CULTIVATING CHAMPIONS FOR FORMER ATOMIC WORKERS IN WASHINGTON

Cogent was retained by an in-home care and benefits guidance company when the US Department of Labor (DOL) implemented changes to a workers compensation program that harmed former atomic workers who the client, and the program, serve. Cogent moved quickly to educate key congressional offices on the changes including the client’s home state delegation and members on key committees with jurisdiction over DOL. We worked to develop a compelling narrative that explicitly spelled out how the changes negatively impacted beneficiaries through policy fact sheets, localized patient statistics and state and regional news articles.

These efforts successfully turned members of Congress into congressional champions within a matter of months and created inroads to key DOL officials. In March 2020, Cogent pivoted to support the client through newfound challenges presented by the global health pandemic. Leveraging our champions and DOL relationships, we were able to get telemedicine repeatedly extended to meet the health and safety needs of beneficiaries and secured a DOL report on the program to Congress.