Frequently Asked Questions:

What is New Voices at the Civic Table? What are its main ideas and goals?

• New Voices at the Civic Table is an initiative of the Alliance for Children and Families. The initiative has emerged in a time of decreased human service funding and increased need, with the recognition that human service agencies are looking to find new and enhanced ways to address the problems that face the communities they serve.
  
  The goal of the project is to assist agencies and the broader human services field to take steps towards incorporating civic participation strategies into the services they already provide for the needy. Since the initiative's inception in 2005, fourteen Alliance member agencies have received grants to implement and test unique strategies to increase and strengthen client civic engagement. New Voices, ultimately, seeks to encourage human service providers to recognize and facilitate change among individuals receiving services, who are traditionally viewed as disempowered peoples. 
  
  Recognizing and facilitating change by promoting informed civic engagement is not an easy task, and requires the full commitment of both organization and participant(s). We believe, however, that human service staff have a unique ability and insight to more fully support and engage participants in the democratic process.

Why the Alliance for Children & Families?

• The Alliance for Children & Families, as a membership association that provides capacity building resources and action on advocacy issues, is committed to helping transform the culture of service provision. The Alliance hopes that providers empower service recipients in community- and self-advocacy; and are ever-aware of the complexities of issues and problems, structural and economic, impacting clients and participants.

Who supports New Voices at the Civic Table?

• The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Philanthropic Collaborative have provided support for the initiative.

How can I get involved?

• To learn more about the project, please contact Linda Nguyen at Lnguyen@alliance1.org  or 202-429-0400 ext 25. We will be able to provide you with further information, including example case descriptions and program characteristics that typify the goals of civic engagement.

How can I connect with others concerned with these issues?

• We are excited about the growing interest in the initiative and hope you will want to stay engaged. Please contact Linda Nguyen at Lnguyen@alliance1.org or 202-429-0400 ext 25 to sign up for the Alliance's Civic Engagement email list. Periodically, we also hold teleconferences on topics of interest to this group.

What happens at the end of the project?

• We hope to continue New Voices at the Civic Table as a part of the Alliance's Civic Engagement program, through 2012. Efforts have been made to document effective practices from participating agencies and their outcomes. Project staff will continue to engage the national network and local networks to allow for continuing peer support among agencies and participants, and assemble resources for a process to replicate and expand this initiative to more localities.

Are there tools and resources to help me present this information to others?

• There are tools and resources available to help you present this information to others. Please contact Linda Nguyen at Lnguyen@alliance1.org or 202-429-0400 ext 25 to request these tools.

What is the difference between the ideas behind New Voices at the Civic Table and traditional nonprofit advocacy?

• Nonprofit organizations indeed have a role as institutions to become active in advocacy, speaking out as organizations or as members of a coalition on issues they care about. New Voices speaks to another role that nonprofit organizations can play – and that is in developing the capacities for active civic participation of clients and program participants.