National Advocacy Service Report 2019/20

This is the eleventh annual report on EPIC’s advocacy, the first of which was in 2009. Over this time the work of EPIC has continued to grow year on year, with the number of advocacy cases increasing from 61 in 2009 to 843 in 2019.

EPIC currently has eight Advocacy Officers in place nationally, covering the areas Dublin North East; Dublin Mid Leinster; South; Mid-West and West. On average, each EPIC Advocacy Officer dealt with 105 cases in 2019 an increase of 23% from 2018. In 2019 there was an overall increase of 28% in referrals to EPIC from the previous year.

The data presented in this and previous reports is critical in informing the development of our services by enabling us to recognise and track emerging trends and issues being experienced by children and young people who seek support from our service.