Know the Issues

NCDA Federal Advocacy Platform

NOTE: Policy Areas are not in order of priority. The priority of these areas will evolve to reflect prominent issues in the legislature. NCDA members are welcome to join the GRC at the next virtual Quarterly Town Hall meeting to provide input.

Policy Areas

1. Employment Opportunities and Job Market Adaptability
• Focus 1: Advocating for federal policies that foster a dynamic and inclusive job market, ensuring opportunities for all skill levels and backgrounds.
• Focus 2: Pushing for legislation that supports job transition programs, particularly for workers in declining industries or those impacted by automation and digital transformation.
• Focus 3: Collaboration with federal agencies to develop and promote initiatives that match job seekers with opportunities based on current and forecasted labor market trends.
2. Student Career Services
• Focus 1: Educate policymakers and advocate for the continuum of career services from early education through the end of life, with particular emphasis on meaning and purpose derived from work.
• Focus 2: Advocating for and supporting funding for high-quality career services in K-12 settings.
• Focus 3: Advocating for and supporting funding for high-quality career services in higher education institutions at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional (e.g. law and medical school) levels.
• Focus 4: Advocating for and supporting funding for high-quality career services in vocational programs, community programs, and additional services for minors and adults.
3. Professional Accreditation and Certification Standards
• Focus: Lobbying for federal standards and support for the accreditation and certification of career development professionals to ensure quality and uniformity across the field, with particular emphasis on NCDA’s professional and ethical standards, including credentials approved by the NCDA Credentialing Commission.
4. Access to Professional Development
• Focus: Advocacy for federal grants or subsidies aimed at promoting ongoing professional development among practitioners and educators in the career development field.
5. Workforce Development and Education
• Focus: Collaboration with federal agencies, including the Department of Education and the Department of Labor, to integrate career development into national education policies and workforce development programs.
6. Equal Opportunity and Inclusion
• Focus: Promoting legislation that ensures all individuals, especially those from underrepresented and marginalized groups, have equitable access to career development resources and opportunities.
• Focus: Advocating for legislation to protect workers from discrimination, especially those from underrepresented and marginalized groups.
7. Special Populations
• Focus: Advocating for legislation and programs that support special populations, including military veterans, individuals with disabilities, reentering formerly incarcerated individuals, immigrants, and other groups with barriers to workforce participation.
8. Mental Health and Career Development
• Focus: Pushing for policies that integrate career development as part of broader mental health and well-being initiatives at the federal level.
9. Funding for Research and Innovation
• Focus: Advocating for federal funding to facilitate research in career development trends, technologies, and best practices.
10. Small Business Development
• Focus: Support funding and programs supporting small businesses, including tax structures to support small businesses and their owners.
11. Data Privacy and Ethical Compliance
• Focus: Advocacy for ethical standards and data protection laws relevant to the gathering and storage of client information in the career development sector.

The Art of “The Ask”

Asking for something specific is sometimes the only way to get a Congressional office's attention. Your goal is to force someone in the office to think about you and your issues for longer than 5 minutes -- making the "ask" helps you achieve that goal. There are essentially two kinds of asks:

1. Policy - oriented around specific legislative or government initiatives (e.g., asking a member to support funding for programs in the Workforce Investment Act)

2. Relationship-building “asks” are things you ask for that aren’t necessarily policy-related, such as a site visit, but that may help you with policy “asks” in the future.

What Current Legislation and Policy Issues are NCDA Following Now?

NCDA is following three key federal issues that will impact career counselors. They are:

1. Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

2. Workforce Investment Act

3. Appropriations for the Departments of Labor and Education

Each of these includes policy provisions, program developments or spending cuts that will directly affect career counselors across the country. Following are details on each:

Briefing: Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization

Briefing: Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization

Briefing: Appropriations

Resources:

Tips for Relationship-Building Asks:

Ask your elected officials to be actively engaged - it enhances their investment in your issue. Following are some options for your elected official to consider.

• Visit something in the community that relates to your ask, such as a career counseling center (see “at home strategies” for more information on how to set one up).
• Write an article for your newsletter.
• Submit a statement for your Web site or participate in an online discussion.
• Hold a town hall or community meeting on your issue (see “at home strategies” for more information on how to attend a townhall meeting).
• Meet with you and other supporters in the district office.

Know Your Elected Officials

Almost every citizen of the United States has two Senators and one House Representative (sorry territories and D.C., you have just one delegate). To be an effective advocate, there are a few things you should know about your elected officials:

Who are they?

Look up your Federal legislators: Go to www.house.gov and/or www.senate.gov

Look up State legislators: Go to your state legislative website.

What are their politics, background and interests?

Try www.votesmart.org or www.congress.org for a more comprehensive background.

What are their policy interests?

Go to www.congress.gov to look up bills they’ve introduced.

What are their connections to career counseling issues? Review their biographical information to see what schools they’ve gone to or the careers they’ve had.

RESOURCE:

This background information will help you craft messages that resonate with your legislators (discussed further in the “Tell Your Story” section. For example, members interested in business issues will respond to arguments about the economic benefits of career counseling. Legislators interested in technology issues will want to know more about the work being done to bring career counseling in to the 21st Century.