• Advocacy Principles
• Helping Candidates Step Up For Kids
• Stand For Children Ideas
• Advocacy By Charitable Organizations
• The ABCs Of Movement Building
• Lobbying Legislators
• Barriers To Grassroots Organizing
• Issues For A Children's Agenda
• How to Testify at a Public Hearing
• Child Advocacy Primer
• Rating Legislation
• How-To Resources from the Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest

Advocacy

Child Advocacy Primer

There is little or no formal training for those who want to be child advocates. Child advocates enter the profession from all walks of life - as attorneys, social workers, child care administrators, teachers, and community members who want to get involved. Each brings a wide range of knowledge and experiences to the job. However, they may not have been exposed to the skills that child advocates rely upon in their work. There are many opportunities for child advocates to learn substantive policy issues around which they advocate, but very few opportunities for them to learn advocacy skills and strategies.

With this in mind, Voices for America's Children has developed the Child Advocacy Primer (revised, 2006) to provide you with materials designed to build a range of skills that child advocates use to reach their goals. Each chapter includes a basic overview of an advocacy skill and examples of how Voices member organizations have used that skill to improve the lives of children in the United States.

The Child Advocacy Primer is targeted at child advocates, both veterans and newcomers, who are working to make a difference in the lives of children. It is intended to be an introduction to key advocacy skills, so that those who are new to the field can refer to it in their work. However, we hope that even experienced advocates will find the materials and strategies used by their colleagues provide innovative approaches and ideas for their work.

Child Advocacy Primer

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