By Cindy Adams

This year enCircle began a new chapter in our evolution, hiring a Director of Advocacy and Government Relations in January 2025. Jason Sawyer, PhD, joined the External Relations team at a time of significant changes to public policy affecting enCircle’s programs and the people we serve.

Our history of advocacy helped inform our current approach: as a member of several statewide and national networks, we know how vital it is to work with partners and build relationships. And that takes time.

We learned important lessons from our extensive advocacy in West Virginia over the last several years. While we built important partnerships and influenced the policy discussion, state leaders did not budge. The lack of adequate state funding for Medicaid resulted in making the difficult decision in the fall of 2024 to close our Group Homes in Martinsburg.

As a result of this experience and the changing federal policy landscape, we realized the time had come for year-round, dedicated advocacy efforts for all the people we support— students, immigrants, people with disabilities, children in foster care.

We are encouraged by the impact we’ve already had in just the first few months.