By Becky Bruce

The Public Policy and Advocacy Committee (PPAC) has been charged with the duty of prioritizing the needs of all amputees. The focus and duty of the Committee is explained in this article, written by Brad Ruhl, ACA Board Member and Chairman of the PPAC. The intent of the Committee is to accurately represent the ACA database in advocacy efforts that have been identified by our constituency. The PPAC was not designed to advocate on behalf of individuals, but to represent the amputee community as a whole. Everyone has the opportunity to be heard and to express his or her opinions on matters that affect every aspect of amputee life by completing the survey found on the ACA Web site and in the May/June issue of inMotion. By completing the survey, our constituency has the opportunity to guide the Committee in a direction that best serves the entire amputee community.

The ACA has, for many years, taken a leading role in communicating the issues and concerns of amputees to a variety of professional and governmental agencies and individuals. This has been accomplished by the hard work, dedication, and drive of many individuals and groups both from within the ACA itself and outside the organization. However, in an attempt to embolden the efforts of all these different forces, the Board of Directors of the ACA recently adopted a more formalized process for sifting through the various issues, prioritizing them and then developing a more focused approach to publicly stating our position and promoting that position through advocacy efforts.

Advocacy, by definition, means to support, encourage, back, sponsor and or promote on behalf of something or someone. And advocacy on behalf of individuals that are affected by limb loss is both central and vital to fulfilling ACA's mission: to reach out to people with limb loss to empower them through education, support and advocacy. Through this public policy making process, a newly formed PPAC will identify new public policy issues, determine positions and direct ACA staff to carry-out advocacy actions through a variety of channels, including: concerned individuals and caregivers, support group leadership, volunteers, allied healthcare professionals, etc. The PPAC will be comprised of a subset of members of the Board of Directors and senior ACA staff. In most instances, advocacy actions or policy recommendations will consist of the development and advancement of official public policy statements and positions on the major issues.

It is incumbent upon the PPAC to strive to ensure that official statements and positions are aligned with the overall mission, goals and objectives of the ACA and that they are communicated frequently and clearly through every channel available to all ACA members, volunteers, staff, leadership and other organization friends and partners. When ACA does not have an established public policy position, PPAC will organize Policy Review Groups (PRGs), which will consider the issue and develop a formal policy statement. PRGs will be ad hoc entities comprised of ACA members, staff and volunteers--as well as others from the broader community, including partner organizations and experts--to discuss the issues and offer input and advice to the PPAC regarding support or opposition to the issues. Once this is complete, it will be up to the PPAC to take appropriate action by authorizing certain actions or submitting recommendations to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for approval. In addition, a Grassroots Committee comprised of ACA members, staff, and volunteers will work with the PPAC to develop targeted grassroots efforts around key ACA advocacy priorities. You now have the opportunity to let us know the issues and policies of greatest concern to you. The Public Policy Survey is now available to everyone on the ACA web site (http://www.amputee-coalition.org/aca_advocacy.html), as well as the May/June issue of inMotion. This is your opportunity to let your opinions be known and to let your voices be heard. Please, take advantage of it! 

Thank you,

ACA Public Policy and Advocacy Committee