About Tara Grieshop-Goodwin

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So far Tara Grieshop-Goodwin has created 51 blog entries.

A Win for Pregnant Inmates and Their Babies

The opioid crisis that has been impacting our nation has hit Kentucky especially hard. What we’ve seen is that it’s not just people struggling with the disease of addiction that are affected, but children are also impacted in a significant way. We have seen it with the spike in children being cared for by relatives and in the overall increase in the number of children in foster care. Kentucky has been taking steps to respond, and [...]

By |2018-08-01T12:17:13-04:00July 25th, 2018|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice|

Drawing on Kentucky Expertise to Increase School Safety

In January of this year, Kentucky students, parents, teachers, and school administrators were rocked by the tragedy that happened in Marshall County. Two young lives were cut short when their futures held so much potential. On the heels of that tragedy, the Kentucky legislature created the School Safety Working Group as a process for legislators and state leaders to gather information from experts on school safety and make recommendations for action. Earlier this week, the [...]

By |2018-07-12T17:08:34-04:00July 12th, 2018|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|

Hard Work Takes Sweat but the Pay Off is Sweet

Not much beats fresh picked fruit in the summertime. Recently we went to pick blueberries on a nearby farm, and it reminded me of summer days picking strawberries in my grandmother’s garden. The work was hard and the weather hot, but we always knew there would be strawberry pie for supper. We continued that tradition this weekend, making a fresh blueberry pie from the fruit we picked. The final result definitely made the hard work [...]

By |2018-08-01T12:20:56-04:00July 11th, 2018|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health, Justice|

The Final State Budget and What it Means for Kids and Families

Late last week, the Kentucky General Assembly convened for the final days of the 2018 legislative session. Still to be finalized was the state budget to drive how money will be spent and the level at which services and programs will be funded. Though the General Assembly had passed the budget bill before the veto break on April 2nd, the governor vetoed the bill. The question remained on whether the legislature would simply override the [...]

Much to Like and Room to Grow

During the fall of 2017, much of the talk and focus in Frankfort was around the budget and pensions. Questions abounded among those watching for signs of what this budget would hold. What would pension reform look like? Would tax reform be taken up at the same time? If not, what cuts would state agencies face? The wait ended in mid-January with the release of the Governor’s proposed Executive Branch Budget for the Commonwealth of [...]

Kentucky Kids Need a State Budget Built for Them

Fall mornings with Kentucky’s hills and valleys blanketed in fog create a picture-perfect landscape. While I appreciated the view on a recent morning drive, I breathed a sigh of relief when the fog lifted. The budget news for state government in Kentucky has been dire for months as the looming pension crisis has created a fog around the state budget. Recent revenue forecasts predicting another budget shortfall to the tune of $200 million have made [...]

Ending the “One Size Fits All” Approach

A “one size fits all” approach works much better for some situations than others. A “one size fits all” hat with an adjustable strap, for example, could work for all. A “one size fits all” pair of shoes, on the other hand, wouldn’t work for most. And a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work well in our youth justice system. Changes that have been implemented in recent months in juvenile court reflect that sentiment, and youth [...]

By |2017-04-20T10:15:44-04:00April 20th, 2017|Blog, Youth Justice|

Kids Win When Leaders Step Up

The 2017 legislative session recently wrapped up, and kids and families won on several fronts. The General Assembly took action on a number of Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children legislative priorities ranging from supporting children who have to be removed from their home due to abuse and neglect to promoting work when people return home from incarceration – a critical piece for the many Kentucky children who have had a parent incarcerated. Advocates are celebrating several [...]

Bill Supporting Children with an Incarcerated Parent Clears Final Legislative Hurdle

A bill to support one of the most vulnerable groups of children in Kentucky – children with an incarcerated parent – cleared its final hurdle this week. The Kentucky Senate concurred with changes made by the House, and SB 120, sponsored by Senator Whitney Westerfield, is now off to the Governor’s desk for signature. SB 120 emerged from the work of Governor Bevin’s Criminal Justice Policy Assessment Council that was created to identify policy solutions [...]

Investing in What Works – For Kids, For Families and For Communities

Kentucky has seen substantial progress in the past couple of years on the number of youth locked up in Kentucky. As Justice Cabinet Secretary John Tilley shared in a recent interview, we’ve safely reduced the youth prison population by half by focusing on community-based services. This matters for kids, because research shows that adolescence is a time when children’s brains are still under construction and the architecture of the brain is being built. The trauma [...]

By |2016-10-27T20:52:47-04:00October 27th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Youth Justice|
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