Children need caring adults in their life to help make decisions about their future.  Those adults include parents, child care providers, teachers, education administrators, business owners and the community at large.  Each group has a stake in our future generation and as such can become advocates for children.  As an advocate you can influence public policies and encourage positive programming that support children in a variety of ways.  This is done by contacting legislators, joining advocacy groups or educating yourself and your peers about relevant issues.

Programs for Parents Policy Agenda is based on our mission to ensure that children get the best possible start in life.　This mission can be divided into 3 broad policy messages.

1) All children deserve high quality early education and child care because the first 5 years have the greatest impact on children’s lives and future.  This means working to create high quality early child care programs, supporting providers, and proving parents with the technical and financial resources they need to obtain quality care.

2) Children deserve a healthy start in life and Programs for Parents supports child health services, preventive care programs, nutrition programs, health education and affordable insurance for children in low income families.

3) Child safety and Protection from abuse is paramount, so Programs for Parents advocates for programs and policies that protect children and ensure safe environments in both child care facilities and in the home.  

Specific issues that are important in our community are:

-Improving the pay scale for all staff working in child care centers and for family child care homes.
-Increasing the number of qualified, early childhood-trained teachers.
-Need for child care subsidy to assist parents with the overwhelming cost of child care.
-Need to help centers and family child care providers access required services in order to include children with special needs in programs of the parent's choice.
-Increasing the availability of nationally accredited child care centers to provide parents with greater options in selecting quality child care.
-Encouraging public schools to offer pre-school education through contracting with existing community based early care programs.
-Protecting children from abuse
-Increasing health care and wellness programs and assistance for children and families

Advocates: Contacting Your Elected Officials 

The most effective thing you can do as a citizen is to “SPEAK UP”. It is the job of any elected individual to represent the interests of their constituency as they make governing decisions. However, to do that, they must hear from us. Establishing an effective relationship with your elected official helps educate them and ensures that votes aren’t cast without your input. Phone calls, letters, face-to-face meetings, the delivery of testimony and personal notes are all effective ways to reach out to elected officials and decision makers. 

To find your district's NJ State legislators, click here. 

To contact your U.S. State Senator, click here. 

To contact your U.S. congressperson, click here. 

Here are some hints to get you started: 

Do your Homework 

• Most legislators and elected officials have biographies on their website detailing their background and political philosophy. Learn from it.

Phone Calls

• You probably won’t speak directly with your elected official, but you can ask to speak with a staff assigned to early education or child care issues.
• Identify yourself with a reference to your hometown and to your affiliating organization. Leave a phone number and address.
• Explain why you are calling and cite specific legislation, if appropriate.
• Offer 1 or 2 brief and concise examples that support your position using local and personal examples.
• Send a personal note thanking the person for his or her concern.

Public Testimony

• Public hearings are one way that decision makers and legislators take the public’s “pulse” on issues. You should call the hosting office to discuss your intention to testify and follow-up with a letter confirming your request to appear. Sometimes spots are limited and community groups and organizations can work together to be strategic about what testimony should be provided.

Written Correspondence

• Use proper form and snail mail the letter. (See website references for help)
• Type letters on your organization’s stationary when you represent a community agency or handwrite a note if you are speaking from personal experience.
• Keep letters to one page, addressing one issue per letter.
• State the purpose of the letter in the first paragraph. Cite legislation, if appropriate.
• Personal stories work best! Explain how the issue affects you or families in the voting community.
• Be constructive. Explain why the legislator should care. Suggest a solution if you disagree with his or her stance.
• Request a reply and consider responding to the reply to remind them that you will follow their action on the issue.

Personal Visits

• Face-to-face meetings are one of the most effective ways to develop a relationship with your elected official and they are easier to set-up then one might think. Call the elected official’s office with a flexible attitude.
• Include his or her staff in your visit, specifically those who are assigned to early care issues. Don’t be disappointed if you get an appointment with staff. They follow issues most closely and regularly brief decision-makers.
• Be concise – spend no more than fifteen or twenty minutes in the meeting.
• Prepare a one-page background sheet to leave at the office.
• Bring photos, when possible, and share stories about how children in their constituency are personally affected by their decisions.
• Ask for some commitment to an action that will help your stance – even a site visit to witness how the issue affects families.
• Follow-up with a thank you letter.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

There are many helpful resources on the web make it easy to identify and communicate with your elected official. Check out these Web sites for more information: 

www.njleg.state.nj.us - The official Web site of the NJ Legislature will allow you find your legislator, research his or her voting history, research bills and statues, view calendars of upcoming events in the legislature, get public hearing transcripts, identify committee groups, watch live proceedings through a webcast, and listen to archived proceedings on file. 

www.votesmart.org - As a national library of factual information, Project Vote Smart covers your candidates and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, and interest group ratings. A great resource to learn about those seeking office as well as those already serving. 

www.congress.org – Visitors can use the site’s ZIP code search engine to sort through pages of biographical information on national and local elected officials or candidates for office. Similar functionality is available for locating local media, bills and legislation, rules and regulations open for public comment, and much more. 

NJACCRRA partners with a variety of advocacy groups in New Jersey and nationwide. The following agencies offer valuable advocacy information regarding current public policy in the area of early care and education:

• Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) - www.acnj.org
• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) - www.clasp.org
• Child Care Aware - www.childcareaware.org
• Child Welfare League of America - www.cwla.org
• Children's Defense Fund (CDF) - www.childrensdefense.org
• National Association for Family Child Care - www.nafcc.org
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) - www.naeyc.org
• National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) - www.naccrra.org
• National Child Care Information Exchange - www.nccic.org
• National Institute for Early Education Research - www.nieer.org
• National Women's Law Center - www.nwlc.org
• New Jersey School Age Care Coalition - www.njsacc.org
• Voices for America's Children - www.childadvocacy.org
• Zero to Three - www.zerotothree.org