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Recent Updates
05/15/12
New Data Show Youth Incarcerations for Misbehavior High In Kentucky, but Declining
Kentucky has one of the highest rates of any state in the nation of putting kids in jail for things like running away or missing school, yet the trend is moving to fewer youth incarcerated, according to an updated report, Ending the Use of Incarceration for Status Offenses in Kentucky, by Kentucky Youth Advocates. The report recommends continuing to lower the number of youth in jail for misbehaviors by shifting to more effective alternatives that hold youth accountable while saving tax dollars and avoiding the unintended consequences on public safety of incarcerating youth for minor offenses.
Report (pdf) | Press Release (pdf)
05/14/12
Upcoming KIDS COUNT Community Conversations
Join us in Louisville and Elizabethtown for two KIDS COUNT Community Conversations on children’s health. Kentucky Youth Advocates KIDS COUNT Coordinator, Amy Swann, will show us how kids are doing in Jefferson and Hardin Counties and across Kentucky. We’ll also hear from a panel of community experts on the effect public policy choices have on the health of our children.
Jefferson County – Monday, June 18
Home of the Innocents, Louisville
Hardin County – Wednesday, June 20
Lincoln Trail District Health Department, Elizabethtown
Find information and registration here.
05/09/12
New Study Shows Kentucky Schools and Community Agencies Often Collaborate to Share Facilities
Schools across Kentucky have opened their facilities to their communities during non-school hours for many years, allowing people of all ages to use their gymnasiums, tracks, cafeterias, and athletic fields for recreation. This practice, known as “shared-use,” not only saves cost, it deepens school and community connections and expands opportunities for physical activity. According to a new study, Sharing School Facilities: How Collaboration Can Increase Physical Activity in Communities, by Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Kentucky Cancer Consortium, 74 percent of responding principals allow some of their school facilities to be used by community members.
Report (pdf) | Press Release (pdf)
05/02/12
Wins for Kids during the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly
Kentucky Youth Advocates celebrates five specific wins for Kentucky kids in the 2012 General Assembly: Senate Bill 213, House Bill 168, House Concurrent Resolutions 129, and $21 million to reduce social worker caseloads. See more specifics on each of these pieces of legislation here (pdf).
04/17/12
A State Earned Income Tax Credit Would Help Thousands on Tax Day
Thousands of Kentucky families and communities could see immediate and long term benefits, at very little cost to the state, if policymakers implemented a state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), according to a new issue brief from Kentucky Youth Advocates. The issue brief, A State Earned Income Tax Credit Would Help Kentucky Families and Local Economies, examines the federal EITC’s 30-year track record of lifting children and families out of poverty, and highlights the benefits a state EITC would provide to the Commonwealth.
Issue Brief (pdf) | Press Release (pdf)
04/03/12
Where we Live Matters to our Health
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released the third annual County Health Rankings, a project which ranks the health of nearly every county in the nation and shows us what’s making people sick or healthy. Communities across Kentucky can use these rankings to know where their counties stand on health and how they compare to others in the Commonwealth. The rankings serve as a call to action from Oldham County to Owsley, and Martin to McCracken. Even the healthiest counties have areas for improvement.
KY Kids in Focus Blog Post | Statement (pdf)
02/23/12
KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot on Children Living in High-Poverty Communities
The future prosperity of the Commonwealth depends on our ability to foster the health and well-being of the next generation. Wise investments in children and families today will be paid back by upcoming generations through a lifetime of productivity and responsible citizenship. A new KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot from the Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Kentucky’s kids are in need of such investments.
KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot on Children Living in High-Poverty Communities | Press Release (pdf)
01/31/12
New Kentucky Medicaid Managed Care Story Bank Hotline
If you would like to document your story, positive or negative, with the new Medicaid managed care system, call Kentucky Youth Advocates’ Medicaid Managed Care Story Bank Hotline. Your experiences with managed care will help us understand what we can do to help to improve this system.
Please dial 1-888-825-5592 and press 1 when the welcome voicemail begins. If you call during non-business hours or when someone is not available to take your call, please leave your story over the hotline voice mailbox with your name and contact number. If you would like to document your story electronically, please fill out the form located on the Kentucky Voices for Health website. Click here to access this form.
Press Release (pdf)
01/20/12
The Kentucky Summit to End Child Abuse Deaths Calls for Action
More than 200 advocates from across Kentucky gathered in Louisville last Saturday at the Kentucky Summit to End Child Abuse Deaths. Participants heard from a range of diverse perspectives including legislators, judges, professionals from multiple disciplines, and officials from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. After the morning panels, attendees at each table prioritized solutions for ending child abuse deaths in Kentucky. The solutions from the table discussions were compiled, and the group at large voted on the four policy solutions they want Kentucky leaders to act on during 2012.
View the final letter that was signed by those in attendance, and sent to Governor Steve Beshear, Senate President David WIlliams, and House Speaker Greg Stumbo on KY Kids in Focus, here.
12/30/11
Ending Corporal Punishment in Kentucky Public Schools
Kentucky is one of 19 states that still permit the use of corporal punishment in public schools. A new issue brief by Kentucky Youth Advocates, Ending Corporal Punishment in Kentucky Public Schools, highlights the negative consequences corporal punishment has on students, the disproportionate use with certain student populations, and alternative approaches to school discipine that are more effective and can improve outcomes for all children.
Issue Brief (pdf)
11/29/11
2011 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book Release
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The 2011 County Data Book, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates finds that Kentucky has made progress in ensuring low-income children receive dental services, yet much work remains to improve children’s oral health in the state. The 21st annual edition provides updated data for each county and the state as whole on indicators of child health including: adequate prenatal care, mothers smoking during pregnancy, preterm births, low birthweight births, teen births, early initiation of breastfeeding, children enrolled in KCHIP and Medicaid and the percent receiving dental services, early childhood obesity, inpatient asthma hospitalizations, and access to recreational facilities. |
2011 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book (pdf) | State Fact Sheet (pdf) | Press Release (pdf)