“Aiutami a dire”. Il lavoro del portavoce nella tutela minorile dal punto di vista di operatori e ragazzi

The importance of involving children and young people in decisions that affect their lives is being increasingly recognized. However, even in the presence of a relationship of trust, children are not always able or willing to talk to the adults responsible for them or those who make decisions about their lives. This difficulty could arise from the lack of confidentiality or because children know that the social workers have to decide important things about their lives. Young people are not supported by an independent practitioner dedicated to them are unlikely to participate fully in decision-making meetings and have their voice taken seriously. Independent professional advocacy is useful for this to be effective. Advocacy is described as the action of speaking up on behalf of children, supporting them to have a voice and putting their views across. In Italian child protection system independent professional advocacy is a new professional practice. The paper shows results from a qualitative research. Social workers and young people are being interviewed on their experience on using independent professional advocacy.