{"id":10153,"date":"2020-02-06T14:57:43","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T19:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/?p=10153"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:07:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T17:07:12","slug":"technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Anthony Maggard<\/p>\n<p>Do you care about making policy changes but think you have no time to make your voice heard? There are ways to stay involved with local public policy issues without having to camp out at your local state house. It\u2019s a busy world out there and it can be hard to work, care for your family, and make your voice heard on the political front. Fortunately, technology now makes it possible to stay up to date and be active on issues you care about. Here\u2019s a few ways to be actively engaged in your community:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.countable.us\/\">Countable<\/a>\u00a0summarizes bills that are going through congress and gives you the option to act and message your representative on issues that are most important to you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/resist.bot\/\">Resistbot<\/a>\u00a0is a website that finds out who represents you in Congress, and delivers a message to them in under 2 minutes. No downloads or apps required. This is a great resource as it can be difficult to find out how to contact your representatives.<\/p>\n<p>Each legislative session, there are hundreds of bills. It can be dizzying and confusing to say the least. Not sure what to focus on? You might consider looking at your favorite non-profit organization\u2019s website. Non-profit organizations, whether working for environmental, humane treatment of animals, human services, or other causes, are some of our nation\u2019s top advocates in changing our world for the better. Families First\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.familiesfirstindiana.org\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\">Public Policy Agenda<\/a>\u00a0focuses on issues that directly affect people in our community. The organization\u2019s policy work is non-partisan and non-ideological &#8211; determining involvement and\/or engagement in public policy issues based on the following underlying principles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strong families are the greatest asset for healthy communities.<\/li>\n<li>Nonprofit community-based organizations play a critical role in building healthy communities by promoting strong families.<\/li>\n<li>Populations facing the greatest need and greatest disparities should be prioritized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It can be difficult to find unbiased and non-partisan information on legislature and local issues. Here are a few websites that offer unbiased information:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.idsnews.com\/section\/politics\">Indiana Daily Student<\/a>\u00a0reports on any Indiana bills in the state house with an unbiased opinion. It clearly states what the bill is and whether it has been passed or not.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/indypolitics.org\/\">Indy Politics<\/a>\u00a0is a website that allows you to subscribe and receive emails about significant political news and events impacting Indianapolis, as well as the entire state of Indiana.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, it goes without saying that you should always fact check sources before believing or sharing what you read.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/iue.libguides.com\/c.php?g=595482&amp;p=4119773\">IU East<\/a>\u00a0has an excellent page to help you determine whether an article is real, fake, or satire.<\/p>\n<p>Some simple rules to follow are:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>check for cited sources<\/li>\n<li>look for any bias within the website<\/li>\n<li>look to see if there are any ads that may hint at sponsorship<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So now there\u2019s no excuse. It\u2019s time to find your voice. It\u2019s time to stand for your beliefs, values and missions. Join us.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you care about making policy changes but think you have no time to make your voice heard? There are ways to stay involved with local public policy issues without having to camp out at your local state house. It\u2019s a busy world out there and it can be hard to work, care for your family, and make your voice heard on the political front. Fortunately, technology now makes it possible to stay up to date and be active on issues you care about. Here\u2019s a few ways to be actively engaged in your community:<\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-scenes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES - Firefly Children and Family Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES - Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you care about making policy changes but think you have no time to make your voice heard? There are ways to stay involved with local public policy issues without having to camp out at your local state house. It\u2019s a busy world out there and it can be hard to work, care for your family, and make your voice heard on the political front. Fortunately, technology now makes it possible to stay up to date and be active on issues you care about. Here\u2019s a few ways to be actively engaged in your community:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-06T19:57:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T17:07:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf\"},\"headline\":\"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-06T19:57:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-25T17:07:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":499,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Behind the Scenes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"cnh\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/\",\"name\":\"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES - Firefly Children and Family Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-06T19:57:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-25T17:07:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"cnh\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\",\"description\":\"foster parents impact, foster kids, foster parents needed, a foster parent&#039;s role\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"cnh\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf\",\"name\":\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"cnh\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/05d76712c41f02a8e2d8f22346b1a85e7f00cb4436efc2fa6670ee39129fd71b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/05d76712c41f02a8e2d8f22346b1a85e7f00cb4436efc2fa6670ee39129fd71b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/05d76712c41f02a8e2d8f22346b1a85e7f00cb4436efc2fa6670ee39129fd71b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/cnh\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/author\\\/firefly-children-and-family-alliance\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES - Firefly Children and Family Alliance","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES - Firefly Children and Family Alliance","og_description":"Do you care about making policy changes but think you have no time to make your voice heard? There are ways to stay involved with local public policy issues without having to camp out at your local state house. It\u2019s a busy world out there and it can be hard to work, care for your family, and make your voice heard on the political front. Fortunately, technology now makes it possible to stay up to date and be active on issues you care about. Here\u2019s a few ways to be actively engaged in your community:","og_url":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/","og_site_name":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance","article_published_time":"2020-02-06T19:57:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-25T17:07:12+00:00","author":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/"},"author":{"name":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance","@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf"},"headline":"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES","datePublished":"2020-02-06T19:57:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-25T17:07:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/"},"wordCount":499,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Behind the Scenes"],"inLanguage":"cnh"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/","url":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/","name":"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES - Firefly Children and Family Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-02-06T19:57:43+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-25T17:07:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"cnh","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/resources\/news-library\/technology-tools-to-stay-current-on-public-policy-issues\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO STAY CURRENT ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/","name":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance","description":"foster parents impact, foster kids, foster parents needed, a foster parent&#039;s role","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"cnh"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/#\/schema\/person\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf","name":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"cnh","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05d76712c41f02a8e2d8f22346b1a85e7f00cb4436efc2fa6670ee39129fd71b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05d76712c41f02a8e2d8f22346b1a85e7f00cb4436efc2fa6670ee39129fd71b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/05d76712c41f02a8e2d8f22346b1a85e7f00cb4436efc2fa6670ee39129fd71b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Firefly Children and Family Alliance"},"url":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/author\/firefly-children-and-family-alliance\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}