Developing a Progressive Advocacy Program Within a Human Services Agency

This paper brings together knowledge from research and practice to suggest a set of building blocks on which a progressive advocacy program could be developed within a human services agency. Progressive advocacy is defined as advocacy motivated primarily by a desire for social change that addresses underlying structural and power inequities that includes methods to meaningfully engage agency clients or constituents in all aspects of the advocacy process. The paper concludes with a case study showing the development of an advocacy program within a nonprofit homeless services agency and discusses the constraints on its development. Implications for research, education, and practice are also discussed.