Advocates get crash course in legislation

Oakland Tribune, Dec 25, 2005 by Josh Richman, STAFF WRITER

During a policy training sessions at the Family Violence Law Center in Oakland some time ago, associate executive director Cherri Allison realized there is a loophole in state laws protecting domestic violence victims.

No law directly protected such victims from being fired by bosses who fear a security risk or just don't want the hassle.

"I was thinking, 'Wow, wouldn't it be good if DV victims were protected as a class,' it's something to think about ... but that's not something I would've even thought I could do," she said.

Now she's thinking again. As one of 27 2005-26 fellows of the Women's Policy Institute -- including five from East Bay nonprofits - - Allison is getting a crash course in how to develop, enact, implement and oversee public policy.

"It's just given me a good, sound basis for understanding how policy gets implemented and how legislation gets drafted, the whole humongous maze that you have to go through to get something passed," she said. "As an average citizen, I had no idea how complicated that process is."

The nonpartisan WPI is a project of the Women's Foundation of California, a San Francisco-based advocacy and philanthropic group working to improve women's and girls' lives. Each class of fellows - - the current one is the third -- spends 12 months in the program, including four four-day retreats.

During their first retreat in October, the fellows got to know each other before reviewing the mechanics of how a bill becomes law and how advocates can affect the process; some of last year's fellows presented case studies. State Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D- Sacramento, and Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge, spoke to them about women's unique policy perspective and shared their own priorities for the coming year.

Then the fellows formed area-of-interest teams to begin choosing policy projects; WPI's staff brought in more than 30 speakers with expertise on issues from economic development to reproductive rights to discuss policy opportunities and priorities. By the fourth day's end, each team had come up with three policy project ideas to research before the next retreat.

When they reconvened earlier this month, they further refined their projects by starting to talk with lawmakers and Capitol staffers about possible partnerships. They also heard legislative staffers and experts speak about the "do's and don'ts" of policy- making. The next retreat will be in February.

Foundation spokeswoman Maya Thornell-Sandifor said the WPI received about 75 applications for this year's program.

"Usually the criteria is that they have some experience doing policy or advocacy work within their organization -- it might be more grass roots ... but we want some base knowledge of what it means to be an advocate," she said.

Fellows are chosen for a class that reflects the state's geographic, ethnic, age and issue diversity.

"Every retreat, we leave really energized and inspired and also a little bit overwhelmed by the details," said fellow J. Parker Dockray, executive director of the Women's Health Rights Coalition in Oakland. "It is complex, it is a maze, and you really need a program like this to walk you through the details... and demystify the process."

Past fellows helped draft or push successful bills making convicted drug felons eligible for food stamps; ensuring domestic violence victims have a right to a counselor or support person present during police or legal interviews; improving community college access for CalWORKs students whose primary language isn't English; requiring disclosure of carcinogens in cosmetics; and barring the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.

Allison is part of a team that's exploring legislation to protect the rights of incarcerated pregnant women. Dockray and fellow Nicole Monastersky, training and special projects manager at the Pharmacy Access Partnership in Oakland, are on a team exploring follow-ups to a 2003 law that revised, consolidated, clarified and expanded upon California's sex education curriculum.

"Our goal is to look at finding ways to increase access to information," Dockray said, especially among populations with high teen-pregnancy rates and limited access to prenatal and abortion care.

Monastersky said she sees the project as both exciting and timely, and she's grateful to WPI for giving her not only an introduction to the process but a forum in which she can affect policy with the "safety net" of WPI's experience beneath her.

"The people I've talked to have said, 'You're going to change California,'" she said. "It's baby steps, but it is exciting to be part of the process."

Other East Bay participants in the current WPI class include Aimee Durfee, program manager for Californians for Family Economic Self Sufficiency at the National Economic Development and Law Center in Oakland; Sharon Fuller, founder of the Ma'at Youth Academy in Richmond; and Walnut Creek's Rita Wustner, from the American Association of University Women's California branch. Five women from San Francisco-based agencies also are taking part.