Advocate

*People Monarch serves and Board Members met with Rep. Dean Arp and other legislators during a visit to the N.C. General Assembly in April 2025.*

Your voice matters! As parents, families and friends of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and/or mental illness, you have a unique perspective to share with current and future lawmakers.

Critical issues are on the table and we invite you to share your thoughts with legislators. Those issues currently include protection of Medicaid, expansion of the Innovations Waiver, direct support professionals’ wages and access to care for people who need Monarch’s services. Do your local, state and federal representatives, regardless of party, understand those issues?

Take a moment today to research the voting record of your representatives and review the list below for steps you can take to make your voice heard on the issues that are most important to you and your loved ones.

Step One: Know Your Legislators

Knowing who represents you in local, state and federal government is the critical first step in advocating for your loved ones and the services that support them. Click below to find your representatives using your home address.

Find Your Federal Representatives

Find Your State Representatives

Step Two: Understand the Issues

Monarch leaders are connected with state and federal legislators as well as the US Department of Health and Human Services, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the state’s managed care organizations and industry organizations like the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), and the Arc, as well as other local and federal advocacy organizations. We encourage you to follow these organizations and Monarch to understand the issues.

Please sign up to receive Monarch’s Action Alert advocacy emails, which will be sent when information is available and a call to action is warranted.

Action Alert Emails

Join us as an advocate today! Monarch will share Action Alert emails with interested parties when information is available and action is called for on behalf of the people we support and the critical services Monarch provides.

Step Three: Contact Your Legislators

Once you know who your representatives are and you have a grasp of the issues at hand, contact your representatives. Whenever possible, Monarch will provide scripts or talking points to help guide your conversations.

Here are a few tips for effective communication with legislators:

Most important when reaching out to a legislator:
- Provide your name and address so they know you are a constituent.
- Be concise.
- Keep it simple.
- Make it personal and/or relatable
When contacting to ask for their support or for assistance is stopping a bill:
- Be specific
  - Bill #/Title that you support of oppose
  - Policy, you support or oppose
- Include at least one, but not more than three, succinct reasons you are in support, or oppose, a bill or policy position.
- Share your personal connection to why you support or oppose a particular bill or policy position.
When contacting to express thanks:
- Be specific as to why you are thanking them
  - For taking time to meet with you
  - For their support of a policy or bill
  - For their opposition of a policy or bill
  - For their involvement in an event
  - For a site visit
- Keep it short and concise

In many cases, calls or emails are routed to general mailboxes for response. While speaking directly with a representative is always ideal, voice mails and emails are logged as constituent feedback and are equally important.