Effective Advocacy with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities Welcome and introduction Rick Scott Governor Barbara Palmer Director

State Office Ombudsman Mindy Whitehead State Office Ombudsman Brief background What is an Ombudsman 2 2

What is Advocacy? Brief outline of presentation Audience define Dictionary definition What advocacy looks like in practice 3 3

Pathway of Advocacy Who do I contact? APD wants to work with you – we are part of your team Quickest solution Closest person to situation/WSC Pathway of your request when you contact elected officials 4 4

How to Advocate 5 things to remember 5 5

Content Speak up! If we don’t know; we can’t help. Remember, we want to help – we probably understand better than you think we do Might want to: Practice/role play write down your points Speak up to begin the conversation 6 6

Listen! Part of being an advocate is listening “the biggest communication problems is that we listen to respond and not to understand” 7 7

Don’t “pigeon-hole” the solution – there is more than one road to the river 8 8

Too many cooks spoil the soup Involving everyone can cause confusion and slow the process down. 9 9

Remember, we’re a part of your team. 10 10

Agency Website: APDCares.org 11 11

Where to find regional contact information 12 12

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Sample of regional contact info 14 14

Questions? 15 15

Thank you! 16 16