When recruiting for advisory committees or similar spaces, you should consider that caregivers are more likely to join and stay engaged in opportunities introduced by people and organizations they already trust. These trusted messengers—such as family-serving organizations, community-based groups, or peers with shared lived experience—play a critical role in outreach. Trusted messengers can signal safety, authenticity, and cultural alignment, particularly for communities historically excluded or sidelined from policymaking processes.

Best Practices: 

• Partner with organizations that have deep relationships with the caregivers you aim to engage. 

• Collaborate with community partners to review engagement materials and outreach strategies to ensure cultural resonance. 

• Invite trusted messengers to co-facilitate onboarding conversations or orientation sessions. 

• Meet caregivers where they are—whether in schools, clinics, or community spaces—recognizing that true equity requires going beyond traditional channels to intentionally reach and include diverse voices. 

We partnered with organizations like Family Voices of California and Kids & Caregivers to reach caregivers through trusted networks. These partners helped shape and share our materials, helping build an inclusive, welcoming space. 

When recruiting, clarity is essential. Caregivers need to know what the opportunity entails and how it supports their families and communities. Welcoming materials and clearly defined expectations help caregivers feel respected, prepared, and valued from the outset. Avoid ambiguity. Clear, accessible communication builds trust and helps caregivers feel informed, confident, and motivated to participate. 

Best Practices: 

• Create warm, visually accessible materials that outline purpose, expectations, and supports. 

• Use plain language and avoid jargon. 

• Include examples of impact and stories of past caregiver contributions. 

• During onboarding sessions, walk caregivers through expectations and clarify logistics. 

• Be honest about what the group can and cannot influence to avoid overpromising. 

For the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we designed plain-language materials, a detailed webpage with biographies of each member, and we shared examples of how the space has been helpful to members so interested advocates understand how the space can serve them. We made it clear that we are not perfect, and not only welcomed but encouraged criticism on our process and program design to make it better. 

Every caregiver brings a unique perspective and set of needs. Personalized onboarding affirms that caregivers are not just participants, but valued partners. It ensures accessibility, builds trust, and demonstrates that caregivers are being seen and supported as individuals. 

Best Practices: 

• Use interest forms that capture caregiver goals, interests, and accessibility needs. 

• Look beyond formal resumes when vetting, and consider asking reflective and affirming questions that recognize the diverse ways caregivers engage in advocacy. For example: “What unique perspectives or experiences do you bring to this work?” or “How do you see yourself contributing to this space?” 

• Design demographic questions on race, ethnicity, language, geography, sexuality, disability, and gender to ensure the caregivers you work with are representative of the communities you seek to serve. 

• Schedule one-on-one welcome conversations to build trust and co-create engagement pathways. 

For the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we created a survey to learn about interested caregivers’ strengths and personal goals. We gathered demographic information to inform our diversity efforts and collected feedback on the structure of the space. One-on-one onboarding conversations helped us understand caregivers’ interests and shape individualized engagement pathways.

To ensure your recruitment and onboarding processes resonate with caregivers, consider designing the process with caregivers and showcase a commitment to improve the process based on their feedback. This approach ensures materials and systems remain relevant, accessible, and effective. 

Best Practices: 

• Hire caregivers as paid co-designers to develop onboarding materials and engagement strategies that reflect real caregiver needs. 

• Use a collaborative revision process: Share drafts of materials and tools with caregivers for feedback and refinement. 

• Name your agency’s learning journey: Be upfront about existing challenges and invite caregivers to help shape solutions. 

• Create clear channels for feedback during onboarding and beyond—use surveys, debriefs, and open forums. 

• Respond visibly to input: Show caregivers how their suggestions shape updates to language, format, and process. 

• Recognize co-design as expertise by crediting and compensating caregivers for their time and leadership. 

For the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we hired a caregiver partner to co-design the onboarding experience and materials. Caregivers regularly reviewed and revised resources with us, and we adopted a “learning in public” mindset that invited continuous feedback and transparent course correction.

Caregiving often involves profound emotional labor—grief, loss, burnout, and exhaustion—which are rarely acknowledged in policy spaces. To truly support caregiver advocates, systems must be trauma-informed, grief-aware, and healing-centered. 

Caregivers need spaces where they are not only seen as experts, but as whole people. This means normalizing rest, integrating care and restorative practices, and affirming that their leadership remains valuable even during times of personal hardship. 

Best Practices: 

• Normalize taking breaks without penalty or loss of participation. 

• Affirm that bereaved caregivers’ stories and leadership remain powerful. 

• Integrate moments of care and reflection into meetings. 

• Offer or connect caregivers to healing and support spaces or self-care resources outside of policy work. 

• Check in with caregivers before and after emotionally demanding activities—such as advisory committee meetings, focus groups, or policy discussions—to offer encouragement, acknowledge any nerves, and affirm their effort. These moments of care show respect for the emotional labor involved and remind caregivers that their wellbeing matters as much as their contributions. 

In the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we reminded members that stepping back was welcome and supported. We reached out to caregivers outside of meetings to offer connection and care, without placing any expectations on their involvement. And when a member lost a child, we paused for collective grief and affirmed that their voice was still welcome, whenever they had capacity to return. 

Caregiver engagement is only meaningful when it is truly accessible and inclusive. Many caregivers face barriers often overlooked in traditional policy spaces—such as limited time, digital access, language needs, caregiving duties, disability, lack of professional development supports, and geographic isolation. Without intentional design, these barriers can exclude the very voices systems aim to uplift. 

Accessibility is not just about format—it’s about equity. Inclusive engagement requires proactively designing for caregivers of all racial, linguistic, gender, sexual, disability, geographic, and cultural backgrounds—and ensuring they are fully supported to participate once at the table. 

Best Practices: 

• Offer multiple ways to participate—such as video conferencing, phone, in-person meetings, messaging apps, and email—and provide tech support or tools as needed to address digital access barriers and ensure equitable participation.

• Share materials in plain language, with translations, glossaries, and visual aids. 

• Communicate early and often; allow flexible deadlines and send reminders. 

• Provide interpretation, real-time captions, and large-print materials. 

• Co-create guiding principles and shared language to ensure a respectful and inclusive space. 

• Support in-person participation with childcare, transportation, and meals. 

• Schedule meetings based on caregivers’ availability and preferences. 

• Assign a point person to support communication between meetings. 

In the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we co-created guiding principles and language guidelines with caregivers to ensure everyone felt respected and safe. We offered flexible communication options—including Signal, phone, email, and video conferencing—and adapted scheduling based on caregiver needs. Caregivers shared how early they preferred to receive notice and how often they wanted reminders, which informed our approach. We provided ample notice, timely reminders, and remained accessible between meetings to respect their time and responsibilities.

When engagement is grounded in care, access, and respect, caregivers can show up—and stay engaged—as their full selves. 

Caregiver advocacy is skilled, emotional, and time-intensive work—and should be treated accordingly. Fair compensation honors caregivers’ time, labor, and lived expertise, while removing financial barriers to participation. It’s not just a best practice; it’s a matter of equity, access, and respect.  

Why Fair Compensation Matters: 

• Recognizes expertise: Caregivers offer firsthand insights that strengthen policy design and accountability. Their knowledge is essential—not optional. 

• Promotes inclusion and access: Payment removes financial barriers, enabling caregivers from all backgrounds to engage fully and consistently. 

• Respects time and opportunity cost: Advocacy takes time away from work, caregiving, and other responsibilities. Compensation honors that investment. 

• Supports sustainability: Long-term engagement is only possible when caregivers are resourced to participate without burnout. 

• Shifts power dynamics: Paying caregivers helps level the playing field in policymaking spaces where power is otherwise concentrated. 

• Professionalizes advocacy: Fair pay affirms that caregiving advocacy is a valuable and legitimate contribution worthy of ongoing skill-building and development. 

Best Practices: 

• Compensate caregivers for meetings, prep, follow-up, and storytelling at a fair rate and get feedback from caregivers on what that rate should be 

• Cover costs such as childcare, transportation, internet, interpretation, and meals. 

• Create paid roles for caregivers in program design. 

• Provide contracts or stipends for caregivers in leadership or mentorship roles. 

• Compensate public storytelling as emotional labor—with re-consent and control over how stories are used. 

• Advocate for caregiver and youth compensation policies across all state departments and engagement efforts. 

In the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we provided stipends that covered time spent preparing for meetings, participating in meetings, and leading meetings. To ensure our compensation approach was equitable and meaningful, we conducted research and gathered input from both caregivers and partner organizations on appropriate rates before launching the program. We also offered an anonymous feedback process in our onboarding survey for caregivers to share whether the stipend felt sufficient. This allowed us to remain accountable and adjust as needed, honoring the value of caregivers’ time, labor, and lived expertise. 

Policy change is slow and often behind the scenes. Without regular moments of reflection and recognition, caregivers can feel discouraged or disconnected from their impact. Agencies can help sustain momentum by celebrating both small and significant wins—and by showing how each contribution drives broader change. 

Success isn’t just passing legislation—it’s sharing a story for the first time, stepping into a new role, or building confidence. Recognizing these moments keeps caregivers motivated, grounded, and hopeful. 

Best Practices: 

• Track caregiver contributions over time. 

• Celebrate milestones in newsletters, meetings, or reports. 

• Recognize caregivers through: 

• Spotlights in materials and presentations 

• Public acknowledgments and features 

• Opportunities to co-author or speak 

• Name policy shifts or wins influenced by caregiver leadership. 

In the Caregiver Advocacy Circle, we celebrated openly and often. Every meeting included space for caregivers to shout each other out, reflect on progress, and lift one another’s leadership. We honored caregiver contributions—even when they weren’t in the room—to affirm their value and sustain momentum.

One-time engagement gathers input—but it doesn’t build power. Caregivers should be recognized as long-term partners in shaping systems. State agencies must invest in sustained structures that embed caregiver leadership throughout policy planning, implementation, and evaluation. 

This means creating standing advisory roles, leadership pipelines, paid fellowships, and multi-year caregiver leadership programs that are fully integrated into policymaking—not siloed. 

Best Practices: 

• Establish multi-year caregiver engagement programs with rotating leadership and sustained support. 

• Offer paid positions and standing advisory roles to value caregivers’ contributions as skilled labor. 

• Track individual caregiver growth and provide tailored leadership development and visibility opportunities. 

• Partner with advocacy organizations for mentorship, training, and technical assistance. 

• Hire caregivers into full-time decision-making roles within agencies. 

At Children Now, we designed a contracted leadership position within the Caregiver Advocacy Circle and created a pathway for caregivers to co-lead meetings. We are actively exploring additional long-term leadership opportunities to ensure caregivers can continue shaping our work in meaningful ways. 

Long-term impact requires more than programs—it demands a cultural shift. Agencies must commit to power-sharing, authentic collaboration, and co-creation with caregivers and youth. 

That means shifting from extractive models to shared leadership and embedding practices that recognize and finance lived expertise. Organizational values should reflect the principle: “Nothing about us, without us.”. This is critical for retaining caregiver advocates because people stay engaged when they feel valued and trust that those they are working with are committed to building power alongside them.

At the same time, agencies should recognize and elevate the work already happening across California. Many local groups—and families themselves—are building inclusive, family-led solutions. Rather than starting from scratch, the state should collaborate with, invest in, and learn from these trusted partners. 

Cultural Shifts to Embrace: 

• Commit to bidirectional change and shared control. 

• Co-create policies with, not just for, caregivers and youth. 

• Prioritize caregiver and youth narratives as policy-shaping expertise. 

• Address “othering” and systemic exclusion. 

• Plan for leadership succession rooted in lived experience. 

Best Practices: 

• Honor and amplify existing family-stakeholder partnerships. 

• Build infrastructure to collaborate with and scale community-driven solutions. 

• Normalize policies co-created by caregivers. 

• Embed equity in the organization’s DNA—not just in programs. 

Children Now is committed to aligning our internal practices with our values of anti-racism and centering community voices. Through the Circle, we’ve intentionally shared power with caregivers, embedded their feedback into decision-making, and prioritized equity and co-creation as guiding principles across our advocacy work.