This article originally appeared in the January-February 2000 issue of the Children's Advocate newsmagazine, published by Action Alliance for Children. Ask the Advocate is a new feature that will answer your questions and dilemmas about advocacy with responses from seasoned advocates.

Ask the Advocate

Reaching policy makers: Can one person make a difference?

Q. As a family child care provider and an advocate, I often ask other child care providers to write letters or make phone calls to policy makers. They say, "I'm just one person - can I really make a difference?" What should I tell them?

A. Individuals absolutely can make a difference-"heaps and pounds of individuals," adds Kathy Dresslar of the Children's Advocacy Institute. "Even if all you do is make one phone call to apply pressure as needed, that's power."

"Legislators only know what their districts tell them," says Sherry Novick of Assemblywoman Dion Aroner's (D-Berkeley) office. And they're usually most responsive to "powerful interests or who bugs them the most," she adds.

Legislators vary in how they respond to pressure from constituents-some are moved by one or two calls, for others it takes 50-but "the rule of thumb is that if a community is sending letters, legislators are going to pay attention," says Steve Barrow of Results, Strategies, and Advocacy Institute. "They're thinking that there may be others who aren't calling who care as well."

Tim Fitzharris of the Child Development Policy Institute (CDPI) agrees: "If you're a legislator and you get 50 letters on a subject, you think your district is on fire."

Some tips:

• Calls are most effective when immediate action is needed, such as the day before a vote: "It alerts policy makers that they are being watched," says Barrow.
• Be brief. According to Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth (see box), it takes only a minute to say: "Would you please give the message to the mayor that I strongly object to closing the children's library on Saturday afternoons."
• Letters-especially those that include personal stories about how legislative action would affect your family-are most effective when there's more time, such as when a bill is moving through the legislature. Unlike calls, letters provide a permanent record of citizen concern.
• Form letters, postcards and e-mails are less effective, but something is better than nothing.
• A letter in your own words-even if it's just a sentence-is most effective: "Please support AB XXXX. My kids need it!"
• Give your name and address, request a specific action-"Please vote yes on SB XXXX"-and ask for a response.

Q. Parents are sometimes hesitant to write or call legislators to advocate because they aren't "experts" who can quote facts and figures. Is this important?

A. "Facts and figures are important, but we get those from the experts," says legislative aide Novick.

• A "flesh and blood" story from the legislator's own district, telling how real people are affected by an issue is "as powerful as the biggest research report" adds Barrow. "That's what moves them to act."
• Legislators sometimes use constiuents' stories in speeches to win the support of other policy makers, adds Novick. n Parents are experts, says Fitzharris. "What they are experts on is what an issue means to them."
• When low-income parents from the advocacy group Parent Voices speak about child care or welfare at legislative hearings, they are "very effective at persuading legislators," says Fitzharris. "The legislator is looking at a person whose life depends on their vote. They'll think 'Gee, that could be my sister.'"
• Meanwhile, says Dresslar, make sure someone is supplying supporting facts and figures to the policy makers so they can see that the problem affects more than just one person. "Then you can put a face on the problem, but it's not just one face," she says.

Grassroots resource: Stand Up Speak Out: Building a Children's Movement, a new video accompanied by "A Quick Guide to Civic Involvement for Parents and Youth," by Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth. For info about group screenings, call Joe Wilson or Marybeth Wallace at (800) 4AYOUTH.

"Ask the Advocate" questions come from readers like you. If you have a question for "Ask the Advocate," contact: Melia Franklin, Outreach Manager, at AAC, 1201 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 444-7136 or aacmelia@4children.org.