Contact: Mara Powell 859-496-5524 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee for passing SB 120, sponsored by Chairman Whitney Westerfield, to give adults who have served their time the opportunity to get back to work and care for their children. Kentucky has the highest rate in the nation of children who have experienced a parent being incarcerated, and SB 120 will help limit the negative [...]

Contact: Mara Powell 859-496-5524 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates We thank the Kentucky House for passing HB 180, sponsored by Chair of the House Health and Family Services Committee Representative Addia Wuchner, to allow close family friends to serve as kinship caregivers. Placement with a close family friend, also known as fictive kin, can help reduce trauma when children must be removed from their home due to abuse or [...]

Contact: Mara Powell 859-496-5524 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates We applaud the House Health and Family Services Committee for passing HB 180, sponsored by Committee Chair Representative Addia Wuchner, to allow close family friends to serve as kinship caregivers. This type of placement with a close family friend offers a beneficial alternative to foster care and helps to relieve trauma children often face upon removal from their home. We [...]

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 859-496-5524 Jeffersontown, KY - There was no more profound point in the Governor’s address than his clarion pledge to fundamentally reform Kentucky’s child welfare system. The commitment to tackle issues from foster care to adoption, from child abuse to family supports, can be a game changer for the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable kids. And opportunities abound in efforts like family preservation, kinship care, and the transition out of foster care. Making that commitment [...]