For thousands of parents of children with delays or disabilities, early intervention (EI) is the start of a lifetime of personal advocacy--learning to speak up on behalf of their own child to obtain the supports and educational experiences that establish future success in school and in life. Facing severe cuts in budgets, narrowing of eligibility criteria, and gaps between EI and preschool services, families all over the United States have moved beyond "telling their stories" to becoming vigorously engaged in policy and advocacy work at the state and federal levels. Parents can do what EI professionals cannot: bring the reality of "return on investment" to policy and advocacy for Part C of IDEA--the promise of EI. This article presents strategies for engaging families in policy work and examples of the efforts of successful parent advocacy.