Well it happened. After months of warning and endless debate on Capitol Hill, it happened. Across the board cuts, known as sequestration, went into effect over the weekend. While it is still too soon to tell exactly how the cuts will impact children, families and the agencies who serve them throughout the state – it is clear there will be an impact, possibly with devastating effects. Here are just a few examples of how Kentucky [...]
We want to make sure you are aware of an upcoming Kentucky Walk Bike Summit organized by Kentucky Rails to Trails Council on April 11-12, 2013 at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort, Kentucky. This is a great opportunity to learn more about how to promote pedestrian and bicycle friendly communities. Join community leaders, advocates, professionals, local and national experts to discuss how bicycling and walking can lead to safe communities, strong economies, and healthy, happy [...]
As a student in the University Of Louisville’s School Of Public Health, we often discuss methods to reduce behaviors that are harmful to health and increase wellness at the community level. We discuss strategies such as increasing sidewalk safety to promote exercise, the placement of healthy foods in school cafeterias to promote nutrition, reducing the spread of communicable diseases to promote wellness, and yes, we discuss reducing tobacco use in Kentucky-- a lot. Tobacco use [...]
Managed care is certainly a hot topic in our state. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, Kentucky has undergone major changes to its Medicaid program since 2011 by bringing in multiple private companies to run Medicaid in order to save costs. This new system is called Medicaid managed care. The transition has been anything but easy, and it looks as if the road will remain bumpy for awhile longer. The House Budget Review Subcommittee on [...]
Guest Post by Dr. Jim Cecil, retired public health dentist and former State Dental Director I’ve been a dentist, an oral health and public health professional, for more than 40 years and I have to be honest, I am fed up with the state of oral health among Kentucky’s kids. When I was a student dentist at the University of Kentucky, College of Dentistry in the late 1960’s, the oral health status of children was [...]
Last month I asked my children to draw a poster to submit for Children's Advocacy Day on what they thought would make Kentucky a better place to be a kid. My 5-year-old child and I talked about some different ideas, but my 7-year-old son jumped right in to drawing. He had his idea and set to work. A picture emerged of a pizza restaurant with a no smoking sign on the front door. When I [...]
The weatherman cooperated. Citizens from throughout the Commonwealth – hundreds of them – showed up. The atmospherics were great – the Blue Apple Players performing a scene from “Lincoln”; a high school dance team jazzing up the scene; and, young people talking about public policy issues like human trafficking and a smoke-free environment that count in their lives. And the 9th Children’s Advocacy Day kicked off. The sun may have been shining bright on our [...]
After a national election devoid of much discussion of poverty in America - let alone child poverty - The Children's Leadership Council worked with Spark Action to produce a video highlighting what issues children and young adults care about. The video features the voices of young people, ages 5 to 25, discussing the issues they hope the President and Congress will address in the next four years to ensure all kids can grow up [...]
In the New Year, many individuals commit to turning over a new leaf. You’ll hear stories of resolutions to begin healthy habits this year almost anywhere. Ads for gym memberships and healthy foods are all over the newspaper ads and radio stations. We become obsessed with trying to incorporate healthy living into our daily routines. Kentucky’s health data is staggering: over 66% of adults are overweight and more than 31% are obese. Our state also ranks [...]
Please tune in tonight, Monday, January 14 to show your support for Smoke-Free Kentucky! See below for information on how to call in or send an email message during the broadcast. Passing a statewide, comprehensive smoke-free law is a 2013 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children priority. View the Blueprint Smoke-free fact sheet here. Scheduled guests are: - State Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington - State Rep. Mike Harmon, R-Danville - Dr. Shawn Jones, past president of the Kentucky Medical Association - [...]
