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b ev avby Cynthia A. Smith, MS, CAS, JD

effectiVe adVocacy for systems cHanGe to improVe tHe liVes of people witH ad/Hd

takes a commitment o time, basic understanding o the issues and legislative process, and passion. Eective

advocates have passion or the issues and passion or helping the people who will be impacted by the change.

Although this month’s column provides guidance on how to advocate eectively at the national level, its

suggestions also apply to the state or local level, including city councils or local school boards.

Patience is o oremost importance, as

bringing about change at any level o govern-

ment can take signicant time. Bills not signed

into law by the end o a legislative session mustbe reintroduced, debated, and voted on again

in the next session. For example, negotiations

to amend the Americans with Disabilities Act

began in 2003, ater the Supreme Court issueda series o decisions that overrode congres-

sional intent in passing the ADA. The law that

eventually passed, the ADAA, went into eect

on January 1, 2009—nearly six years later.

A basic understanding o the legislative pro-cess and o state and ederal jurisdiction is also

important, as is a sense o what is possible in a

given political climate. The rst step in the eder-al legislative process is or a member o Congress

to introduce a bill in either the House o Repre-

sentatives or the Senate. Ater a bill is introduced,

it is reerred to the committee that has jurisdic-tion over the issue. Legislators at both the ederal

and state levels o government are assigned to

committees or each legislative session. The com-

mittee conducts the majority o the work on the

bill, which must be voted on and passed out o the committee beore it can go to the foor o the

House or Senate or a vote. The current mem-

bers o Congress, their committee assignments,and the jurisdiction o each committee can be

ound at house.gov (click on Committees ), and at

senate.gov (click on Committees ). Similar inor-

mation or state legislators is available on stategovernment websites. More inormation on

ch a. sh, ms, cas, Jd ,

is CHADD’s public policy specialist.

a d V o c a c y i n a c t i o n

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37April 2009

the legislative process, including pictorial

charts on how a bill becomes a law, may be

ound at thomas.gov or on the House or

Senate websites.Eective advocates understand the impor-

tance o developing long-term, respectul, and

reciprocal relationships, not only with legisla-

tors but also with their sta. Sta membersplay a critical role in the legislative process, as

legislators look to them or inormation and

guidance on a wide range o issues. Treat all

sta members in a courteous and proessionalmanner. They are your link to your legislator.

When meeting with legislators, it is impor-

tant to demonstrate knowledge o the issues

within the context o your lived experience. Liv-ing with AD/HD and related disorders makes

 you an expert on the topic, and you should

eel condent that sharing your experience is

a vital contribution to ostering social change.

It is not necessary to know how governmentbudgets are created or how public programs

are designed or implemented. Many advocates

or people with disabilities began their careersbecause o personal or amily experiences. The

ability to oer alternative approaches and cre-

ative strategies to solve policy problems can

make or the most eective advocacy.Find out which organizations share your

concerns and priorities and which individuals

or organizations might oppose them. When-

ever possible, work in collaboration with oth-

ers and have an open dialogue with people onboth sides o an issue. The passage in 2008 o 

the ADAA and the Paul Wellstone and Pete

Domenici Mental Health Parity and AddictionEquity Act was the result o long negotiations

and many compromises among the vested

stakeholders. When constructing your mes-

sage, be clear about what you want your legis-lators to accomplish, how you think they could

accomplish it, and how the proposed change in

public policy will impact their constituents.

Finally, it is important to be committed

to social change. Change occurs only when

the individual working to create change ac-

cepts that it will take time, commitment,

and dedication to aect public policy at thelocal, state, or national level.

CHADD will be joining the American Acad-

emy o Child and Adolescent Psychiatry or its

annual Hill Day on May 8, 2009. Consider go-ing with us to Capitol Hill to make your voice

heard by your representatives in Congress. Par-

ticipants will be teamed with individuals and

amily members rom other national organi-

zations and AACAP proessional members.

More inormation on how to be an eec-

tive advocate can be ound in the CHADD

Advocacy Manual , available in the public pol-icy section o chadd.org, the CHADD web-

site. Visit CHADD’s public policy webpages

to learn more about Hill Day or other public

policy initiatives. For an example o success-ul advocacy in action, read the story posted

in the public policy section about CHADD

Pennsylvania, “Grow Your Grassroots and

Better Infuence Public Policy.”●

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