Isobel, a woman in her late thirties was referred to POhWER by her social worker for support during a safeguarding enquiry about suspected financial abuse. 

Isobel’s social worker had assessed her to lack capacity to decide how her finances were to be managed, so a decision about this needed to be made in Isobel’s best interests. 

Diane, a POhWER Advocate, was allocated to support Isobel by finding out her wishes and feelings and sharing these with the social worker. 

Diane took the time to meet with Isobel privately before any formal meetings took place. She explained her role, confidentiality, the safeguarding process, and what support she could provide. 

They discussed Isobel’s finances, and she explained to Diane that she wanted the Council to have control over her money so that her parents couldn’t use it. She said that her parents were using her money without her permission, and this made her upset. Diane shared Isobel’s wishes with the social worker.

Isobel asked Diane if she could attend the meeting with her as she was very anxious about it, and asked if she could sit next to her during the meeting as she was scared to sit near her parents. Diane agreed to this and explained that she could speak on Isobel’s behalf in the meeting if Isobel felt unable to do so and that if she became too worried, she could leave the room at any time. Isobel and Diane agreed a code word that Isobel could use if she needed to leave the room.

On the day of the meeting, Diane supported Isobel throughout to make sure her wishes and feelings were heard. Diane explained the options that were being considered to Isobel, and Isobel was able to tell the decision maker how she felt about these. Isobel’s parents objected to anyone else having control of their daughters’ finances. They shouted a lot and got very angry when the suspected financial abuse was discussed. This made Isobel feel uneasy and become even more anxious. Isobel used her code word to indicate that she wanted to leave the room and asked Diane to come with her. Once they had stepped outside, Diane reassured Isobel and told her how well she was doing despite how tough she was finding it. With Diane’s support, Isobel felt able to return to the meeting. On several occasions Isobel’s parents asked why Diane was there so she explained to them her role to ensure that Isobel’s views are heard. 

As a result of advocacy, Isobel’s views and wishes about her finances have been listened to throughout the process and were taken into account as part of the best interest decision.