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By Serenity Moore Serenity Moore is a youth advocate from Boys and Girls Club, Glasgow/Barren County. She is a junior at Glasgow Independent High School and a member of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky’s Tobacco-Free Policy Youth Ambassadors. Being a teen today is a lot different than it was when many of you were my age. The majority of teens today are filled with worry and not just about their grades or graduation. I [...]
By Emily Anderson, Kentucky Youth Advocates inten On October 1, 2019, Kentucky began implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 (FFPSA) to provide better services for families at risk of entering the child welfare system and to improve the well-being of those children that are already in foster care. In order to make the transition to this act easier, Congress has passed the Family First Transition and Support Act. The provisions of [...]
All children, no matter where they live or receive child care, deserve healthy food and time for active play. Teaching kids healthy habits at a young age nurtures optimal growth and development and sets them up for a lifetime of healthy choices. A Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children bill that is moving this 2020 legislative session aims to reinforce these ideas and provide nurturing environments for children in child care centers across the state. Senate Bill [...]
Alex Young, Representative Steve Riley, and Nellie Ellis at the House Education Committee meeting on February 4, 2020 Kentucky students need learning environments that are safe and nurturing. Across Kentucky, school districts are shifting their focus to how to best serve children who’ve experienced trauma, but several districts still allow the use of corporal punishment, or physical force, as a form of discipline. House Bill 22, sponsored by Representative Steve Riley, seeks to [...]
This post originally appeared as an op- ed in the Northern Kentucky Tribune on February 2, 2020. By Ben Chandler, Terry Brooks, Ed.D., Ashli Watts and Brent Wright, M.D. Manufacturers and retailers who sell Juul and other brands of e-cigarettes, or “vapes,” wonder why health advocates won’t just leave them alone. We have at least three reasons: Kids, kids and kids. 1. Kentucky teens are using e-cigarettes at three times the rate of adults and many [...]
Last week’s Children’s Advocacy Day has already made an impact in Frankfort. State leaders, from legislators to the Governor, are abuzz with what they heard from advocates. If you joined us on January 23rd, be sure to fill out this short survey so we can make next year's Children's Advocacy Day at the Capitol even better! The day was too big to summarize in this blog post, so here are the 5 moments we thought were [...]
By Ana Pohlgeers, high school senior from Campbell County Four homes. Count them. FOUR! From the age of two, when my birth mother dropped me off at Child Protective Services begging for someone to take me off of her hands to give me a better life, until the age of six, when I was finally adopted by my forever family, I lived in FOUR. Different. Homes. Young, terrified and determined not to ever love again, [...]
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 502-895-8167 *122 FRANKFORT, KY – Hundreds of Kentuckians from across the Commonwealth, including dozens of children and youth, are convening in Frankfort today for the 16th annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol. They are urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified agenda for child advocates across the state. “Today, youth, social workers, faith leaders, teachers, pediatricians, child care providers, community leaders, and many others unite to ask our state [...]
Currently, our state lawmakers are working hard to craft and pass a two-year state budget that would fund the state Cabinets that provide child protection, child care, education, health services, and more. Governor Andy Beshear will present his proposed Executive Branch Budget for the Commonwealth of Kentucky during the Budget Address on Tuesday, January 28th. In the weeks following, the Kentucky House and Senate will work on their version of the budget and resolve differences [...]
This op-ed was originally posted in the Courier Journal on January 17, 2020. By Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates In 1978, “The Farmer’s Almanac” first published a list of “folk wisdom” from Dick Goddard about signs of an approaching bad winter. More than four decades later, it is still one of the most popular features of that publication. You’ve seen that list or a similar one — thicker than normal corn husks; [...]
