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About Tara Grieshop-Goodwin

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So far Tara Grieshop-Goodwin has created 64 blog entries.

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 [...]

By |2017-04-13T11:23:28-04:00April 13th, 2017|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Youth Justice|
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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 [...]

By |2017-03-30T10:40:39-04:00March 30th, 2017|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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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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“Changing Laws, Changing Lives”: Reforming Kentucky’s Criminal Justice System

Governor Matt Bevin joined fellow governors from Georgia and Oklahoma in a recent video on criminal justice system reforms being implemented in their respective states. Governor Bevin speaks to the system helping society when incarceration focuses not just on removing people from the community but rehabilitating them. Kentucky has taken steps to improve the criminal justice system, most recently by passing HB 40 to allow certain felonies to be expunged so people can get back to work after serving their time [...]

By |2016-08-02T16:26:50-04:00August 2nd, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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All Youth Deserve Opportunities to Thrive

Last week marked a seminal moment for Kentucky at the System of Care conference. Kentucky leaders tackled head on a challenge that has been facing Kentucky for years – disparities by race in outcomes for children. We’ve known for some time that racial disparities exist for kids in Kentucky. While the issue cannot be solved in one conference, beginning a broader dialogue about the issue represents a milestone along the path to ending disparate outcomes [...]

By |2016-06-15T17:14:19-04:00June 15th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Youth Justice|
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Time to Let Parents Get Back to Work

Several years ago, the Kentucky legislature took action to address an issue that galvanized support from groups like the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the County Judge Executive Association, as well as all three of Kentucky’s branches of government. It was the rising prison population and the associated costs. While legislation was passed with the aim to safely reduce incarceration, the impacts of Kentucky’s recent history of high incarceration remain. Approximately 13 percent of Kentucky [...]

By |2016-03-15T16:38:33-04:00March 15th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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3 Ways SB 200 Reforms Show Impact

When reforms to Kentucky’s juvenile justice system were discussed in the General Assembly in 2014, the efforts focused on several core goals: holding youth accountable, achieving better outcomes for youth, and maintaining public safety. Two years later, and just 6 months after full implementation of SB 200, the numbers are already showing the positive impact of the reforms. Data reported at the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council in January showed progress on a number of fronts: [...]

By |2016-02-05T09:45:28-05:00February 5th, 2016|Blog, Youth Justice|
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New State Laws Protecting Children Take Effect This Week 

Though it may feel like any other hot week of summer in Kentucky, this week will be the first that new laws enacted during the 2015 legislative session take effect. All legislation was effective on Wednesday, June 24th, unless the bill had a specific delayed implementation date. For Kentucky children, this means that new laws will now better protect them from abuse and neglect, promote strong child care options, and require safer travel by car. [...]

By |2015-06-25T10:04:43-04:00June 25th, 2015|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Keep Kentucky Babies’ Health from Going Up in Smoke

Healthy pregnancies lead to healthy babies. Yet a stubbornly high statistic—smoking during pregnancy—warns us that too many Kentucky babies don't get a strong start. The data by county also shows us that counties with comprehensive smoke-free laws have lower rates of smoking during pregnancy. That's an observation backed up by research that shows such laws work to reduce smoking during pregnancy and keep unborn babies safe. Such laws would also prevent many more pregnant women from breathing [...]

By |2015-06-01T10:57:15-04:00June 1st, 2015|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Health, Kids Count|
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Congress Comes Through for Kids’ Health

Last night, the Senate passed legislation – known as the SGR-CHIP compromise – that will extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program for two more years. Not only did Congress extend funding; they did so while protecting the successful structure of the program that is tailored to children’s needs. This is good news for the approximately 66,000 Kentucky children each month who receive quality health care coverage through Kentucky’s version – KCHIP. KCHIP offers affordable [...]

By |2015-04-15T16:00:45-04:00April 15th, 2015|Blog, Economic Security, Health|
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