On the eve of Mary Bethel’s departure as AARP Associate State Director, several of the key legislators she has helped train over the past decade asked her to answer some questions regarding her advocacy work. Questions and answers are reprinted here.
1. YEARS OF SERVICE/BACKGROUND
I was Associate State Director for Advocacy for AARP for nine and a half years. In this position I helped to direct AARP’s advocacy efforts relative to state and federal issues.
Prior to coming to AARP, I worked for almost 30 years with the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services in a variety of positions including serving as Special Assistant to the Director. In this position, among other programmatic duties, I was the Division’s liaison for legislative issues and also provided staff support to Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging and the NC Senior Tar Heel Legislature.
I also worked early in my career as a social worker with a county department of social services and at a rehabilitation center.
2. WHAT INFLUENCED ME
I was influenced to get into advocacy work because I saw that there were many needs for older and disabled adults in our state that were not being addressed. I believe my interest in advocacy goes back to my years growing up on a farm in Bertie County. My mother, who was a school teacher, was always doing things to help our neighbors and although she was not one to be high profile about anything, when there was an issue that needed to be addressed, she would get involved in trying to fix it in her own behind the scenes way. I got to witness this first hand and it stuck with me and influenced the direction my life took.
3. ADVOCACY WORK
To me, what is exciting about advocacy work is that when you are successful you can see the impact that your work has on public policy decisions as well as on the lives of the people that are impacted.
Not being successful in what you are advocating for can be frustrating and disheartening, but accomplishing your goals can be the best feeling in the world. Knowing that you had a role to play in such things as helping those on the waiting list for home delivered meals get that meal so they can stay in their homes or in helping to ensure that family caregivers can get respite care so they can get a break from the 24/7 job of caring for their love one is a feeling that keeps you going when the going gets tough.
Advocacy successes seldom happen over night and generally involve working collaboratively with others. At AARP we recruited a network of 140 advocacy volunteers from around the state who worked hand-in-hand with staff to advocate for our issues. One of their primary roles was to develop a relationship with their state Representative and Senator and to communicate with them about our priority issues. As a staff member, my role was to ensure that these volunteers had the information and tools they needed to be effective grass roots advocates.
As an advocate for issues that impact older and disabled adults, I believed strongly in working with other groups and organizations that also have the interest of these groups at heart. Partnering with ten or more groups on an issues was not uncommon when I was at AARP. There is strength in numbers when groups and organizations work collaborative around a common issue.
It can be very frustrating and discouraging when you advocate for something you think is very important – whether it is for a specific piece of legislation, a change in a rule or policy, or some other issue that you feel strongly is needed – and are not successful. I think you have to look to see if there were any positives that came out of the effort (ex. identified a legislative champion for the issue, recruited new volunteers, etc.) and celebrate those. You also need to decide if this is an issue you will continue to advocate for and if so, work with all the stakeholders to develop a new plan of action for moving forward. There are many lessons that can be learned in defeat and you need to identify these and figure out how to address.
4. ADVOCACY SUCCESSES
I take great pride in the work that I, along with my co-workers at AARP, did over the years to advocate for funding for services to keep older adults in their homes. In my early years with AARP, our advocacy efforts, along with those of partner groups and organizations, resulted in increased funding for the Home and Community Care Block Grant which funds many services such as home delivered meals, in-home aide services and transportation assistance. In recent years due to budget challenges, I along with others worked hard to try to prevent cuts to the Block Grant. Each year, working to keep Medicaid for aged, blind, and disabled adults always kept me busy too.
Getting a Star Rating System for adult care homes was also an advocacy success that I am proud of. AARP lead the effort to get legislation passed to establish this. The public now looks to this rating system as a prime source for information in making a decision about adult care home placement.
In recent years, our advocacy efforts around protecting the interests of older adults in tax and election reform stand out. AARP worked very hard to ensure that Social Security benefits and prescription drugs were not taxed under tax reform and with election reform that there were means established to ensure that those who do not have a birth certificate (often very old adults who were born at home and have never driven) were provided with a means to verify their identity so they could vote.
On the federal level, it seems like we were always working with our advocacy volunteers to ensure that Medicare and Social Security benefits were protected. Our efforts along with those from others have helped to keep these programs strong.
5. STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL ADVOCACY
- Have a plan of action which includes all the basics of who, what, when, where, and how. Have a clear understanding of what you are trying to accomplish and how you can get there. Adapt the plan as needed.
- Identify a champion for your issue. For example, if you are seeking to have legislation passed, find a legislator to be the bill sponsor who will work hard for your issue.
- Engage others to help with the cause – volunteers, other staff, partner groups and organizations, etc. – and ensure that everyone is on message about the issue and advocacy efforts are coordinated.
- Put a face on the issue – who is impacted by this issue and why is it so important? Humanize the issue to help it stand out.
- Do not burn bridges. Those who are not on your side this time may be your allies next time if you have not closed that door. Identify those who oppose your issue early on and develop a strategy for how to win their support.
See the article Hurrahs for Mary Bethel!.