Mahak Kalra – Kentucky Youth Advocates

A Look at the New Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

A Look at the New Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the cost of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice. In 2017, approximately 2.2 million children were directly affected by parental opioid use or their own use, and we know that Kentucky children have been particularly hard hit. There is a clear connection of adult and adolescent opioid use to childhood [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2022-09-09T12:08:56-04:00July 27th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice|

Implementation of 2022 Wins for Kids and Families

Implementation of 2022 Wins for Kids and Families

Many of you advocated for the 2022 Blueprint for Kentucky's Children policy and budget priorities through legislative meetings, social media posts, attended Children’s Advocacy Week, called or emailed your legislators, and so much more throughout the 2022 legislative session. Your critical efforts paid off with legislative wins for children and positive investments in the state budget. Many new state laws go into effect 90 days after the last day of legislative session unless the bill [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2022-07-14T16:28:58-04:00July 14th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|

Being a Child Advocate Beyond the Legislative Session

Being a Child Advocate Beyond the Legislative Session

Summer is here! Now is the time to discuss policies that passed in the 2022 legislative session and brainstorm new priorities for next session, create an advocacy plan around issues that impact your community and/or you, and educate policymakers. As you are getting out there enjoying summer activities, there are many ways to advocate for yourself, family, clients, and your community: Stay informed. Read and research topics of interest and/or topics you want to better [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2022-07-14T12:58:57-04:00June 7th, 2022|Blog|

Wins & Missed Opportunities for Kids in the 2022 General Assembly

Wins & Missed Opportunities for Kids in the 2022 General Assembly

The final gavel has fallen for the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly! This year, the Governor and the Kentucky General Assembly were tasked with crafting a two-year state budget, tackle redistricting, advance policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic, tax reform, and other policy priorities that would be good for the communities they represent and the Commonwealth. If we take a second to reflect, that’s a heavy lift in a long 60-day session. There was good news [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2022-04-20T16:29:28-04:00April 20th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|

2022 State Budget Checklist for Kentucky Kids

2022 State Budget Checklist for Kentucky Kids

It’s week two of Kentucky’s 60-day legislative session! The end of week 1 unveiled a budget proposed by the Kentucky House of Representatives, which signals the fast-track nature of the 2022 budget process. This week, the Governor outlined his budget proposals for pre-K-12 education and health care. As the week continues, we will hear the remaining components of the Governor’s budget proposal during his budget address on Thursday, January 13 at 7:00 PM ET, as [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2022-01-14T11:35:33-05:00January 10th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid, Race Equity|

November 2021 Update on the KY Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

November 2021 Update on the KY Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

Read about the October meeting of the Commission on Race and Opportunity here. At the last meeting of 2021 for the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) was given the opportunity to testify around the 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and solutions to advance racial equity in the Commonwealth. We highlighted two policy arenas – Health and Family and Community - that we hope can move legislative and community leaders from simply reading data on a [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2021-12-09T15:52:21-05:00December 9th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Health, Medicaid, Race Equity, Youth Justice|

Recapping the 2021 Special Session & Impact on Kids

Recapping the 2021 Special Session & Impact on Kids

Last week’s special session entered our minds and news feeds as quickly as it has now disappeared. Alongside the Beshear Administration and members of the General Assembly, we will continue to assess the results with an eye for the 2022 legislative session and two-year state budget. As we shared in our statement on the special session, there is no group of Kentuckians that deserves decisive action more than our young people – and the good [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2021-09-21T11:55:20-04:00September 16th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health|

Update on the Kentucky Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

Update on the Kentucky Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

When the final gavel sounded on the 2021 General Assembly, several pieces of legislation passed that will begin to close gaps in opportunity for children of color. Among these policies that became law was Senate Bill 10, co-sponsored by Senator David Givens, Senator Whitney Westerfield, and Senate President Robert Stivers, which established a Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity. The Commission is tasked with providing studies, research driven policy proposals, and annual reports crossing [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2021-09-02T16:58:26-04:00September 2nd, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|

National Immunization Month – It’s Important for Your Kids to be Up-To-Date on Vaccinations and Here’s Why!

National Immunization Month – It’s Important for Your Kids to be Up-To-Date on Vaccinations and Here’s Why!

As child advocates, we want to do everything in our power to assure that Kentucky children are healthy and protected against preventable and potentially deadly diseases. A simple and important step in that process is getting children vaccinated. We know questions may arise from parents, guardians, and caretakers around why you should get your child vaccinated and how many vaccines does my child need. National Immunization Awareness Month is an opportune time to highlight the [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2021-08-27T12:59:00-04:00August 12th, 2021|Blog, Education, Health|

UPDATE on 2021 Summer EBT and Child Care P-EBT

UPDATE on 2021 Summer EBT and Child Care P-EBT

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that programs such as Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) have been successful in providing students and their families with needed grocery money while students were learning from home throughout the 2020-2021 school year. We are excited to announce that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services has received approval to issue P-EBT benefits to eligible children ages 0-5 and summer EBT benefits for eligible children ages 0-5 and those in [...]

By Mahak Kalra|2021-08-19T16:48:46-04:00August 2nd, 2021|Blog, Education, Health|

ACTION ALERTS!

About Mahak Kalra