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Instructions: Students will write a one-page advocacy letter to an elected official about an important community issue. Students must use the template provided or receive approval in advance for another format.
Your letter should:
a) Identity an important issue that affects families within a chosen community. What issue are you addressing?
b) Identify an appropriate elected official at the county, state, or national level; appropriate meaning someone in a position that can address your issue. In your letter, note the official’s correct title and their full name.
c) Describe how the issue affects children and families. Be specific!
d) Provide at least ONE key statistic AND empirical research to support your argument. Must include APA citation within your paragraph and include the reference at the bottom of the letter.
e) Describe specific actions you would like the elected official to take to address this family centered issue. What solution(s) are you proposing they take?
f) Date should be included at top of letter; at bottom of letter sign and print your name
g) Letter must meet appropriate length requirement of one page with 4 paragraphs, following the provided template.
h) Letter must be spell-checked and make grammatical sense.
i) Letter should be typed, single-spaced, use appropriate font (Times/Times New Roman, 12 point). Note that the appropriate spacing for each paragraph should follow the template: do not indent the start of each paragraph and use one line spacing in between paragraphs.
*The formatting guidelines for a letter are different from what I usually require for a paper.
**Use the template on the following page.
_________________________(Your full name)
_________________________(Your mailing address)
_________________________
Month day, year
Dear _________________ ___________________,
(Person’s Title) (Person’s Full Name)
Paragraph 1 – The Introduction: Briefly describe the problem and what action(s) you want your political representative to take to address it. (Three to four sentences). ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph 2 – The Issue: Describe in detail how the problem affects children and families. Be specific by giving a(n) example(s)! Include one statistic AND empirical research to support your argument. Use APA format. (Four to five sentences). ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph 3 – The Solution: In detail, state what your proposed solution is and how it will specifically address the problem. (Four to five sentences for each paragraph). ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph 4 – Call to Action: Describe what action you want the representative to take (e.g., provide funding, vote a certain way, endorse this cause publicly, etc.) Describe how this action will benefit children and families within your chosen community. (Four to five sentences for each paragraph). ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Sincerely,
__________________________ (Your signature)
__________________________ (Your printed name)
Cal State LA Student
Reference
Include your APA reference for any statistics/facts discussed above. Do not move to a separate page unless your letter carries onto a second page.