The Kentucky General Assembly gaveled in this snowy week for the 2025 Regular Legislative Session. While this year is a non-budget session, it presents critical opportunities to advance legislative items that can help mitigate Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and foster positive outcomes for families and children 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.

“Policy solutions are instrumental in breaking the cycle of adversity and creating a pathway for families to build resilience,” said Barry Allen, President & CEO of The Gheens Foundation, Inc. “By enacting thoughtful legislative reforms, we can create an environment where Kentucky’s children have the opportunity to flourish.”

Bloom Kentucky’s Policy Opportunities for 2025

This year’s priorities reflect Bloom Kentucky’s continued commitment to preventing ACEs and addressing the systemic barriers that families face.

Promote Family Housing Stability

  • Aim: Promote family housing stability by making common sense changes to the eviction process including sealing filings that do not result in an eviction and prohibiting minors from being named on eviction filings.
  • Connection to ACEs: Research indicates that experiencing frequent moves or unstable housing is considered a factor that can contribute to an increased ACE score and potentially have negative long-term health consequences. Housing instability is often seen as a form of childhood adversity itself. 

Establish Utility Standards

  • Aim: Establish common sense standards to protect children and their families from utility disconnections during extreme heat or cold events and create avenues for families to get reconnected to electricity and heating quicker.
  • Connection to ACEs: Frequently moving and potentially being subject to homelessness can be traumatic and exacerbate the effects of other ACEs. 

Ensure Children with Special Needs have Access to Child Care

  • Aim: Ensure the high quality care of young children with special needs by requiring training for child care providers on strategies to support children with disabilities and incentivize programs to serve children with disabilities through the Kentucky All STARS system.
  • Connection to ACEs: Child care plays a vital role in preventing child abuse by providing stressed families with the respite they need to support their parenting.

Enact Caregiver Consideration in Sentencing

  • Aim: Reduce the impact of parental incarceration by enacting caregiver consideration legislation to expand the court’s options for community-based alternative sentences to incarceration when the defendant is the primary caregiver to a dependent child.
  • Connection to ACEs: Parental incarceration is a known ACE that often leads to other adversities, such as household instability, exposure to substance use, and community violence.

Building a Better Future for Kentucky’s Children

The 2025 state policy priorities reflect Bloom Kentucky’s unwavering commitment to tackling the root causes of adversity through strategic policy change. This year’s agenda seeks to build a stronger foundation for families and children across the Commonwealth.

“As we advocate for these legislative reforms, we recognize the importance of working together with community partners, policymakers, and families to ensure every child has the opportunity to flourish!” said Allen. 

From stabilizing housing to supporting children with special needs and addressing the impact of parental incarceration, Bloom Kentucky’s policy priorities aim to create the nurturing environments needed for children to thrive.

Interested in taking action or learning more?

  • Host a regionally-based listening or learning session in your community. 
  • Attend Children’s Advocacy Week March 3-7, with the Day at the Capitol on March 5th.
  • Bookmark the Kentucky General Assembly Bill Tracker to follow bill status.
  • Sign Up for email updates!
  • Attend the 2025 Bloom Kentucky Summit. 

Contact Hannah Edelen for more details at hedelen@kyyouth.org. 

Bloom Kentucky is supported by a growing coalition of grantmaking organizations, 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., and many others.

Visit BloomKentucky.org to learn more. 

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