Transcript A4 Intro to Policy and Advocacy – Merrill

Public Policy 101
Presented by
United Advocates for Children and Families
Leadership Institute
&
Young Minds Advocacy
CMHACY Conference May 2016
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
United Advocates for Children and Families
United Advocates for Children and
Families (UACF) is a statewide nonprofit organization with a mission to
improve the quality of life for all
children and youth with mental,
emotional, and behavioral challenges
and to eliminate institutional
discrimination and social stigma.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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United Advocates for Children and Families
Leadership Institute
The UACF Leadership Institute is
dedicated to ensuring the family voice
is present at all levels of decision
making through effective advocacy,
education, and community outreach.
We work to empower parents, youth,
and peer professionals working in the
mental health system through
education, training, and technical
assistance.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Young Minds Advocacy
Young Minds Advocacy
breaks down barriers to
quality mental healthcare for
youth and their families
through policy action and
research, impact litigation,
and strategic
communications
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Training Overview
 How does the Legislative
process effect you?
 Why is your input important?
 What is a bill?
 How a Bill becomes a law
 Getting involved with public
policy
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©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
Training overview (continued)
 How to Contact Your Representative or Senator
 How to Write a Letter to Your Representative or
Senator
 The “Do’s and Don’ts” of corresponding with elected
officials
 Other ways to get involved
 How to tell your story to drive social change
 Glossary of Terms
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What IS Policy?
A plan or course of action, as of a government, political
party, or business, intended to influence and determine
decisions, actions, and other matters: American foreign
policy; the company's personnel policy.
 A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure
considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous:
 Honesty is the best policy.
 Prudence, shrewdness, or knowledge in practical matters.
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©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
Public Policy
 We consider public policy as
values, principles and basic
rules that the courts and
legislatures consider to be in
the best interest of
individuals and the general
public. Public policy may be
written or implied, and varies
among states and
municipalities.
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www.about.com
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
How the Legislative Process
Effects You
Laws that are
passed by the
Legislature have a
direct impact on all
our lives. They
effect all areas of
our daily life
including education,
taxes, child welfare,
as well as our
mental health care.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
We live the laws
that are passed at
the capitol.
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They govern how,
when, where, and if
we receive services.
Your Voice Matters!
It’s essential that we
honor the value of lived
experience in the creation
and implementation of
public policy.
YOU know what’s working
and what’s not for you,
your family, your friends,
and/or your community.
Decision makers need to
hear from you!
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Case Study
Psychotropic Medications & Foster Youth
 Articles in the San Jose Mercury News in 2015
highlighted a need for policy change.
 These were stories of young people who were over
prescribed psychotropic medication, particularly in
group homes and foster care.
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Case Study
(continued)
 Youth & allies advocated in state and local
committees about the dangers of the over use of
medications in the foster care system
 NCYL (National Center for Youth Law) and others
drafted and passed legislation to improve oversight
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Legislation Passed in 2015 regarding the
restricted use of Psychotropic Medication
 SB 484- requires the identification of group homes suspected of using
psychotropic medications inappropriately and specifies the factors to be used in
pinpointing those facilities.
 SB 319-Expands the duties of the foster care public health nurse to include
monitoring and oversight of the administration of psychotropic medication to
foster children.
These bills were a direct result of public outcry due to the information
released in the series of articles by the San Jose Mercury News. The articles
went nationwide.
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Other Examples?
 Do you have another example of
when stakeholders influenced
public policy?
 Why was their involvement
important?
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Getting Involved with Public Policy
 Call your local legislators’ offices and
request an appointment to meet them
or their Chief of Staff.
 During your meeting:
 Ask questions regarding the law or policy.
 Ask about the status of a bill, law, policy, or
program.
 Share information about yourself, your
family, your child or youth, or your needs.
 Request assistance with issues that are
important to you and your family.
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Writing to your Legislator
 Address your letter properly. Be sure your
exact return address is on the letter
 Identify your subject matter clearly. State
the name and bill number of the legislation
at the top of the page
 Be brief and to the point.
 State your reasons for writing. Your own
personal experience is the best supporting
evidence.
 Explain how the issue would affect you,
your family, or your community.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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The “Do’s and Don’ts”
Do:
 Put your thoughts in writing
 Address your representative properly
 Be brief and to the point and spell check your letter
 Include your name and address on the letter
 Write if you need help with governmental departments or
agencies
 Show the local effects and tangible positive results of your
position
 Include articles from your local news paper to reinforce your
concerns
 Find out which committee your bill will be assigned to for
approval
 Write the committees chair person and the members of the
committee before they read the bill during the hearing
 Always say “Thank You”
 And be willing to compromise and open to discussion
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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The “Do’s and Don’ts”
Don’ts
 Rely on just making a phone call to
legislators. Follow up with emails
and/or letters.
 Send your letter to only one legislator if you are commenting on a current
bill, send a letter to each committee
member.
 Be rude, threatening or intimidating.
 Complain – always try to offer
solutions to the issue you are
addressing.
 Give up – always keep trying to get
your bill passed.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Finding Your Legislator
 There are many ways of finding your
legislator, even if you do not know their
name.
 Find Your United States Representative:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
 Find Your United States Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_infor
mation/senators_cfm.cfm
 One helpful site is the CA State Legislature
website, which can be found at:
http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_dis
tricts/legislators/your_legislator.html
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Addressing Your Letters
To Your Representative:
The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
State Capitol Address:
Honorable [name of legislator]
California State [Senate or
Assembly]
State Capitol, Room [# here]
Sacramento, CA 94815
To Your Senator:
The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Sample Letter
(Date)
Dear Senator/Representative ____________:
As a constituent of yours, I urge you to closely review and act upon a new National Academy of Sciences report to Congress on underage drinking. The report,
prepared by many of the nation's top public health researchers, provides a long-overdue evidence-based roadmap to finally get serious about tackling the
nation's number-one youth drug problem.
Approximately 11 million American youth under the age of 21 drink alcohol, nearly half of them drink heavily (downing five or more per occasion). An
estimated 3 million teenagers are full blown alcoholics, and several million more have a serious drinking problem. Alcohol kills six times more youth than all
illicit drugs combined, and plays substantial role in the top three causes of teen death (traffic crashes, murder, and suicide). Those who start drinking before
the age of 21 are more likely to be involved in a fight, commit violent crimes, fail at school, use other drugs, experience verbal, physical, or sexual violence,
drink and drive, and become alcohol dependent than those who wait to drink legally.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, prevention efforts are beginning to pay off in declining rates of teen smoking. However, due to
the absence of comparable efforts to combat underage drinking, youth alcohol use continues at alarmingly high rates.
The time has come to end decades of complacency about one of the most devastating and neglected public health problems facing young people and society. Please
do what you can to make sure that this important report gets the attention it deserves, and is acted upon with hearings and legislation. I
specifically urge you to:

Support legislation to establish a national media campaign on underage drinking aimed at instilling a broad societal commitment to reduce underage drinking;

Reject legislation to reduce Federal excise taxes on beer (H.R. 1305, S. 809) and/or liquor (H.R. 2950, S. 1457);

Support alcohol advertising reforms aimed at reducing youth exposure to alcohol promotion, as well as closer Federal monitoring and reporting on alcohol
advertising practices.
Thank you for considering this request. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Email
 Most legislators have an email
address listed on their website.
Remember your email is read by
staff not usually your legislator.
 Think short, short, short.
 Identify the issue or problem in
the first sentence of the letter,
and state your position.
 Support your position with your
experiences.
 Be patient but persistent.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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What is a Bill?
 A bill starts as an idea that an
individual or a group has come up
with.
 In order for the bill process to begin,
the individual/group must find
someone to author the bill.
 The author must be a member of the
State or U.S. Senate, a State Assembly
Member, or member of Congress.
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‘I’m just a bill’
“I'm just a bill
Yes, I'm only a bill
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee
But I know I'll be a law someday
At least I hope and pray that I will
But today I am still just a bill”
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Prescribed Process
Authored/Written
First Reading/Introduction
Committee Hearings
Second and Third Reading
Repeat Process in other House
Resolution of Differences
Governor Signs
California Law
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Authored/Written
 A Legislator sends the idea for the bill to the Legislative
Counsel where it is drafted into the actual bill.
 The draft of the bill is returned to the Legislator for
introduction.
 If the author is a Senator, the bill is introduced in the Senate.
 If the author is an Assembly Member, the bill is introduced in
the Assembly.
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First Reading/Introduction
 A bill is introduced or read the first time
with:
 the bill number;
 the name of the author;
 the descriptive title of the bill is read on the
floor of the house.
 Then it is sent to the Office of State Printing.
 It may not be acted upon until 30 days has
passed from the date of its introduction.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Committee Hearings
 The bill heads to the Rules Committee of the house of
origin to be assigned to the appropriate policy committee
for its first hearing.
 Bills are assigned to policy committees according to
subject area of the bill.
 Each house has a number of policy committees and a
fiscal committee.
 Each committee is made up of a specified number of
Senators or Assembly Members.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Committee Hearings Process
 Author presents the bill to the committee and testimony
provided in support of or opposition to the bill.
 Committee votes by passing the bill, passing the bill as
amended, or defeating the bill.
 Bills can be amended several times.
 A majority vote of the full committee membership is needed
for a bill to be passed by the committee.
 This is a public process and sometimes the committee will
take public comment in favor or opposition of the bill.
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Committee Meetings
 Committees meet throughout
the year.
 You can check Committee
meeting schedules at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/todevnt.html
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Second and Third Reading
Bills passed by committees
are read a second time on
the floor in the house of
origin and then assigned to
third reading.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
When a bill is read the third
time it is explained by the
author, discussed by the
Members and voted on by a
roll call vote.
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Second and Third Reading (continued)
Bills requiring appropriation or
that take effect immediately,
generally require 27 votes in the
Senate and 54 votes in the
Assembly to be passed.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
Other bills generally
require 21 votes in the
Senate and 41 votes in
the Assembly.
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If a bill is defeated,
the Member may
seek reconsideration
and another vote.
Process in the Other House
 Once the bill has been
approved by the house of
origin it proceeds to the
other house where the
procedure is repeated.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
Senate
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Assembly
Resolution of Differences
 Amended bills in the 2nd House go back to the House of
origin for agreement on the amendments.
 If agreement cannot be reached, the bill is referred to a
House conference committee to resolve differences.
 Three members of the committee are from both sides of
the House.
 If a compromise is reached, the bill is returned to both
Houses for a vote.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Governor
 If both houses approve a bill, it then goes
to the Governor.
 The Governor has three choices:
 Sign the bill into law
 Allow it to become law without a signature
 Veto the bill
 Once passed/signed, most bills go into
effect on the first day of January of the
next year.
 Urgency measures take effect immediately
after they are signed or allowed to become
law without signature.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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The Veto
 The Governor may also exercise a line item veto,
whereby the amount of an appropriation is reduced
or eliminated, while the rest of the bill is approved
(also referred to as the “Blue Pencil”).
 A governor's veto can be
overridden by a two thirds vote
in both houses.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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California Law
 Bills that are passed by the Legislature and approved by the
Governor are assigned a chapter number by the Secretary of State.
 These Chaptered Bills (also referred to as Statutes of the year they were
enacted) then become part of the California Codes.
 The California Codes are a comprehensive collection of laws grouped
by subject matter.
 The California Constitution sets forth the fundamental laws by which
the State of California is governed.
 All amendments to the Constitution come about as a result of
constitutional amendments presented to the people for their approval.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Tracking a California Bill’s Progress
State Authored Legislation Tracking:
 You can read actual Bills that have been introduced
and track them as they make their was through the
legislative process
 www.senate.ca.gov
 www.assembly.ca.gov
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Legislative Tracking Resources
 Open Congress: http://www.opencongress.org/
 Open Congress allows anyone to follow legislation in Congress, from
bill introduction to floor vote.
 How To Identify a Bill Currently Being Considered in Congress:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5369182_identify-currently-beingconsidered-congress.html#ixzz0r2PeViDl
 The Library of Congress: http://beta.congress.gov/
 This website offers federal legislative information, including
Congressional schedules and activities.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Other Ways to Get Involved
1.
Attend your local mental health board meetings
 Champions the rights of people with mental illness
 Reviews and evaluates the community’s mental health needs,
services, facilities, and special interests
 Advises the county Board of Supervisors about local mental
health programs and issues
 Reviews and makes recommendations of applicants for the
appointment of a local mental health director
 Reviews and comments on county performance outcome
data
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Other Ways to Get Involved
2. Get involved with a nonprofit organization in your community!
 Mental Health Association
 Youth In Mind
 California Youth
Connection
 NAMI
 Each Mind Matters
 Children Now
 John Burton
Foundation
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Other Ways to Get Involved
3. Tell your story!
We all love stories.
Great stories can change
hearts and minds about
important issues.
With today’s technology,
anyone can share their story,
reach thousands, and drive
social change.
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Get a GAME Plan
Goals
What do you want to achieve? Are you setting SMART goals?
Audience
Who needs to hear your message? The “general public” is like a
unicorn—they don’t exist!
Message
What are you going to say to motivate people towards your
goal?
Engagement
How will you get your message to your audience?
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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SMART Goals
Specific: Concrete, detailed, and well defined so that you
know where you are going and what to expect when you
arrive
Measureable: Numbers and quantities provide means of
measurement and comparison
Achievable: Feasible and easy to put into action
Realistic: Considers constraints such as resources, personnel,
cost, and time frame
Time-Bound: A time frame helps to set boundaries around
the objective
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Tools to Sharing Your Story
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Social media
Blogging
Op-Eds
Commenting
Radio
Podcasts
Video
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One Girl’s Story Becomes a
Movement
Active Minds
 Founded by Alison Malmon when she was a junior at
the University of Pennsylvania, following the suicide
of her brother, Brian
 Started as a campus group and gained enough
support that it expanded onto other campuses
 It now has over 400 campus chapters and has
impacted hundreds of thousands of young adults
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Do you have a story to tell?
 Tell us about a time you shared your
story or the stories of others to make an
impact.
 What was your goal? Who was your
audience?
 What did you think about the
experience?
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Wrap Up
 Getting involved in public policy is an opportunity for
YOU to impact thousands
 Reach out to ally organizations for support
 Get a GAME plan
 Set SMART goals
 Don’t try and reach EVERYONE (Remember the unicorn)
 REMEMBER: You ARE an expert in your own lived
experiences and your input matters…a lot 
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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Glossary of Terms
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AB-Assembly Bill
SB-Senate Bill
ACA-Assembly Constitutional Amendments
SCA-Senate Constitutional Amendment
AJR-Assembly Joint Resolution
SJR-Senate Joint Resolution
ACR-Assembly Concurrent Resolution
SCR-Senate Concurrent Resolution
HR-House Resolution(Assembly)
SR-Senate Resolution
ACT-a bill passed by the Legislature
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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For More Information
For additional information please contact:
United Advocates for Children and Families
2035 Hurley Way, Suite 290
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 643-1530
(866) 643-1530
www.uacf4hope.org
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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For More Information
Young Minds Advocacy
275 5th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 466-2991
[email protected]
www.youngmindsadvocacy.org
@YoungMindsAdvoc
©United Advocates for Children and Families 2012
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