Policy expertise: It probably isn't in your job description. If it were, what would it say? "Must be current on all relevant state and federal policies that impact population our program serves." Or "Needs to be fluent in policy, including, but not limited to, state and federal budgeting processes." And yet, the way our programs run can be significantly influenced by policy, not just the amount of public money we're awarded, but also whom we can serve, what services we can provide, and the outcomes that are desired.

There's a world of public policy out there and too many things to do in classrooms and programs to necessarily know and track beyond the scope of our immediate concerns. State and federal budgets get our attention—especially the numbers. Is there an increase? A cut? But we all know there is more to policy than the budget.

The civic lesson of how a bill becomes law and the understanding that "all politics is local" (as Tip O'Neill said) are foundation concepts to understanding public policy as it affects our work. They are important, but equally important is seeing that policy is informed by actual experiences of what works and doesn't. This is expertise you already have. You and the adult learners you teach have invaluable knowledge of how policy functions at the service delivery level-the person and program level. You know the barriers learners face in successfully preparing for and landing a job. You know, as one practitioner put it "that helping a learner get a job is easy compared to helping them to retain it" You know that often learner's choices are limited.

Grassroots Workforce Development Policy Advocacy in Massachusetts
The local workforce development scene within which your program offers services has many actors: community based organizations, One Stop Career Centers, community colleges, private for profit training schools, workforce investment boards, and associated councils (youth councils, adult literacy councils, skills training task forces, etc.). And in the course of your daily work, you may have a clear sense of how to fix policy that doesn't work, fixes that would make services more effective for your learners. You probably see possibilities that aren't fully realized in existing policies.

This perspective that you and your learners have about effectiveness and efficiency is under tapped in policy development and policy improvement. This knowledge is a powerful tool that can be used to help formulate and refine existing policy as well as shape new policies to address issues that are currently unseen or inadequately understood.

The Massachusetts Workforce Alliance (MWA)
MWA is a five-year-old coalition of 10 workforce development coalitions all sharing a conviction that workforce development services offered to low-income communities by community-based organizations are an essential aspect of the state's workforce development system. Think of MWA as a big tent. A policy tent that values both the individual policy concerns of the member coalitions as well as the common policy priorities that cut across coalition efforts and the populations served. This is a tent which serves as the rallying point for issues of importance to those within the tent. These 10 coalitions represent over 250 community-base d and other organizations and many thousands of adult learners and job skills training participants.

The PEER Project
The PEER project is the grassroots policy advocacy effort of MWA. Fundamental to the PEER project is the recognition that in order to truly understand and help to shape policy, practitioners—teachers, counselors, program coordinators—need to know and value the expertise they have. They also need to come together across services to suggest appropriate changes in policy. The PEER project has two main components: PEER project training and PEER policy advocacy Web site.

Is There Room for Me and My Learners Under the Tent?
Yes, there's room under the tent for you. The insight and perspective that working at the service delivery level provides workforce development practitioners is a powerful tool when it is used knowledgeably, strategically and responsibly to do advocacy. Policy advocacy is knowing the system and its landscape; having a detailed understanding of the interplay of policy makers and service delivery actors; having clarity and data about the disconnects, but also the successes of the way that the system is working on the ground for learners and program participants. Policy advocacy is being able to make a compelling, well-supported, argument for specific policy changes or policy development that will address a well-documented need. And, it is about making that argument to the person or agency best suited to support and/or implement change. It is also about volume and persuasion.

PEER Project Training
Through the PEER project training, MWA-trained community educators (all of whom are workforce development practitioners) work with groups of workforce development practitioners to identify policy issues, point to important changes, develop a strategic advocacy approach and implement it. The training is three sessions and offered at no cost to groups across the state. All of this done in the context of the big tent-policy issues identified in one region of the state are food for thought in another area, advocacy approaches of one group inform advocacy work of another. And through it all, the priorities are: bringing the expertise of the field to policy discussions; maintaining a commitment to meeting the workforce development needs of low-income communities and raising the roof of the big tent by working together on behalf of learners and their communities.

What's in It for You
What you'll get by participating is an understanding of the workforce development policy and advocacy context, connection to other practitioners with shared priorities, and support to use your experience and expertise to make important changes. Specifically, you'll learn how to make compelling, well-supported arguments for policy change and you'll gain the tools to do it persuasively.

PEER Policy Advocacy Web Site
To help raise the roof even more, MWA has launched a unique policy-in-the-making Web site: peer.mwapolicy.org. At this site, you can submit policy issues and suggestions for change that you and your learners have identified, and you can read what other workforce development practitioners have proposed. The more voices rallying under the tent, the more powerful we will be when we advocate together for policies that best serve our learners. For more information about the PEER project training or to schedule an information session for your organization or local group, contact Alex Risley Schroeder through the contact information below. And, please, visit peer.mwapolicy.org often and add your perspective and expertise. It needs to be heard.

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Alix Risely Schroeder is the west/central coordinator for the Massachusetts Workforce Alliance. She has worked in ABE and workforce development for more than 15 years. She can be reached by phone at 413-586-1683 or at: arisschroe@comcast.net