Denver Association of Family Child Care

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Advocacy for Children

You can be an advocate for children and child care issues. You do not need to be a politician or lawyer to have an impact on legislation! As a constituent, your opinion matters to your elected representatives. You can strengthen the impact of your advocacy by garnering the support of others, e.g., if you have a petition with the signatures of other constituents to support your position. If there is a bill pending in your state to increase early childhood education funding, for example, make your voice heard on the issue. Your support as a voter can have a profound influence on whether or not your representatives support a bill.
You can also advocate on the local level, for example, with your local School Board to expand kindergarten hours, or with your City Council to fix up the playgrounds in your town.
Advocacy on the citizen level is an important part of the democratic process, and can result in positive changes for families and children.

How to Find Your Senator and Representative

Directory of Senators by State

U.S. House of Representatives

Legislators appreciate the time it takes to write a letter. Letters are kept on file in the office according to topic area. Attention is given to the issues with the greatest amount of constituent response.

Make your letters look professional. Write on your business or personal letterhead. Use a business letter format, making sure your return address is correct. Address your letters to your state legislators as follows:
The Honorable (full name)
State House, Room #
City, State, Zip

Be brief. Keep the letters to one page and no more than three
paragraphs. The more clearly you state your issue, the better it is understood.

State the Issue. Organize your points by priority and be clear and brief. If you are speaking about a particular piece of legislation, have the bill/budget number. (You can get this information from THOMAS: U.S. Congress on the Internet, or by calling the Senate or House clerks.)

Have information which backs up your issue. Facts that back up the information you are giving are powerful. However, personal stories are just as persuasive.

State what you want. Make a request for a particular action, whether it be a vote to support a bill, a request to file an amendment, or a motion to move a bill out of a particular committee.

Ask about their position on the issue. You have the right to know where they stand and why. Ask if you can provide the legislator with more information. Invite the legislator to visit your program to see the issues first hand!

 

 

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Last modified: February 01, 2002
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