Independent professional advocacy in daycare centers promoting young people's participation in Italy

In Italian child protection system, children participation is still challenging and needs to be improved according to the law. The importance of giving a voice to children is unanimously recognized, but there is still a long way to go to understand how this can be concretely achieved. This chapter discusses the use of advocate support to improve participation for young people in daycare centers for looked-after children, based on action-research projects in Italy. The primary aim of the study is to gain a better understanding of independent advocacy support. Case studies will be presented to explore the effectiveness of the advocate’s support in representing young people’s voice to define their care plan regarding activities, school support and contact with parents. The cases were selected from those known to one of the authors as a supervisor and researcher in the action pilot projects. Interviews have been conducted with young people who had access to an advocate support. At the end of the chapter, a critical reflection on the functions of the advocate’s support in promoting young people participation in daycare centers is presented.