Policy 101

1. Policy 101 Presentation at Coming Together for Action, 2018 Robin Kimbrough-Melton, JD Jill D. McLeigh, PhD

2. Agenda • Why do we care about public policy? • What is public policy? • How does the policy process work? • How and when can one intervene in the process? • Additional resources

3. Example: Family 1 Relevant Policy Concerns • Public transportation • Child care • Before school care • School attendance requirements Single mother with 3 young children. Background: Mom has had substance use issue on-and-off for years and has been investigated for child neglect. A morning in the life of Family 1: Gets up at 5 am to get herself ready and then gets the kids up for school/day care. Has to be at work at 7 am, and work is a 45-min. bus ride away. However, has to drop youngest off at child care, and only affordable child care is 20 mins away on a different bus. Has to leave by 6 a.m. to catch that bus. Bus for the 2 older kids doesn’t come until 7:15, so older kids – ages 6 and 8 – have to get themselves ready and out the door to catch the bus. Mom gets to day care as they’re opening, at 6:30 (thank goodness bus was on time today). She catches another bus to get to her job, which is late. She gets to work at 7:15. Her boss says he is going to put her on probation if she’s tardy again. At 9, mom gets a call that her kids aren’t at school…. Again. If they have another unexcused absence, she’ll have to go to court b/c of a new rule saying more than 5 unexcused absences in a 9-week period results in a court appearance. Mom calls a neighbor and begs her to get the kids to school.

4. Example: Family 2 Relevant Policy Concerns • Appropriate placement • Resources for foster parents • School behavior policies/resources • Parental leave policies • Medicaid Two-parent family with two biological children and a child they are fostering. Family living in the suburbs with their 2 biological children – ages 10 and 12 – and a 5-year-old foster child who joined their family 2 months ago. Family had been excited about this new addition to their family. They had gone through numerous trainings, background checks, and a home inspection to get to this point. They signed up to provide a “basic level of care” instead of therapeutic or specialized care b/c they did not feel equipped for a high level of need. The first 2 weeks went swimmingly, but then things started to change. Teachers are sending emails that the child is acting out at school and even hit another kid. At home, the child is having night terrors, wetting the bed, and stealing items from the older children. The parents took the 5-year-old to the doctor to see if she could help. The doctor referred them to a therapist. The therapist doesn’t take Medicaid, so the mom calls the caseworker for help. The caseworker sends mom a list of therapists, and mom starts calling. There are no available appointments for a month. This morning, the family are all tired b/c they were awoken during the night by the 5-year-olds screams. Mom is yelling at the kids to hurry up and get ready for school. She feels bad about it, but she doesn’t have the time or energy to implement the good parenting practices she learned in training. The 5-year-old refuses to go to school, and dad has to go to work. He drops off the other 2 kids on his way in and mom calls in sick… again.

5. What is Policy? Policy – course of government action or inaction in response to public problems. It is not made in a vacuum, but is influenced by social and economic conditions, prevailing political values, public mood at any given time, structure of government, national and local cultural norms. Law Advocacy lobbying

6. Policy in context National, state, local

7. Policy Process

8. What’s next?

9. Resources • Other sessions • Careers in advocacy • Opportunities to get involved – Jackie • Frameworks Institute