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Social
Workers Effecting Change: Legislative Advocacy
INTRODUCTION
Greetings! INFLUENCING STATE POLICY (ISP) is pleased to provide
you with its fourth video in its Policy Affects Practice Video
Series. We hope that you will use it with students, colleagues
and other professionals who are interested in the complex processes
used to decide social policies and laws that affect citizens and
clients daily. The “New Federalism” guarantees an
important role for advocates.
Purpose
of video #4: To instruct social work students and practitioners
on a systematic method of advocating effectively for policies
and laws in a state legislature.
Using this
guideline, you will be able to follow the basic script of the
video. After viewing the video, you will be able to refer to
the contents below in order to recall important principles and
to discuss potential future action steps.
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STRUCTURE OF THE SCRIPT
- Introduction:
Social work advocates make a difference! They can help to
find real solutions to real problems. Through examples of
policies enacted in several states, the viewer realizes that
policy makers affect the lives of citizens and clients in
multiple settings such as mental health, substance abuse,
death penalty, nursing homes, domestic violence, and health
care. The Code of Ethics of the Social Work Profession require
ALL social workers to “be aware of the impact of the
political arena on practice and advocate for changes in policy
and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet
human needs and promote social justice (604a).” Social
workers have the skills to advocate, but what does it take
to truly be successful and effective? LEARN THESE 8 PRINCIPLES
OF LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY IN THE VIDEO!.
- Identify
the issues and set goals: Key Notions:
- Define
the problem or issue clearly.
- State
what you want to see happen.
- Is
this problem important to a legislator?
- Can
you explain your issue in less than 2 minutes?
- Get
the facts: Key Notions:
- Legislators
need facts about the problem.
- How
many people are affected?
- You
need to know the rules & procedures of the legislature.
- How
much will it cost to solve this problem?
- What
is the political environment at the legislature?
- Legislators
rely heavily on advocates for information.
-
Get to know the devision makers and their staff: Key Notions:
- Make
appointments to visit your legislators.
- Study
the background and interests of each legislator.
- What
committees does your legislator serve on?
- Remember
that talking to an aide is like talking to the legislator.
- Establish
working relationships with staff members.
- Plan
strategies and set tactics: Key Notions:
- A
strategy is a broad blueprint and tactics are day-to-day
actions.
- Learn
what your opponents are like: hostile, indifferent, neutral?
- Get
your bill introduced early.
- Seek
out influential legislators to sponsor your bill.
- Give
testimony.
- Expect
your bill to be amended.
- Supply
leadership: Key Notions:
- Leaders
are good at organizing groups or grass roots coalitions.
- Leaders
provide direction and assign key tasks to be completed.
- Leaders
develop plans of action using calendars and deadlines.
- Leaders
speak up in public and serve on task forces.
- Be
persistent and be prepared to compromise: Key Notions:
- Advocacy
takes time, energy and above all, perseverance.
- A
bill is rarely enacted the first time around.
- Amendments
help a bill get passed.
- Compromise
is a necessity as long as you know where to stop.
- Broaden
your base of support and build coalitions: Key Notions:
- Coalitions
are a tradition in the legislative arena.
- Groups
working together share the workload.
- Coalitions
can produce influential contacts and a power base.
- Legislators
know the key players have agreed upon the issues.
- Evaluate
your effort after the session: Key Notions:
- Assess
how well your campaign went.
- Were
you fully or partially successful? Why?
- There
is such a thing as a “good loss.”
- Recall
the “big picture” in evaluating your success.
- Discussion
Questions:
- Can
you see yourself doing legislative advocacy? Why or why
not?
- How
do you view “social justice” as central to
legislative advocacy?
- How
much can social workers compromise in pursuing their legislative
goals?
- Are
there “core values” that we never compromise?
- Why
is it crucial that clinical social workers possess legislative
advocacy skills?
- What
if you are NOT a full-time legislative advocate? What
role can you play?
- How
can a “good loss” motivate you for future
legislative advocacy?
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NOTES
- Video
#4 is based on Chapter Seven, Legislative advocacy,
pp. 241-285, in Schneider, R.L. & Lester, L. (2001). Social
work advocacy: a new framework for action. Belmont, CA:
Brooks/Cole/Thomson Learning. http://www.wadsworth.com/
- ISP
urges all students to enter the annual national INFLUENCING
STATE POLICY contest. It is a great way to participate in
the purpose of this video. Rules
are on the website.
- If you
have any questions or comments about the video, please send
them to: Dr. Robert Schneider, POB 842027, VCU School of Social
Work, Richmond, VA 23284. Or email: rschneid@vcu.edu.
Or phone: 804.828.0452
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