What You Can Do

The goal of the Association of Independent Craniofacial Advocates (AICA) is to let our elected officials know about pending legislation, request their support of those bills, and educate the general public about craniofacial conditions and issues.

Many individuals understand the importance of advocacy, but are not sure how they can participate in the grassroots effort. Here are the steps you can take to further the mission of the AICA:

Support Pending Legislation

1. Commit - Make the decision to join us in our advocacy efforts.
2. Investigate - Familiarize yourself with pending state and federal legislation. Are your elected officials already on the co-sponsor list(s)?
3. Fact-gather - Use the search links on our main page to find contact information for your state and federal elected officials.
4. Contact and Inform - Use our sample letter templates to send a letter, fax or e-mail to your elected officials. You may prefer to contact them by telephone. Request their support, or thank them for their support if they are already on the co-sponsor list.
5. Follow-up - Call or write the offices of the officials you have contacted to reiterate your request, thank them for their support, and/or make an appointment to visit them or their legislative assistant to discuss the issues.
6. Spread the word - Forward a link to this website to anyone interested in craniofacial issues.

Introduce State Legislation

1. Commit - Make the decision to join us in our advocacy efforts.
2. Investigate - Familiarize yourself with the verbiage of existing state laws to decide how you might fashion a similar bill for your state.
3. Fact-gather - Use the search links on our main page to find contact information for your state elected officials.
4. Contact and Inform - Write or call your elected officials to let them know the need for such legislation in your state. Include your personal experience. Provide the links to or verbiage of other states' mandates as samples of preferred verbiage.
5. Request - Ask if they are interested in introducing such legislation. Schedule a meeting to discuss needs and expectations.
6. Follow-up - Work with your elected officials to develop a comprehensive bill for introduction in your state legislature.
7. Spread the word - Contact other individuals and families in your state, encouraging them to write their elected officials requesting their support of the newly-introduced legislation.

Public Awareness and the Media

1. Commit - Make the decision to join us in our advocacy efforts.
2. Decide - Will you pursue a feature story in your local venue, or submit a press release regarding pending legislation?
3. Contact and Inform - Use the search links on our main page to find contact information for national/local media outlets. Current press releases regarding pending legislation will be available at this website for distribution. Some pieces may allow for inclusion of your personal story (one paragraph only, please).
4. Follow-up - After mailing, faxing or e-mailing a press release, contact media outlets to make sure they have received the information. Ask when the story will run and if they would like to interview you or someone else regarding the information.
5. Spread the word - Contact other individuals and families in your state, encouraging them to write contact the media with the prepared press release(s) or feature story ideas.

Need help? Contact aica-advocates@cox.net for assistance interfacing with your elected officials or the media.

Regards,


Debbie Oliver
Association of Independent Craniofacial Advocates (AICA)
aica-advocates@cox.net