Advocacy Update for the CCG RFA Issues

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Advocacy conference call this afternoon. As a result of the call, we have developed the following strategies:

1. November 18th, THIS THURSDAY, we have scheduled a call-in day. If you or your stakeholders (clients, youth, parents, community members, agency staff) are being impacted by the restrictive language in the CCG Request for Applications, please call or e-mail:
* Your legislators
* The Office of Family Planning
* The Department of Public Health Services
* Your champions in the community who might be able to influence the above-mentioned decision-makers

We have created some talking points  for you to use on your calls. In addition, you can view the letter  that we sent to legislators to gain their support.

2. In addition to calling stakeholders on the 18th, we’re asking you to send letters to legislators and others, and to get your champions involved! A champion can be anyone who stands firmly behind your program, be it a young person who receives program services, a parent whose child has benefitted from your program, a community leader who understands the impact that losing these programs will have on the community, or a local government official. We will draft template letters for you to use—but remember that you should always personalize them as much as possible to really get your message across! Some people who might write compelling letters for you include:

* A young person who is currently being served in an MSSA that you can no longer cover as a result of the RFA’s restrictions
* A collaborative member who has benefitted from the strong partnerships that you have built through CCG, which may now be dismantled because of the narrow restrictions of the RFA
* A community member who understands that the loss of your program in his or her community will bring higher teen birth rates, lower academic achievement, and higher school drop-out rates.

Template materials will be available on our website within the next two days.

3. We need to find out how many MSSAs that are currently being served by your agencies will no longer be served because you can’t write enough applications. Complete our very brief survey  to help us get this information. In addition, if you participate in a regional collaborative, please forward this link and all information to all your collaborative members for them to participate.

4. If you wish to be included on our CCG Advocacy list serve, please send e-mail to dgoodrow@teennowcalifornia.org. And, keep checking back on this blog for updates and new materials.