In the Rooms Where It Happens: Crown Family School students advocate for policy change in Springfield
At NASW-Illinois Advocacy Day, students translate classroom learning into legislative action on mental health access and education funding
By Crown Family School
Before sunrise, more than 50 students from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice boarded a bus to Springfield. When they arrived, they made their way to the State House Inn and waited to go into the hotel’s large banquet hall, where more than 400 social work advocates from around the state were starting to arrive. Some arrived by bus, others by carpool, all ready to start the day by 8:30 a.m. By midmorning, they were navigating crowded hallways in the Illinois State Capitol, meeting with legislators, and making the case for policies that affect the profession and the communities it serves.
Advocacy Day, hosted by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Illinois Chapter, gives students direct access to the legislative process. For Crown Family School students, the day is not observational. It is an opportunity to apply training, engage policymakers, and advocate for issues that matter, ranging from mental health and access to financial sustainability in social work education.
Crown Family School students prepare to advocate
Students arrived prepared. In the weeks leading up to the trip they participated in training sessions that focused on legislative strategy and effective advocacy. A “Lobbying 101” session led by Illinois State Representative Michael Crawford, PhD, emphasized the importance of lived experience in policy conversations.
"It is more impactful when it comes from someone who has a story they can connect it to," Crawford told students during a live webinar. "The best stories are the stories that are lived experience."
Another pre-event briefing led by NASW-Illinois Director of Legislative Affairs Kyle Hillman sent them into the day with a clear directive.
"It is not your job to know every statistic related to these bills, every line item, every nuance of the legalese," Hillman told the group. "It's your job to tell a story."
Crown Family Students Experience the State Capitol
Inside the Capitol, students experienced the pace and unpredictability of legislative work. They moved between committee rooms, offices, and corridors, often rushing to meetings, then waiting for access or opportunities to speak. Inside, students navigated tunnels and stairwells. Up and down. Office to office. This wasn't a tour. At times, they were hurried along, determined to keep up with their group, navigating crowded hallways, then other times they found themselves suddenly and quietly waiting, on stairs, in the hallway, near the rotunda, or even in the general assembly room. Hurry up and then wait, hurry up again.
They advocated for two bills and one resolution. House Bill 4982 and Senate Bill 2771, known as Tammurra's Act, seek to expand visibility of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline across public institutions in Illinois by posting in places like pharmacies, schools, libraries, hospitals, and juvenile detention centers.
The third measure, House Joint Resolution 0053, directly affects graduate students like themselves. A proposed U.S. Department of Education rule would limit which fields qualify as "professional degrees," excluding social work and capping federal loan access levels below the cost of attendance, beginning July 1, 2026.
For many students, the issue is immediate.
"HJR 0053 feels the most personal because it directly impacts the financial feasibility of my dual path toward becoming a licensed clinician and a policymaker," said Deja Brown, a first-year full-time Social Work student, at Crown Family School. Her goal in participating in Advocacy Day was to move beyond data and make the human case, to leave legislators with a clearer sense of who is actually affected by their votes, and why protecting the social work profession is a matter of equity.
Not every meeting was scheduled. In one Capitol hallway, a group of graduate students waited outside the office of Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter without an appointment. But their lobby leader knocked anyway, asked a staffer if the senator had a few minutes, and then they waited. When the door opened, they stepped in.
Matias Zavala, a first-year dual-degree social work and public policy student at the Crown Family School, stepped forward. Zavala, originally from Texas, came to Illinois drawn by what he saw as a place of possibility. Zavala introduced himself and explained his situation plainly: the proposed rule would exclude social work from the federal definition of a professional degree, directly capping his access, and that of his classmates, to federal loans, and potentially making graduate social work education financially out of reach for future students entering the profession.
Senator Hunter responded with both support and direction.
"I know, we're with you, I support social workers," Senator Hunter said. “I have run residential and outpatient programs. I know all about this stuff - I'm a certified alcohol and drug counselor. I understand and support social work," Hunter said. “I think that if you all want to make more impact, spend your time with the people who don’t care,” Senator Hunter said.
Her message reframed the moment. Advocacy is not only agreement; it is about where effort can shift opinions and outcomes. Senator Hunter continued the conversation with the students for the next 10 minutes, listening to their concerns and offering advice.
“I appreciate you all coming down and being concerned, but just consider us a partner, and we have to work together on this,” she said as the group gathered around for a photo and prepared to leave her office.
Throughout the day, students attended committee sessions and continued meeting with legislators. Some were present when the Health Care Licenses Committee voted unanimously, 14-0 to advance HJR 0053.
Crown Family School student Deja Brown was in the room.
For Brown, being in the room where it happened marked a shift from theory to practice. It was the culmination of hours of travel, hallway conversations with legislators, and months of classroom learning about systems change.
"Witnessing… HJR 0053 advance while standing in the room makes every hour of that early travel worth it. It is the moment you stop being a student of the system and start being an active participant in it,” Brown said. “Within the grueling day, you find a specific kind of power that a textbook simply cannot provide.
Advocacy happens every day.
Advocacy Day remains an annual opportunity for Crown Family School students to engage directly with policy and practice. Through preparation, access, and participation, students move beyond the classroom and into the spaces where decisions are made.
The training is real. The access is real. Join us next year. Be in the rooms where advocacy happens.