Events & Trainings
UPCOMING EVENTS
iForum 2013: Health Care, Housing & Homelessness: Target. Connect. Save.
Presented by the Partnership for Strong Communities
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Lyceum, 227 Lawrence Street, Hartford, CT 06106
(Directions: www.lyceumcenter.org)
8:30 am – 9:00 am: Coffee, pastry, conversation
9:00 am – 11:30 am: Program
Event is free. We expect strong attendance. Register now: laura@pschousing.org (If you do not receive an email confirmation within 2 business days, please contact Laura Bachman at 860-244-0066.)
More information: www.pschousing.org/2013-IForums
For a FULL COLOR Flyer suitable for printing and posting, click here
ANNUAL FALL TRAININGS
ESSENTIALS OF LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY: Fall 2013, Dates TBD
This teaches the “essentials” of the legislative process and how to influence elected officials. The two-day class will be held in a hearing room at the Legislative Office Building, 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT. A tour of the Capitol and LOB along with a box lunch is included. The training is $20 but scholarships are available for those in need.
LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP: Fall 2013, Dates TBD
This is for experienced advocates interested in knowing more details about the legislative process and playing a lead role in KTP advocacy at the LOB or locally. The two-day class will be held in a hearing room at the LOB. Lunch is provided. The cost is $20.
Scholarships as well as pre-approved travel and family care reimbursements may be available, pending availability of funds, for both trainings. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone interested in attending!
Register Now! by calling Maura for more information and registration forms at 1-800-215-3021 or 860-882-0236 or email us at keepthepromise@namict.org or ktpassistant@namict.org
OTHER TRAININGS
Listed below are descriptions of trainings that have been offered in past years and may be available to your group if there are 15 or more interested persons.
Please contact KTP at (800) 215-3021 to inquire about holding any of these trainings for your group/organization.
ESSENTIALS OF LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY TRAINING
KTP can offer a condensed version of this training at your location. Call KTP to discuss whether this “mini-version” of our Annual “Essentials of Legislative Advocacy” course would work for your group.
The two basic goals of this training are:
1. TO MAKE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH THE PEOPLE AND THE PROCESS
You do not need to be an expert on politics, the legislative process or the budget. YOU ARE ALREADY AN EXPERT based on your experience: person in recovery, family member, friend or provider.
2. TO HELP YOU FIGURE OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP
Each of us has different skills, assets or talents to contribute to advocacy — speaking, writing, calling, supporting, or drawing. They are all part of a successful advocacy campaign.
UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF THE STATE BUDGET PROCESS
Call KTP today to see if we can schedule this training or a condensed version for your group!
This new training is for seasoned advocates who have taken the Essentials of Legislative Advocacy and Legislative Leadership trainings, and are interested in detailed information about the workings of the state budget.
MEDICARE PART D LOW-INCOME SUBSIDY PRESENTATIONS AND INFORMATION TABLES!
The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Connecticut (NAMI-CT) held presentations and staffing informational tables to raise awareness in the mental health community of the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS) available to some Medicare Part D beneficiaries who meet income and resources limits. NAMI-CT is eager to come out to clubhouses, provider and other interested groups to present and distribute information about the LIS and how to apply. The LIS pays for 75% or more of prescription drug costs and in 2009 is estimated to be worth $3,923 at the pharmacy and as much as $298 in annual premiums. DSS estimates that there are 13,000 CT residents who don’t know that they are eligible for the LIS!
To find out when and where presentations and informational tables are currently scheduled, or to request a presentation or table for your group, or to have flyers and applications mailed to you, please contact Tom Burr at (800)215-3021 or at policystaff@namict.org.
GOLDEN PEN MEDIA TRAINING
“The pen is mightier than the sword.” Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
Focus the Media on Mental Health Services – MEDIA MATTERS!
Learn ways to use MEDIA to help get your message across & educate the public & your legislators about mental health issues. Learn about: Letters to the Editor, Turning Testimony into Letters, Radio talk shows, Interview Skills, Media Events.
SUPPORTIVE HOUSING TRAININGS
Housing Solutions: ending long-term homelessness and creating permanent supportive housing for those living with serious mental illnesses.
HOLDING LOCAL EVENTS
LEGISLATIVE BREAKFASTS, CANDIDATE FORUMS & MEETINGS WITH LEGISLATORS
Please contact KTP for assistance with scheduling a Legislative Breakfast, Candidate Forum (during election season) or other local event or scheduling a meeting with your legislator in the district. These events & meetings should take place in the district before the legislative session begins (and sometimes can be done in Hartford at the LOB after the session begins).
KTP can support you by providing blue ribbon pins, fact sheets, and assistance with planning, implementation, or scheduling meetings, etc. Please call today!
TIPS ON HOSTING A LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST OR EVENT
In general, a legislative breakfast or event should:
- Be no more than 1 hour.
- Be in the legislators’ home area BEFORE the session starts if possible – otherwise you may want to consider holding an evening meeting with simple hors d’oeuvres or dessert for example – whenever people can attend.
- Be hosted at the L.O.B. AFTER the session starts (it is hard for them to make something in their home towns once the session starts).
- Be hosted in an easily accessibly area such as a local social club/clubhouse, a Regional Mental Health Board room, or a NAMI Affiliate meeting place.
- Include invitations to all the Senators and Representatives in several surrounding towns that your organization or group serves (if you invite 12 people, commonly some will not be able to attend).
- Invite legislators and community stakeholders 3-4 weeks in advance of the event with a deadline for the RSVP’s.
- Be sure to follow-up with friendly phone calls to legislators and community members you haven’t heard from approximately 1 week before the event.
- Serve simple breakfast items such as coffee, tea, juice, bagels, muffins, or pastries.
- Be a COLLABORATIVE EFFORT between an agency program, such as a clubhouse, a local NAMI affiliate, the Regional Mental Health Board, etc.
- Be creative! (Displaying clubhouse members’ art, for example, can be a great way to initiate conversation).
- Focus on a couple of key issues (such as funding Supportive Housing and specific Community Services) you know will be important in the upcoming Legislative Session.
- Be less formal with a small group (everyone might have time to go around and briefly introduce themselves and very briefly state their issues with the mental health system such as supportive housing needs or successes). Be more structured for a larger group (have a couple key people highlight 2 or 3 important issues for your group).
- Have an “ask” – a statement regarding your hope for their specific support or legislation. For example, you could ask the legislators to support funding 650 new units of Supportive Housing.
- Allow time for the legislator(s) to respond to the issues that have been outlined for them.
- Take pictures! Get your event published in a local newspaper! You can include photos and/or an article.
- Always thank your legislators for attending. Send them a thank you note and reinforce your issues and/or “asks”.
KTP can lend support by answering questions, providing collaborative leads such as local NAMI affiliates, Regional Mental Health Board contacts, youth based groups, etc., providing fact sheets (Supportive Housing, Alternatives to Incarceration, Young Adult Services, Raising the Income Limit for Medicaid, etc.) and annual KTP legislative priorities.
Please call KTP at (860) 882-0236; (800) 215-3021 or email us at keepthepromise@namict.org with any questions or for support. Schedule breakfasts and meetings with your legislators TODAY! These meetings are an important and effective way to let your legislators know how they can affect change both locally and statewide!
