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About Mara Powell

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So far Mara Powell has created 128 blog entries.

How are Kids’ Issues Faring in the 2016 General Assembly?

This week marks the halfway point of the 2016 legislative session for the Kentucky General Assembly. We have seen progress in the legislature for several Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children legislative priorities, including: Accommodate of a child’s testimony of repeated abuse, known as continuous course of conduct Help parents get back to work by erasing criminal records for low-level felonies after time passes with no more offenses Enact a state Earned Income Tax Credit to help [...]

By |2016-02-16T17:12:48-05:00February 16th, 2016|Blog|
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Protecting Victims of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery. It is the exploitation of men, women, and children through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or services or commercial sex.  When children are involved in commercial sex, which includes stripping, pornography or prostitution, they are victims of human trafficking; there is no need to show force, fraud or coercion. In Kentucky, 59 percent of victims of human trafficking are children.  Victims of [...]

By |2016-01-26T20:02:24-05:00January 26th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Good Public Policies = A Brighter Future for Kentucky Kids: A 25 Year Retrospective

For 25 years, Kentucky Youth Advocates has produced an annual Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book providing data on child well-being for professionals, policymakers, and community members working to improve the lives of the children and families in the Commonwealth. We collect state and local data to show how kids in Kentucky are faring because of our firmly held belief: What gets measured gets changed. To mark the 25th anniversary, we decided to take a [...]

By |2016-01-20T15:26:48-05:00January 20th, 2016|Blog, Kids Count|
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Waiting on a Forever Home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_fPn3DUTAU&feature=youtu.be All children deserve to grow up in a safe, loving, and permanent home. Children who have experienced abuse or neglect and enter into foster care should be placed with a family who can care for them and provide the support they need. Sadly, every year over the last several years there were more than 100,000 children in public foster care waiting to be adopted because they do not have the option of returning [...]

By |2015-11-05T12:36:25-05:00November 5th, 2015|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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How I Became a Green Dot

I still carry my green dot with me on my backpack. It was one of my first memories as a college freshman at the University of Kentucky—walking into the Student Center for a Green Dot training. The training, put on by the Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Center, introduced me and hundreds of fellow college students to a new perspective on preventing and responding to violence. The Green Dot program focuses on primary [...]

By |2015-10-22T09:40:51-04:00October 22nd, 2015|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Back to School: Healthy Kids and Healthy Communities

Healthier communities lead to healthier kids and families. As kids across the Commonwealth head back to school, maintaining healthy habits and building in quality family time becomes increasingly important. One way to improve family health and well-being, and to increase parent and community engagement, is through shared-use agreements. In the 2012 report Sharing School Facilities, the Kentucky Cancer Consortium and Kentucky Youth Advocates explain how shared-use agreements work for communities. Kentucky kids and families need safe [...]

By |2015-08-20T13:03:02-04:00August 20th, 2015|Blog, Health|
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New Advocacy 101 Content

Advocates who mobilize to take action on behalf of Kentucky kids and families are key to legislative wins for kids. To better prepare those advocates, we have recently revised our Advocacy 101 page. The page includes a new Advocacy 101 flip book, a powerful tool for child advocates that explains what advocacy is and how anyone can take steps to act on behalf of Kentucky kids. The presentation encourages advocates to get involved by contacting [...]

By |2015-06-11T09:00:29-04:00June 11th, 2015|Blog|
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Integrated Preventive Care Means Better Health Outcomes for Kids

According to the recent article “Offering Oral Health Services in Your Office” in Family Practice Management, family practitioners have been addressing children’s oral health for years. But, there is a lack of guidelines for physicians to effectively incorporate oral health services into their primary care practices. To help with this, the article offers suggestions for better incorporating oral health at the family physician’s office. Suggestions for a medical assistant or nurse: Assist parents in completing [...]

By |2015-05-27T09:30:58-04:00May 27th, 2015|Blog, Health|
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Reminder – Send in your photos by May 31st

Reminder – If you’d like to submit pictures of your kids or grandkids to be considered for the 2015 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and other Kentucky Youth Advocates’ publications, we need your photos by May 31st. We know you proudly share pictures of your kids and grandkids by carrying them in your wallet and posting them on Instagram and Facebook. Here’s a great chance to promote those great kids through Kentucky Youth Advocates’ materials. Please submit your [...]

By |2015-05-26T10:30:38-04:00May 26th, 2015|Blog, Kids Count|
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Send in Your Photos of Kentucky Kids!

Kentucky Youth Advocates is looking for photos of Kentucky kids to include in the 2015 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and other Kentucky Youth Advocates publications. We know you all proudly share pictures of your kids and grandkids by carrying them in your wallet, on Instagram and on Facebook. Here’s a great chance to promote those great kids through Kentucky Youth Advocates’ materials. We need your photos by May 31st so please start sending them in. In order to use the photos, [...]

By |2015-05-06T15:34:09-04:00May 6th, 2015|Blog, Kids Count|
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