Nothing About Us Without Us.

                                             

                                                Want to join the movement?                                                                              ​​​​Consider these ideas for elevating constituent voices                                      with tools and templates to jump-start your organizing efforts.



Craft Your Story 


Learning to tell and effective story is an art. To get started, review our Strategic Sharing Guide. Once you have your story crafted, we hope you will share it with us!

Attend a Town Hall


Your Senators and Representatives in Washington DC regularly travel back to their home states and hold public meetings called Town Halls. 


Assemble a Panel


Constituent panels are an effective way to educate others about the foster care system from the perspective of people who have lived experience with the system. Contact us for more information about how to arrange a panel.


Write an Op Ed


Policymakers and other VIPs do pay attention to opinion pieces that are published in local newspapers. Contact us for information on how you can partner with the Family Voices United campaign to get an Op-Ed published.

Share your Perspective to Educate Policymakers


Using Family Voices United's monthly Share Your Perspective (SYP) Papers are a great way to engage and advocate at the local, national and state level. 

Families at risk or involved with the child welfare system can use these papers to make sure child welfare stakeholders understand the needs and experiences of families. You can help them identify the supports that are needed to prevent maltreatment and unnecessary foster care entry, and identify policy barriers that prevent families from accessing the services they need.

Access our Advocacy Library for social media messaging, graphics and templates to educate national, state and local policymakers and child welfare stakeholders. 

Share Your Perspective to Educate Policymakers 


We offer graphics, social media messaging and email content to engage with national, state and local policymakers and child welfare stakeholders using Family Voices United’s Share Your Perspective (SYP) papers. 

Every month, Family Voices United asks youth and alumni of foster care, birth parents and relative caregivers a question to elevate their voices in order to inspire meaningful change. Responses are published in a SYP Paper.

Our hope is that families at risk or involved with the child welfare system will use these papers to ensure child welfare stakeholders understand the needs and experiences of families. The SYP papers can help policyakers identify the kinds of upstream supports that are needed to prevent maltreatment and unnecessary foster care entry, as well as barriers that may prevent families from accessing the services they need. 


How to Use SYP Papers to Take Action


1. Send your policymakers quotes and graphics from the SYP papers on social media.


2. Share the SYP papers with your Member of Congress online and/or in an e-mail to educate and inform them about current issues impacting the lives of children and families. Find your member here. 


3. Share the SYP papers with your local child welfare directors, policymakers and governors. 


Social Media Messaging


FaceBook

Birth parents, kinship caregivers, current and former foster youth share their perspectives with Family Voices United on needed supports and prevention services for families involved with or at risk of experiencing the child welfare systems. Learn more at: www.FamilyVoicesUnited.org #FamilyFirst   


Family Voices United highlights the voices of kinship caregivers, birth parents, current and former youth on topics such as how families can access prevention services, crisis support, mental health, and substance use treatment. Read about their experiences and learn how you can protect, support and prevent unnecessary entry at FamilyVoicesUnited.org #FamilyFirst 


Family Voices United is devoted to helping prevent unnecessary entry into the foster care system. Read recommendations at FamilyVoicesUnited.org as well as perspectives given by birth parents, kinship caregivers and former foster youth and how you can support them today. #FamilyFirst 


Twitter


Read @family_voices Share Your Perspective papers on how systems must change to support and keep families together by providing preventive services. #FamilyFirst


The @familly_voices Share Your Perspective papers helps you understand the needs and experiences of families in or at risk of being involved in the #childwelfare system. #FamilyFirst         


Hear from birth parents, #fosteryouth and relative caregivers on how #childwelfare should support families and promote resilience via @family_voices. #FamilyFirst


This month I am featured in @family_voices Share Your Perspective paper where I highlight the kinds of #prevention services #fosteryouth, kinship caregivers and birth parents need. #FamilyFirst



Mental Health Messaging for Social Media


The Family First Prevention Services Act (P.L. 115-123) became law in 2018. This law can be seen as the most significant reform to the child welfare system in decades. Family First aligns the investment of federal dollars with what people with lived experience and the research have told us: children do better in families.

The Family First Act can allow states, jurisdictions and tribes to reimagine child welfare systems - including how we can make sure family placements are prioritized for young people, especially young people who are experiencing trauma-related behaviors.

We've created some graphics and messaging to help elevate the understanding about available resources that can help families and kin as well as the general public. 


How to Use Messaging to Take Action


1. Send your policymakers the messaging and graphics provided here and/or create your own.

2. Share the SYP papers with your Member of Congress online and tag them to educate and inform them about the current issues impacting the mental health of children and families. Find your member here. 

3. Share SYP papers on your social platforms and tag any known local child welfare directors and governors. 


Social Media Messaging

Facebook

Now more than ever it’s essential for organizations, and agencies to create a continuous opportunity for the voices of young people and families involved in/with the child welfare (and prevention) system to be centered, uplifted, and engaged during systemic changes. 


Family Voices United has developed a Constituent Engagement Assessment Tool Kit which features a self-assessment on readiness to engage constituents and best practices from FosterClub, Children's Trust Fund Alliance, Casey Family Programs and Generations United.  Take the test at https://familyvoicesunited.org/voices/family-voices-united-constituent-voice-assessment-toolkit 



The passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act provides states, tribes and territories with the option to use federal child welfare funds for prevention activities, including mental health services. These services can be provided to children at imminent risk of placement into #fostercare, pregnant or parenting youth in foster care, and parents and/or relative caregivers of children at imminent risk.  Learn more at https://familyvoicesunited.org/topics/mental-health 


Twitter


The #FamilyFirstAct allows states to reimagine child welfare systems including understanding and implementing trauma-informed preventive and treatment services.  Learn more: https://familyvoicesunited.org/voices/family-voices-mental-and-behavioral-health-supports


"...The more support relative caregivers receive, the more likely relatives will step up to care for their family members. This will help to lower the number of foster homes needed and decrease the number of children in foster care..."

Learn more at www.familyvoicesunited.org
#FamilyFirst



#FamilyFirst aligns the investment of federal dollars with what people with lived experience and the research have told us: children do better in families. 

Learn more at www.familyvoicesunited.org




Social Media Graphics