About Patricia Tennen

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So far Patricia Tennen has created 49 blog entries.

Governor Beshear Delivers on Promise to Restore Child Care Assistance

Children in Kentucky saw an amazing win this past April when Governor Beshear and state legislators restored funding for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in the 2015-2016 state budget which begins on July 1. Since the legislative session ended, parents, providers and advocates have anxiously awaited the details of how the restored funding will roll out. Last Friday we got those details. Governor Beshear announced he will increase the eligibility for child care assistance for Fiscal Year 2015 to 140 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and open up the program on August [...]

By |2014-06-26T06:25:37-04:00June 26th, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|

Ask Governor Beshear to Re-open CCAP Enrollment in July

Recently, Governor Beshear said that he might delay restoring child care assistance until August or even later. The legislature approved funding to restore assistance beginning July 1. That means the freeze on applications was supposed to be lifted and eligibility increased in the upcoming fiscal year, which begins in about two weeks. The governor said state revenues are below expectations, but a cabinet spokesperson said that the shortfall should not impact child care payments. Please contact the [...]

By |2014-06-17T11:24:06-04:00June 17th, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|

Kentucky Families Win with Signing of SB 176

In Kentucky, family values are more than just talk. That’s why more than 59,000 children are being raised by grandparents, aunts, uncles and other extended family members – also known as kinship care. Research shows that when children cannot live safely with their parents, they fare better with relatives than in foster care. Yet, Kentucky’s kinship families face economic, legal and emotional challenges. They need state leaders to remove unnecessary barriers and ensure they have [...]

By |2014-05-07T10:35:34-04:00May 7th, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

The Passage of SB 176 Helps Real KY Families

As many of you who follow Kentucky Youth Advocates’ blog know, kinship families in Kentucky saw a major win in this year’s General Assembly with passage of Senate Bill 176, sponsored by Denise Harper Angel.  SB 176 allows a relative caregiver to complete an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, stating that they are the primary caregiver of the child, and then by presenting the form they can authorize health care treatment, educational services, and school enrollment. [...]

By |2014-04-02T15:38:59-04:00April 2nd, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|

Enacting a Kinship Caregiver Authorization Law in Kentucky

Yesterday, Senator Harper Angel filed SB 176 to allow a relative caregiver to access key services for the children in their care when legal custody or guardianship is not feasible. We applaud her for her leadership on this important issue for kids and look forward to the bill moving forward through the Senate and House this session. Children across Kentucky are being denied access to education and health care solely because they are being raised [...]

By |2014-03-05T17:46:29-05:00March 5th, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|

Wave 3 Story – The New Family Dynamic: Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren

Check out a great story by Dawne Gee from Wave 3 News on the rising number of grandparents raising grandchildren. Gee captures the stories of a number of grandparents and the challenges they face. She also interviews Kentucky Youth Advocates’ executive director, Terry Brooks who states: "It really does call on folks on lots of levels to begin to get our arms around the issue. To think about what those grandparents need in order to [...]

By |2014-02-27T14:35:59-05:00February 27th, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Child Care Advocates and Parents Testify in Frankfort in Support of Child Care Restoration

Yesterday, child advocates and parents spoke out at a public hearing on the importance of fully restoring funding for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) at 150 percent of the poverty level. They told legislators on the Budget Review Subcommittee on Human Resources stories of families across the state whose lives have been thrown into disarray due to the April 1 cuts to child care assistance and ensuing freeze on new applications. Adrienne Bush, executive [...]

By |2014-02-13T09:16:19-05:00February 13th, 2014|Blog, Economic Security, Education|

Ask Governor and Legislators to Restore Funding for Child Care and Kinship Care

The 2014 General Assembly kicked-off yesterday. Undoubtedly the legislature’s biggest challenge will be to adopt a new budget to guide the next 2 years of spending as a state. Budgets are about priorities and we believe that Kentucky’s children should be on the top of the list. Join us in asking state leaders to build a budget that gives every child the best opportunity to thrive in childhood and succeed as an adult. Budgets always [...]

By |2014-01-08T12:23:37-05:00January 8th, 2014|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|

Educational and Health Care Consent Laws Needed for Kinship Caregivers

Over the past few months, Kentucky Youth Advocates has been talking with professionals, surveying support group leaders and listening to kinship caregivers in order to identify the needs facing children in kinship care in Kentucky. Some 63,000 children in Kentucky are being raised by grandparents and other relatives, at the second highest rate in the nation. Last week we shared about confusion over the fact that all children who are being raised by relatives are [...]

By |2013-11-25T15:04:37-05:00November 25th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|

Advocates to Legislators: Build a Budget that Will Not Only Restore These Cuts but Build Stronger Kentucky Families

Yesterday, Kentucky Youth Advocates executive director Terry Brooks testified before members of the Joint Interim Health and Welfare Committee that the recent cuts to child care and kinship care assistance threaten public safety, education, the health and development of children, the economic security and the overall stability of families in ways that will cost Kentucky for years to come. Joining Terry to share her story was Sandra Flynn, a 60 year old registered nurse from [...]

By |2013-09-19T15:11:53-04:00September 19th, 2013|Blog, Economic Security|
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