As we continue to thank the General Assembly for their efforts on behalf of kids this session, Executive Director Terry Brooks sat down with WDRB News to give his Point of View. Kids have a become a priority to our elected leaders, and the bills passed to benefit children this year are a true testament to that!

Watch the video online, or read a transcript of the editorial below.

POV

Spring in Kentucky means bracketology, high pollen counts and the Derby. It also means many folks talking about what the General Assembly didn’t do. Let me offer a different take and tell you what the General Assembly did accomplish – which, when it comes to kids, was quite a lot.

Senate President Stivers spoke to a crowd of more than 700 citizens on Children’s Advocacy Day in February and observed that kids were the Commonwealth’s greatest resource and greatest asset. He delivered for kids as did his counterparts in the House. Early childhood; child abuse prevention; child safety; and violence prevention were headline accomplishments when it came to kids and Frankfort lawmakers in 2015.

The key to this kind of success is simple — leadership. Leadership has moved our youngest citizens to the front row. Senate and House leadership have begun to ask a persistent and welcome question — “What can we do for kids?”

Another element of success comes from remarkable bi-partisanship. An excellent example of that focuses on the issue of child abuse. Working with Kosair Charities Face It® Movement to end child abuse, Louisville’s own Republican Senator Raque Adams and Democratic Representative Jenkins put kids before politics in leading the charge to enact significant legislation to protect kids from abuse.

Kentucky kids have real champions sitting in the state’s General Assembly. And because of that, Kentucky Youth Advocates vision of “Kentucky as the best place in America to be young” just might become a Bluegrass reality.

I’m Dr. Terry Brooks, and that’s my Point of View.