Youth PROMISE Act Advocacy Manual

Table of Contents YPA Factsheet: Overview and Key Highlights

Overview of YouthPromiseAction.com

Social Media for Lobbying and Advocacy

Lobbying Congress

YPA Speeches

Advocating to the Media

Reporting to SPA

WWW.STUDENTPEACEALLIANCE.ORG

SPA@PEACEALLIANCE.ORG

www.YouthPROMISEAction.org Sponsored by The Peace Alliance &

Student Peace Alliance

Factsheet: Overview & Key Highlights

Youth PROMISE Act (H.R. 1318, S. 1307)

“Youth Prison Reduction Through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention,

Support and Education Act”

SUMMARY: The Youth PROMISE Act is bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Representatives Bobby Scott and Walter Jones in the House, and Senators Mary Landrieu and James Inhofe in the Senate, that uses community decision making and proven programs to save money and prevent youth violence. In our most troubled areas, this bill will reduce crime and strengthen communities. The Act will fund, implement, and evaluate an array of evidence-based, locally controlled youth and gang violence prevention and intervention practices. Programs will include proven violence prevention practices, such as mentoring and after-school programs, that have been shown to reduce crime more effectively and at a lower cost than incarceration. The Act will also encourage communities to reinvest a portion of their savings back into PROMISE Programs.

Key Elements

1. Empowers Local Communities to Choose Their Own Solutions

2. Funds Evidence-Based Violence Prevention & Intervention Practices

3. Will Save Taxpayer Money While Reducing Crime

The Legislation: Quick Facts:

Makes Decisions at the Community Level.

The Youth PROMISE Act brings together a diverse coalition of community leaders to choose approaches best suited for their community, who may include: Community and Faith-Based Groups Schools, Parents and Youth Elected Leaders, Courts and Law Enforcement Health Providers and Social Services Nonprofit Organizations and Other Stakeholders By making decisions in the community, the Youth PROMISE Act ensures that unique local challenges are met, local assets are properly used, and local stakeholders are fully engaged.

Is Accountable.

The Youth PROMISE Act will require evidence of program success to exist or be produced. Communities will receive assistance to help them track the savings from reduced crime, and funding is structured to urge them to reinvest a portion of those savings back into PROMISE Programs.

Saves Money.

The current model of juvenile incarceration, costing states from $50,000 to $200,000 per bed each year, has incredibly poor results. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency found that a program very similar to the Youth PROMISE Act implemented in Pennsylvania saved, on average, $5 for every $1 invested in prevention. Preventative programs offer a tremendous return on investment, both in terms of budgets and in terms of lives.

House Bill: H.R. 1318

Senate Bill: S. 1307

LEAD SPONSORS

House: Senate:

Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)

Please visit www.congress.gov for a complete list of bill cosponsors.

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

House: Senate:

Education & Workforce Judiciary

Prevention and intervention saves us money, and makes our communities safer and

stronger.

Who Supports It?

The US Conference of Mayors

A coalition of more than 250 national, state and local organizations

The State of New Hampshire

City Councils of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Richmond, VA, among others

Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy D. Baca

For a complete list of endorsing organizations, officials, and other supporters of the Youth PROMISE Act, please visit: www.YouthPROMISEAction.org

YouthPromiseAction.com This is a website sponsored by the Peace Alliance and Student Peace Alliance dedicated to providing advocacy materials on the Youth PROMISE Act. It has a petition that goes directly to your Congressmembers, as well as a ton of resources that can be easily printed and utilized for advocacy and lobbying purposes.

Materials on the website: YouthPromiseAction.com is an important tool for your online lobbying campaigns.

The materials on the site include: o Petition

Sends a message to your Representative and Senators asking them to support the bill. o Video

Includes various celebrities, politicians and influential figures who support the bill. o Bill Summary sheet o Overview and Key Highlights (included in this packet) o Evidence-Based Solutions

Includes information on the types of programs the bill will support.

o List of endorsements Cities, police departments, organizations,

influential figures etc. o Assessing the Need

Includes information and statistics on youth violence, expresses the need for programs like the ones YPA will support.

o Talking Points This sheet has talking points that can be used for messaging, speeches, and in lobbying

meetings. o YPA Elevator Speeches

Two of them are included in this packet with updated language, but there is also an interactive speech on this sheet that can be used as-is or can be edited for your own needs and purposes.

o Language of the Senate and the House bills

Uses of the website: You may consider having a computer or iPad out at your events for people to sign the petition.

Use the petition as often as possible! It’s a fantastic tool for lobbying.

Print the materials for campus events. o Always have the Bill Summary or Overview and Key Highlights sheet out when you’re tabling

so students can walk away with something that gives them a direct explanation of the bill.

Print the materials when you have a lobbying meeting and include them in a folder for whomever you meet with.

o The website has a section under “Advocacy Materials” with a packet of materials to be printed and brought to your meetings.

Social Media for Lobbying and Advocacy Social media is a fantastic tool for grassroots lobbying. It allows you to reach a larger audience, and gives you opportunities to leverage support from a diverse group of people.

Facebook Facebook is a great way to get people involved in lobbying.

On your personal page and your Student Peace Alliance chapter page, you can share the petition on YouthPromiseAction.org.

You can also advertise for lobbying events, or post a short example letter along with the physical addresses and emails of your Representatives and Senators and ask your friends and followers to send letters and emails to their Congressperson.

o The easiest way to do this is by finding the Congressperson’s website, which will list both the local offices and the D.C. office.

o It is best to send letters to the D.C. office, but you can also send letters to the local offices- especially if you plan to have a meeting with them at any point.

o Sometimes the email options are actually forms you fill out on the website, in which case you can copy the link to that page and put it on your Facebook post.

Twitter Create a Student Peace Alliance twitter account for your specific chapter, and include the name of

your school in your Twitter handle.

You can use Twitter to start a campaign on your campus by creating or using an existing hashtag. o Hashtag examples:

#YouthPROMISEAct #StudentsforPeace SPAforYPA

You can tweet at your Representatives and Senators about YPA.

Tweet at your university faculty asking them to support the bill and sign the petition.

Create a campaign that involves students at your school tweeting at your Representatives and Senators.

Tweet at celebrities that support the bill such as Robin Wright or Russell Simmons.

Blogs

Blogs are a great way to spread the word about the Youth PROMISE Act

Guest write on a blog that your school hosts, or any blog you can write for o Write about YPA and then send the blog post to your Representatives, Senators, local

newspaper, post it on Facebook and share it on Twitter! o PolicyMic is a great place to submit articles! o You can create a group Tumblr blog where you can write about YPA as well as about the events

and programs your chapter puts on. Read more about this in the Chapter Manual.

New Media Resources Visit the New Organizing Institute’s website and check out their page on new media resources at

http://neworganizing.com/content/page/new-media-resources o It has information on social media, advocacy, organizing, storytelling etc.

Lobbying Congress This section is full of information about lobbying congress, and will give you a step-by-step explanation of how to be effective.

Building a relationship with Congress

The most effective way to get co-sponsorship or support for a bill is to have meetings with staff, aides, or directly with the Representatives and Senators. Building a relationship with your Member of Congress and their staff is much easier than you think!! It can start with a simple letter, but it’s important to commit to some follow up actions in order to build on that initial communication. If you are doing a letter writing campaign on campus, you should also at least follow up with a phone call to confirm that the office has read the letters and to ensure that they will take a look at the bill.

Here are the stages of communication:

Step 1: Write letter to Representative or Senator Step 2: Make follow-up phone call(s) Step 3: Set up an in-person meeting

Step 4: Follow up phone call(s)

If you have a meeting with Congressional staff, call us to make sure you have the most up-to-date materials to

bring! We will also coach you and answer any questions you may have!

Breaking Down the Steps

Writing the letter Prep:

Determine whether your Senators or Representatives are already co-sponsors of the bill, so you know whether to write them a letter urging them to support YPA or thanking them for co-sponsoring.

o You can search online to find who your Members of Congress are, and you can also search “Youth PROMISE Act Senate (or House) co-sponsors” to find out who has signed on.

You can either hand write the letter or send it via contact form on the website of your Members o If you are hosting events, make sure to bring paper, stamps, pens, and print out the addresses

where SPA members and attendees can send the letter.

Outline: Introduce yourself AS A CONSITUTENT (I am a student at XYZ University and I am your constituent).

Speak from your heart. Share any relevant personal story about why this issue is important to you. Do you know any youth or have friends who have been impacted by violence? Have you been the victim of violence? Have you been particularly affected or moved by the tragic epidemic of youth incarceration?

Share some statistics on violence prevention and incarceration (talking points below).

Call the Action: Thank your Senators or Representatives for their co-sponsorship of the bill, or if they are not yet co-sponsors, ask them to co-sponsor the bill.

Request that they respond to you, so you know what position they are taking on the bill. This helps them form an official stance. If they are already a supporter, ask them to become a champion by sending out a “Dear Colleague Letter.” This is more important for Republicans than for Democrats.

Sample Talking Points for the Letter Problems:

Homicide is the second leading cause of death in the US among people aged 15-19.

The US is about 5% of the world’s population, yet accounts for more than 25% of the world’s incarcerated persons .

A 2002 study found that the US incarcerates more than ten times as many people under age 18 as any of the other 20 industrialized nations studied- in most cases more than twenty times as many.

In 2006 the United States’ inmate population of 2.3 million people exceeded China’s, and China’s total population is four times as large.

Some juvenile incarceration facilities cost as much as $140,000-$200,000 per person per year, according to the director of the Youth Justice Program at the Children’s Defense Fund-NY

Use any local statistics for your state or community that you can find. Ask us about our state-by-state factsheets!

Solutions: According to research by Mark A. Cohen, in dollars alone, the nation will save between $2 million and $7

million for every child who is diverted from the criminal justice system.

After the Longmont Community Justice Partnership in Longmont, CO implemented its Community Restorative Justice Program, recidivism rates among youth dropped to less than 10% in its first three years, compared to a county-wide rate of over 50%.

In West Philadelphia High School, within two years of implementing a Restorative Discipline program, incidents of assault and disorderly conduct dropped more than 65%.

A study by the non-partisan Washington State Institute for Public Policy found that diversion and mentoring programs produced $3.36 of benefits for every dollar spent, aggression replacement training produced $10 of benefits for every dollar spent, and multi-systemic therapy produced $13 of benefits for every dollar spent- in terms of reduced crime and the cost of crime to taxpayers.

Sample Letter (If you have a letter writing campaign, you might want to simplify this text and print out shorter versions of a letter that people can copy down to send)

YOUR ADDRESS HERE Dear (Congressmember’s name here),

My name is (your name here) and I am your constituent. I’m a student at (your school here) and I am involved in the Student Peace Alliance, which is a student group that advocates for violence prevention and conflict resolution tools. I am passionate about reducing youth violence because (give your reason or story here). I would like to tell you about a bill that I support called the Youth PROMISE Act, HR1318/S1307. The Youth PROMISE Act, which stands for Youth Prison Reduction through Opportunities, Mentoring, Intervention, Support and Education Act, is bipartisan legislation aimed at curbing the school-to-prison pipeline and reducing youth violence. It may surprise you to learn that in some states, we spend almost $200,000 per year to incarcerate a single youth. We are in desperate need of a better way to address the growing epidemic of youth violence, and the Youth PROMISE Act would provide a sustainable, cost-saving infrastructure to support youth and keep them out of jail. The act will fund, implement and evaluate an array of evidence-based, locally controlled youth and gang violence prevention and intervention practices. It is a grant program that empowers local communities to determine what programs are working best to address their unique issues, to receive funding for those programs, and to link that funding to studies that measure the effectiveness and cost saving of the program. A portion of the cost savings that accompany the drop in crime is required to be funneled back into the program, so that the programs are self-sustaining after the federal grant period ends. By specifically focusing on violence prevention and intervention strategies, this bill ensures that we are funding programs that save lives and give every young person the opportunity to meet their potential. If we address issues that contribute to violence and youth incarceration from the ground up, we will be able to curb the problem from even happening rather than trying to clean up the mess later on. I’d like to ask you to co-sponsor the Youth PROMISE Act. It is common sense, bipartisan legislation, and our community could benefit greatly from a program like this. I will be following up with your office to confirm that you’ve received this letter, and to follow up about your possible support for the bill. If there is any other information you might need that I can provide you with, please contact me at (your email and phone number here). Thank you so much for your time, and for all that you do for our community. Sincerely, (Your name here)

Follow-up after you’ve sent the letter This call is to confirm that the office received your letter, and to ask if they need any more information. Give them your contact information so that if they have questions, they can call or email you. At this time, if you’re ready, you can ask for an in-person meeting as part of your follow up. See below for information on meetings!

Scheduling a Meeting with a Congressional Office (Local or in D.C.)

By Phone: Make a list of what you want to say to the scheduler and have it with you when you make the call to

schedule a meeting. It may sound silly, and you may never even look at it, but it will boost your confidence and give you a better idea of what you plan to say.

Check your Senator or Representative’s website. They will list the phone number for both the D.C. office and any other local offices they have. Write down the number.

Tell them who you are, what group you’re with and that you’d like to schedule a meeting about the Youth PROMISE Act. Let them know you’ve written some letters, and you’re hoping to follow up on that contact with an in-person meeting.

Give them some possible dates for a meeting, and tell them who else will be attending.

Schedule the meeting, and confirm with them the day before by calling to make sure your appointment didn’t get bumped.

Remember, if they don’t pick up on the first round, you can leave a message and try calling again in a few hours.

By Email: Call the local or DC office and ask for the name of the person who deals directly with justice issues.

o This will likely be a legislative assistant or legislative director.

If you’re calling a Representative’s office, ask if their email address is “standard House form” which means it will be firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov.

If you’re calling a Senator’s office, ask if their email address is “standard Senate form” which means it will be firstname_lastname@senator’slastname.senate.gov, and if they tell you it is “Standard Judiciary form” that means the email address will be firstname_lastname@judiciary-rep.senate.gov

o Keep in mind that they are not allowed to give you the direct email so you need to follow these instructions instead of just asking for the email!

Send an email asking to meet with them about the Youth PROMISE Act, a bill to reduce youth violence. Let them know when you’re available and how many people will be present.

Sample Agenda for YPA Meeting: Introductions

First, thank the aide or Congressperson for meeting with you.

Everyone in the group should introduce themselves and say where they are from.

Be sure to ask the aide about themselves, too! You can ask what brought them into this work, what their area of focus is etc.

Share a little bit about your group. What are you doing on campus? What is something you’ve accomplished that you feel proud of?

Overview of YPA

Highlight the key elements of the bill.

Talk about why this legislation is important to you

Share information about the success of the bill, which can include the number of co-sponsors or the names of co-sponsors that they might know of. Find out where the bill is in the process of getting it passed.

Connecting YPA to your district or state

Talk about how youth violence is affecting your community, congressional district, or state. If possible, provide one or two local statistics about youth crime/violence. If you can’t find any, national numbers are still very helpful.

Highlight local programs that could be helped by YPA. If you can’t find information about local programs, try to find an effective program elsewhere that addresses an issue that your community faces.

Talking with Representatives or Senators

Thank them for something they’ve done. Looking at their websites beforehand will help you understand the accomplishments or topics that they most value. If you can find something relating to youth issues, violence prevention, or support for prison reform, that would be best.

Emphasize the aspects of YPA that match the work they’ve been doing. If, for example, your elected official has worked in support of police officers in the past, be sure to highlight how YPA would require communities that receive funding to include law enforcement in developing a strategy for youth violence. If they’ve worked to reduce sex trafficking, mention that the same youth who are at risk for slipping through the cracks and getting involved in sex trafficking are the ones who might be supported by the Youth PROMISE Act.

Questions

Answer any questions the aide may have. You should be familiar enough with the bill to answer major questions such as funding sources, where the bill stands in committee, and who the lead co-sponsors are. You can always call us to find out these answers. Type these answers up and make copies for the aide to keep.

If you don’t know the answers to their questions, let them know that you will find out for them. This is a great opportunity to build a relationship after the meeting is over. DO NOT make up an answer that you think is right, but aren’t sure of.

Make the ask

Make a clear ask for you Representative or Senator to commit to an action, whether it is signing on to the Youth PROMISE Act or becoming a champion for the legislation by writing a “Dear Colleague Letter” if they are already a co-sponsor.

It is important to be direct and specific in your ask. Ask a question requiring a yes or no answer, such as “Will the Senator sign on to this legislation?” If the aide cannot give you a direct answer right away, be sure to get all of their contact information, and ask them to give you a deadline by which time they will have an answer. Follow up with them if they haven’t gotten back to you by that time.

Closing the meeting

Thank the aide for meeting with you.

Confirm any agreements for follow up and provide them with the contact information of a point-person in your group.

Ask to take a picture with the aide or Congressperson! Always get a picture of your group lobbying for use on social media and to be featured on our blog.

After the meeting

Promptly send them a written thank you note. If you meet with someone in the D.C. office, it’s better to send an email or a quick phone call to thank them, as snail mail takes a while to get through security on the Hill.

Follow through with any promises you’ve made. General tips:

Dress professionally. Be presentable and clean. No jeans, shorts, flip flops, or t-shirts!

Maintain a respectful dialogue at all times, even when you disagree.

It’s helpful to have one person facilitate the meeting. When you’re in the meeting, conversation can get away from the original agenda because of questions or opinions that may arise. The facilitator’s job is to keep the meeting on track, smoothly transition through the conversation, and make sure that everyone is included.

Everyone should have something to say, and parts can be assigned when you create the meeting agenda.

The meeting is a conversation and part of building a relationship, so add something personal. You can share what has drawn you to this work or any programs or experiences that have inspired or affected you.

Build trust by being truthful in everything you say. If you don’t know something, offer to find out and follow up with an answer after the meeting.

Be persistent, but not harassing. Congressional staffers are busy and may not return your call immediately, but do not give up! Checking in once a month shows you’re still concerned about the issue, checking in every day shows that you’re a little scary!!

Be aware of how much time you have and respect the time that has been given to you.

Remember to take pictures!!! Don’t be afraid to ask the aide or Congressperson for pictures. They will always oblige!

Materials to bring:

The Advocacy Materials page on the website has a printable packet with all the materials you need to bring to the meeting. DON’T FORGET THEM! They include a copy of the bill, a section-by-section description, Overview and Key Highlights sheet and some others.

If you can find information, create a fact sheet with local statistics about local youth violence issues and programs that YPA might support. You may also want to print a state factsheet, which we have on the website. If your state doesn’t have a factsheet on our site, let us know a few weeks before you schedule a meeting and we’ll create one for you.

Peace Alliance and Student Peace Alliance staff and board lobbying for the Youth PROMISE Act at Representative Ted Yoho’s office on the Hill in D.C.

Speeches on Youth PROMISE Act This section is full of information about lobbying congress, and will give you a step-by-step explanation of how to be effective.

Elevator speech (Good for presenting quickly when you only have a minute to tell someone about YPA) Time: less than 1 minute The Youth PROMISE Act as proposed in the House and Senate is a bipartisan piece of legislation that will implement and fund evidence-based practices related to juvenile justice and criminal gang activity. It is a cost saving bill that gives communities the power to decide which local programs will be supported, and the bill sets up infrastructures for accountability. It will work to interrupt the cradle to prison pipeline that is far too common today- by supporting proven prevention and intervention strategies. The Act will not just encourage, but require local leadership of oversight of these programs through community based committees. All credible research shows that prevention programs for at-risk youth work and are effective. They will greatly reduce crime and save much more than they cost. And most importantly, these programs save lives. I support the Youth PROMISE Act because it will provide the programs that empower our youth while creating a lasting legacy of community health for generations to come.

Short Speech

(Try to bring in an example of a community program that might be supported by the bill!) Time: less than 3 minutes The Youth PROMISE Act as proposed in the House and Senate is a bipartisan piece of legislation that will implement and fund already existing, community based, effective practices related to juvenile justice and criminal gang activity. It will work to interrupt the cradle to prison pipeline that is far too common today- by supporting proven prevention and intervention strategies. The act will not just encourage, but require local leadership of oversight of these programs through community based committees. Occurrences of youth violence have reached epidemic proportions right now in the United States. For example, you may be surprised to learn that homicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24, and of that age group, homicide is the leading cause of death for black youth. The Youth PROMISE Act would provide one of the most comprehensive and powerful set of resources ever used to approach the tragic challenges of youth violence and delinquency. This kind of support is long past due. The challenges we face demand that we propose and implement significantly more proactive solutions. Using proven intervention and prevention based programs, the Youth PROMISE Act calls for local councils to develop a custom-tailored PROMISE plan for their community. The continual evaluation of these plans for performance standards holds each community accountable for their funding. All credible research shows that evidence-based prevention programs for at-risk youth will greatly reduce crime and save much more money than they cost. And, most importantly, these programs save lives. This is a piece of legislation that will be a beacon of hope and real possibility for youth and communities across the country, helping to interrupt longstanding cycles of oppression, despair and lack of resources. It will provide for programs that empower our youth while creating a lasting legacy of community health for generations to come.

Advocating to the Media This section is focused on communicating with the media in order to gain attention and advocate for the Youth PROMISE Act. The goal of media relationships is to ultimately have your local newspaper take your position in support of the Youth PROMISE Act. This is done through a variety of ways and careful communication. If you get ANYTHING published, SEND IT TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR’S OFFICES. Download the editorial packet on the website for more information.

Letter to the Editor Basic Steps:

Identify local daily newspapers or school newspapers.

Look in the paper or online to their letters to the editor section to find the criteria for submitting a letter. Sometimes there are word limits- if so, be extremely concise!

Read a few letters to the editor that they have published to get an idea of how writers begin them.

(Optional) Identify local area peacebuilding entities to mention.

Ascertain whether your two US Senators and/or any local US House Members are already co-sponsoring the Youth PROMISE Act (so you will know whether to thank them or urge them to co-sponsor)

Write and submit your letter, using their criteria and the E.P.I.C. format below.

The “E.P.I.C.” Format Engage: Start with an interesting hook. Scanning the paper for articles to respond to is a great way to bring the editors in. Say someone wrote about a recent shooting. For example, you may start the letter by saying “Just last week, we all heard about the tragic shooting in our local high school.”

Problem: Mention (in your own words) the national tragedy of rampant violence and incarceration among American youth, and provide a few statistics (e.g. Homicide and suicide are the second and third leading causes of death in the US among people aged 15-191, The US is about 5% of the world’s population, yet accounts for more than 25% of the world’s incarceration2, A 2002 study found that the US incarcerates more than ten times as many people under age 18 as any of the of the other 20 industrialized nations studied – in most cases more than twenty times as many.3) More stats can be found at www.peacealliance.org under the Tools and Education tab. Click on “Statistics on Violence and Peace.” Inform About the Solution: There are courageous people in our city (or throughout our nation) who are working every day to reduce violence, to strengthen peaceful community. Who are some local peacebuilding heroes among youth in your area? If you are not aware of any, you can talk about peer mediation programs, social/emotional learning and, restorative practices in school discipline, after-school programs, or Big Brothers/Big Sisters. [ E.g. After the Longmont Community Justice Partnership (in Longmont Colorado) implemented its Community Restorative

1 Child Trends Data Bank - http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=teen-homicide-suicide-and-firearm-deaths 2 Talvi, Silja J.A. (2007). Women Behind Bars: The Crisis of Women in the U.S Prison System. California: Seal Press. pp. xv. 3 Figures for September 2002, taken from report entitled “Cross-national comparison of youth justice” (Youth Justice Board, 2008)

Justice Program, recidivism rates among youth dropped to less than 10% in its first three years4; and in West Philadephia High School, within two years of implementing a Restorative Discipline program, incidents of assault and disorderly conduct dropped more than 65%5].

Tell how such programs need much more attention and funding (though the projected eventual cost savings from reducing incarceration are huge) and how the Youth PROMISE Act, a bi-partisan bill currently before both houses of Congress. (H.R. 1318 and S. 1307), would empower local communities to choose the solutions best suited to their needs.

The bill 1) funds evidence-based violence prevention & intervention practices, 2) empowers local control and community oversight, 3) reduces crime and saves taxpayer money, and 4) creates accountability by linking funding to measurable success.

Cities that receive grants under the Youth PROMISE Act will be required to track governmental cost savings that accompany a drop in crime, and recapture a portion of those savings to keep the PROMISE programs alive after the federal grant period ends.

The bill's passage would create unprecedented investments in proven community-based violence prevention and intervention practices, such as mentoring, after school programs and other innovative diversion strategies.

Call to Action:

Thank your US Senators and Members of the House of Representatives (by name) for co-sponsoring the bill or ask them to do so if they are not co-sponsors. (See the “Basic Steps” above, number 5 for a way to find out if your Federal Representatives are co-sponsors). You might also call on fellow citizens, to support local peacebuilders where possible, with time and money and to support The Youth Promise Act via www.YouthPromiseAction.org.

Signing Off

Under your signature mention that you are a member of the Student Peace Alliance at your local school.

Sample Letter to the Editor (200 words) The recent school shooting in our community has sparked an important conversation about youth violence prevention. Young people are getting involved in cycles of violence across the country due to a lack of resources geared toward positive development, conflict resolution and social and emotional learning. States spend up to $200k per year on each incarcerated youth, and a study showed that the U.S. incarcerates over 10 times more youth than each of the 20 industrialized countries researched. But there is something we can do about it. The Youth PROMISE Act (HR1318/S1307) is a federal bill that would fund locally determined, already existing evidence-based programs aimed at dealing with youth violence and crime, such as the XYZ Organization in our community. The bill will empower local control, accountability and community oversight, and would significantly reduce crime and save a tremendous amount of taxpayer money. I want to urge our Representative, John Doe, and Senators A and B, to co-sponsor this bill. By focusing on prevention and early intervention, we can save the lives of young people in our community who may otherwise fall victim to cycles of violence, crime and incarceration. Please visit YouthPromiseAction.org to learn more and take action! Sally Kaplan, Member of the XYZ University Student Peace Alliance. (Include contact info if possible!)

4 National Research Center’s Analysis of the Longmont Community Justice Partnership 2007-2009 http://www.lcjp.org/images/stories/pdf/LCJP_2007-2009_Report_Final.pdf 5 “Improving School Climate; Findings from Schools Implementing Restorative Practices” a report from the International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2009.

Submitting an Op-Ed

An Op-Ed (Opposite the Editorial page) is a longer article or essay written on current topics by folks with some sort of expertise. Submitting the Op-Ed may be the beginning of your relationship with the editorial board of the paper, unless you’ve previously submitted enough letters to the editor that they recognize your name. Make sure your communication with them is done with care and courtesy!

Basic Steps: Choose the newspaper you want to write to

Research their rules for printing Op-Eds (timing, length, etc.)

Craft your pitch! Send an email with the Op-Ed included in the body of the email- not attached.

Follow up with a phone call to discuss publication and also discuss the issue-get to know each other

Summary of a Good Pitch (adapted from World Pulse)

A good pitch answers these questions: Why now? Why is this newsworthy at this moment?

So what? Why should people care? o The rates of violence and incarceration among our youth is a tragic epidemic

Why me? Why am I the best one to write this piece? o The Peace Alliance and Student Peace Alliance were named by the Youth PROMISE Act’s initial

sponsor Congressman Bobby Scott (VA) as the lead grassroots advocacy organization in support of the bill.

An email pitch should include:

Your idea in a few lines.

Your credentials-only those that are relevant.

The finished piece pasted below your pitch.

Your contact information. Aspects of a successful pitch:

Timely.

Well written.

Brief and clear.

Conveys expertise.

Unexpected (AHA!) point of view. Follow up (if the editor responds):

Thank your editor. Even if they say “no.” Remember that “no” can be the beginning of a relationship that leads to “yes.” If they published you, thank them not for showcasing you but rather for giving space to the ideas and thoughts.

Follow up (if there is no response):

Have a time limit. If your idea has a very short shelf life, you might give an editor a day or less to respond. If it is evergreen, give it a week or more. Then send a follow-up email to your editor saying that you’d still like to run your piece in their publication, but since the piece is timely, if you don’t hear from them by the end of the day or week, you will assume that they have passed, and you’ll be submitting your op-ed elsewhere.

Note, some newspapers will not consider your piece if you submit to multiple papers at the same time. If you do so, tell editors in your pitch, unless you know what their rule is.

ALWAYS SEND ANYTHING YOU GET PUBLISHED TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

AND SENATORS!!!

Reporting to SPA

Importance: Reporting your letters to the editor, op-eds, congressional meetings and outreach events to us is vital. In order to measure the success of our grassroots efforts, we need to know what is taking place on the ground, and we rely on you to tell us! Forms: The “Campus Organizing” section of the website has a tab labeled “Reporting Form” where you can submit information about your actions and meetings! Always make sure to tell us how many actions were taken, (how many letters to the editor were submitted, how many were accepted) and send us the links to anything you get published so we can highlight it on the blog!

If you need support for any of the lobbying or advocacy you plan to do, please don’t hesitate to call or email us!