We spoke with advocacy consultant Molly Firth about advocating for Washington families through a shaky state budget — and what busy parents can do to ensure equity for all Washington families.
By: Avani Nadkarni, PEPS (Estimated reading time: 5 minutes)
Molly Firth has worked in health policy for two decades — she spent the first half of her career ensuring that uninsured and underinsured people had access to healthcare. Then, when her daughter was born about a decade ago, she suffered from Severe Maternal Morbidity and became drawn specifically to maternal health.
“I want to make sure families are supported and parents are supported and pregnant people are supported — and that involves more than just health insurance,” she said.
A former PEPS Group participant, Molly offers guidance and expertise as a member of the PEPS Advocacy Workgroup, which includes PEPS staff members, volunteers and Board of Directors members. She’s helped activate the PEPS community to support investing more state funding in childcare programs that operate at the intersection of early childhood development and mental health, such as Holding Hope and Early ECEAP. In 2025, Molly supported Ellie Klein as she testified twice in the successful effort to pass SB 5217, expanding pregnancy and postpartum accommodations for parents.
Molly spoke to PEPS Communications & Marketing Manager Avani Nadkarni about what drew her to the organization, what advocacy looks like at PEPS, and what busy parents can do to help make change for families across our state.
What drew you to work with PEPS on the organization’s advocacy work?
I was a PEPS Group participant in 2016 – we went to our first PEPS meeting when our kiddo was two weeks. I was a PEPS fan from that experience and when I heard that PEPS was looking for somebody to help them build advocacy, it seemed like a completely natural fit. It’s great to do important work when you’re excited about the mission.
What does “advocacy” look like in the context of PEPS?
Firstly, PEPS has an important purpose already, and that’s to provide peer support for parents and families. PEPS is not [planning] to be first and foremost an advocacy organization.
But we know that PEPS interfaces with a lot of parents – and that can play an important role as a conduit to help people advocate for important policies. We can also take in feedback to understand where ongoing changes need to happen in policy. It’s a two-way street. That doesn’t mean PEPS drops everything and focuses on advocacy, but it means starting to integrate advocacy into our daily work, in a way that’s natural and helps consider the bigger picture on what’s happening for folks.
Washington State is currently navigating a tenuous budget environment. Can you give us a very high-level view of what’s happening and why it matters to families?
The legislature is faced with a multi-billion-dollar hole — just under $5 billion for the next four years. [The government] must balance the budget over that four-year period – they have to make sure they’re coming up with a budget that fits with the amount of revenue expected to come in. Family-centric programs are costing more — K-12 education, Medicaid — there’s just not enough money to go around. At the end of the day, it’s dependent on what [programs] they prioritize and what they may cut.
What are a couple of simple, actionable things busy parents can do to support this work?
PEPS makes it easy as we can for parents to engage because we’re parents; we know how hard it is to fit in one more thing. We try not to overwhelm people. There are a few bills we’ll be focusing on related to our 2026 priorities, and when those are up for public hearing, we’ll send out action alerts for people to show support for those. It takes maybe 15 seconds, but it lets you tell legislators “I support this,” and they do [pay attention] to how many people do this. Being able to weigh in and make sure legislators know that these are important programs and families need certain services is really important in their decision-making.
Looking ahead, what gives you hope? What changes or progress do you feel optimistic about when it comes to family support and advocacy in our state?
It gives me hope when I talk to legislators who are on different sides of the aisle, and they all understand what [is at stake] for families, and they are empathetic for the needs that families have. It’s really nice in times like this, when there is a huge political divide at the national level, to be able to talk to legislators in Washington State and recognize that they know what it’s like to struggle, to have challenges to overcome and how hard it is to parent. Having those folks making those decisions helps me feel a lot better. We’re really lucky to live in a state where we don’t quite have the same inability to work together and we can compromise to come up with policies that will meet the needs of families.
PEPS Priorities for 2026
Preserve Programs Families Need. During this state budget crisis, many vital programs are at risk, including SNAP and Medicaid. These programs help families who need the most support. Legislators should keep these services in place so families can stay safe, healthy, and financially stable.
Ensure Paid Family & Medical Leave Keeps Helping Working Families. Parents count on Paid Family & Medical Leave when they have a new baby or when someone in their family gets very sick. Legislators should support changes that help keep the program strong, like updating how much income can be taxed and using a better system to set the program’s rates.
Protect Kids from Addictive Online Platforms. Kids can’t stop scrolling, and it impacts their mental health. Legislators should stop online platforms from targeting children and youth with addictive feeds and sending notifications to them during school and sleep hours.
Pass New and Equitable Revenue Policies. People in Washington who earn the least pay the biggest share of their income in taxes. We need tax policies that match people’s capacity to pay. Legislators should support new ways to raise money so we can avoid more budget cuts.
Want to Learn More About Advocacy @ PEPS?
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Read this Seattle’s Child article on how the PEPS community has been a powerful voice for change in our state
Join PEPS in Olympia on January 20 for Have a Heart for Kids Day. Anyone can join that day — it’s going to be a day of learning, a day of messaging and a day of visiting legislators in your own district with other advocates for kids and families.
