The Michigan Advocacy Toolkit: 7 Free Resources Every Family Should Know
Seven free, real, currently active tools and organizations, each doing something specific a Michigan family can put to use directly, whether that’s tracking a bill, filing a complaint, or telling a story that actually changes a legislator’s mind.
Seven resources can feel like a lot at once. Pick the single one most relevant to whatever you’re navigating right now, whether that’s a legislative concern or a rights violation, and start there.
1. The Arc’s Storytelling Toolkit
Includes ‘My Testimony Blueprint,’ a concrete structure for turning personal family experience into effective, persuasive legislative testimony.
2. Autism Society State Disability Advocacy Toolkit
A national framework adaptable to Michigan-specific advocacy, covering everything from legislator meetings to public comment strategy.
3. ANCOR’s Amplifier Tool
A platform specifically built to help families and providers track and engage with disability service policy and legislation in real time.
4. BillTrack50
A legislation-tracking platform that lets any family follow a specific Michigan bill’s progress through committee and floor votes directly.
5. The Arc Michigan
Michigan’s statewide chapter, providing direct advocacy support, information, and connection to local resources across the state.
6-7. Disability Rights Michigan and the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition
Michigan’s federally mandated Protection & Advocacy agency and a statewide grassroots advocacy coalition, each with a distinct, complementary role.
What each resource is actually for
Turning your family’s story into persuasive testimony
A broad, adaptable framework for state-level engagement
Real-time tracking and engagement on service policy
Following a specific Michigan bill’s progress directly
Filing rights violations and formal legal advocacy
Grassroots, statewide advocacy and coalition-building
Wendell had always felt advocacy was something other people did, people with law degrees or political connections he didn’t have. A friend sent him this exact list of seven resources. Within three months, he’d used The Arc’s testimony blueprint to prepare remarks for a legislative hearing, tracked a relevant bill on BillTrack50 through two committee votes, and filed his first formal complaint with Disability Rights Michigan. None of it required a law degree.
When you’re building your own advocacy toolkit, here is where to start
Escalation ladder
- 1Bookmark all seven resources, even if you only need one right now.
- 2Identify which resource matches your most immediate concern today.
- 3Use The Arc’s testimony blueprint before any legislative or public comment opportunity.
- 4Track any bill relevant to your family directly on BillTrack50.
- 5Contact Disability Rights Michigan directly for any suspected rights violation.
- 6Connect with the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition for broader coalition advocacy.
Have ready
- The Arc’s storytelling toolkit and ‘My Testimony Blueprint,’ bookmarked
- The Autism Society’s State Disability Advocacy Toolkit, reviewed once
- An account or familiarity with ANCOR’s Amplifier tool
- A BillTrack50 account tracking at least one Michigan bill relevant to your family
- Contact information for both Disability Rights Michigan and the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition
Advocacy isn’t a credential. It’s seven specific tools, each doing one specific job, available to any family willing to use them.
Wendell had spent years assuming advocacy was something other people did, people with law degrees, political connections, or some innate talent for public speaking he was certain he didn’t have. A friend from a local support group sent him a short list of seven free resources, nothing more than that, and within three months he’d used a structured testimony framework to prepare remarks for an actual legislative hearing, tracked a bill relevant to his son’s services through two committee votes, and filed his first formal rights complaint. None of it had required a law degree. It had required seven specific tools and the willingness to use them.
Turning your family’s story into effective testimony
The Arc’s storytelling toolkit, including a structured resource called ‘My Testimony Blueprint,’ gives families a concrete framework for shaping personal experience into testimony that actually moves a legislative audience, rather than an emotional but unfocused account that’s easy for a committee to hear politely and then set aside. The Autism Society’s State Disability Advocacy Toolkit offers a complementary, broader framework covering legislator meetings, public comment strategy, and coalition-building at the state level.
Tracking policy and legislation directly
ANCOR’s Amplifier tool gives families and providers a platform specifically built for tracking and engaging with disability service policy in real time, while BillTrack50 offers a more general, widely used legislation-tracking platform that lets anyone follow a specific Michigan bill’s actual progress through committee assignments, hearings, and floor votes, turning an abstract sense that ‘something is happening in Lansing’ into a concrete, trackable timeline.
The three Michigan-specific organizations anchoring this work
The Arc Michigan serves as the state’s chapter of the national Arc network, offering direct advocacy support and connection to local resources across Michigan. Disability Rights Michigan, formerly known as Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service before its 2020 rebrand, is Michigan’s federally mandated Protection & Advocacy agency, the primary channel for filing formal rights violations and pursuing legal advocacy. The Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, based in East Lansing, provides grassroots, statewide coalition-building and advocacy, complementing the more formal, legal-advocacy role Disability Rights Michigan plays.
Why seven feels manageable once you know what each one does
Seven resources can feel overwhelming as an undifferentiated list, but each one has a specific, distinct job: telling your story effectively, tracking policy, filing a formal complaint, or joining a broader coalition. Most families will find one or two of these immediately relevant to whatever they’re currently navigating, and can build familiarity with the rest over time as different needs arise.
Wendell still doesn’t have a law degree. He has seven bookmarks and three months of direct experience proving that advocacy was never the credentialed, closed-off practice he’d assumed it was. It’s available to any Michigan family willing to start with one resource from this list.
Jim Palasty is the founder of OASIS for Autism and a single father of an adult autistic daughter in Michigan.