Healthier communities lead to healthier kids and families. As kids across the Commonwealth head back to school, maintaining healthy habits and building in quality family time becomes increasingly important. One way to improve family health and well-being, and to increase parent and community engagement, is through shared-use agreements. In the 2012 report Sharing School Facilities, the Kentucky Cancer Consortium and Kentucky Youth Advocates explain how shared-use agreements work for communities. Kentucky kids and families need safe [...]

By Bill Buchanan Each year children arrive at school with a wide range of academic and developmental needs, skills, and abilities. This variability should be nurtured and valued as we help students transition into kindergarten, a starting point for academic success in elementary school and beyond. Understanding the connection between readiness and health can help us improve the outcomes for all of Kentucky’s young children. Kentucky Oral Health Coalition (KOHC) members recently discussed the connection [...]

Medicaid is turning 50! Over the last five decades Medicaid has evolved and expanded into a prominent national program covering low-income individuals and families, individuals with disabilities, and the elderly population. Yet, Medicaid is holding fast to its roots of providing health coverage for low-income children. Currently 37% of all children in the United States receive coverage provided under Medicaid.  In Kentucky (as of 2012), nearly 48% of the Medicaid population are children, or about [...]