CD 479Caring for children and families means advocating for children and families. Perhaps children in your neighborhood need a place to play or help with homework after school. Perhaps you are worried that the changes being proposed to TANF will mean families who need child care in order to get off of Welfare will not be able to get quality care. From the playground to the halls of Congress and everywhere in between children's voices need to be heard; families' needs must be at the center of the agenda if we are to have health, thriving communities. You can be a powerful voice for children and families. Advocacy is not just about signing petitions. First it's about building your own skills for analysing and understanding of the issues, policies and processes of public discourse and planning. Second it's about deciding what you can take on, where you can make a difference and how. Third it's about making a plan to advocate, and fourth it's about implementing that plan. Effective policy analysis and advocacy takes determination, precision, patience and thoroughness. It's about big ideas, nitty gritty logistics and very careful word choices. It's about listening carefully to understand the issues behind the discourse and thinking carefully about what resources can be brought to bear. It's about negotiating agendas and building compromise and concensus. It's about civic engagement and caring at a very public level. CD 479 is a course designed to introduce you to world of advocacy from the perspective of child development professionals. In this class you will analyse public policies with regard to child and families, examine how policies get made and how policy making can be influenced, evaluate options for advocacy at the local, county, state and federal level, design an advocacy project and do a major analysis and presentation with recommendations on a policy issue. As part of your work, you will be introduced to a variety of professional organizations and on-line resources available to support advocacy work. You can make a difference. CD 479 can help you learn strategies for making it happen. |
Policy Analysis and Advocacy
Kraft, M.E. & Furlong, S.R. (2004). Public policy: politics, analysis and alternatives. Washington D.C. : CQ Press, Congressional Quarterly Inc. Additional readings are provided in the course. Resource for preparation of ALL documents: Resourceshttp://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/english/citizens/index.html citizens guide to California legislative process |
