Advocacy Support cross sector working with Roma in Leeds Derek Sankar Advocacy Support Director Margaret Blenkinsop Roma Voice Worker

What is Advocacy Support Independent Bilingual advocacy providing practical support for clients to access / negotiate services, ensure that their voice is heard when decisions are made about them.

How does it work? We recruit volunteers from the communities we work with and provide comprehensive training and support We work consistently in over 13 languages including Amharic, Arabic, Cantonese, French, Mandarin, Tigrinya, Urdu, Czech, Slovakian and Polish

Overview of working with Roma communities 2006 Harehills Children’s Centre 2010 First Roma Bilingual Advocate 2011 Roma Health Needs Assessment stage 1 Roma Partnership Group 2012 Roma Health Needs Assessment stage 2 Roma Voice Project Roma Champions Project 2013 Work Club

HNA Aims and Objectives Roma HNA Aim To identify the health status/needs of Roma communities and to reduce health inequalities and improve access to services. Key Objectives were to identify: Barriers in accessing primary health care services; Barriers to accessing secondary care; and to identify wider determinants.

Approach NHS Leeds commissioned Advocacy Support – leading VCF agency working with the Roma in Leeds; Recruited and trained members of the Roma community Engage with community; Devised survey Delivered in Slovak, Czech and Romani.

Findings: context Surveys mostly women /families with little or no spoken English Initially LS8/9 areas Additional work to reach additional areas

Primary Care Initial Findings Access to primary care registration with a GP high registration with a dentist very low Inconsistent availability of interpreters Strong feeling that GP assessments were not thorough enough; “paracetamol” and “infection” Want it to be easier to get appointments

General Health and lifestyle Initial Findings General Health /Lifestyle ~25% long term illness or disability; ~40% smoke and want to give up, ~36% ex/non smokers; Over 50% never drank alcohol, others monthly or less; and Most found fruit and veg easy to find but ~30% had none ‘yesterday’ and ~52% had 1-2 portions.

Mental Health Findings: ~89% reported high levels of stress in the last year Causes of stress: Money problems (~70%) Family life (~32%) Lack of work (~32%) Caring for others (~23%) Problems with neighbourhood

Secondary Care Findings Over 50% rated hospitals as good or excellent Are with respect and procedures explained What could be better: Waiting times (11) incl A&E Costs of transport or parking Other difficulties: None ~36% Language Barriers ~18%

Wider Determinants Findings see Leeds Roma Framework

Next Steps for HNA Focus groups and surveys in other areas Wider stakeholders/and strategic partners re initial findings

Roma Partnership Group Who attends Advocacy Support Job Centre Plus GRTAS CHIVA NHS Leeds Coop Academy Children services GRT out reach Harehills primary Harehills Children’s Centre Roma centre Individuals Children’s Society ...Others WYPS The Roma Partnership group is an interagency group set up in 2009 and comprises of agencies who are working face to face with the Roma community or beginning to engage with them.

Leeds Roma Framework Roma Partnership Group Key themes : Health and social care including mental health Housing Employment Financial Inclusion / Poverty Education Community Safety/ Area management and two areas of concern: Child safety and child trafficking Youth offending The Roma Partnership group is an interagency group set up in 2009 and comprises of agencies who are working face to face with the Roma community or beginning to engage with them.

Housing Concerns: Recommendations Poor living conditions and overcrowding Tenancy agreements /high rents -private rented sector Waiting times for homes for large families 6+ people Recommendations Clear pathways into social housing Bilingual support to exercise rights senior housing officer and key area offices invited to attend Roma partnership

Employment Concerns Recommendations Informal labour market Young Roma with low job prospects and low aspirations Low levels of English Recommendations ESOL / access to employment for non English speakers Building job seeking skills and self employment skills Sector based initiatives to encourage the Roma into their sector.

Financial Inclusion Concerns Recommendations High rents and low incomes Fuel and food poverty Poor access to advice, credit etc Benefit fraud Recommendations Improve access to advocacy/advice services First language financial literacy courses Preparing the community for benefit changes Training for front line staff

Education Recommendations Concerns Lack of school places especially in Reception, KS1 and High school Engaging parents in the education Poor levels of attendance and attainment Recommendations Increased capacity for places in local schools A series of measures to raise attainment and attendance Parents and the community involved in education Ensure safeguarding with Roma children and young people Mentors

Community Safety Concerns Recommendations Hate crime incidents and bullying /antisocial behaviour concerns. Drug dealing in some areas is a concern of the community. Recommendations Engagement between the Roma and key area management teams and the WYPS Build the capacity to support the community and identify local and city wide solutions.

Safeguarding Recommendations Concerns The raising number of Roma children involved in sexual exploitation and trafficked families No City wide intelligence Leeds City ethnicity forms do not include Roma Recommendations Lead of this from Leeds City Council Protocols and training for managers and front line workers in place ‘Roma’ included in ethnicity monitoring

General recommendations Essential requirements: Sustainable community engagement Harehills CC welcome model Roma centre (embryonic community group) Independent ‘service user’ groups Roma reflected in front line delivery staff Comprehensive training for managers and front line staff across all departments

Overarching Recommendation to move the Framework forward There needs to be one person who has overall responsibility to lead this framework forward with the help of a group. A comprehensive action plan needs to be in place where it is clear that this is the responsibility of all agencies, both council and third sector.

Key Learning Roma reflected in service provision: Recruitment and retention of Roma volunteers and Staff Roma identified needs: Citizenship, cultural events/ place to go ESOL particularly women