Advocacy in Action: The Power of a Site Visit

Fall is here, and things are heating up for state and federal legislators. They are coming back from summer vacations, and the elections are on everyone’s minds. Now is the time to establish or renew relationships with your members of Congress and other policymakers.

Federal and state Medicaid programs provide the vast majority of funding, oversight, and management of I/DD services. Nonetheless, many states have extensive waiting lists for these services, and support is limited. With the growing need for services, said Esmé Grewal, vice president of government relations at BrightSpring Health Services, “We need policymakers to understand the issues providers face and the vital importance of sustaining programming for the individuals who depend on it.”

This is more urgent than ever, as certain policy achievements are coming to an end like funding that was instrumental in helping Medicaid I/DD programs retain staff throughout the pandemic which expires in March 2025. Many states have already used up their allocation of this funding. Grewal said, “The additional allocation to the Medicaid home and community-based services program was essential to supporting our workforce and keeping services open.”

Site Visits = Powerful Advocacy

“A visit to an agency or home that serves the I/DD population can be extraordinarily educational for policymakers,” said Grewal. “For instance, legislators and other policymakers can better understand these services by gaining insights into the high acuity of these individuals and the intensive work required to support this population,” she notes, adding, “An onsite visit paints a vivid picture of the hard work providers are doing to support individuals with I/ DD and shows firsthand that these individuals are thriving, more integrated, and living quality lives because of the support and services they receive every day. It can be a pivotal moment for a policymaker.”

In the end, such site visits are powerful. Here are steps to arranging and conducting such a visit:

1. Make contact with policymakers and extend the invitation. Contact your state legislature or U.S. Congressional representative’s office and speak with their scheduler (it’s as simple as calling the main office number and asking for the scheduler). For information on who your Member of Congress is and how to contact them, visit house.gov or senate.gov and use the Find your Senator/Find your Representative search. Call a few months ahead of when you want the visit to occur. Once you settle on a date, give them some background about your organization and what to expect on the tour. Find out if they have any special requests, including if they want to bring other staff or have the press or a photographer to be involved.

2. Keep it simple. Arrange for your leadership to walk visitors through your site and explain how things work. It can be helpful for the visitors to talk to different people throughout their tour. Grewal said, “It is interesting to get a sense of what people’s individual jobs are, how they ended up in those roles, and see how hardworking and dedicated they are.” It will be useful to alert staff and indicate how they can support a good visit. If you have specific issues you want to address, have your talking points handy so you don’t miss anything.

3. Make it positive. Show the visitors the fun and interesting side of your site and give staff an opportunity to talk about how they enjoy their work. If there are special events or activities you think they would appreciate, feel free to include them as appropriate.

4. Expect questions. Expect your visitors to have questions, said Grewal, as “our services can generally be entirely new to them. Unless they have background on Medicaid programs, start from the beginning with what the program is and who it serves – they will appreciate the ins and outs in basic terms.” Anticipate some questions they may ask and have answers prepared. But don’t worry about having all of the answers - if they ask something you don’t have an immediate answer to, promise to follow up and do so promptly.

5. Follow up. Send a thank you and include any additional information or answers you promised to follow up with as well as photos from their visit (if you have individuals served in the photos just remember to get the proper permissions before sharing). Once established, work to maintain the relationship with the legislator’s office. Thank them for the work, offer your support or input on key issues, etc.

“It can feel like it may be a bit overwhelming to arrange a site visit, but it’s actually a pretty simple task that anyone can do,” said Grewal. “This is something that Members of Congress and their staff do on a regular basis and are always planning for the Members when they are in town. They are very accustomed to handling requests for visits in their district and state.” With a little preparation, these visits can be informative and enjoyable for everyone. It also can be a morale boost to have staff showcased and recognized for their hard work. Together, providers can showcase the incredible services they provide to policymakers and make a real difference.