Advocating for equitable policies is one part of our Strategic Direction, which means PEPS is striving to show up for families by taking action on policies that impact equity in our region. We are embracing our responsibility to leverage the large community of parents and caregivers in our network and will engage with issues and policies that affect parents and babies.

Over the past several years, we have been learning and gathering input from families in the larger community, as well as the PEPS community.

Read more about our journey to advocacy at PEPS and subscribe to receive email updates about our advocacy work.

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Informing PEPS Advocacy Priorities

To start, we conducted an organizational assessment, getting input from parents and organizations in the community to learn about the areas that significantly impact parents and how we can better show up for families in our region. We learned about the larger challenges we’re all facing — like access to affordable childcare, housing, and transportation.

Next, we conducted a landscape analysis, consisting of 15 interviews with stakeholders and coalition leaders involved in advocacy and policy locally and in Washington state, to identify areas where PEPS could have the most impact.

We then asked for feedback on our advocacy work in 2022, and were thrilled by the enthusiastic response and support! We received nearly 400 responses, and the results are helping guide our advocacy work moving forward, from selecting our annual advocacy priorities to determining the most effective ways to communicate with our community about this work. 

Learn about the key takeaways from our advocacy survey.

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What's Happening in 2025

Our advocacy priorities for the 2025 Washington State Legislative Session include enhancements to paid leave, worker protections, child care, and rent stabilization. Washington is facing a significant state budget crisis. PEPS seeks policy changes that will help provide families with a foundation of stability.

The PEPS community will advocate with state legislators to:

• Increase Access to Job-Protected Paid Leave (HB 1213). Only 53% of workers who would qualify for paid leave have the legal right to return to the same job after taking leave. Small businesses are not required to offer job protection and low-income workers are less likely to have access to job protection. The Legislature should extend job protection to all workers eligible for paid leave.
• Strengthen Protections for Pregnant and Postpartum Workers (SB 5217). Small businesses with fewer than 15 employees are not required to provide frequent rest breaks or access to private spaces for breastfeeding workers. It needs to be easier for breastfeeding parents to balance working and feeding their babies. The Legislature should extend these protections to all workers, require paid rest breaks, and excuse breastfeeding parents from jury duty.  
• Protect Fair Start for Kids and Ensure Living Wages for Child Care Workers. Washington State is on the path toward a universal child care system with the adoption of Fair Start for Kids in 2021. Fair Start for Kids expanded access to critical state-funded preschool programs and child care subsidies over several years; additional policy changes and investments are still needed. Child care providers are not reimbursed by the state for the true cost of quality care. This discrepancy makes child care more expensive for people not able to access subsidies and makes it difficult for providers to pay living wages. The Legislature should uphold its Fair Start for Kids commitment to increasing access to child care and reimbursing providers based on their costs. 
• Protect Families from Excessive Rent Increases (HB 1217/SB 5222). Many families struggle to make ends meet. Excessive rent increases force families to move and change schools. The Legislature should protect renters from annual rent increases exceeding 7%.

In late 2024, we surveyed our community to better understand working parents' needs related to paid leave and postpartum accommodations. We're sharing this data with advocacy partners and lawmakers to inform policy changes that better support parents. Read our Working Parents survey results.

What is Advocacy? 

Advocacy: an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions.  

People advocate to influence decision-making — at work and home — for themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. For PEPS, this includes listening to parent communities and our partner organizations about the needs of the families they serve. Collectively, we will use our voices to raise awareness of these needs and create change at a local or state level. 

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Our Goals for Advocacy

PEPS will work in partnership with other groups and organizations around specific issues, including those that affect expectant and new parents, maternal and child health, early learning, paid family and medical leave, and other basic needs.  

Our advocacy work will fall into three areas of advocacy:

1. Policy advocacy: PEPS will shape and uplift policies that prioritize racial equity and help Washington families.
2. Administrative advocacy: PEPS will work with state agencies when appropriate to implement new policies equitably.
3. Electoral advocacy: PEPS will educate our communities about local and state ballot initiatives relevant to children and families.

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Get Involved

Are you interested in joining us in advocating for families? PEPS wants to make it easy for our parent community to engage. You’re busy raising your family and working! We are tracking these issues closely and highlighting opportunities for you to engage, such as signing in to support bills and reaching out to your legislators at key moments.  

Subscribe to receive email updates and follow us on Facebook or Instagram to stay up to date on our work.

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