Bloom Kentucky Announces 2024 State Policy Priorities

The General Assembly gaveled in for the 2024 Regular Session this week. Given Kentucky’s unprecedented budget reserve trust fund surplus and the state’s current landscape, there is a real opportunity to invest and empower kids and families across the Commonwealth. 

Bloom Kentucky is a collaborative initiative of grantmaking organizations from across the Commonwealth focused on statewide policy changes and budget investments that aim to prevent and mitigate the multi-generational impacts of childhood adversity so that every child can grow up happy, healthy, and hopeful.

“Effective policies and budget investments are crucial in mitigating and preventing childhood adversity. They serve as the foundational building blocks for creating environments where children can thrive,” shared Barry Allen, President & Treasurer, The Gheens Foundation, Inc.

This year’s Bloom Kentucky 2024 priorities seek to continue and build upon the work during the 2023 legislative season.

As part of the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, Bloom Kentucky is advocating for the following state policy priorities to help prevent and mitigate Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs):

• Allow student teachers to be compensated for their work in the classroom.
• Sustain funding for school-based mental health providers to improve access to services.
• Establish a process to automatically expunge an eviction from a family’s record after they have been eviction-free for a reasonable amount of time, seal filings that do not result in an eviction, and prohibit minors from being named on eviction filings.
• Establish an interim joint task force on Kentucky’s housing landscape to study the issue and create recommendations to address the housing crisis.
• Exempt freestanding birth centers from certificate-of-need requirements to expand access to safe, equitable prenatal and delivery care.

As part of the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, Bloom Kentucky is advocating for the following state budget priorities to help prevent and mitigate ACEs:

• Child Care
  • Maintain Child Care Assistance Program eligibility at 85% of State Median Income and the federally-recommended reimbursement rate.
  • Base child care program reimbursement payments on enrollment rather than attendance, to align with new federal guidance.
  • Implement a limited co-pay structure paired with maintaining a six-month transition period so that families can retain more income and still access benefits as they receive slight wage increases.
  • Maintain scholarships, continue to cover costs of mandatory background checks, and persist with the implementation of the Family Child Care Home grant program to support early childhood educators.
• Education
  • Allocate funding to support the student-teacher pipeline.
  • Sustain funding for school-based mental health providers to improve access to services
• Family Supports
  • Invest in the supply of available, affordable housing by infusing state dollars into the state Affordable and Rural Housing Trust Funds.
• Health
  • Boost investments in mental health reimbursement rates and bring Behavioral Health Service Organizations (BHSOs) on par with Medicare reimbursements

“By allocating resources and setting strategic policies, we can address the root causes of adversity, provide necessary support for families, and build resilient communities,” said Allen. “In doing so, we not only protect the well-being of children but also invest in a healthier, more prosperous future for all.”

From the home to the classroom and beyond, the Bloom priorities aim to enhance nurturing environments for the growth and development of Kentucky’s children by offering robust supports to those responsible for their care and upbringing. 

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Learn more about Bloom Kentucky and its state policy and budget priorities at bloomkentucky.org. 

Interested in taking action or learning more?
Host a regionally-based listening or learning session in your community — contact Hannah Edelen with questions. (hedelen@kyyouth.org) 

Bloom Kentucky is supported by a growing list of grantmakers, including Blue Grass Community Foundation, Brown-Forman Foundation, C.E. & S. Foundation, Inc., Central Kentucky Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Louisville, Community Foundation of South Central Kentucky, Community Foundation of West Kentucky, Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation, Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, The Gheens Foundation, Inc., The Gilbert Foundation, Inc., The Greater Clark Foundation, Harshaw Family Foundation, Humana Foundation, James Graham Brown Foundation, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kosair Charities, Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation, Lawrence & Augusta Hager Educational Foundation, Lexington Clinic Foundation, Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation, Marilyn & William Young Foundation, Mildred V. Horn Foundation, Nickles Foundation, The Norton (Family) Foundation, Inc., Public Life Foundation of Owensboro, Snowy Owl Foundation, The V.V. Cooke Foundation, and Wood & Marie C. Hannah Foundation.