Contact:
Mara Powell
mpowell@kyyouth.org

Louisville, KY – Today, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners from across the Commonwealth released the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children 2024 priority agenda. The Blueprint speaks with a common voice to create brighter futures for all Kentucky kids and their families.

The Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children is a coalition of non-profit, public, and private organizations that stands on three pillars: thriving communities launch strong families, strong families launch successful kids, and successful kids launch a prosperous future for Kentucky. 

This year, the Blueprint’s policy priorities focus on various gaps and challenges in the lives of the Commonwealth’s children. The priorities include addressing inequities in maternal and infant mortality rates through expansion of access to freestanding birth centers, promoting housing stability through an automatic eviction expungement process and establishing a task force, preventing child sexual abuse through appropriate disclosures and checks in school systems, ensuring compliance with the tobacco-21 law, and more. 

The Blueprint also highlights budget priorities to promote a state budget that invests in kids and families. The priorities include investing in an affordable, high-quality child care infrastructure, supports for relative and fictive kin caregivers, a continuum of care to prevent ongoing juvenile justice involvement, youth mental health services, among other budget priorities. 

For more information on each of the priorities, view the 2024 Blueprint fact sheets at kyyouth.org/blueprintky/.

“As we look ahead to 2024, there’s an abundance of opportunities and obligations facing the Governor and General Assembly, especially in the development of the biennial state budget. From access to affordable housing and child care to mental health and educational outcomes, all kids deserve safe, healthy, and thriving childhoods. That can only begin with a strong commitment and sustained investment in our youngest Kentuckians,” said Terry Brooks, executive director, Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Each year, Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children partners and advocates bring attention to Blueprint priorities in Frankfort at the annual Children’s Advocacy Day, which will be part of Children’s Advocacy Week January 22-26, 2024. The 20th Children’s Advocacy Day will take place at the Capitol in Frankfort on January 24th offering elected officials, child advocates, and young people themselves opportunities to connect and raise their voices for kids.

Learn more and sign up to receive updates on Children’s Advocacy Week at kyyouth.org/childrens-advocacy-week/.

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Kentucky Youth Advocates believes all children deserve to be safe, healthy, and secure. As THE independent voice for Kentucky’s children, we work to ensure policymakers create investments and policies that are good for children. Learn more at kyyouth.org.