Session Thank You (1)While this year’s Kentucky General Assembly isn’t quite over because a couple of days remain for final concurrence between the two chambers, Kentucky kids can already cheer for big Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children legislative wins! Three Blueprint legislative priorities—SB 195, SB 236, and HB 180—are on their way to the Governor’s desk. One final legislative priority—SB 120—has passed both chambers, and we expect that it will get through its final concurrence and be on its way to the Governor before the end of the session.

These Blueprint wins show the wide array of solutions that Kentucky kids need—prevention, intervention, efficient systems, two-generation approaches, and beyond—along with the broad common ground of the legislators who voted in support of these bills. SB 236, sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams, will keep kids safer from abuse by closing gaps in background checks for public schools, youth camps, and in-home babysitters. SB 195, sponsored by Senator Whitney Westerfield, will let kids who get back on track more easily expunge their records and not be held back from a brighter future. SB 120, also sponsored by Senator Westerfield, would help parents leaving incarceration more easily get back to work and start supporting their families. And HB 180, sponsored by Representative Addia Wuchner, will allow close family friends to serve as kinship caregivers.

Thank you to the relentless advocates across the state who called and met with their legislators on behalf of kids throughout the session. Thank you to bill sponsors and champions who pushed these bills through the General Assembly. And thank you to the legislators for their bipartisan support of these bills for kids.

Advocates, we still have one action alert that needs your attention: Please thank your Representative and Senator for their support of these bills. View the action alert here.

Kentucky kids count on all of us, and with these bills we can say we didn’t let them down.