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Question: Hello, I am in school for social work and am working on a group lobbying/ advocacy project. The topic is mental health, and we need to find a federal bill and advocate for or reform the bill. Then make a power point presentation/ memo brief and meet with one of our state representatives. I am feeling overwhelmed because there are many bills regarding mental health. We have pin pointed supportive housing or lack of as well as inspections to ensure sanitary standards are being maintained. 1. What bill would best meet our needs? 2. if the issue is accounability, how do we address that?

Answer:

Hello Trisch,

The bill that best meets your needs is the one your group decides would be of most interest, and that which the group feels it would do the best job of either defending or reforming. That is not a question we can answer for you.

Regarding the issue to address and how to do it, the first step is to research to find out what the issues mean. There are a number of really great questions to guide your thinking in Section 3 of Chapter 30 in the Community Tool Box. The entire chapter has great guidance for advocacy campaigns so you might find a lot of other helpful information in there.

I hope your project goes well!

Sincerely,

The Community Tool Box Advisor

Question Date: Thu, 03/09/2017