WaCASA Legislative Partners
When legislators convene once a year in Olympia for legislative session, they're faced with decisions regarding both the state budget and potential legislation. Because there are so many agencies vying for state dollars, it's up to each organization to sell its mission to the people making and passing the budget.
WaCASA's main vein of contact with the legislature is our Legislative Partner program. Legislative partners are people who are connected to CASA in some way, whether they're volunteers, staff members, donors, students, or otherwise. Throughout the year, legislative partners have semi-guided* informal pre-session meetings with their districts' legislators, talking about the CASA program and what it's like to be a CASA volunteer.
*Throughout the year, WaCASA sends reminder emails to the legislative partners asking them to meet with their legislators for coffee or caramels. In the email, we provide a list of potential talking points and tips for talking to legislators. The point of these meetings is to form personal relationships between legislators and CASA volunteers in the off-session (when legislators aren't as busy), and to show lawmakers why CASA is such an imperative service to our community.
Once a year during session, WaCASA hosts Advocacy Day - a day when legislative partners from across the state meet in Olympia to formally meet with legislators or legislative aids, and talk about CASA. We meet in the morning as a group, where WaCASA's lobbyist gives pointers for talking to legislators, WaCASA staff explains what key points to discuss in the meetings, and legislative partners can meet up with other folks from their districts and go to the meetings together. Advocacy Day is where the pre/post-session meetings are so important, because not only are legislators more likely to make time to talk to their constituents when they have a preexisting relationship, but they also already know about CASA, and so are more likely to remember and consider us when they're later discussing laws and budgets.
Anyone can be a legislative partner; it's an empowering experience to know that you are firsthand helping to shape your government's path. There are no requirements for becoming a legislative partner, except a desire to help foster children at the policy level.
For more information on becoming a legislative partner, contact Aleksa Lazarewicz at alazarewicz@wacasa.org or 206.667.9716.
