Advocacy Is...Advocacy Is Not...

Advocacy Is...

1. Helping parents help themselves
2. Building confidence so parents are able to help themselves
3. Supporting efforts toward independence
4. Providing necessary tools for appropriate decisions and appropriate action
5. Informing parents of their rights
6. Helping parents get their rights
7. Analyzing a problem and pinpointing areas of responsibility
8. Stating options available to resolve a problem
9. Providing technical assistance and training
10. Providing assistance in locating appropriate services
11. Referring to appropriate agencies
12. Lobbying for necessary legislation
13. Agitating to get legislation implemented
14. Organizing for change
15. Initiating new services
16. Investigating grievances
17. Following up on complaints
18. Going to court when other avenues have failed to get results
19. Bringing parents and groups together for mutual support and action
20. Advocating and/or interceding on behalf of parents only when they are unable to help themselves
21. A partnership with parents, with mutual sharing of information, tasks, and action
22. Helping parents go through appropriate channels whenever possible to get services

Advocacy Is Not...

1. Taking over parents’ lives (or problems) and making all decisions for them
2. Squelching efforts of self-help
3. Reinforcing feelings of helplessness and dependence
4. Keeping parents in the dark while doing everything for them
5. Keeping parents uninformed about their rights, making them rely on the advocate for everything
6. Discouraging parents from becoming activists
7. Making excuses for unavailability or inadequacy of services
8. Making decisions for parents
9. Controlling parents
10. Persuading parents to accept "make-do" services
11. Closing the door to parents because "there’s nothing I can do to help"
12. Keeping "hands off" of politics
13. Accepting the status quo when legislation is not implemented
14. Seeking individual solutions to group problems
15. Accepting unavailability and inadequacy of services
16. Denying existence of problems reported
17. Dropping a complaint after initial contact
18. Filing a lawsuit as the first approach to a problem
19. Working only with individuals when others share a mutual problem
20. Interceding on behalf of parents who can help themselves
21. A parent/child relationship
22. Ignoring appropriate channels when trying to get services

Reprinted by Permission from:
Des Jardins, C. (1993). Advocacy is... Advocacy is Not... In C. Des Jardins (ed). How to Organize an Effective Parent/Advocacy Group and Move Bureaucracies. Chicago, IL.: Family Resource Center on Disabilities.