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

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

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

4. 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

5. How to Advocate
5 things to remember 5 5

6. 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

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

8. Don’t “pigeon-hole” the solution – there is more than one road to the river8 8

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

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

11. Agency Website: APDCares.org11 11

12. Where to find regional contact information 12 12

13. 13 13

14. Sample of regional contact info 14 14

15. Questions? 15 15

16. Thank you! 16 16