There is no better time to advocate for children’s mental health issues and child psychiatry than NOW! With the passage of mental health parity legislation in 2008, the issues facing the mental health community are on the public’s and elected official’s minds and we need to let them know how to continue to improve the lives of children and adolescents with mental illnesses. The new administration and many members of Congress have created a national health care reform debate that is likely to continue for years. This gives AACAP members an opportunity to affect incremental change in our nation’s healthcare system. At this year’s Advocacy Campaign, the director of AACAP’s Department of Government Affairs, Kristin Kroeger Ptakowski, provides an overview of AACAP’s legislative issues and the progress our advocacy efforts have made to date. She presents materials and strategies for educating your congressional and state representatives and how AACAP can help you to engage your elected officials and the media. A Hawai’i state legislator gives a first hand account of effective methods for communicating with elected officials. A training session demonstrates how to effectively advocate for children’s mental health issues in meetings with legislators. AACAP members share their experiences with advocating at the federal and state levels. The AACAP Department of Government Affairs also answers questions from the group on components of specific legislation, state and local advocacy efforts, the political climate, grassroots efforts, and any other legislative affairs related questions.