Providing Public Officials with a Hands-On Education

About 60 men and women, all too old to be heading to elementary or middle school, board a yellow school bus on a brisk March 2011 morning. Many haven’t been on a bus in years, but today they have been told that they are no longer themselves.

Each person has a new story. One is given the identity of an 11-year-old boy who has been placed in foster care because his mother’s boyfriend broke his arm. Another has been given the identity of a child who has been in foster care for three years. Everyone is asked to step into their child’s mindset; given a black garbage bag for their belongings, just as a child being placed into a foster might receive; and asked to board the bus.

Each is participating in Journey Home, a bus tour presented by Alliance for Children and Families member Adoption Resources of Wisconsin (ARW), Milwaukee. The tour is designed to educate public officials about the intricacies of the child welfare system.

After boarding the bus, participants are taken to several community locations that are part of the child welfare system. At each place, they hear from local child welfare representatives, including an intake coordinator for child protective services, police department detective, pediatrician, group home manager, circuit court judge, foster parents, adoptive parent, and former foster youth.

“This helps public officials understand the complexity of the child welfare system,” says Colleen Ellingson, CEO of ARW. “We show them the police, child protective services staff, doctors, legal professionals, school faculty and staff, and private agency staff that all work together to do really impactful work in the community.”

ARW conducted its first Journey Home tour in 1999, and reintroduced the program this year after a few years on hiatus. The organization decided to bring the program back in an effort to ramp up its activities that educate and engage public officials. It also was able to secure Jockey International Inc.’s Jockey Being Family corporate citizenship program as a full sponsor for the event.

Connecting Policies to Real Life

When it comes to educating public officials about the work of the nonprofit human services industry, efforts like Journey Home are particularly effective because they invite officials to experience the significance of human services work in a highly visual way, while also appealing directly to participants’ emotions.

“Getting officials to take a good look at what you actually do and engage with your kids and families educates them more than any of the words you can take to them,” says Jerry Davis, vice president of national advocacy and public policy for Alliance member Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, Boys Town, Neb.

When engaging with public officials, Davis’ organization, commonly referred to as Boys Town, combines hard facts and data with real-life stories of the children and families who participate in the agency’s programs.

“Even if you can’t let public officials directly engage with your children and families, then take information in the form of stories and impact data so officials truly can connect to the real stories behind the policies they are deciding,” Davis says.

Boys Town assists parents in preparing testimonies to support the policy-related work the organization already is doing.

“The parents of our kids are some of our very best advocates, especially on a local level,” Davis says. “They are the people who have a keen interest; have a story; understand the issues from a personal, emotional, and intellectual standpoint; and are able to articulate their experiences effectively.”

Strategy Leads to Results

The most pressing issue on Boys Town’s state-level public policy agenda is child welfare system reform. Efforts to build relationships with and inform state legislators about challenges and opportunities of the child welfare system already have proven valuable.

For example, when the state realized there weren’t enough funds available for the current efforts at reform, it committed additional resources to allow the work to move forward. Additionally, the state has begun to shift a substantial amount of decisions about case management to human service organizations, which allows for greater creativity and flexibility in how services are delivered.

“We spent time with a number of different state senators, but particularly with those who are on the health and human services committee, judiciary committee, and other committees that are directly deciding how child welfare reform will move forward,” Davis says.

Similarly, ARW’s work to educate officials has made the organization a valuable resource for the state government.

“As Wisconsin’s new governor transitioned into office in early 2011, his advisors reached out to ARW for our opinions on child welfare laws,” Ellingson says. “Over the years, we have worked with a number of legislators and legal professionals to improve child welfare laws.”

Economic, Political Climates Prompt Efforts

ARW hadn’t hosted any Journey Home tours during the last several years because of their time intensive nature. But, in 2011, the organization recognized an opportunity.

“We knew we’d have a lot of new state legislators this year, and we really wanted to jump in; we thought it was a good time to get more publicity for the child welfare system,” Ellingson says. “We’re also in a time of tight budgets, so we want them to realize that when they look at a budget item, it has significant impact on children and families’ lives.”

Boys Town also has seen the effects of economic pressure, as well as the educational opportunities political turnover presents. The organization recognizes that it, as a human service agency, is in a prime position to influence the future of child welfare.

“Our current funding in America continues to be very ‘siloed,’ and sometimes, the system incentivizes practices that are not in the best interest of children,” Davis says. “It is imperative that providers speak up when they have evidence that supports policy changes that would open the doors for better practices.”

Providing Public Officials with a Hands-On Education