Posts Tagged advocacy
How a Consumer Advocate can Help You Handle Debt Collectors
A Consumer Advocate specializing in Debt Collection Practices can be an effective option to help you get through the credit collection process. Consumer Advocates or Unions such as ACU (American Consumers Union) or UCAN (United Consumer Advocacy Network) are set up to act as a layer of protection between you and the creditor/collector once your debts fall behind. Most Consumer Advocate’s help their clients through a combination of client Education and Protection.
The first goal of the Consumers Union is to educate clients on their rights when they are being pursued by a debt collector. These rights are granted by state law and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). These laws are commonly violated by collectors either because they are poorly trained or counting on the fact that the consumer does not understand or are unaware of their rights. Being in debt and getting creditor calls can be an extremely stressful and intimidating situation. Even some people who do know their rights are too frightened by the collectors to take action. This is where the Consumers Union can step in between you and the creditor to offer the protection you need in this vulnerable situation.
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Are You A Good Advocate ?
As a team leader you often have to be an advocate and speak on behalf of another person or group of people. Do you analyze how good you are at communicating the needs and expectations of yourself or others? An advocate is someone who supports another person either by speaking on their behalf, or by helping them to communicate their own thoughts, feelings or ideas. Advocates need to have inter-personnel skills, be effective communicators and negotiators; be able to understand and implement the balance required between listening to people and talking; and between advising a course of action and allowing individuals to discover their own solutions to the issues that they need to address. Advocates must also be sensitive, diplomatic, and use discretion with individuals and their team. Successful advocacy therefore contains elements of both mentoring and coaching. Indeed, as team leaders this is one of our key responsibilities if we want our teams to remain positive and function well.
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Parents As Child Advocates – How to Become a Strong Advocate For Your Children
One afternoon your daughter comes home from her third grade class and gives you a note from her teacher requesting a conference. You immediately feel blood rush to your head as you ask your daughter if she did anything wrong. When you talk to the teacher over the phone, you get a friendly reception and the assurance that the conference is about something positive. While sitting in a tiny school room chair the next day, you learn from the teacher that your daughter shows advanced ability in math and you discuss how her talent can be developed.
Back at home, your mind starts planning next steps but you quickly run into a roadblock. Your daughter tells you that she does not want other kids to know she is good at math because they might not like her if she appears too smart. You scratch your head wondering what just happened and how you should react. This is the complex world of parents being advocates for their children’s unique talents or disabilities. Similar stories come from families with children who have learning disabilities or behavior problems. Parent advocacy can be more challenging when a child has an inefficiency in learning or behavior that requires other adults to be more sensitive, understanding and adaptive as instructors. Parents must assure that other adults and institutions provide the support their children need to be successful.
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