s) who fall into the above categories

In addition, advocacy is available as a preventative measure, i.e. for people who are susceptible to hate crime.

A person does not have to be an ASC service user to be eligible for an advocacy service, e.g. advocacy can support a person to be financially independent or to maintain their independence within their community or support a person who has been denied access to local authority services. However, they would need to meet the criteria listed in the above categories.

If you believe you or the person you are referring meets the eligibility criteria you can now either make a referral or contact us if you wish to discuss any aspect of our eligibility criteria.