Be a Voice for Children

During the din of speeches, advertisements, special events, and debates before November's elections, Americans were bombarded with messages about important issues such as social security, prescription drug benefits for seniors, abortion, and homeland security. Child welfare issues were notably absent from the political rhetoric.

Now that the dust has settled and thousands of new local, state, and national representatives have been elected, it's time to end the silence. Child advocates must come together to help policymakers hear and understand the needs of waiting children as well as foster and adoptive families as they develop legislative agendas and budgets for the coming years.

Tough Financial Times

News from almost every state is that revenues are down sharply and budget cuts will continue. According to the Child Protection Report, the federal government is facing at least four years of deficits and states hoping for relief are likely to be out of luck. Policymakers are looking for ways to trim costs and balance budgets.

Around the country, child welfare services are already being threatened and families are feeling the pinch:

Missouri's adoption assistance program has stopped funding special services (mentoring, special camps, special educational services, tutoring, etc.) that used to be available to adoptive families. These services helped to counterbalance low monthly subsidy benefits and allowed families to provide their children much needed extra support.

In October, the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services proposed significant budget cuts, including reduced family preservation and support services. Without these critical services, more children are likely to end up in foster care.

The Department of Public Health and Human Services in Montana has proposed a 2003 budget that would reduce foster parent support, limit youth mental health services, and reduce services available to vulnerable children.

Cuts like these have a real impact on families' ability to care for waiting children. Advocates must act now to help policymakers realize that abused and neglected children-and the families who care for them-cannot wait for the economy to rebound or state coffers to be replenished. Other interest groups have ramped up advocacy efforts to ensure that program cuts have a minimal effect on services, and we must ensure that children's voices are heard just as loudly and clearly.

When advocating, however, we must be reasonable and measured in our goals. Instead of trying to increase adoption assistance payments, expand recruitment efforts, and obtain new post-adoption services, today's advocates may need to focus on maintaining existing programs and saving important child and family services. Bottom line, we must not let the declining economy erode or erase gains that child advocates have recently made.

Advocacy Ideas

As advocates join together and prepare to defend existing supports for families and children, they can choose from many successful strategies such as those listed below:

Meet with newly elected officials before they take office-Newly elected county commissioners, legislators, and governors will spend the next few months preparing to take office. Now is a great time to schedule a meeting to talk about child welfare issues that may soon cross officials' desks. You can also invite new leaders to your support group meeting or other adoption events. Take time now to build relationships and educate officials about children's and families' real needs; later, when a pertinent policy proposal is being discussed, they will view you as a friendly resource whose opinion they value.

Target the right policymakers-Contact county commissioners in states with county-administered programs; otherwise focus efforts on state legislators. Spend your time educating legislators who are on committees that handle child welfare program or funding issues. Since adoption has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, be sure to build relationships with representatives from all political parties.

Let children speak for themselves-Adoptees and current or former foster children are often wonderful advocates. Assemble a team of youth who will speak at public events, visit county commissioners, or meet with legislators to share personal stories and describe what will happen without family recruitment and family support. Ask children and youth to write letters to policymakers explaining what adoption means to them and why elected officials should do more than ever to support sound adoption- and foster care-related practice and policies.

Sponsor a foster doll or similar project-Many groups have used a foster doll project to promote understanding of and support for needed services. The Alabama Foster and Adoptive Parent Association recently delivered 140 thrift store dolls to the governor, legislators, and child welfare administrators and asked the officials to care for the dolls. Then they sent letters highlighting needed policy changes. Due to these efforts, legislators voted to increase adoption assistance benefits.

Work with others in the community-There is no better time than now to create partnerships with other families and child-serving organizations. Bring the strength of numbers to your advocacy efforts by building a coalition of voices speaking in unity about significant foster care and adoption issues.

Encourage adoptive and foster parents to write to their representatives-Like the foster doll project, personal letters from constituents make special needs adoption issues real for policymakers. A letter with a family picture and an explanation of how post-adoption services have held an adoptive family together sends a powerful message that is hard to ignore.

Stand up and keep fighting-Recently, these words came to symbolize the life of the late Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota. Through his passion and persistence, Wellstone helped diverse communities raise the voices of people often excluded from political discourse. Despite personal challenges and professional risks, Senator Wellstone never stopped fighting for the less fortunate among us.

As we renew advocacy efforts on behalf of those whose interests were rarely represented this election season, let us take to heart these words of Senator Wellstone: "Do you know what changes things? The really important thing is the citizenry. That's what always does it: People. People who have the moral courage to tell the stories of their own lives...." During this time of budget shortfalls and threatened service cuts, each of us must stand up and keep fighting-keep speaking out and keep amplifying the voices of waiting children and adoptive families who are willing to tell their own stories.

from Fall 2002 Adoptalk