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About Ben Gies

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So far Ben Gies has created 12 blog entries.

The “Do-Over” Bill and Other Education Wins for Kids in 2021

On March 31, 2021 the final gavel fell on an historic 2021 Kentucky General Assembly. Despite the many obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of our state legislature continued and delivered some bright spots for Kentucky’s kids enrolled in early childhood learning facilities and K-12 schools.   Perhaps the most responsive item to the needs of Kentucky’s K-12 students is Senate Education Committee Chairman Max Wise’s Senate Bill 128, otherwise known as the “Do-Over" [...]

By |2021-04-08T12:47:31-04:00April 7th, 2021|Blog, Education|
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The American Rescue Plan: What’s in it and how will it impact families?

This week, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Biden signed into law, the American Rescue Plan, which aims to deliver continued aid to the American people as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to subside. The legislation provides a total of approximately $1.9 trillion divided among numerous priorities and is considered to be among the most progressive pieces of legislation in a generation.   Here are some of the ways the American Rescue Plan will impact children and [...]

By |2021-03-11T20:44:36-05:00March 11th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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Help Is On The Way for Child Care Providers: What’s Coming and How To Get It

Help is finally on the way for Kentucky’s struggling child care sector. We know that it continues to be a rough environment for child care providers  and their employees -- similar to other small businesses that rely on face-to-face interaction. The struggles of the pandemic continue to impact child care as much as, or perhaps even more than, ever before. In late December 2020 the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed into law a [...]

By |2021-02-12T11:27:14-05:00February 11th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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Getting Down to Business: Growing Child Care to Grow Our Local Communities

If these uncertain times have taught Kentuckians anything, it is to value the essential services that so many of us took for granted. We might have never stopped to imagine a day without toilet paper or cleaning supplies, but we quickly realized the importance of our grocery workers when they filled their shelves. We might have never known what a blessing good health is until we depended upon our doctors and nurses to care for [...]

By |2021-02-17T08:36:35-05:00January 21st, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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What’s in the Latest Federal COVID Relief Package for Kids and Families?

After eight months of action alerts, advocate virtual forums, and urging our federal leaders to remember children and their families, the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed into law a $908 billion Coronavirus aid package in the closing days of 2020; the largest aid package in American history second only to the CARES Act passed in March 2020.   We’ve seen the news stories or heard the personal experiences of Kentuckians struggling to feed their [...]

By |2021-01-07T15:08:52-05:00January 7th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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Federal COVID-19 Relief Updates and Calls To Action

Updated September 16, 2020 Tumbleweeds seem to be blowing around the halls of Congress these days as families continue to struggle to feed their children, pay their rent, care for their children, and work to overcome the challenges of life during COVID-19. For a brief moment it seemed like politics would be put aside in favor of doing what is best for kids and families. But the spectacular leadership of our representatives in Washington seen [...]

By |2020-09-16T09:28:42-04:00August 31st, 2020|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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Making Kids Count in the 2020 Election!

There are no shortage of concerns on the minds of Kentuckians as we prepare to vote this November. This will be a consequential election. The local, state, and federal leaders we select will determine policy that will impact our daily lives for what may be generations to come. But how often do we pause to consider--specifically--how our choices at the ballot box will impact us, and particularly young children who depend on us to make [...]

By |2020-10-22T15:04:04-04:00August 26th, 2020|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Moving Forward: The Impact of COVID-19 on Kentucky’s Child Care Sector

Abraham Lincoln once said that the key to success rested in moving very slowly, but never moving backward.  One hundred and fifty years later, Lincoln’s words have never been truer for his old Kentucky home’s march toward creating and sustaining safe, high quality child care for all persons across our Commonwealth. And in true Lincolnian fashion, a “team of rivals” have assembled to strike a chord for the needs of Kentucky’s child care sector. Child [...]

By |2020-06-12T18:27:09-04:00June 11th, 2020|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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The Impact of the Federal COVID-19 Response Legislation on Kentucky Kids

It has been a busy couple of weeks for the U.S. Congress! Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have crafted a bevy of legislation that impacts Kentucky’s kids and their families.   Late last week Congress passed and the President signed into law two pieces of legislation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides free Coronavirus testing, paid sick leave, unemployment aid, and nutrition assistance. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic [...]

By |2020-04-03T14:31:52-04:00March 31st, 2020|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid|
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Investment in Child Care is an Investment in Kentucky Kids, Families, and Local Communities

We asked, and YOU delivered! In our previous blog post, Kentucky Youth Advocates asked our community partners to “remain an active voice for Kentucky’s kids” by calling on our congressmen in Washington, D.C. to support the federal Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG).  Your efforts were not in vain.  In fact, our collective voice secured an additional $550 million dollars in federal CCDBG allocations! Kentucky will receive over $10 million of that investment. We march [...]

By |2020-02-27T11:29:09-05:00February 27th, 2020|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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