Until relatively recently, virtually all of NCLR’s advocacy efforts were focused on federal policy, with little of the organization’s time or resources concentrated on state or local legislation. In the 1980s, this was an acceptable situation, given that at that time all of NCLR’s field activities were struggling for survival. This approach to policy changed with the enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). Commonly known as welfare reform, this law gave states the primary responsibility for determining who could receive a wide range of public services, including cash assistance, child care, and health insurance. Such broad devolution of power and responsibility to the states meant that, if NCLR wanted to influence policies that mattered to the Latino community, it would have to incorporate a new interest and commitment to state-level advocacy into its legislative agenda.
To pursue this new objective, NCLR devised models whereby it would either send its own staff to the states to do advocacy work, or provide funding and support to existing community-based organizations that had policy objectives compatible with NCLR’s broader agenda. This strategy entailed a new level of collaboration between policy staff working at the state level and those in the national offices, to allow for the exchange of relevant expertise between these two groups of advocates, and in order for NCLR to project a cohesive advocacy message that applied to all levels of government. Moreover, to ensure that state policies positively affected the communities they are intended to serve, NCLR staff have become increasingly involved in state-level implementation procedures. Again, attempts to guarantee effective implementation required stronger partnerships between staff in Washington and the community-based staff who could oversee this work from the ground level.
NCLR continues to refine the process of coordinating field advocacy into the fabric of its national legislative agenda. This process, spurred by the enactment of welfare reform, illustrates the ways in which NCLR’s policy priorities and strategies are largely shaped in response to an ever-changing political climate.
The following links provide snapshots of NCLR at crucial stages:
