It is my personal opinion that a very important dynamic to effect change is networking effectively. Every State legislative intiative should be working in concert with The Adoptee Rights Coaltion (and vice versa) to benefit from their networking efforts at devloping contacts with state legislators at the National Convention of State Legislators. Every year a group of advocates set up a booth to reach out to state legislators from all over the nation to educate and provide a sound level of awareness to faciliate change.

On the same note, based upon direct personal experience I do not advise that State groups to work in concert with the American Adoption Congress. I found on one hand that the AAC can provide a solid structure in which to build a group and legislative initiative from startup to form a grass roots division and with legislative devel-opment. However, on the other hand I would not hold any expectation for the AAC or its Reps to deviate from that structure or provide "outside the box" stategies to implement effective change. In reality the AAC's legislative division lacks internal cohesion and fails to work together to train and educate its reps to guide the state group's through the rigors and legislative adversity that most states will inevitably face. The bottom line, the AAC can only carry a state intiaitve so far.

On a similar note, the Bastard Nation is not ideal to effect change with their one size fits all philosophy or with their all or nothing appraoch to legilative change. On their note that no adoptee should be left behind as it relates to legislation containing Amendments claiming adoptees will never be able to acquire their OBC, completely miss the mark regarding how many adoptees are held hostage to this idealization. As state groups are encouraged by the BN idealization to never accept compromised legislation consider how many adoptees have died of natural cuases, such as old age, to this very ideal? In the end the BN has failed miserably to make the connection that adoptees who do die without their OBC are just as much left behind as the adoptees who are left behind due to the compromised laws that are passed. What's worse is that the adoptees who die without their OBC is permanenent. At least the adoptees who are "left behind" subsequent to new laws with restrictions still have the potential to continue to modify legislation and restore equal rights to adoptees. 

I also consider that since the late 1970's when the BN established its self, due to the same ideals they missed an enormous and extremely important opportuntiy to positively develop, meld, and educationally police the advocacy community to effect the change in a positive manner to implement effective strategies to restore adoptee's equal rights. Essentially, they have clung so long to what can not be done or what should not be done, they failed at accomplishing what actually could be done.