1. Advocacy Training

2. How would you define advocacy? What does advocacy mean to you? Why do you think advocacy is important? Ask the Questions…

3. What is Advocacy? Can be defined as “the pursuit of influencing outcomes”. The outcome Kidsave is seeking is for every child to find an adoptive family. Why is Advocacy Important? Advocacy is the driver behind the placement of children with adoptive families. Advocacy creates awareness and increases interest

4. What you cannot share:  Identifying information about the child’s family or caregivers  Information about the child’s background  Child’s legal information  Child’s medical information  Child’s psychological evaluations or diagnosis  Anything that the child discloses as confidential What you can share:  How the child is presenting in your home  Child’s likes and dislikes  Child’s behavior in the home  Child’s personality  Child’s interaction with siblings in the home  Child’s interaction with pets/animals  Child’s grade in school  Child’s family composition (if part of a sibling set) Local social workers or Kidsave staff will talk with interested families about information you do not share.

5.  Don’t make pleas or cases for adoption in front of the child  Alert groups BEFORE you bring the child to an activity or organization to advocate  Think about how you are going to introduce the child in public  Be respectful when bringing up the subject of the child  Never tell the child that they are spending time with a prospective adoptive family  Do not use the word “orphan” in front of the child(ren)

6.  Most difficult part of the program for families wishing to adopt  Families may be put off if they learn you are interested in adoption  Encourage them to still spend time with the child, reminding them that nothing is certain and decisions are not made until 2 weeks after the child’s departure  Experience has shown us that things can happen to the most well intended families  Loss of job  Death in the family  Personal illnes s

7. Kidsave creates community and child specific advocacy flyers Website advocacy Weekly Reports used to update child advocacy flyers Provides format for “Pocket Party” Social Media National Media Kidsave’s Role in Advocacy

8. Advocacy Tools Exercise Refer to the “Advocacy Tools” page in the Advocacy packet. Which of these tools match best with your family/community? Ideas for other resources?

9. Start with your family  Tell them about the program and what you are doing BEFORE you begin hosting  Be sure they understand that you are personally and emotionally invested in the outcome of the child’s future  Let your family know that you need their help…ask them to reach out to their networks, share flyers, and use Facebook to find the child a permanent family

10. Advocate via your personal network  Reach out to your place of faith, email, work newsletters and/or bulletins  Organize a table outside your place of faith, local street fair, etc.  Reach out to a group that has the same hobbies as your host child (i.e. art studio, Karate class)  Share and post your host child’s advocacy flyer  BLOG, tweet, Facebook, and other social media sites to post events and share your experiences

11. Advocating via local media  Reach out local media using media materials provided by Kidsave  Call your local media (newspaper, radio, TV) – as a resident your personal story will be more interesting and compelling  Invite media to the all events – key to getting Visiting Families  Refer to Key Messages

12. Encourage local media to attend Recruit families to attend Help interested families engage with the kids Weekend Advocacy events Integral part of advocacy!

13. Create a Child Advocacy Plan that outlines how you will advocate for your child Create a Child Advocacy Plan that outlines how you will advocate for your child Make goals & review them regularly Make goals & review them regularly Keep the plan readily available and stick to it Keep the plan readily available and stick to it Work with other host families Work with other host families Tracking Your Advocacy

14. Events Work with your Advocacy Event Coordinator to identify a location  Picnic in the Park - Many different options for interactive games with Visiting Families, such as three-legged race, watermelon eating contest, soccer tournament, etc.  Bowling - Create teams with kids and Visiting Families  Arts & Crafts - Scrapbooking, ceramics, painting, etc. Kids love exploring their creative side while Visiting Families help them  Cooking - Match Visiting Families with kids to create a yummy dish! NOT Recommended Swimming, zoos, amusement parks, watching a movie, events in a private home, etc.

15. A key contributor to the success of the program May need to be encouraged to engage with the kids Must be oriented and submit a Visiting Family Application prior to interacting with children at events Application must be approved by Kidsave Director before Visiting Family spends any additional time with a child outside of an event May NOT spend time alone with any child

16. Provide opportunities for interested, screened families to spend more time with a specific child in a smaller setting Should be organized with Community Coordinator and include the host family of the child Should include one or more other child in the program so no child feels under a microscope Should be an interactive activity in a comfortable enviornment Cannot include personal questions or discussion of adoption Should not include more than one interested family per child “Pocket Parties”

17. What do I say if my host child asks me to adopt? Co-worker or family….why aren’t you adopting your host child? How do I ask my friends, co-workers and family to help me advocate? Nosey Neighbor…how to address inappropriate questions asked with and without child present? What do I do if I find money or special items missing?

18. Panel Discussion Q’s and A’s Families What advocacy efforts were most effective for you? What would you have done differently? What did you find the most challenging? Kids Is there anything that could have been done to make you feel more comfortable while you were being hosted? What did you enjoy the most? What did you find the most challenging?