The old adage about knowing being half the battle is very true when it comes to policy advocacy.

I am thankful for the partner organizations with which the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) works year-round to promote awareness in not only policy issues. Many programs seek to educate their membership about ways to fully engage through legal means to encourage the best for the children of Oklahoma. OICA offers training and briefing sessions on best practices for this understanding tied to our mission.

OICA provides many tools to learn how to engage directly with policymakers, with most of our guides located at www.oica.org/advocacy-resources on our website. Here, anyone can download materials for use for classes, conversations or independent study. I want to run through a few of these as they might help Oklahomans who want to engage in policy work.

First, our team has put together both a PDF document and a PowerPoint presentation explaining how to be an effective advocate for shaping policy. This guide helps those who want to navigate communication with policymakers, ranging from initial contact and ways to maintain useful relationships with those who create the laws that govern the state. Phones calls, writing letters and useful social media posts all can be effective, and we discuss the best ways to engage.

Another set of tools for advocates to use is modeled after lessons we learned from School House Rock or in the classroom about how a bill becomes law but adapted to Oklahoma’s unique legislative process. We provide an overview of the current makeup of the Oklahoma Legislature, along with the Executive and Judicial branches for our state, as well as an understanding of the duties of each.

A third set of resources provides an outline of how to read legislation in Oklahoma. This resource also explains the components of a bill and how to better understand why legislation is written in the format which we see lawmakers use. It also describes the process of taking an idea from individuals and shepherding it to become law.

The fourth set of documents helps guide the reader through a better understanding of the different levels of government and their responsibilities. Looking at local, state and federal levels of government, we explain the different roles of each and what policies should start where. We also discuss the multiple variations of local government, including municipal, public school and county operations.

We at OICA take great pride in visiting civic organizations to show ways they can fully engage within their individual interest in policymaking. Thanks to the generosity of donors, we can travel across Oklahoma and present to local clubs about each of these presentations, along with the history of how and why our nonprofit was formed to serve as the voice for Oklahoma’s children.

Still, these are not the only organizations that benefit from understanding how government works. We at OICA are preparing a program whereby for-profit organizations, businesses and any others beyond the nonprofit world can contract with us for presentations on navigating these governmental systems.

If you have an interest in having us visit your group, please reach out to us at info@oica.org or at 405-236-5437, Ext. 4.

In addition to all these resources, we also provide a link on our website to find who represents you directly at the state and federal level, along with sharing different items which can help the reader better understand what is currently happening through policy work. Finally, I want to highlight a document which OICA publishes annually: our Children’s Legislative Agenda, compiled through the work done by assembled advocates at our Fall Forum conference, this year held in October in Oklahoma City. Registration will open soon for this year’s event. I certainly encourage you to join us if you have an idea for a law to ensure Oklahoma better serves its children.

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. The OICA’s mission statement is: “Creating awareness, taking action and changing policy to improve the health, safety and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”