Effective Advocacy for School Counselors

Identify your goal and your ask: Before you begin advocating for a cause, it's important to clearly identify your goal and your ask. Your goal is what you want to achieve. Your ask is what you’ll ask policymakers to do to achieve your goal.

I.e., My goal is to restore counselors’ access to federal education grants. So, my ask is for Congress to pass legislation restoring counselor access to these grants.
Having a specific goal in mind will help you focus your efforts and measure your progress.

Educate yourself: Make sure you have a good understanding of the issue for which you are advocating . Do your research and gather facts and evidence to support your position.

Check out our Advocacy Updates page to learn about pressing mental health care issues.
Check out Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for more information about school counselors.

Know your audience: Tailor your message to your audience. Consider their values, beliefs and concerns when crafting your message.

Learn about federal legislators and their stances at congress.gov/members.
I.e., If they are skeptical of government spending, emphasize the fiscal benefits of early intervention and prevention.

Use clear and concise language: Avoid using jargon or overly complex language that may confuse or disengage your audience. Instead, prioritize clear, concise wording to ensure your message is easily understood and accessible.

Individuals outside the profession may not fully understand the distinctions between social workers, counselors and psychologist, or the different types of counselors. When meeting policymakers, be sure to clarify the role of school counselors and how you support youth mental health.

Focus on solutions: Offer concrete solutions to the problem for which you are advocating. Explain how your proposed solutions will benefit your audience and make a positive impact.

I.e., Tell policymakers if there’s a specific bill they should support, an issue they should investigate, a program that needs additional funding, etc. (This is your ask).

Avoid personal attacks:Stay focused on the issue and avoid personal attacks. Personal attacks can undermine your credibility and distract from the issue at hand.
Be respectful:Show respect for those who disagree with you. Listen to their perspectives and engage in constructive dialogue.

Even if you disagree with a policymaker about one issue, there may be other areas of potential collaboration. By being respectful, you enable productive dialogue on shared issues.
I.e., We were able to have productive conversations about restoring education grants with a Senator who opposes several other issues that we advocate for, because we remained respectful and open to collaboration.

Be persistent: Advocacy can be a long and challenging process, but persistence is key to success. Don't be discouraged by setbacks or slow progress.

Keep pushing forward, continue to build relationships, engage your audience and refine your message.

Follow up: Policymakers are working on so many issues that yours could easily fall through the cracks. Through sustained engagement, you can help keep your asks top-of-mind and start building a relationship with policymakers.

Engagement can look like thank you notes for their support, emailing them requested data, and checking-in about progress.
 Building relationships with policymakers can help you create a network of support, amplifying your message.

Advocacy Resources has dozens of counselor advocacy resources, such as
- Advocacy 101, which has additional helpful tips and strategies for engaging policymakers,
- Training videos, and
- Previous ACA one pagers.
Advocacy Updates has articles on counseling and mental health policy news.
Take Action allows you to look up your representatives at the federal, state and local level and find additional advocacy opportunities.
ACA’s Topics page has additional in-depth information about mental health and counseling topics.

Tags: