Casework: how we help Maryland residents without legislation

Draft legislation often takes a year or more to become law. That means most problems constituents are dealing with today might have to wait years until laws come about that solve those problems. That’s why casework is critical for us. Because we can help make people’s lives better when laws are too slow. Luckily, one benefit to meeting constituents at their doors is that we can provide government and nonprofit resources to constituents one-on-one. For example, many state and local governments have services, like the Montgomery County 311 helpline, which help thousands of constituents every week by taking phonecalls from residents and getting county services to help them. Being in front of people at their doorsteps provides the opportunity to help people learn and use many resources already out there.

In cases where there aren’t government services to help constituents, we use our knowledge and connections to community groups and nonprofit services to recommend solutions, give contact information, and take creative action to solve a constituent’s issue. We systematize local nonprofit and government resourses for each community we canvass so we can quickly refer people to organizations that most aptly fit their needs.