By Tamara Sandberg As a parent of teenagers, I’ve learned that when my kids hear me saying a slang phrase it undoubtedly means they will never repeat that phrase again. “Hanger” is one example—you know, that feeling of anger you get when you’re hungry? But I hope the phrase goes away for other reasons, too. It isn’t a joke that children at risk of hunger suffer real consequences. They are more likely to experience hospitalization, [...]
Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Today, the Kentucky House Adoption Work Group presented recommendations after their eight-month study. First, we appreciate the work of Representative Meade, Representative Jenkins and all members of the Work Group on this critical and complex issue. It is a real compliment that this bipartisan group of leaders had the persistence and vision to dig into perhaps the most [...]
Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Only one other state in the country has a higher rate of parental incarceration than Kentucky. At 15%, the Commonwealth has nearly double the national average of children who have experienced a parent incarcerated. That fact alone affirms the Kentucky Justice Reinvestment Work Group’s efforts to redefine the criminal justice system to protect public safety while addressing the [...]
November is National Adoption Month. The best way to understand the impact of adoption is to hear the stories of the people who have lived it. The stories below are from the perspectives of an adoptive parent and her daughter. Pat's Story Hi, my name is Ms. Pat. I have been asked to write a little something on foster care and adoption I am not a writer, but here it goes. I have been a foster [...]
By Carli Mosby, Kentucky Youth Advocates intern November is National Adoption Month, an initiative led by the Children’s Bureau that seeks to raise awareness of the hundreds of thousands of foster children throughout the country, and the 1,774 children in Kentucky in need of permanent, loving families. This year, the initiative focuses its awareness efforts on “Teens Need Families, No Matter What,” which emphasizes the thousands of teens in foster care that are at risk [...]
Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org 2017 KIDS COUNT County Data Book Introduces County-Level Benchmarks for Child Well-Being The 2017 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book offers the latest data on 17 measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children have improved, worsened, or stayed the same over a five-year period. It also calculates how many children would be impacted if Kentucky was able to make just a 10 percent improvement for each measure. [...]
November is National Adoption month, which makes the Program Review and Investigations Committee report on Kentucky’s foster care and adoption system very timely. In May 2016, the Program Review and Investigations Committee voted to initiate a study of Kentucky’s foster care system. The Committee’s Legislative Research Commission (LRC) staff looked at relevant statutes and regulations, evaluated agency procedures and practices, and made recommendations for improvement. What the Committee found was informative and important as the [...]
In 2018, the Kentucky legislature will be crafting the next state budget for the upcoming two years. While pension reform plans have been the major topic of discussion recently, Kentucky is also facing potential budget cuts that pose a real threat to adequate funding for our schools and supports for students. As we look for what our students need, the primary school funding formula - or SEEK funding - needs protected from any budget cuts. [...]
Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Today, the U.S. House passed the Championing Healthy Kids Act to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program for five years. We thank the House of Representatives for taking action on this critical five-year CHIP funding extension and moving the bill forward. However, we are concerned with how this bill proposes to finance the funding extension for [...]
Thirty-one days have passed since the September 30th deadline for Congress to extend funding for the successful Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Child advocates across Kentucky and the nation are deeply concerned by Congress’ inaction on ensuring millions of children do not lose their health coverage. Kentucky’s version of the program, KCHIP, has been instrumental in lowering the number of uninsured children by providing affordable health insurance for children with working parents who are struggling [...]
