General 2-1-1 Public Policy information:

• S.211 Legislation Fact Sheet:  Developed by United Way of America's Public Policy team as a "leave behind" document when contacting your Senator's office.
• H.R.211 Legislation Fact Sheet (corrected):  Developed by United Way of America's Public Policy team as a "leave behind" document when contacting your House Representative's office
• Senate Dear Colleague letter:  Letter from lead co-sponsors Sen. Patty Murray (D) of Washington and Sen. Richard Burr (R) of North Carolina inviting their Senate colleagues to sign on as co-sponsors of S.211.
• House Dear Colleague letter:  Letter from lead co-sponsors Rep. Anna Eshoo (D) of California and Rep. Lee Terry (R) of Nebraska inviting their House colleagues to sign on as co-sponsors of H.R.211. 
• How to Advocate Webinar: prepared by the UWA Public Policy team as part the 2009 United Way Capital Hill Day this is a short (30 minutes) webinar is helpful for beginners (and those public policy veterans wanting a refresher), covering important basics of engaging your congressional offices. If you don't have time to listen to the webinar but want to see the presentation slides click here.
• Ask to Co-Sponsor Template: Developed by Lucinda Nord, Vice President, Public Policy, Indiana Association of United Ways, for use by the 2-1-1 field.

2-1-1 Topics of Interest & Messaging:

• 2-1-1 Talking Points: Key talking points to emphasize when advocating for the "Calling for 2-1-1 Act."
• Calling for 2-1-1 Act FAQ:  Covers much of the same information as the Talking Points, but designed for distribution.
  
• 2-1-1 US Total Calls 2008:  A breakdown by state of the total calls handled by 2-1-1s across the US for 2008.
• 2-1-1 US Problem/Needs Categories for 2008: A breakdown of the problem/needs categories for the 2008 total calls.
  
• Quotations from Emergency Responders:  Focus on the positive impact of 2-1-1 on 911 and other emergency responders.

Sample 2-1-1 Advocacy Documents:

2-1-1 California:

211CA, a partnership of UWCA and CAIRS, developed the materials below to use in the 2-1-1 educational outreach and in their push for co-sponsors.The United Ways and 2-1-1 call centers work together closely to have a coordinated plan.  They determine who has the strongest relationship with the various House members and assign as lead person who is also responsible for coordinating with the partner organization, whether a 2-1-1 or a United Way. They bring in outside "influencer" when and where needed to help secure co-sponsorship. Below are links to their strategy memo, 2-1-1CA Fact Sheet, and sample co-sponsor ask letters.

• Strategy Memo for HR211 CA Cosponsorship effort
• 2-1-1 California Fact Sheet
• HR211 House cosponsor ask letter
• HR211cosponsor ask letter for conservatives
  

Arkansas 2-1-1:

Arkansas 2-1-1 is pursuing state legislation for 2-1-1 as well as engaging their members of congress to support the federal "Calling for 2-1-1 Act."  Below are copies of flyers they've developed as part of both of these campaigns.

• State House Bill 1739
• Arkansas 2-1-1 Success Stories:  a collection of successful 2-1-1 calls.
• S.211 flyer and H.R.211 flyer
  

If you have any questions relating to developing responses for 2-1-1 related issues, please send us an email at  pass211@211us.org.