The Importance of “Young Invincibles”

The term “young invincible” has been in the news a lot recently. What is a “young invincible”? A “young invincible” is a person between the ages of 19 and 34. This age group is particularly important in the context of health insurance. As insurance marketplaces, either state or federally-run, are getting up and running throughout the country, a distribution of all age groups is important for these marketplaces to succeed. The young invincibles are especially [...]

By |2013-12-19T11:06:10-05:00December 19th, 2013|Blog, Health|

Stand Up, Speak Out: Children’s Advocacy Day

On Thursday, January 16, 2014, hundreds of advocates, business leaders, youth and elected officials will gather at the Capitol in Frankfort to be a visual and audible presence for Kentucky’s most precious asset: its children. Since the first Children’s Advocacy Day in 2004, the event has grown in numbers but has maintained its purpose of rallying advocates to stand up and speak out on behalf of kids. This year, the 10th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day [...]

Kentucky Oral Health Coalition: Improving the Oral Health of All People of Kentucky

The last eight months have been eventful for the Kentucky Oral Health Coalition, which is a project of Kentucky Youth Advocates. In May we received the Oral Health 2014 DentaQuest planning grant and began the groundwork for developing a statewide oral health literacy campaign by conducting focus groups across the state, collecting information from oral health providers, and holding four stakeholder meetings. We traveled around the state and visited with parents in Campbell, Graves, Hopkins, [...]

By |2013-12-11T15:19:47-05:00December 11th, 2013|Blog, Health|

Join Smoke-Free Kentucky Day at the Capitol on February 12, 2014

Smoke-Free Kentucky supporters are heading to the State Capitol to educate legislators about smoke-free policies. WHEN: Wednesday, February 12th, 2014, 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. WHERE: Kentucky State Capitol, Annex Room 111 REGISTER HERE: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1W9Zw-AxrE1OSCIe5QR_zQQ70HtAKJgb7WtvT_d9Y82s/viewform

By |2013-12-09T12:06:38-05:00December 9th, 2013|Blog, Health|

Spread the Word: Former Foster Care Youth will be Eligible for Medicaid Until Age 26 Starting January 1, 2014

Children who have experienced abuse and neglect often face physical and emotional health problems that stay with them for years. These children need access to consistent and ongoing health care to recover from abuse, including access to health coverage and access to doctors, counselors, or other health professionals when they are in need of care. Recent changes in the health care system in Kentucky will allow all young people to stay on their parent’s health [...]

By |2013-12-04T15:34:13-05:00December 4th, 2013|Blog, Health|

A Message of Thanks to You from Kentucky Youth Advocates

On behalf of all of us at Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA), we send to each of you – our partners – the best hopes for a blessed and meaningful Thanksgiving. That wonderful writer and theologian, Chuck Swindoll, remembers a Thanksgiving in 1944 when he had just turned ten and was in the fifth grade at Southmayd Elementary School in East Houston.  He recalls: Draped high across the front of our classroom was a huge American [...]

Plan Ahead on Thanksgiving Day and Your Teeth Will Thank You Later

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and each year every magazine and morning talk show gives advice on what foods you should and should not eat to avoid packing on the pounds. One realm of health that is equally as important but often overlooked is oral health. Thanksgiving is about spending time with friends and family but for many, the real focus is on the food. It’s the one day where people feel like they have a [...]

By |2013-11-26T14:57:10-05:00November 26th, 2013|Blog, Health|

Educational and Health Care Consent Laws Needed for Kinship Caregivers

Over the past few months, Kentucky Youth Advocates has been talking with professionals, surveying support group leaders and listening to kinship caregivers in order to identify the needs facing children in kinship care in Kentucky. Some 63,000 children in Kentucky are being raised by grandparents and other relatives, at the second highest rate in the nation. Last week we shared about confusion over the fact that all children who are being raised by relatives are [...]

By |2013-11-25T15:04:37-05:00November 25th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|

The First Eight Years Part 3: A Holistic Approach to Kids and Their Families

Do we run systems for children from an adult orientation or a kid’s perspective?  That is this week’s big picture question in thinking about Kentucky’s kids during their first eight years of life. We have been writing for the last couple of weeks about a recent report, The First Eight Years: Giving Kids a Foundation for a Lifetime of Success, which was co-released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) and Kentucky Youth Advocates on [...]

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