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About Patricia Tennen

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So far Patricia Tennen has created 49 blog entries.

Sign-on to speak out against cuts to child care and kinship care

Since April 1, no new families have been able to receive child care assistance or apply for the Kinship Care Program. Child care assistance helps low-income working families afford child care while the Kinship Care Program provides financial support to grandparents and other relatives who are raising children because they cannot live safely with their parents. In addition, the state raised income eligibility limits for child care assistance from 150 percent to 100 percent of [...]

By |2013-07-25T10:05:44-04:00July 25th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|
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Cabinet responds to advocates’ concerns regarding cuts to children’s program

Since April 1, no new families have been able to receive child care assistance or apply for the Kinship Care Program, which provides financial support to non-parental, relative caregivers, like grandparents. In addition, the state raised income eligibility limits for child care assistance from 150 percent to 100 percent of the poverty level, causing 8,700 families to lose child care assistance each month. This stems from a decision by the Department for Community Based Services [...]

By |2013-07-18T15:06:53-04:00July 18th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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Become a volunteer with KY’s Citizen Review Panels

Are you looking for a way to improve the lives of children and families in Kentucky as well as those who serve them? Kentucky's Citizen Review Panels for Child Protective Services are currently seeking volunteers. The Panels are groups of volunteers who are federally mandated to review Kentucky’s child protection system and make recommendations for improvements in policy, practice, and procedure.  Citizen Review Panels are located in the Southern Bluegrass (Lexington and surrounding counties) and [...]

By |2013-06-10T14:03:49-04:00June 10th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Kinship care support doesn’t make it easier, it helps to make it possible

I got to know some of the best Kentuckians you could ever meet at last week’s public hearing on the cuts to kinship care and child care subsidies. I had the privilege of driving to Frankfort with Phyllis, a 63 year old grandmother who is stepping up to raise her 16 month and 3 year old granddaughters, both who were born addicted to cocaine. As the married mother of two girls the same age, I [...]

By |2013-05-30T14:56:48-04:00May 30th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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New Ad Campaign Calls for Medicaid Expansion in Kentucky

Today, Kentucky Voices for Health (KVH) launched a new ad campaign asking Gov. Steve Beshear to expand Medicaid to adults and parents up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level under the Affordable Care Act. Listen to the ad below. Kentucky Youth Advocates is a proud member of KVH. Join us in asking Governor Beshear to take this opportunity to improve the health of Kentucky’s children and families. There are many reasons to expand Medicaid. [...]

By |2013-04-30T11:11:41-04:00April 30th, 2013|Blog, Health|
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Messages to Governor Beshear from Grandparents & Relatives Raising Kin

Last Thursday we attended the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Conference in Lexington. In it's 11th year, the conference has grown to attract 400 participants from over 50 counties.  The conference provided a wealth of information --  from practical tips on how to raise a high schooler  (it's a little different from 20 or 30 years ago...) to advice about how and when to gain legal custody. The organizers say that due to demand, they could easily expand to [...]

By |2013-03-27T15:12:20-04:00March 27th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Show Your Support for Relatives Raising Kin

“I had not planned for this in life so it was rather draining, financially.” These are the words of a Fayette County grandmother interviewed by WTVQ news about the importance of the support she receives from Kentucky’s Kinship Care Program which helps her step up to raise her three grandchildren. See the link to the full story here. The program offers $300 per month, per child to relatives and other kin who are raising children [...]

By |2013-03-14T14:38:15-04:00March 14th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Tough Times are the Most Important Times to Protect Kids

Two weeks ago, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced that it will dramatically cut child care assistance to low income families and will pay no new subsidies to relatives caring for children who have been abused or neglected. This announcement spells trouble for a whole host of reasons, as many voices around the state have passionately and eloquently described. In addition to eliminating critical supports that help children, families and our economy thrive, [...]

By |2013-02-14T13:14:49-05:00February 14th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|
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Citizen Review Panel in Lexington Takes their Charge to Heart

Guest Post by Blake Jones, PhD Anne Frank once said, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  Members of the Southern Bluegrass Citizen Review Panels (CRP) have taken that to heart.  The CRP is a group of citizen volunteers in the Southern Bluegrass Region who are federally mandated to conduct a yearly evaluation of the Department for Community Based Services. However, in addition to the [...]

By |2013-01-15T09:00:08-05:00January 15th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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New Year, New Website for Kentucky Youth Advocates

Kentucky Youth Advocates is excited to announce the launch of our new website at www.kyyouth.org. The site’s improved design captures the scope of our mission while the user-friendly navigation allows quick access to our latest news, reports, and advocacy information. We've also included helpful tools, easy-to-use features, and updated information on the issues advocates, the media, and policymakers care about. Here are just a few of the new features: Issue-driven Navigation – we placed the [...]

By |2013-01-10T12:13:48-05:00January 10th, 2013|Blog|
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